Lubricant specifically for Abloy disc retainers

[somenewguy]

Hi all!
I've been working with a sticky Abloy lock I picked up cheap. It does work but it's a little 'sticky' and it was in service so I suspect it's just grime from frequent outdoor use, or someone stuffed something into it at one point in it's service life.

I opened it up carefully and saw the brass (?) disks have some black crud on them.

I have searched the forums for advice on lock lubricants. Some people love WD-40, some hate it. It seems that the general consensus is that it's OK for cleaning locks but not really as a lubricant. Some recommend Tri-Flow, others graphite.

I think the two main things I learned are:

-Don't mix wet and dry lubricants (i.e. don't spray wd-40 and then spray powdered graphite), you'll just gum everything up

-The lubricant choice also depends on environment. In a humid, wet environment, dry lubricants can get gummed up. In a dusty environment, wet lubricants will trap dirt particles, etc.

So, specifically for an Abloy lock (which seems to be all brass parts on the inside as far as I can tell), which will be used indoors only in a moderate climate, what would be the best cleaner to use and what would be the best lubricant to use?

I have another identical lock which shows no resistance to the key turning at all, so I'd like to get this one into that condition.

PS: none of the disks seemed bent and I didn't notice any other mechanical damage to the lock, so I think it's just the black grime making it 'sticky'.

[GWiens2001]

Don't really know what is recommended by ABLOY. Start by cleaning all the lock components!

Have used two things for lubrication on ABLOY locks with good success so far, but have only worked on my personal ABLOY locks, most of which do not see actual use, so be sure to find someone here who is more familiar with ABLOY before jumping right in. We have a few people here from Finland, at least one of whom is a locksmith who works with these locks daily. Have used silicone paste (used by mechanics to lubricate caliper slide pins) that I have thinned down to about half the viscosity with light oil. Put a tiny amount on each side of the discs. This is just to make a very thin film on each side, no small gobs extra. Do not lubricate both the discs and the spacers, or you will probably use too much. Have also used a product for Honda cars - urea grease. This requires no thinning, and seems to work quite well.

Again, less is more! Absolutely no grease should be seen on the key when it is used. That is what I mean by a thin film.

Hopefully some others will chime in and tell me if I am screwing up locks! Not a locksmith at all, and certainly not an expert on disc detainer locks. Just some personal experience.

Oils, in my experience playing around with my own locks, just don't work, or at least not for very long at all, with ABLOY locks.

Gordon

[somenewguy]

Thanks for your insight Gordon! I have to admit I have never heard of those two lubricants. I thought you were going to be talking about a white lithium paste, which is used in a lot of automotive applications, but I have not heard of urea grease (isn't urea / ureaic acid the stuff that makes pee smell bad? ) or silicone paste. I have heard of a light silicone spray, which I have used on snowblowers.

[GWiens2001]

Silicone paste is essentially a silicone based grease. The reason it is used for brakes is because it does not break down under the heat generated by the brakes as most forms of grease would. It is used for the caliper slide pins on disc brakes, keeping them from binding, which causes uneven braking and brake pad wear. Also use it for the contact pads where drum brake shoes contact the backing plate to reduce noise and friction with the backing plate.

Yes, urea grease has a base that is at least partly from urine. So is urethane varnish and paint. We use it -sparingly- on the upper parts of the struts (the part that actually slides into the strut body). It is a Honda product, and never heard of it when I worked for Ford. The grease does not stink. Much. Certainly better than gear oil!

Neither Silicone Paste nor Urea grease will vitrify (harden) or thicken over time.

Any automotive parts store will have silicone paste.

Gordon

[ARF-GEF]

Ahh, lubricants, the thing closest to a religious war in the lock-scene.

My experience (limited to 2 all original Abloy locks which came directly from Finland and were cleaned by me) is that "official Abloy" uses some kind of blueish-greenish strange grease which gets crystallised over (long) time. It has a really strange smell I never smelled before, and somehow it's really hard to get off from anything (my fingers smelled like that for 1,5 days).
However, most abloy dealers here use WD40, cause it's cheap and "good enuf". I know, heresy!

(Clearly Gordon's solution is much much better, but I'm curious if someone has any infos on the bluish greenish thingy. And for our climate WD-40 is not unsuitable as a short term solution.)

[mh]

The ABLOY Protec technical manual actually has a reference to a lubricant (which I don't recall off the top of my head) but maybe someone will look it up

[GWiens2001]

My experience (limited to 2 all original Abloy locks which came directly from Finland and were cleaned by me) is that "official Abloy" uses some kind of blueish-greenish strange grease which gets crystallised over (long) time. It has a really strange smell I never smelled before, and somehow it's really hard to get off from anything (my fingers smelled like that for 1,5 days).

Care to take a wild guess as to what color urea grease is? And why we use gloves when we use it? Never seen it crystallize, though.

Gordon

[ARF-GEF]

Pink!
Any I think you wear gloves because traditionally, car mechanics have very soft and sensitive skin
Did I win?
Cool, never heard about that stuff before! Thanks for the info Gordon!
Maybe what I took for small crystals were in fact the vitrified pieces you mentioned(?) Do you think that's possible? It looked like coarsely ground salt grains coloured teal or so.

[Evan]

Care to take a wild guess as to what color urea grease is? And why we use gloves when we use it? Never seen it crystallize, though.

Gordon

Most greases when new and clean appear to be a color something like healthy ear wax or creamy peanut butter unless they have had a colorant added for ease of identification/part inspection...

~~ Evan

[mh]

Ok, here's the text from the ABLOY Protec Technical Manual:

The assembly should be lubricated carefully (the surface of combination discs and washers) by applying oil over the entire length of the cylinder's locking bar groove so that the oil gains access between all contact faces. Mineral oil, CAS class 74869-22-0 should be used as the lubricant. Vaseline used in assembly and lubrication should be white vaseline, CAS class 8009-03-8.

No graphite-based or natural oils should be used for lubrication as these will cause the combination discs stick together over time and impair lock function.

Can someone put actual product names to these "CAS classes"?

Cheers
mh

[GWiens2001]

Thanks for the updated info, MH. Used what I have lying around. But Vaseline should be easy enough to get. Tried 3-in1 oil, and a couple of others. Will get some mineral oil and try it.

Gordon

[ARF-GEF]

Interesting, it seems mine got either discoloured or someone like-minded to our Gordon got their hand on them before I did
I thought it was factory original.

[GWiens2001]

Have seen the same thing on almost every one of my ABLOY locks, AG. That is what gave me the idea to try the urea grease in the first place.

Some companies, not just lock companies, have a unique part or lubricant used by the factory so they can tell if a failed part had been tampered with or maintained properly.

Gordon

[dll932]

Thanks for the updated info, MH. Used what I have lying around. But Vaseline should be easy enough to get. Tried 3-in1 oil, and a couple of others. Will get some mineral oil and try it.

Gordon

About the only thing 3 in 1 is good for (IMO) is...I'm not even sure. Medeco and Best recommend Poxylube, which is a dry powder with teflon. Powdered Molybdenum Disulfide might work well, too (messy though-as bad as graphite).

[AspiringLockpicker]

Sorry for resurrecting the dead (thread) but I have put "3-in-one with PTFE" spray in my keyway/disc package area and I cleaned the ball bearings and put some silicone lubricant on them that I use on flashlight o-rings as when I first took my 330 apart I noticed the lubricant was pretty thick and helped to keep each bearing in it's own chamber to allow the insertion of the disc package. But after repeated cleanings/dissections the bearings would not stay in the chamber making it impossible to put back together. But the silicone helped with that.

Any thoughts on my two choices of lubricants?