white or amber grease?
 

Hi all,

I've searched for this answer, by the way, but couldn't figure it out. I bought a tub of "lubrimatic green multi-purpose lithium grease." The tub was dropped at some point in the store so the metal seal was broken. It looks congealed or should be mixed I guess. It is light brownish.

What I wanted was the white grease that is usually found on the seat post, the wheel nut threads and the pedal threads. I don't need it for bearings, hubs, etc but just for the various threads and the seat post.

What is it called? I don't want to buy more of this foul smelling gunk.

Finish Line makes a fairly thick consistency white/offwhite grease IIRC.

White lithium is what you are looking for.

The grease you have and white lithium are the same thing,white is a little bit thinner is all.

Hm ok so ask for white lithium for use in the threads and seat post and the browner stuff for the mechanical parts?

thanks

i use one grease for everything

I use boat trailer wheel bearing grease myself.

The stuff you have may have some of the rather smelly extreme pressure additives in it. That would explain the brownish colour and smell. If you can stand the smell then it's fine to use for everything. If you find it unbearable to have the container opened on the bench beside you or having it on your bikes due to the smell then shrug your shoulders and go buy some other stuff.

For my own use here where it's very wet I go with the synthetic green coloured boat trailer wheel bearing grease for it's water resistant qualities. It stays in place very well and doesn't seem to let the water stay in the grease and end up rusting the metal.

As far as lubrication properties our use isn't an extreme one. So technically ANY of the regular lubricating greases are fine. It's just that some stink or are very messy to use like the one you found or like the thick black moly disulphide filled greases.

Thank you for the responses.

For the non-bearing uses, try white lithium spray grease - comes out as a liquid (solvents for cleaning) and becomes white grease when the volatiles evaporate. It stays greasy for long periods without gumming up or turning dark.

>> If you can stand the smell then it's fine to use for everything.

Great advise.
Plus, what are you going to do with it?
Use it up.
Cables, bearings, stuff on you car, apartment, appliances.
Don’t put it in the landfill.

Either one will be fine. I prefer white lithium just because it makes it easier to tell when the grease is contaminated.

I use Lubriplate EMB. It's a white synthetic.

Spot on. Greases that are specifically formulated to be (salt)water resistant are a bonus. I use Autol Top 2000 saltwaterproof grease, don't know if that is available outside of Germany. You could in general go for 'winch grease' from boat/yacht suppliers. If it is too thick for any specific application, it can be thinned by motor oil to the desired degree.

As to colours:

- transparent greases can facilitate assembly of loose ball bearings
- transparency also offers better gauging of what happens inside the bearing by showing the degree of abrasion/dirt accumulation
- non-grey or non-white greases also show if the grease has any water worked into it, turning it into a milky emulsion. (BTW, this often means that the bearing is toast)

Get grease in a squeeze tube always. Grease in pots get contaminated.

A tub of grease will stay as clean if the user is mindful about not allowing any contaminants in... I like to put grease from the tub or tube in an oral syringe as then I can dispense precise quantities and waste less.

Eh, what is an oral syringe??

http://www.bd.com/hypodermic/product...inge_large.jpg

They have no needle and a larger opening and are designed for administering medicines... but they make great little grease guns too.

Cool, I didn't know about these. Will get some from the pharmacy!

Cool Tip. I have to try that out.