What should be used to lubricate the brush gear box?

[Howard]

A roomba I was fixing had hair "growing" out of the brush gear box.
Opened it up & found one big hair ball. It looks like thier was origonally some lubricant about the consistancy of vasaline. After removing the hair what should I be putting in for lubrication & how much?

Also is it likely that the brush motor gears will be full of hair & need cleaning as well?

[THX-1138]

Hello Howard

Yes, this is an issue that still will even come up in the latest Roomba 500 series robots. I would recommend very much that you read the following thread:

If you love your Roomba, shim it now!

Hope you find this information helpful!

[bob_ninja]

Consider "dry film lubricants"
They are dry so don't attract hair and dust. Once applied it stays on a surface. The only issues could be that film is thin and may not last very long. Not sure.

[vic7767]

You can also visit your local auto parts store and purchase a tube of white lithium grease. Mechanics use it to hold gears in place during assembly. I fill the entire gear case with it.

[mfortuna]

I used Silicone grease that I purchased from a hobby store. It is commonly used to lube radio control gearboxes that use plastic gears. Two roombas I repaired seemed a bit more quiet after I greased them.

I only use a small amount rather than filling the gearbox. Just enough to coat the teeth.

Mike

[derelicte]

I just rebuilt my brush deck gearbox. The white lithium grease I had is dupont's white lithium grease with teflon. Bad idea! The lithium part is fine, however the teflon part is very viscous and leaks out the bottom of the gearbox. Eventually it will stop leaking, but in the meantime I have to put a towel under my roomba so it doesn't stain the floor.

Stick to the regular lithium grease, unless you want to put a diaper on your roomba!



the can looks like this:

[supertiger]

how do you apply the greace ?
do you have to take the roomba apart?

[THX-1138]

Yes, you would have to open up your Roomba to access the gear box. There are great illustrations at Chris's Roomba Exchange site.

[marquesalan]

I used the grease about a month ago. Quiet at first. I took the gearbox apart and it was the worse I had ever seen. Is lithium grease sticky? It attracted all kinds of hair and dust.

[vic7767]

All grease will retain debris. More reason to add the ball bearing mod. That will prevent the entry of debris into the gearbox in the first place.

[marquesalan]

Oh, gotcha. I am on my third Roomba in 4 years even with cleaning the gearbox. I bought it from Hammacher so it keeps going back with their lifetime warranty. Totally worth it! I'd be pissed if I only had a one year warranty for $400!

[matofill]

I use the teflone grease which are also in use in Paintball it is Guarder : http://airsoft-club.com/shop/internal-u ... -lubricant

This grease did not made warm in the end, from my tests it is the best grease for Roomba .