UKC

Quick...probably silly question.

Before lubing cams do people rinse them in water/soapy water?Got some Dragon cams that feel gritty in the mechanism which I haven't cleaned before and thought Id see what others do.I've read the article on here but after some more advice/thoughts .....

In reply to TClimb:

I know someone who uses a jewellery cleaning machine (ultra sonic maybe?) and he says that does a great job.

I tend to just swish them about in clean water and use the mechanism while it's submerged.

In reply to TClimb:
I've used warm soapy water then dry them with a rag. You can spray a bit of WD40 to get the water out of the mech before lub. They work nice after that.

In reply to TClimb:

Hi I have hevent had to clean my cams yet but I have had to clean my reels from long days sea angling and all the complex mechanisms clog up with similar debris , so I usually fill a tub with warm soapy water quickly wash them leave to drip dry (as patting dry can push debris further into the mechanism) then once dry give a quick spray of wd40 then add a lubricant (you can purchase cam lube I think made by metolius) .......I'm pretty sure this would be good enough for cam maintenance hope this was some help

Lee

In reply to TClimb:

Yep, here's what I do.

Stick the heads in warm soapy water while working the trigger to get the warm soapy water into the springs / mechanism. Then get an old toothbrush and clean up what you can - I usually find bits of grit in the springs and a toothbrush gets this out. Then let them dry, then lube with something like finish line dry chain lube. Take care not to smother the whole cam in lube, just get it on the springs and work the trigger so that it works in.

In reply to RyanOsborne:

pretty much what I do also.

you can buy pure soap liquid from most large supermarkets.

I've started using WD40 as lube which although somewhat inferior to finish line dry, definitely doesn't harm climbing equipment (or the plastic spacers on cam axels) according to Wild Country who did tests. If you google about you'll see finish line dry isn't plastic safe. I did look in to this and my take on it was that the main risk was the solvent before its dried.

I used to think WD40 was a useless lube, however I've used various things in locks before now (normally some kind of silicon spray) only to find the only lube that seems to work for a period of time that I tried was wd40, so its not as a bad a lube as some say.

I dislike that metolius stuff as the wax just seems to clog up the springs to me.

In reply to TClimb:

Have a look at this:

http://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/t.php?t=620761

In reply to CPH:

Thanks all,some really useful stuff...I'll have the best cams on the cragg!

In reply to TClimb:

Last time I cleaned my cams I held the heads in a pan of boiling water and pulled the triggers to clean out the gunk and old grease (If using a gas ring, use a big pan so the flame doesn't lap up the sides and singe either you or the slings, and be careful not to get any Dynema slings in the water or to let the heads of the cams rest on the bottom of the saucepan) then squirted in WD40 to displace the water, followed by a minimal application of dry chain lubricant.

In reply to EddInaBox:

boiling should only be necessary if your cams have seized up.

In reply to TClimb:
The idea of soap going anywhere near my cams fills me with dread.

I do a variation of this technique: http://stephdavis.co/blog/how-to-clean-cams/

But I use one of my cooking pots! I use WD40 as the 'cleaner', and then boiling water to get rid of the rest of the WD40. Then I use finish dry line after the cam has dried.

In reply to CurlyStevo:

Different Lubricants are not necessarily compatible, boiling is a way of flushing out any old lubricant without resorting to a degreaser.

In reply to EddInaBox:

ok ive never boiled my cams or had a seized cam. I have probably used natural soap to clean them about once every 2-3 years. Not had a problem yet. Always rinse all my metal gear after use on sea cliffs

In reply to TClimb:

Scalding hot running water, WD40 metal bits, work the pivots free, hot running water rinse, hang out to dry.
jk

In reply to CurlyStevo:

I guess broadly there's lubes, and oils and greases, WD40 seems good at chasing out moisture, and freeing things which are stuck, and stopping things from sizing, and banishing squeaks and being a light lubricant, but I'd not put it on something like a bike chain, which needs something more like an oil, and I'd not use an oil for in bearings, which need a grease. WD40 can emulsify grease so that it collects together and forms into blobs, which isn't what you want. As something for getting rid of moisture in cams and for keeping them moving more smoothly, WD40 seems pretty good.