# Record UT bearing maintenance question



## volubilis (Jan 2, 2009)

I think there was a detailed posting on this in the past, probably by C40, but I cannot turn it up by search. Question is, when cleaning and lubricating 2009 Record UT crank bearings, is it necessary to remove the semitransparent tan seal ring overlying the ballbearings on the inside aspect of the bearing ring to lube the balls, or leave that intact and just lube the outer surface of the cylindrical bearing assembly ring (as well as the cups)? If seal removal is needed what is a safe technique for doing so? The bearings are in fine condition, working well, no need to replace. Thanks, V.


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## C-40 (Feb 4, 2004)

*info...*

My 2009 Record UT bearings are the ceramic hybrid and didn't appear to have the same amber plastic bearing cage as my older Chorus UT crank. I haven't had the need to do any maintenance on mine yet.

If the bearings have a plastic cage, like those on my Chorus crank, it can be removed to gain better access to the bearings. It can take some prying with a small screwdriver, but it will come out. I used some mineral spirits to loosen up the old grease, then used an aerosal can of brake cleaner to finish blasting out the remaining grease. The brake cleaner can be tough on the seals. It caused mine to curdle when first applied, but after a while the seals returned to normal. I applied plenty of grease and then reinstalled the plastic retainer. Getting the retainer back in is tricky, since each ball fits into a formed recess in the retainer. The spacing of each ball must be correct or the retainer won't want to go back in.

Lubing just the outer surface without cleaning would do little good. Using the brake cleaner, you might not have to remove the plastic bearing retainer, but you'd need to use some compressed air to dry up the solvent and give it a lot of time to evaporate. Repacking the bearing would also require some patience, pushing grease into the narrow opening, over and over to get enough in.


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## volubilis (Jan 2, 2009)

Good, thanks. That's pretty much what I expected from the appearances. It seemed very unlikely that just an external surface lube would do much. I'm pretty good at tiny little manual manipulation tasks, and have good magnification available, so I'll have at it. Will report anything I learn. V.


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## volubilis (Jan 2, 2009)

volubilis said:


> Good, thanks. That's pretty much what I expected from the appearances. It seemed very unlikely that just an external surface lube would do much. I'm pretty good at tiny little manual manipulation tasks, and have good magnification available, so I'll have at it. Will report anything I learn. V.


Success. Yeah. I used a jewelers forcep to slip under the thin part of the ball cage and lift it out of the race without damaging ball or race (1). I had set up a ball bearing trap (2) but not necessary as the balls are held in grooves in the race and won't fall out. Then cleared most of the old grease with a stiff flat piece of plastic to avoid scoring the race/balls, and then put mineral spirits in the race. Moved the balls around with the plastic pick and a bit of cloth to completely clean all old grease and dirt out (3,4). Then repositioned the balls with even spacing and let it sit overnight for complete solvent evaporation (compressed air would be faster, didn't have any). Before re-greasing I realigned the balls exactly, using the plastic cage. The prongs that fit between the balls have concave ends (intentional design?) (5) such that sliding the cage back on but positioning the prongs over the balls rather than between them will template the balls into correct spacing, so long as you have them very close to correct manually first (not difficult). Then re-greased with a fine tip grease gun (6), and slid the cage back on. Firm pressure with both thumbs reseats the cage, voila, done (7).


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## fallzboater (Feb 16, 2003)

Wow, that looks like a huge PITA. It seems like it'd be much easier to pull the bearings off the spindle, pop the red seal off the outside (easy), clean and grease, then reinstall. You do have to rig up a puller, but it's not that bad.


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## volubilis (Jan 2, 2009)

fallzboater said:


> Wow, that looks like a huge PITA. It seems like it'd be much easier to pull the bearings off the spindle, pop the red seal off the outside (easy), clean and grease, then reinstall. You do have to rig up a puller, but it's not that bad.


 It really wasn't very difficult, just removed the UT from the BB and did what the pictures show. The only tricky part is pressing the retaining ring back in, but not really very difficult. Although I've not tried to pull the bearing ring from the spindle and then replace it, I'd think that would be more troublesome.


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