[MattK]

I'm looking for opinions of the best oil/grease to put on the movable parts of Alumapole components. The pumps say to oil all bushings monthly, the arms have flex-positioned brackets to attach to the roof. I figured with another nasty winter heading in, now is a good time to thoroughly go over all movable parts. It won't prevent some from rusting but should guarantee proper function in some very low temperatures.

WD-40, PB Blaster, small quantities of white lithium grease, some other specialty oil? Have gotten a few different answers so far. It also seems some guys don't oil or treat their pumps ever.

 

[BlueRidgeGreen]

Great question.

Mine are on a rack attached to the ext. back wall of my shop or on site and always exposed to the weather.

I occasionally/rarely spray everything with whatever is closest...WD...3in1.

Will they die a premature death? Do I have to find a way to fit them inside or build a roof over the rack? Please answer "no, they'll be fine".

 

[Tom Struble]

that black or red plastic bolt on the pump comes off,count the number of turns it takes to remove it.

under it you will see a series of plastic disks that should be checked for wear,i shoot some brake cleaner in the hole and lube with some 30# oil after it dries

reinstall the plastic nut the number of turns they took to remove,you may need to adjust them after cleaning

the other thing is the threads on the top bracket clamps tend to strip over time and the arms can be hard to swing,couple of drops of oil on all the pivot points help

check the holes on the flanges that you attach to the roof,long term use causes the holes to widen and could possibly allow the fastener head to pull thru,i usually drill extra holes in them anyway so i don't need to reposition them if the screw happens to fall in a board seam

 

[Dan_Watson]

We just picked up our first set of poles, but we use Dupont Teflon spray on everything else, so I am sure that is what we will use.

 

[loneframer]

Working near the beach for years, I never lubricated any of the parts, other than the crank handle for winding down. The sand in the air will cling to anything you put on the parts and cause just as many problems as they solve as far as premature wear.

 

[MattK]

Well, we do very little on the coast so I'm not worried about sand getting bogged in. I like the multiple holes in the bracket attachments too. I'll be doing that this weekend.

 

[Tom M]

I very seldom oil them, and since I dont use themas frequently as I used to I keep the poles outside and remove the pumps and so I can store them in the garage.

Great company Aluma Pole...About 7-8 months back I decided to tune up the pumps with missing springs & oblonged roller sleeves. They sent me a whole box of brand new parts for free. The set ups are 17 yr or older.

 

[jlsconstruction]

I use pb or wd, what ever I have on hand