Lubrication of your Gene Cafe for a longer life
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Just a short article on another minor maintenance routine that may be neglected by owners. Lubrication of the Gene Cafe.
The main drive mechanism consists of a motor with a small cog…..this then drives a larger cog on a metal rod (with a cog on the other end)….this par of cogs on the rod then drives the two main large black cogs which hold the roasting chamber.
The first picture shows my Gene disassembled so you can see the gear sets I am talking about shown by the red pointed arrows. Luckily to do this small maintenance routine, you do not have to disassemble the Gene Cafe (click to enlarge).
The second picture shows the points at the right side where lubricant can be applied, it's the same place on the opposite side and both sides do need to be lubricated (click to enlarge).
The lubricant that is ideal is one which contains no petrochemicals (so be careful many cheaper PTFE formulations also mix with petrochemical lubricants)…..I actually use a pure silicon oil spray (which I obtained from Lidl for 99p, this works really well and is a "dry" film lubricant that does not attract dust and grit. Simply use a spray with one of those small white tube like application straws and spray a small amount of lubricant in an several small bursts (in the areas shown above) a few seconds apart when the Gene is rotating (running). Your objective is to try and coat the gear teeth, including the white one which can just been seen, without loads of oil going into the interior. Very small bursts a few seconds apart allow the oil to be applied evenly all around the gear….the rest of the gears and the motor cog will get lubricated by transfer as the gears rotate.
This maintenance probably only needs to be done 2 or 3 times per year, depending on use and should prolong the life of your gear sets significantly, as well as reducing strain on the motor.