Very fluid grease for Max-Prop propeller

[Gerry]

The instructions for greasing the Max-Prop 3-blade feathering propeller (that a previous owner had fitted to our boat) simply talk about completely filling the body with a very fluid grease. Can anyone recommend brands or grades or specifications of suitable greases (ideally obtainable in Portugal) for repacking the propeller? Also, there does not seem to be any grease nipples (just two holes marked grease) on the side of the propeller. Is there a good way to grease the propeller without taking it all apart? Should there be a temporary grease nipple you screw into these holes? Do you need a special kind of grease gun? The previous owner as far as I can tell injected Molybdenum grease (hardly very fluid) with a used plastic hypodermic.

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[vyv_cox]

Manual says...

5) PROPELLER MAINTENANCE The Max Prop needs to be regreased a minimum of once every two years. We recommend Lubraplate "130 AA" Grease, it is inexpensive and performs better than many other greases.

There are two holes in the spinner of the propeller to grease. Remove the set screw from the forward hole with a #3 metric Allen wrench and screw in the zerc tower, attach your grease gun and fill the propeller with grease until the grease starts to come out between the hub (#1) and the spinners. Replace the set screw and remove the set screw from the more aft hole. Reinstall the zerc tower and attach your grease gun and fill the propeller with grease until the grease starts to come out between the blades and the spinners. Remove the zerc tower and reinsert the set screw into the propeller. Do not leave the zerc tower in the propeller.

With each pump of the grease gun rotate the propeller from forward to reverse to allow the grease to work through the propeller.
The numbers above are from Figure 3 at the beginning of this Max-Prop Manual.
Make sure that you always keep the zinc anodes in good condition. They must be replaced at least once a year or as needed. The propeller must be protected by a lot of zinc. When replacing it make sure that you clean the contact point between the zinc and propeller shaft. Use a wire brush or fine sandpaper to clean the shaft and the inside diameter of the zinc to give the zinc good contact with the propeller.

Don't ask me what a zerc tower is, that's a new one for me. My Autoprop uses an adaptor for a screw-on grease gun, after removing small allen bolts from the blanking holes. The recommended grease can be ordered from <A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.max-prop.com/accessories.html>here</A> Maybe they'll sell you a zerc tower as well.

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[gunnarsilins]

A \'zerc-tower\' ....

...is the screw-in greasing nipple included in the package when buying a MaxProp. There were two included when I bought mine, and you can use just a simple, standard grease gun.

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[Gerry]

Re: Manual says...

Thanks - everything I wanted to know and more - I am about to go and grease the beggar, wish me luck!

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[Gerry]

Re: A \'zerc-tower\' ....

And there was I thinking a zerc tower was something out of Flash Gordon, silly me.

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