Leak/service questions

[mickeg]

I bought my Rohloff hub separately from the Nomad Mk II frame.  And I had to change the position of that axle plate.  Thus, I opened that area up.  In my case, it is my recollection that it was not filled with anything, the hub was brand new and no oil had yet been put in it.

Yes, that was exactly my experience too.

This coming spring, I plan to open that up, clean it out, fill void space with grease.   Would do that during my annual oil change.  As you can see from the attached photo, I have had some oil loss that was a dirt magnet on mine.

I took the photo on my Iceland trip.  I changed the oil immediately before my flight to Iceland, I suspect that my hub was shipped non-drive side down on one or both flights, as it was already leaking when I assembled my bike at the start in Iceland.

Since then, if I change oil before a flight, I empty the hub but add the new oil after the flight instead of before the flight.

[PH]

This coming spring, I plan to open that up, clean it out, fill void space with grease. 

I think I may do the same next time I have a wheel out.  It's one of those things which is simple enough that it can't do any harm even if you're sceptical about it usefulness.

[tronstein]

Not sure if anyone will notice this update, but after cleaning everything up, I did what the service video recommends at about 2:30 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WGNFZjavXcI  The bike got a couple short rides, but mostly sat for a couple of months.  I got it out today and it has the same leakage as in my original post, albeit not as severe.  All in all, I'm not too worried about it in general, but I do struggle to understand how so many minor leaks, "misting", and "sweating" of oil is considered normal, but it surely has to affect the pads and rotor on a disc brake hub. 

My rear brake is pretty good for a short period after I replace or clean/resurface my pads and rotor and then it becomes quite inadequate as it gets contaminated.  How do others cope with this?

[PH]

My rear brake is pretty good for a short period after I replace or clean/resurface my pads and rotor and then it becomes quite inadequate as it gets contaminated.  How do others cope with this?

That's a horrible, and expensive, problem to have, but I don't think it's as normal as the question implies.  I've had disc Rohloffs for about six years and  haven't contaminated a rotor or pads, interested to hear others experience.  I change oil as recommended in Thorn's "Living with a Rohloff" PDF booklet and as I detailed in a earlier post:
http://thorncyclesforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=14788.msg111085#msg111085

I don't know if that's going to solve your issue, I can't remember if I'd already converted to disc when I started doing it like that, it is the method which leaves the least in the hub to leak out, which is likely to be a good thing.

[mickeg]

I have had a lot of leakage out of my EX box area, but only minimal oil coating on the part of my hub that would have the Rotor mount if I had a disc version.  I only have one Rohloff, rim brake version.  Thus, my question is only curiosity.

Is the leakage that contaminates rotors more prevalent on hubs with internal gear cables or EX boxes?  Or are both about the same?

[Tiberius]

My rear brake is pretty good for a short period after I replace or clean/resurface my pads and rotor and then it becomes quite inadequate as it gets contaminated.  How do others cope with this?

This is EXACTLY the same problem that I have with my hub and disc brake.

 It wasn't immediately obvious why my rear brake was so poor, I hadn't noticed any oil on the rotor or the floor etc, but then I did notice that the underneath of the cable box was wet with oil and the penny dropped. I haven't found any way of actually stopping the leak, but I always park the bike leaning over to the drive side.

I decided to do this year's oil change as/the method refered to by PH above, thinking less oil in means less oil to leak out. I did this a couple of days ago and it's just too early to say if it has made much of a difference. I will pop back in a month with an update.

EDIT - I've just had a quick check over the bike. 60Km after completing the oil change the cable box is wet inside and underneath. let's see how it goes over the next month.

[tronstein]

My rear brake is pretty good for a short period after I replace or clean/resurface my pads and rotor and then it becomes quite inadequate as it gets contaminated.  How do others cope with this?

That's a horrible, and expensive, problem to have, but I don't think it's as normal as the question implies.  I've had disc Rohloffs for about six years and  haven't contaminated a rotor or pads, interested to hear others experience.  I change oil as recommended in Thorn's "Living with a Rohloff" PDF booklet and as I detailed in a earlier post:
http://thorncyclesforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=14788.msg111085#msg111085

I don't know if that's going to solve your issue, I can't remember if I'd already converted to disc when I started doing it like that, it is the method which leaves the least in the hub to leak out, which is likely to be a good thing.

I should do an oil change soon and I'll keep this in mind.

[PH]

Is the leakage that contaminates rotors more prevalent on hubs with internal gear cables or EX boxes?  Or are both about the same?

I had my oldest one converted to disc, it leaked before, leaked after, I doubt there's any difference, the bearings and seals it's coming through are the same, there's nothing on the outer side of that which is going to stop it, though where it ends up will be different.
My newest hub is a TS (Nutted) version, that seems to leak less, though it's only three years old so maybe too early to draw any conclusions. 

[mickeg]

...
My newest hub is a TS (Nutted) version, that seems to leak less, though it's only three years old so maybe too early to draw any conclusions.

I have had a lot of oil on my skewer when I remove the skewer.  But others have not reported any oil on the skewer.  I would not be surprised if mine was missing a seal or had a bad seal.

[Matt2matt2002]

I have had a lot of oil on my skewer when I remove the skewer.  But others have not reported any oil on the skewer.  I would not be surprised if mine was missing a seal or had a bad seal.

That's interesting. As I checked over my Raven before flying, I though the skewer was oily but put it down to the grease I had used on it nearly a year ago. Maybe it was oil?
Recent oil change produced zero dirty oil after 11 months use.
Not that it concerned me.
Popped in 15+ ml
. That'll do me until I return home.

Best
Matt

[mickeg]

...
Popped in 15+ ml
. That'll do me until I return home.

Best
Matt

I had a lot of leakage on my Iceland trip.  I changed the oil at home before I did that trip.  I would not be surprised if a lot of oil had leaked into my EX box on the flight.  I fly with my bike in an S&S case, so the bike might fly with the side of the hub oriented down.  I assume if you fly with a bike in a bike box that it flies with the box oriented upwards.  Thus, I might get more leakage that way.

My next trip that involved flying, I rinsed the hub (cleaning oil) and drained it.  Then flew to my destination, and added the oil at my destination.  Thus, it flew with a drained hub.  I seemed to have a bit less leakage on that trip.

[mickeg]

Today, changed my oil.  And while I was working on the bike, removed the five Torx screws that hold the torque plate (OEM Axle Plate) and EX Box mechanism from the hub.  The paper gaskets look good.  I could not see any reason for my oil leakage from the non-driveside.  I do not have replacement gaskets and in USA they are either a fortune or out of stock, so did not change the gaskets. 

Put the EX Box mechanism back on the hub, then before I installed the OEM Axle Plate, put a bunch of Phil grease surrounding the shifter gear to see if that will reduce my oil loss.  And put the five screws back in.

Will find out later if my oil loss continues to be significant or not.

[Matt2matt2002]

Hi Mick
I'll be in USA from November.
Like me to bring a gasket over & post it to you?

Matt

[mickeg]

I made this comment a few days ago, underlining added for emphasis:

Today, changed my oil ... while I was working on the bike, removed the five Torx screws that hold the torque plate (OEM Axle Plate) and EX Box mechanism from the hub.  ... Put the EX Box mechanism back on the hub, then before I installed the OEM Axle Plate, put a bunch of Phil grease surrounding the shifter gear to see if that will reduce my oil loss.  And put the five screws back in.

Will find out later if my oil loss continues to be significant or not.

I did a 40.4 mile ride yesterday, and this morning there is no evidence of oil leakage from the EX box.  Thus, that grease may have blocked the pathway for oil to leak out of the hub.  I am sure that it is temporary, thin oil should readily dissolve grease, but it would be nice if it lasts for a while.

I have a sidestand on the Nomad Mk II, the bike leans slightly to the left on the stand, which would make it easier for oil to leak out of the left side of the hub.

Hi Mick
I'll be in USA from November.
Like me to bring a gasket over & post it to you?

Matt

Thank you for the offer, but no thanks.  I have no plans to open that up again. 

I am hoping that a bunch of grease in there will slow the rate of oil leakage, and if it does not, it should be no worse than the past nine years.

[tronstein]

Mick,

I'm curious to see how mine fares after an oil change.  A while back I did the same thing as you did with grease, but it doesn't seem to have helped much.  But that being said, I didn't put many miles on it or change the oil and then I shredded the tire.  Still deciding if I'll just get a new tire or possibly change the wheel size.  But when I do one of those, I'll change my oil and report back after riding as well.