Powerhouse Bearing and Grease Baffle Tool

[Tom Wesenberg]

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Here's a picture of a simple and cheap grease baffle installation tool I made. It's just a bicycle seat post with the two ends cut off. The step in the post left me with two sizes that fit the grease baffles perfectly to drive them in place. If you can push the baffles on with your fingers then they were probably worked off the shaft by prying back and forth with a screwdriver. This will slightly enlarge the hole and make the fit too loose.

To remove the baffles just pull the bearing by placing a bolt in the end of the shaft and use the right tools, as pictured, to pull the bearing off the shaft and push the grease baffle ahead of it. This way the baffle stays square to the shaft and doesn't enlarge the hole. The pipe works good to tap the bearings in place, then the front spring and baffle. I've seen the spring installed backwards a few times. Notice that the feet on the spring push against the front bearing outer race. Then there is a thin cork gasket, a shield, and the outer special serrated nut.

If you look closely at the lower shaft, near the rear bearing you can see a very light knurl I had to put in the shaft to tighten it for the bearing. I've only twice seen a bad bearing in a powerhouse, and some still had the original grease in them.

Never hammer or press on the end of the shaft or you can deform it and the pulley will wobble, if the bolt even goes back on.