Aeroshell 5-6

[c170b53]

Need some grease to get me through my annual. Know this stuff is sought after but thought I’d put it out there if someone wants to part with some thks. PM pls

[GAHorn]

Yeah…there was a fire at the production plant and Aeroshell greases are supposedly in short-suppy.

The "approved" Service Manual for our airplanes, (Cessna 100-Series Service Manual, 1962 and Prior) states in Section 2, page 10 to use "Mil-G-25760" grease for wheel bearings. It then instructs "The Military Specifications listed below are not mandatory but are intended as Guides in choosing satisfactory materials. Products of most reputable manufacturers meet or exceed these specifications."

I actually prefer to use a marine water-proof wheel bearing grease because of the almost “open” nature of Cleveland and Goodyear wheel bearing installations. ( Felt washers….not very well “sealed”)

addendum: I noticed Spruce claims to have Aeroshell 5 and 6 “in stock”: https://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/ ... grease.php

[c170b53]

George, its a sign of the times. AC Spruce is o.o.s., has been for a long time. I would normally order stuff from them but try to spread stuff around, as its better to not rely on one source.
Aeroshell 5 was the approved grease for Hartzell for some time, then they went to Aeroshell 6 with a few hick-ups but got it sorted out and became the standard. Then the fire. Now its being hoarded for good reason. Hartzell now approves another grease which is available but guess what ? Its a familiar play, its not compatible with A-5 or A-6 and if you need to grease your C/S prop Hartzell says you must disassemble you prop to clean out the old grease before using the new grease. Again, its a bad idea to have one big player and its something those looking for a new prop might want to keep in mind.
So being the idiot I am, last annual, I gave my prop a few squirts like I always do and as there’s no qty. gauge on a grease gun, it took a bunch of pumping to get that last little dribbles out. Didn’t think that not having an extra tube of $15 grease around was potentially going to cost me a prop O/H when the prop only has 7 years since new.
I’m not alone here.

[GAHorn]

A-HA..!! for the Hartzell PROP! ( That’s not Original, you know.)

(sorry)

[c170b53]

Ah…relief, got some from a stash.

[johneeb]

Jim, I think 22 down is peanutbutter

[c170b53]

Thanks John but Ah..that would be cheating, like asking google how to spell something which I have been known to do.
Aeroshell 22 and Aeroshell 5 do resemble peanut butter, 22 we used to slather on truck axles and was used to stuff wheel bearings. Peanut butter is also triggering of substances encountered in ATA 38, issues with, grounding many a plane. Having problems with such a system as we all know can be troubling and fixing them all part the glory of working in aviation.
Just thinking of the memories, one instance stands out. I think it was a B777, where the vacuum system Lav tubes make a 90 degree turn at the front of the aft cargo centre ceiling area. The tube at the top turns and runs to the sidewall then aft lines run to the tanks. We had come up with a system to clear plugged tubes using pressurized air connected to an adapter which attached to waste tube of the removed forward Lav toilet bowl. In the aft pit, a large garbage taped to the disconnected line to collected materials, was monitored by one person whilst another applied pressure at the forward lavatory to clear the blockage. We had used this method many times successfully but it went a bit sideways when a new guy hooked up a high pressure bottle rather than a low pressure bottle. On the ground, I was provided communication between the cabin and the aft pit .When all was ready I gave the go ahead to apply the air when there was this terrific bang from inside in the aft pit. I ran up an air stair into the aft pit to see my colleague staggering aft towards me from the front. Looking past him to the front, no longer were the aft pit sidewalls white except for an outline of where our observer had stood. It was hard not to laugh while assisting my co- worker out of the plane, but I tried.

[johneeb]

One morning while walking through the cabin meeting the flight attendants we would be flying with. While in the very aft galley one of our line maintenance men came into the galley and asked the flight attendants working there where was the garbage disposal. One of the attendants replied there is no garbage disposal here to which he replied that's right stop putting garbage down the coffee maker drain. It seems he had just had a similar experience as your team, although probably not as gross, clearing the drain.

[c170b53]

Very gross work but we got used to it I guess. Yes training flight attendants to properly dispose of nasties or coffee grounds proved to be impossible. Thank goodness Boeing came up with the GWDU, galley waste disposal unit.We spent a significant amount of time on these issues. We didn’t like the work but we didn’t like Skydrol soaking us during spoiler actuator changes either. We did have many funny moments. We had one tool called the super sucker, need I say more ?
We also had a vehicle called the circus truck which obviously got its name from the situations around its use.
I’m 10 months into retirement, guess I do still miss the work sometimes but miss the fun of my workmates much more.

[Bruce Fenstermacher]

Jim, since you posted, I've taken note of these two cans on the back shelf of our parts department.

IMG_2750D-Scaled.JPG (103.77 KiB) Viewed 897 times

,
Casual thoughts of date codes come to mind as I look at the yellow can. Though, really, is that a problem seeing how well it is sealed in the plastic bag.

[c170b53]

That stuff is gold Bruce as I don’t see Aeroshell bringing those products back in to production and there’s a horde of Hartzell propellors owners needing grease. Commercial operators probably hurting harder with finding non expired grease.

[GAHorn]

That stuff is gold Bruce as I don’t see Aeroshell bringing those products back in to production and there’s a horde of Hartzell propellors owners needing grease. Commercial operators probably hurting harder with finding non expired grease.

Grease expires..?? (I was taught a generic shelf-life of aviation greases was 5 years, but here’s an article referencing Exxon/Mobil on the subject):

https://www.aviationpros.com/tools-equi ... -practices

Shell says 3 years:
https://www.silmid.com/Documents/FAQ%20 ... 62019%20(1).pdf

NATO says 72 months.

I’ve got a can of “Alemite” I think my Dad inherited from HIS Dad. It’s the only “fibrous” grease I’ve ever seen. I used it on a bicycle-crank ball bearing for the neighbors kid and he’s still alive.