Yearly maintenance

[Andyb1]

I bought a 10 x change oil and flush kit from SJS, £55.  No carriage as I collected.  If anyone wants to share it please PM me, if not I will slowly use it up over then next 10 years!

[PH]

I bought a 10 x change oil and flush kit from SJS, £55.  No carriage as I collected.  If anyone wants to share it please PM me, if not I will slowly use it up over then next 10 years!

Just a reminder the service intervals are every 12 months or 5,000km.  The 10x kit doesn't necessarily equate to ten years.

[Tiberius]

Knowing what I know now, I wish that I had never bothered with the 25ml bottles and gone straight to the 250ml bottles (I appreciate that the bottles contain different quantities now)

When I first got my Rohloff, I used the small bottles for the first couple of changes as I didn't really know any better or how long I would be keeping the hub. Over the years I've come to realise that my Rohloff is a 'Keeper' and so buying the 250ml bottles became the obvious choice.

Time flies - It's surprising how quickly you're looking at a 250ml bottle containing just a dribble of oil.

[mickeg]

Knowing what I know now, I wish that I had never bothered with the 25ml bottles and gone straight to the 250ml bottles (I appreciate that the bottles contain different quantities now)

When I first got my Rohloff, I used the small bottles for the first couple of changes as I didn't really know any better or how long I would be keeping the hub. ...

I did the 25ml bottles twice but do not regret it.  When I bought the 250ml bottles later, I needed the syringe, tubing, etc., that was needed to do the job.  That stuff came with the initial 25ml bottle kit.

[Andyb1]

I have now gone down the identical route to Tib and Mick above…..

5000km is 3125 miles which is a little bit more than my current annual mileage on my Rohloff bike so 250ml will definitely last me 10 years!

[Andre Jute]

For the new Rohloff owner, two of the small bottle and syringe and tube set are a good investment as he will anyway need two syringes and two tubes if he is to keep clean and dirty oil apart. The smallest bottles are also useful for measuring out oil, and the 50ml one as a temporary container until you dispose of dirty oil.

[PH]

For the new Rohloff owner, two of the small bottle and syringe and tube set are a good investment as he will anyway need two syringes and two tubes if he is to keep clean and dirty oil apart. The smallest bottles are also useful for measuring out oil, and the 50ml one as a temporary container until you dispose of dirty oil.

The £24 one shot kit comes with syringe, tube and grub screw, available separately for £11.  People will spend their hard earned how they choose, but opting for the 10 shot oil and components from the start reduces the expense by £15.  Though it's understandable some won't want the initial cost.
You can make greater savings if you don't mind going off brand, syringes are half that price on Ebay.  I haven't found an alternative supply for the pipe with threaded end, I don't know where to look? There's some difference of opinion if a new grub screw is necessary each time, I don't bother and accept a tiny smear of oil may leak past it.  If you do use an alternative,  Thorn's ex-workshop manager explained, in a post somewhere, which thread lock to use, it's the cost of that which stops me replacing each time.

How are people disposing of oil?  I'm advised to take it to the local tip where they have a motor oil disposal tank.  I put mine in a 5ltr oil can, I have 25 years worth!  It's not half full, like nuclear waste, I may leave it for the next generation to deal with.

[Andyb1]

For both the oil changes which I have done I used a little blue locktite 243 on the grub screw.  One screw should be reuseable many, many times - but I have a spare just incase I loose the original.  Degreasing the threads on the grub screw helps and I put the clean grub screw gently into the hub, removed it and degreased it a couple of times to try to degrease the thread in the hub.
I can not see why there would be any problem taking the old oil to a council recycling place?
 

[UKTony]

For the new Rohloff owner, two of the small bottle and syringe and tube set are a good investment as he will anyway need two syringes and two tubes if he is to keep clean and dirty oil apart. The smallest bottles are also useful for measuring out oil, and the 50ml one as a temporary container until you dispose of dirty oil.

The £24 one shot kit comes with syringe, tube and grub screw, available separately for £11.  People will spend their hard earned how they choose, but opting for the 10 shot oil and components from the start reduces the expense by £15.  Though it's understandable some won't want the initial cost.
You can make greater savings if you don't mind going off brand, syringes are half that price on Ebay.  I haven't found an alternative supply for the pipe with threaded end, I don't know where to look? There's some difference of opinion if a new grub screw is necessary each time, I don't bother and accept a tiny smear of oil may leak past it.  If you do use an alternative,  Thorn's ex-workshop manager explained, in a post somewhere, which thread lock to use, it's the cost of that which stops me replacing each time.

How are people disposing of oil?  I'm advised to take it to the local tip where they have a motor oil disposal tank.  I put mine in a 5ltr oil can, I have 25 years worth!  It's not half full, like nuclear waste, I may leave it for the next generation to deal with.

A full oil change kit came with my new bike in 2013. Subsequently I bought the single use fluids only kit each year on an as-needed basis. I didn’t think my annual mileage justified bulk purchase and I was conscious of the 5 year shelf life I’d heard about at the time (although I’ve never seen any ‘use by’ date on the containers).  However when I bought a second Rohloff bike in 2023 I did buy a 250ml twin pack (not long before the quantities changed). By then I’d also accumulated an ample collection of used only once drain screws, plus a few unused ones with preapplied thread sealant, as backups. Luckily, the additional bike came with a spare set of fluids plus spare syringe so I’m well kitted out for a while.

Disposal
The label on the Rohloff oil says it’s “readidily (sic) biodegradable”. Like you I’ve been disposing of the small amount of waste hub oil by putting it in my old car waste oil container to eventually take to the Sort-it tip. But is that really necessary if it’s biodegradable? The small amount I have each year could easily be soaked up in kitchen paper towel and put in the house non-recyclable waste?

Thread sealant
I don’t know what Rohloff actually use but the recommended thread sealant you’re thinking of is probably Loctite 511?

Filler tube
The tube itself is like the tubing I remember as a boy using to connect model aircraft engines to the fuel tanks though the diameter might be different. I’ve no idea where to look for the plastic screw-in end but in any event the Rohloff filler tube is available to buy from SJSC for £1.99.

[PH]

This is the Loctite info I was thinking of, though I thought there was a more detailed post, if there is I couldn't find it, Tony is correct, 511 is the right stuff, when I looked a little bottle was £30!

Blue medium strength loctite is fine on most bolts but not drain screws.
You need something oil proof that seals, your not actually looking to lock the thread.
Rohloff use Weicon AN301-72, you can use Loctite 511.

[Andyb1]

Assuming you did not use 511, PH, what did you use?

Locktite comes in many different flavours and for a job like this (low undoing loads, no pressurised or hot oils or nasty chemicals) a lot of different types will work, but personally I would  avoid a high strength one.
Good that 511 is suggested as it must mean that it works OK, but that does not mean that other types will not work.
 

[martinf]

This is the Loctite info I was thinking of, though I thought there was a more detailed post, if there is I couldn't find it, Tony is correct, 511 is the right stuff, when I looked a little bottle was £30!

Probably cheaper to buy 10 Rohloff drainscrews at 25€20 (Bike24 price to France without port) and re-use once or twice before replacing.

Unless you can also use the Loctite for something else (not my case so far).

[mickeg]

The SJS video says Locktite 511:
https://youtu.be/fVhmgqICNhU?feature=shared&t=377

I have used the plain old threadlocker that is blue in color and labeled as removable.  There are several brands besides Loctite.  I have never tried to buy a specific version of Loctite.  The last couple times I bought some thread locker I bought a brand other than Locktite.

I also put a piece of PVC electrical tape over the screw when I am done to try to keep dirt out of that location and out of the hole in the screw.

I do have a spare screw on hand in case I lose it.  I do this work outside and have lost some tiny little parts on the ground in the past.

Last time I bought threadlocker, this is what I bought, see graphic:

[PH]

Assuming you did not use 511, PH, what did you use? 

I don't use anything, the screw goes back as it came out.  Though I use the Andy B method of oil change as detailed in the "Living with a Rohloff" booklet, so there isn't much oil sloshing around to leak out.  I haven't used a new screw for at least 8 years, it's possible a small amount seeps out, but less than gets past the seals. I did consider the risk of it working loose, but that hasn't happened yet.  The recommendation from DW not to use blue, was due to it not being a seal, I can't see it doing any harm, but if the screw doesn't need securing, and you're not using something that provides a seal, IMO there's no advantage to using anything.

The SJS video says Locktite 511:
https://youtu.be/fVhmgqICNhU?feature=shared&t=377

I'm not sure I'd seen that before.  it's interesting that Rohloff say you don't need a new screw unless it's leaking, I thought the advice was to always replace.