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It seems I may have used the wrong lubricant for my LG clothes dryer rollers because the rollers kept seizing up. Since these rollers are simple and there are no bearings I did not put much thought into what lubricant to use:

enter image description here

While I am not 100% sure I believe I either used Super Lube 51004 Synthetic Oil with PTFE or WD-40 Specialist Heavy Duty Multi-Purpose Grease

My question are:

  1. What lubricant, if any, should be used there?
  2. What could be that black film on axle? I believe it is culprit here.
  3. In particular, would grease be a better option here than oil because it would not mix with small lint particles (I suspect this is what may have happened here unless that is lube thickener or something like that)?
user2138912
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5 Answers5

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Grease or nothing would be better than oil here. Oil and grease will attract lint and dust and seize sooner. I have used a spray Teflon and graphite as the lube on my dryers with graphite lasting longer. The black film is probably the lube with some added dust. When you replace this, try some powdered graphite or molybdenum dry lube, it lasts a long time and the black film that it produces is a lubricant.

ThreePhaseEel
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Ed Beal
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I would think about machining shaft and rollers to add sealed bearings...

Adding any sort of lubricant is a “magnet” for the lint to stick to and eventually gum it up.

That “flat” is a concern though - at the least it will cause noise & vibration...

Solar Mike
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FYI-- I believe these are self-lubricated, or "sintered" bearings, which is why no lubrication is needed (since the dryer is a super dusty/linty environment).

Random Guy
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First off, why is that bearing wheel flat? I've never seen one look like that. Oil shouldn't be used on a bearing because oil runs. You use oil in your car and it works because it's constantly pumped through the engine and runs down into the pan. You use grease on your bearings because it stays in place and does its job. Get some emery paper and clean of those shafts and then apply a general automotive grease to the shaft and bearing and then reassemble. you could always just but a new bearing and shaft too. Good luck.

JACK
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I've had my Kenmore for 26 years I put 3 elements in it 3 belts last one 6 years ago and I've never put a dropper grease or any kind of lubricant on it and it still blowing heat spinning like a top

William Rogers
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