Freeing constipated brake cable

Make sure you've got the last of that lacquer thinner out before you re-assemble.

Al Moore

I bought a little doodad for doing just what you did. That and a can of cable lube set me back about 7 bucks. Boy, the cables sure work better with some lube in 'em. BTW, that Tri-Flow stuff is great. Works great on locks. ERS

FYI: It's *ALWAYS* a bad idea to use a "wet" lube on a lock. Use graphite or similar dry lube for them. Wet lubes can (and given time, will) grab onto anything floating around, and sooner or later, the gunk that develops will either "re-key" the lock on you, or outright jam up the works, either of which is at least a pain in the butt, and often rather expensive to cure.

But don't just take my word for it... Ask any halfway competent locksmith what he thinks about people using wet lubes on locks. Betcha a nickel his answer boils down to something real similar to "I love it! - The fix is tedious, but simple, and I get to charge a small fortune for the service."

I appreciate resourceful people. I used to make my living rebuilding air brake control systems, and I found that 75% of the cores sent back would have worked fine if they'd been opened, cleaned and relubed. I would imagine that a similar percentage of parts are replaced on other equipment simply because they were dirty. I once encountered a faulty stall warning switch on an airplane. Cessna wanted $1000 for a new assembly, which was a three-dollar microswitch and a couple of aluminum pieces. And no, you can't make it yourself and install it legally because that would not be a "certified part." I soaked the thing in cleaner for a few minutes, worked the switch a few times, blew it out, stuck it back in, and it worked fine. Probably a couple of grains of grit in the contacts.

Dan

I just had a similar problem but on the throttle cable. I just squirted some ATF on the wire at both ends and then along the full length of the coil surounding the cable. That got it to break free. If I have more trouble with it, I will replace the wire with some stainless Mig wire.

Dan

Don, I used graphite made especially for locks and it made them work worse. I then tried Tri-Flow and all is well. One of my customers deals with locks in his business. All kinds, all ages. I mentioned to him I found this great lock lube. He says "Tri-Flow?". Maybe the liquid carrier evaporates and leaves behind the teflon , I don't know, but the stuff works great. ERS

I am a locksmith. There is no one lube answer for the general category of locks. If you pack a lock that is sticky with grease with graphite you will cause mechanical problems. Conversely if the lock is clean and dry, graphite works well. Graphite is also cheap and very effective.

Tri-Flow is generally a safe bet. Flushing out crud is a good thing but it is expensive and messy. Sometimes it is better to take a two step approach like a quickly evaporating solvent (carb cleaner) to flush out the lock and then apply the lube.

Perhaps shrouded cable is different from locks. Graphite is slick, so is teflon.

Oil has been known to have lubricative properties.

The brake on my riding mower now works well. YMMV.

I discovered a product called "Sandaro DriCote" intended for lubricating woodworking blades and bits. It is teflon in a volatile carrier and works well anywhere you want to flush and lube but don't want to leave dust magnet behind.

Ted