Noisy wife ..

Hi All,

Well, not the wife (this time) but her exercise bike ;-)

It's quite a nice Tunturi Ergometer 420 (she's getting ready for when we go out on our solo's / tandem this year) but it squeeks a bit now.

It uses a flat, toothed belt (like a cambelt) to drive the magnetic 'friction' flywheel and as that gently drifts against the guide / tension rollers it gives of a sort of rhythmic squeak.

The makers suggest the use of talc (on the drive belt ) and that does work but not for very long?

I believe the front toothed wheel is a sort of plastic / nylon as is the (smooth) tension roller but I think the rear drive gear / roller clutch is alloy.

Any tribologists out there?

All the best ..

T i m

Reply to
T i m
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In message , T i m writes

Have you thought of sticking her out in the garden?

Reply to
geoff

Ah but Tim, just think what the neighbours think you are up to for hours with that rhythmic squeak - curing it will hit your street cred hard!

Andrew

Reply to
Andrew Mawson

[T] Tried that but the neighbours complained!

Cheers ;-)

T i m

Reply to
T i m

Hmmm, good point ... she's up to 10 miles at 14mph at the moment ...

43 mins worth of squeeking .. I wish!

Nice to think I had some street cred left Andrew! (assuming I had any in the first place).

All the best ..

T i m

Reply to
T i m

TRY A BAR OF HAND SOAP RUBBED ON THE EDGE OF THE BELT THAT TOUCHES. USED TO WORK WELL ON THE OLD CAR FANBELTS.

Reply to
Jim

you can buy special belt spray from a car shop, that should stop the noise.

Reply to
MrCheerful

Hi Jim,

That sounds a goodun .. I wanted to make sure I didn't affect the plastics or belt etc so soap should be pretty safe shouldn't it?

I suprised they used that trick on fanbelts though (if we are talking about std 'V' belts here) as I thought they worked via friction on the sides and the soap might make them slip (wouldn't it?).

All the best ..

T i m

Reply to
T i m

Ok, thanks for that .. I'll have a nose in my car spares place tomorrow (need to pop in for a couple of rose joints anyway) and if they have some, see what it says on the can regarding plastics etc ..

All the best ..

T i m

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Reply to
T i m

On Fri, 2 Apr 2004 22:11:21 +0000 (UTC), in uk.d-i-y "Jim" strung together this:

No need to shout! Please write in lowercase, with capitals at the beginning of sentences etc...

Reply to
Lurch

If the traction of the belt is acheived with the teeth (rather than just friction) you may be able to get away with a little silicone grease. (Only make sure it is silicone as normal grease will cause your rubber to perish - and you won't be getting much squeeking after that!)

The sheds will most likely have some, if not a plumbers merchant will - it's is used on the O rings of push fit waste fittings to make assembly easy. CPC also do it in handy tubes:-

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Reply to
John Rumm

I had to look that up in the dictionary! :-)

If it's the pulley teeth that are squeaking on the belt (and vice versa) then painting on some light silicone grease (NOT ordinary mechnical lubricant grease) sparingly can be very effective - I use this for squeaky toothed belts on blood sample tube sorting robots in hospital labs. They move pretty fast, and go all day, unlike your wife's exercise bike. See

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.

Alternatively, if you don't have any silicone grease, or if the noise is caused by the sides of the belt rubbing against the guides etc., try some spray polish like Mister Sheen or Mansion. It can be very effective, and I've used that on the robots as well, but I don't know how long it would be before the effect wore off. Rather than using polish, a 'dry' silicone lubricant spray might be better still - my wife used to have a can to lubricate her knitting machine some years ago.

Good luck.

Rick

Reply to
Richard Sterry

Bless ;-) I onky know it becasue my mate suudidied 'tribology' at college ;-)

Nice bit of kit Rick ... I wonder what the 10 lab technicians are doing that it replaced .. ;-(

I think I do .. 'Rocol MX22' ?

or if the noise is

Which I believe it is .. I think the last time I played in there I think the nose could be supressed when the belt / pulley was eased to one side.

try some

Oh, ok does that use silicone then?

It can be very effective, and

We have a local knitting / sewing machine shop .. I might see what they have to offer ;-)

Thanks Rick .. I'll report back to the list my findings .. ;-)

All the best ..

T i m

Reply to
T i m

Fair point, but I have to turn that on its head, and say the kit is popular because of problems with staff recruitment of new staff in NHS labs. Believe me, far from being hostile towards such automation, the technicians (well, actually they are Medical Laboratory Scientists - many are graduates) absolutely love it. They are freed from many mind-numbingly tedious tasks, real drudgery, and can concentrate on using their knowledge and skills to do the real job where a brain is required. Try decapping and sorting 7,000 blood tubes a day, and then archiving them afterwards for cold storage, and you'd see my point!

Yes, might be worth a try, but do apply sparingly with a small paint brush (eg 1/2"). The idea is to make the surface appear shiny, not actually blathered in obvious lumps of grease.

It certainly does.

Good luck. May the squeak not be with you.

Rick

Reply to
Richard Sterry

Fair enough ;-)

They are freed from many mind-numbingly tedious tasks,

I bet .. point noted ..however .. near me there used to be a salad packing plant. It employed some imigrant workers and local folk who probably couldn't (or didn't want to) get better jobs elsewhere. I would put that sort of task at the same level (of 'involvement') as your blood test one. Then they brought out the minimum wage and quite a few lost their (mind numbing) jobs. Ask *them* if they were happy with such employment 'progress'? It could be a bit different if there is a genuine shortage of workers .. plus the human error issues etc ..?

Gotcha ..

Ta ;-) (I don't *do* polishing ..furniture / cars or otherwise) ;-)

Please!

All the best .. and thanks again ..

T i m

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Reply to
T i m

Unfortunately, a certain level of training and intelligence is required for work in these laboratories, and recruitment is a genuine problem. If it were not, then we would not be having this discussion. All this has nothing to do with the price of silicone grease, and it was not my intention to champion the cause of laboratory automation (well, not here anyway)! :-)

Me neither - I reserve the Mister Sheen for cleaning helmet visors, lubricating squeaky belts, sticky loft ladders and curtain rails. :-)

Rick

Reply to
Richard Sterry

I'd like to think it was as simple as that .. but as you say .. for another day / place maybe ;-)

So what *is* Mr Sheen then .. *just* silicone ..? (ie, there isn't a better raw supply of whatever-it-is at the price .. are there any other ingredients that may have an adverse affect on some materials .. like a perfume for example?)

I use Bob Heah visor cleaner and just soapy water on the cash helmet ;-)

All the best ..

T i m (R100RT (family holiday / touring and towing camping trailer), CB "Two Fifty" (local runabout), MZ ETZ 125 & 250 .. 'projects ..')

Reply to
T i m

Mister Sheen must contain a whole variety of substances, including detergents and heaven knows what else. As for Silicone itself, one definition I found is:

"Any of a variety of polymeric organic silicon compounds. Siloxane polymers consisting of alternate silicon and oxygen atoms with various organic radicals attached to the silicon."

Yes, as I said earlier, you can get Silicone sprays which are more geared(!) towards stopping squeaks, rather than cleaning your furniture. A quick Google search for "silicone belt spray" will pull up some examples. You might even find something in your local car accessory store or machine tool suppliers. Halfords do a plastic/rubber lubricant spray, (in yellow cans matching the ones containing spray oil), which I used for the toothed drive belt on my garage door mechanism. The jury is still out as to its effectiveness.

Let us know how you go on.

Rick (F650GS / R1150GS)

Reply to
Richard Sterry

Your wife rode a knitting machine?

Mary

Reply to
Mary Fisher

Um, no. Well, not when I was around anyway. In fact, thinking back, she didn't much else with either, least of all knit! ;-)

Rick

Reply to
Richard Sterry

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