erikgreen
Captain
- Joined
- Jan 8, 2007
- Messages
- 3,105
Re: Gear hardness and grit in mercruisers
Well, I don't think there's much help for my grit problem... the fact that it's bits of magnet pretty much kills any idea for removing it except opening it up and cleaning it out. I'm going to call the local repair shop and see how much they'd charge to do that.
If it's too expensive I'll probably start saving up and sell some stuff to afford an SEI drive replacement. I don't want to take more chances on used gear... I came out ok this time, but it's too much work/stress.
Quick note on the magnet thing though:
The logic is sound, but unfortunately any magnet you could use to pick up the bearings is nowhere near strong enough to rearrange them on a molecular level. About the only possibility to happen is getting some magnet bits on the bearings (as discussed, bad) or accidentally magnetizing the bearings, which could possibly cause problems depending on application.
Think about it... if a handheld magnet could rearrange molecules like that, wouldn't they be used to manufacture bearings, or other steel items somehow? Ever hear of anyone shaping bearings with a magnet, instead of using standard metalworking tools?
Part of the reason bearings are made from steel is that it can be made very hard or resistant to wear and change. It takes a lot of energy to alter a hardened steel bearing even a little.. that's why they're used.
Here's another way to think about this... imagine any application where a magnet is used, like electric brakes on a trailer. Do you think the electromagnet for the brakes is altering the brake drum at all? It's much stronger than a hand held magnet.
Erik
Well, I don't think there's much help for my grit problem... the fact that it's bits of magnet pretty much kills any idea for removing it except opening it up and cleaning it out. I'm going to call the local repair shop and see how much they'd charge to do that.
If it's too expensive I'll probably start saving up and sell some stuff to afford an SEI drive replacement. I don't want to take more chances on used gear... I came out ok this time, but it's too much work/stress.
Quick note on the magnet thing though:
The logic is sound, but unfortunately any magnet you could use to pick up the bearings is nowhere near strong enough to rearrange them on a molecular level. About the only possibility to happen is getting some magnet bits on the bearings (as discussed, bad) or accidentally magnetizing the bearings, which could possibly cause problems depending on application.
Think about it... if a handheld magnet could rearrange molecules like that, wouldn't they be used to manufacture bearings, or other steel items somehow? Ever hear of anyone shaping bearings with a magnet, instead of using standard metalworking tools?
Part of the reason bearings are made from steel is that it can be made very hard or resistant to wear and change. It takes a lot of energy to alter a hardened steel bearing even a little.. that's why they're used.
Here's another way to think about this... imagine any application where a magnet is used, like electric brakes on a trailer. Do you think the electromagnet for the brakes is altering the brake drum at all? It's much stronger than a hand held magnet.
Erik
