Power-servicing your Rohloff

[John Saxby]

self changing oil as the British motorcycle industry used to call it.

I always thought they were just marking their spot.

[Danneaux]

I always thought they were just marking their spot.

Shame on you, John, I was sipping a cup of tea when I read this...! 

All the best,

Dan.

[PH]

I hope no one minds me adding to this post rather than starting afresh, I thought it might save some duplication.
My hub (Well one of them  ) is ready for an oil change, and a while ago while re-reading the excellent "Living with a Rohloff"  I noticed Andy Blance does something a little different - After a double flush, he adds 25ml oil, gives it a mix and then removes 18ml.  If I've understood it right, that only leaves 14ml in the hub (7 clinging to the parts and 7 free) but in theory that will be cleaner, fresher oil than what would be in there by any other method.
Anyone doing this?  Can you think of any drawbacks?  I've always been of the opinion that the service interval is way to short from a lubrication POV and the purpose was to flush the hub.  I don't have any evidence for this, though if it was required for lubrication doing so at a maximum 12 month interval, regardless of use, would seem pointless.

[martinf]

I reckon mainly to flush the hub (there may be some water due to condensation).

IMO it is the main reason for frequent but sparing oil lubrication of old Sturmey Archer hubs. The slow outflow of oil reduces or stops the entry of water and dust. Main thing is not to overdo it and have oil running down the spokes onto the braking surfaces (not a problem with Rohloff).

[Andre Jute]

Can't see what harm the Blance method does. If I rode those dusty roads on which he shows his and his wife's bikes on tour, I too would want some extra oil in the box to mist out and prevent the ingress of dust. After all, grinding paste is nothing but mixed dust and oil. The thing would be to find a balance between enough free oil to do the job, and so much that a quick daily wipedown becomes an impossible job of cleaning off caked-on dust. 7ml of free oil after he extracts the excess of 18ml in the second round sounds like a lot.

I'd like to know whether he returns the 18ml of excess oil he extracts to the canister... It seems to me there's a risk of contamination. Dan once posted on cleaning the EXT box thoroughly before changing grease types.

[Danneaux]

Dan once posted on cleaning the EXT box thoroughly before changing grease types.

Yep!

...and when touring in the desert, I do a wipe-down of the hub each night and use a (clean, washed, used) mascara brush between my exposed chain links to remove the desert playa before relubing the chain. You're absolutely correct about the composition of grinding paste and without some periodic care, that's what forms naturally as I ride in the desert.

Best,

Dan.

[Brush2805]

I followed these instructions and before attaching the syringe I drew it out to 35ml. I waited for over an hour and hardly any oil drained out. I had to suck it out with the syringe.

[Andre Jute]

I followed these instructions and before attaching the syringe I drew it out to 35ml. I waited for over an hour and hardly any oil drained out. I had to suck it out with the syringe.

Nothing to worry about. Sounds like a very tight syringe causing an air lock. As long as you got some dirty oil back out, and the gearbox accepted the 14ml or more all seasons oil that you put in at the next step without overflowing, you're good to go.

It would be good to hear that
-- before you started the service, you cleaned the hub so that the vents weren't blocked, and
-- after filling with fresh oil, you drew out a little air to equalise the internal and external air pressure so that the problem doesn't occur again.

[buffet]

I was performing my first oil change procedure today. One thing caught my eye and got me paranoid: when I unscrewed the oil drain plug, and looked inside the hole, it seems like the hole in the internals of the hub does not align with the hole on the outer shell. Please check the photo I took below. Is this normal?

[WorldTourer]

I was performing my first oil change procedure today. One thing caught my eye and got me paranoid: when I unscrewed the oil drain plug, and looked inside the hole, it seems like the hole in the internals of the hub does not align with the hole on the outer shell. Please check the photo I took below. Is this normal?

I wouldn't worry about a slightly off-center oil hole like that. I think my own hub is similar. Since you use a syringe with a threaded-screw tube when you change the oil, the oil is going to go where it needs to go regardless.

[PH]

I've never noticed, next time I do an oil change I'll have a look, but I'm assuming that's normal.  I'm not sure it has anything to line up with, I thought all parts of the internals rotated hence the warnings about not screwing the plug in too far.

[rafiki]

My recollection is that I see a similar overlap.

[Matt2matt2002]

My recollection is that I see a similar overlap.

Snap

Best
Matt

[Andre Jute]

Your photograph shows that the oil goes slightly sideways and then down. It doesn't actually matter where the new oil goes as long as it doesn't come out again, which as WorldTourer says is unlikely with a screw-fit pipe. You just need to wheel the bike a few feet or lift it up by the rack and turn the pedals and all those surfaces will be coated in fresh All-Seasons Oil. If you are worried about it, ride the bike a bit in gears 3 and 5, which will put both gear trains in use, same as you did to give the lighter cleaning oil a good chance to clean all surfaces.

[buffet]

Thank you all for clarification. I actually enjoyed the oil-changing procedure, it felt like doing something good for the hub