Outdoor Power Equipment (Lawn Mowers, Snow Blowers, Chain Saws and more) Discussions

Hi!  I am new to 2-stage blowers having just taken delivery of a Husqvarna 14524E.  This model has a number of control cables for chute operation, "power steering" and the like.  The external portions of the braided wire seem to be quite free of any lube.   I presume that the portions inside the jackets are similarly dry.  That seems to me to be asking for corrosion.  Do the more experienced members of the forum recommend lubing these cables with anything in particular, or are there other factors (e.g., freezing up) that suggest leaving the cables dry and dealing with the corrosion when and if it happens?  Any other lubricating "best practices" that I should know about (other than engine oil)?

Thanks!

Jon

My old JD has open cables, and I just put some light oil in the top where the cable enters the wound housing.  This seems to help, not so much to prevent rusting but when snow melts into them they will freeze up.  Another tip is to leave evrything in the "starting" mode so you can at least get it started.  My newer machine has rubber seals where the cables enter the housings, so not much to be done here.  I still give the exposed cable tops a shot of oil now and then but its doubtful if this is actuially helping anything because the oil probably does not penetrate down very far into the cable housing.

Another (IMPORTANT!) point to lube is the auger shaft.  Read some of the other posts in this forum on this.  I don't know the setup on your partucular machine, but a little lube here will go a long ways to preventing major problems later on down the line.

I spray WD-40 into all cables.  Corrosion isn't the problem.  It's moisture getting into the cable and freezing thus rendering the controls useless until the cable is thawed.  I like to spray WD-40 into the cable sheath, expose as much bare cable as possible, coat it with grease and work as much grease into the top of the cable.  The objective is to mitigate opportunity for water to get into the cable sheath.    Seems to work for a while but needs to be done every season.

I think Borat has a good idea with that grease.  Should help to make the rubber seals do a better job of sealing - you really dont want water running down inside the cable and then freezing.

I prefer TriFlow Teflon Dry Formula that is used on bikes.  They are durable and do not leave wet oil streaks.  You can get them at any local bike shop or REI.  Make sure you get the dry formula. 

But the main job here is to seal it up to prevent water coming down the cable sheath.  I doubt that any dry lubrucant would do that.  Might be a good idea though to give it a blast of teflon and then seal the end with grease.

I only have problems with one cable on my machine.  That's the one for the deflector control.   The opening points directly upward and despite the fact that it has a rubber end cap, it will take in water and freeze.  I started using the gob of grease under the rubber cap and as far into the cable as possible.  It helps but as long as the cable is being used, it  requires additional applications of grease.  Frequency will of grease application will vary with use/conditions.

Thanks to you all for the great suggestions. I noticed the upward-pointing cable for the chute control, but assumed that the long, flexible boot would protect the cable from water getting in. Nice to know that experience proves otherwise. That and the auger shaft will definitely get a bit of attention this weekend! Jon