Greasing Washworld Razor - why? Are we still living in the 1950's?

[JustClean]

Hi all,
Every week I'm greasing my WW Razor and have done that in the last 10 years. I grease it, then I remove the grease left-overs, clean it and grease it again.
Like an old car out of the 50's.
Well, maybe I'm dumb but wouldn't it be much more operator friendly to put some waterproof needle roller bearings with lifetime grease in and be over and done with it. No greasing - no mess.
Does anyone know about an aftermarket upgrade being available? Thanks a lot.

 

[Eric H]

Every week?!? My Razors have service reminders built into the panel. The reminders tell me when I need to grease (every 10,000 cycles) and check the hardware, clean the filters etc. I'd think every week is too intensive of a maintenance program. Unless you're extremely busy I'd cut back to once a month

 

[MEP001]

The reminders tell me when I need to grease (every 10,000 cycles)

What is a cycle? A full wash, or a carriage travel front to back?

 

[Eric H]

What is a cycle? A full wash, or a carriage travel front to back?

front to back is a cycle

 

[GoBuckeyes]

Yes greasing PITA but you're making it worse doing it every week! We have some LW4000's that are busy and there is no way I grease any more often than once a month. The new Razor we have, like mentioned above, is every 10,000 cycles...thats probably a few thousand cars worth. I could only be so lucky to wash 2000 cars every week!

 

[JustClean]

Once I delayed it for two weeks. The result was the plastic rollers didn't get enough grease on one side and got damaged.

But apart from that this is actually not the problem.
The issue I have is why do we have to grease it anyway in the first place???
Hello Washworld? Are you listening?
When was the last time you greased your modern car? Does anyone know about an aftermarket upgrade kit being available?

If I had more time on my hand I would make my own wheels with waterproof needle bearings and lifetime lubrication. Piece of cake and the greasing would be history.

But maybe I'm missing something here why it can't be done...
I'm happy to pay for such an upgrade kit.

Don't get me wrong. I really like the Razor. It's simple to work on and all that but a little bit of better engineering would go a long way.
It does not to be over-engineered like the Washtec (which by the way you don't need to grease).

Cheers Justclean

 

[PEI]

You can replace all the rollers with the ones PDQ used on it's docking dryers. They require a different shaft and two bearings per roller but do not need to be greased. The tire bearings would simply need to be replaced with sealed grease less bearings with the same specs.

While this would eliminate the need to grease it creates new problems when you go to replace the rollers. If you don't already have one, then I highly recommend investing in a hydraulic press to separate the worn bearings from the shafts.

 

[MGSMN]

"""The issue I have is why do we have to grease it anyway in the first place???"""
"""It does not to be over-engineered like the Washtec (which by the way you don't need to grease)."""

The Ryko Radius has 1 zerk that I grease every couple months. WD40 for the rest of the machine. Just for comparison....

 

[Waxman]

please explain why you feel the need to grease more than the recommended interval of 10,000 cycles on the WashWorld machine.

In my opinion the reason that the new cars don't have grease fittings is due to planned obsolescence. When you manually grease things they last longer.

 

[Greg Pack]

Coleman recommends weekly greasing which is way too much IMO. I grease once a Month.

 

[JustClean]

please explain why you feel the need to grease more than the recommended interval of 10,000 cycles on the WashWorld machine.

In my opinion the reason that the new cars don't have grease fittings is due to planned obsolescence. When you manually grease things they last longer.

Hi Waxman,
As I said before I tried to delay the greasing and the result was that one of the rollers didn't get enough grease and wore out. Washworld has designed the rollers with a middle groove inside. That's were the grease goes. It then will be pushed out left and right. It usually takes the easier way either left or right. You either have to grease more heavily or do it more often. The result is the same: Grease all over the machine that you have to clean again.

In our day and age there is no need for this anymore - even in underwater applications, think motorboat propellers, water pumps, etc. The shaft even sits in the water with waterproof bearings.
I believe this design is obsolete and should be changed ASAP. I would be more than happy to pay $5000 for a proper wheel bearing kit for the Razor.
Just thinking about the downtime...Greasing, removing the grease, degreasing the machine, degreasing the walls and floor after cleaning the machine, cleaning the belt that no grease sits inside the teeth so it won't jump a tooth, or two...

Look, don't get me wrong. I really like the Razor but if things can be improved it should be noted....and maybe....just maybe...some genius Washworld engineer will pitty us and come up with an upgrade kit.

 

[HeyVern]

Are you sure going two weeks without greasing, is why the rollers wore out? Seems unlikely to me.