Hey,

What is safe to use on Cams? Not so sure about Q20 or equivalent.

I've used WD40 (twice as good as Q20 ) on my WC friends, but I've heard there are better options. Apparently you get a dry lubricant and the idea is that it doesn't collect dirt like Q20. I haven't had any trouble after lubing my cams, I was just very careful to not get any of it on the slings. I have a seized up master cam and I would like to try and fix it with a dry lube, mostly because I don't want to get any Q20 on the kevlar triggers. Can anyone give me some advice on what to buy and where? I'm going to look in a hardware store in any case, to see what I can find.

What you want is graphite powder. Try a locksmith.

Oh no, those rusty master cams seizing up shorti?

"Copperslip" is a dry lube, not sure how many variants there are. You can buy it in a tube. Not sure if it's latex-safe though

Take it to a bicycle shop... No its not funny...

We use dry lube on the chains which is ideal for cams. Its a liquid that flows into all the grooves and then all the extra alcohol evaporates leaving only the good stuff behind where it is needed most. Im sure they wont even charge you for it.

At least I have 7 left, you still only have 5 C3s! And it's not rust, it's ... something else, I think.

Thanks for the advice. I've had a peek at the mountain bike forums, and lube seems to be quite the topic of debate. I'm not that fussy, as long as it works, I'll be happy.

5 C3's and 8 C4's of which 2 of the C3's have never left the house(brand new) ie. no lube needed... We still need to do a trip together so we can use them C3's

Hi guys

We now sell the Cam Doctor Trigger Wire Repair Kit. Might help you fix/lube those cams.

Nice, can you send me one of those kits? Or is it better to beg one of my Capie buddies to buy me one?

All right all right Oukie, you don't have to lure me with your cams, I'll go climb with you See you at the wall tonight.

Negative - not 2 nite its sisters Bday so going for supper at a fancy place.

Buy a really hard pencil (like a 4H) and split it to get the lead out (or buy lengths of lead if you can find them still) and grind it up. Sprinkle the powder in the cam's moving parts.

Or buy silicon lubricant, also works very well and does not degrade slings as other lubricants can.

_________________
Happy climbing
Nic

If it's fully siezed you might have to use a bit of force on it to free up the seized cams. As I climb on the seacliffs a fair bit I quite often get cams seizing up (plus I'm a lui bliksem when it comes to gear maintenance). Give it a good lubeing up, leave it for a day or so then get it in a vice to apply pressure to get cams moving again, but don't overdo it! A few taps wilth a mallet help too.

Metolius cam lube is made specifically for cams, nothing else. It's a wax formula that goes on wet and sets dry to give dirt resistant smooth action.

I don't say this just because we bring it into the country but I don't know of anything else on the South African market like it... I stand to be corrected though if there is.

I've used it on my cams and it works well.

We stock it at CityROCK

Cheers,

L

Exactly the same as the bicycle chain lube. It is called Dry lube but one also get a variant which is called dry wax.

haha, nice one Nic, I also thought of doing that, but I don't really see how that will work. A liquid that dries seems better. The lobes and springs on those metolius cams are super tightly packed, I'm amazed it can actually move.

Chris, it's not completely seized up, it's more of a sticky problem. I can trigger it, but it doesn't cam again on it's own.

Without getting too technical, graphite is a form of carbon that is made of flat sheets of carbon atoms, one atom thick that are stacked on top of one another. They can slide around on top of one another with very little resistance making a decent dry lubricant.

A 4H pencil is pretty much pure graphite so when you sprinkle it in the working parts it will lubricate them. This works in practice I promise.

_________________
Happy climbing
Nic

Sticky problem? I don't dare ask what you do with your cams

Sounds like brute force is probably not necessary then, hopefully some lube will sort it out.

You can buy graphite powder from builders warehouse and locksmiths... no need to grind it.

The dry wax to use on cams is "White Lightening" imported ex USA and expensive or local equivalent "Squirt" from Pretoria both available from most bicycle shops. They are both excellent lubes for cams and don't accumulate grit and dust as do Q20 etc. Apply lube to the axles and then work the cam so that the lube penetrates then wipe any excess off with cloth. Seized cams or slow returning cams usually means there is grit and dust mixed with the original lube on the axles. The best way to free them is to clean them ultrasonically in an ultrasonic bath as used by jewellers.
If you are in Cape Town I can do this for you as well as replace any cables with the correct gauge stainless steel cable, properly crimped.

Well, I took 'em to Cape Town and that is when the trouble started... It's probably just dassie piss.
Squirt really is worthy of all the hype! My cam is all lubed up and running smoothly

http://www.artattackshop.co.za/e-shop?p ... gory_id=16
I found this place on the internet selling graphite powder. They sell graphite powder a lot cheaper than the 15gram bottles of graphite powder you buy at the hardware for locks. Is graphite powder graphite powder? Is the graphite powder you buy at the hardware store in the 15gram bottles for locks maybe finer than this graphite powder they sell to artists called cretacolour graphite powder? I am trying to understand the price difference and trying to make sure it is the same product.

It's important to buy graphite powder in a little squirt bottle, as you 'squirt' it VERY carefully into the rotating/sliding parts of a cam (time consuming to get it right). It's not something you can easily spoon or pour, as it doesn't readily stick. It is the quintessential dry lube though; none of the others mentioned on this thread are actually truly dry and they will attract dirt. This can, however, be partially mitigated by using only a VERY small amount of, say, wax-based lube. Copperslip is most certainly not dry and is chiefly used on bolt threads.