Drain plug

[Mike Ayling]

This is what in my old Meccano building days (showing my age a bit) would have been called a grub screw which has the property of being able to be screwed right through the tapped section and out the other side.
Is there a stop to prevent the screw being driven right inside the hub where it might cause some damage?

Mike

[julk]

Mike,
Don’t know, but it does seem to stop when about flush.

I have never tried to force it further, could be an expensive experiment.
Julian.

[JimK]

There is a torque recommendation... that SJS video has one, anyway. I have never used a torque wrench for that, though. It's such a small hex wrench and the access is so awkward. What I worry about is stripping the hex wrench surfaces. If that screw got stuck in there... shouldn't be impossible to get it back out with one of those left-hand thread things, but I am hoping I will have the good sense to switch to a new screw before things get that far.

But there is definitely some kind of stop at the bottom. What would happen if you over-torqued? Hoping nobody finds out!

[John Saxby]

When I changed the oil in my hub last month, I found the drain plug to be a feeble/fussy/barely noticeable device.  I'd seen it earlier, when I first unpacked the hub last winter -- I was a bit surprised by how "understated" it was, expecting something more robust.  Extracting it wasn't too fiddly, re-inserting was. (Tip: The Click-Stand allows you to tilt the bike slightly to the drive side, so that the wee screw sits more-or-less vertical, and is hence easier to insert. When I tried to insert it at 90 degrees to its hole in the canted surface of the hub, of course it ran away from my clumsy clutches, not once but twice.  Maybe magnetizing it would curb its yearning for freedom?)  After persuading it to return to its right & proper place in the Rohloff scheme of things, and flush with the outer surface of the hub, I covered it with a 2 x 1 cm dab of clear hockey tape to protect it from crud and road grime.   

[Dave Whittle Thorn Workshop]

There is no stop, when using a new one it would be really hard to screw it in too far as the locking compound builds up. Its possible if you re-use one and it an go through and hit the ring gear which causes shifting issues.

Dave

[JimK]

There is no stop

Wow, thanks for that tip! I will be paying closer attention next time!

[Relayer]

I've said this before, I always buy a new plug at the princely sum of £2.00 for every oil change I do. No worries, no sweat.   

[mickeg]

On another forum someone noted that he put a piece of electrical tape over it to help keep it from unscrewing, since then I have done the same.  I noticed above a reference to hockey tape too.  On a previous thread Dave noted the potential for dissimilar metal corrosion, thus I use blue Loctite on the screw.  (I am not sure which number version of Loctite that is, I use blue color any time I need to use Locktite.)

[John Saxby]

I use blue loctite too, mickeg; the hockey tape serves mainly to keep the plug's hex-key hole free of crud.

[Mike Ayling]

Thanks for all the advice.

Mike