Responses 1 of 2 -Bowden Cable Lubrication

Responses 1 of 2 -Bowden Cable Lubrication

Greg Straub, CPO

3/3/2007

Thank you all for your responses. Participants of ths forum should find them useful.

Greg straub, CPO
  ----- Original Message -----
  From: <Email Address Redacted>
  To: <Email Address Redacted>
  Sent: Tuesday, February 27, 2007 9:09 AM
  Subject: Bowden Cable Lubrication


  I have an experienced and active wrist disarticulation prosthesis user who prefers six tension bands. He has a heavy duty control cable so I can not use a Teflon liner in the cable housing. He is requesting lubrication for the cable. I am looking for a lubricant that reduces friction but does not soil clothing. Any suggestions?

  Greg Straub, CPO

  RESPONSES:

  I have a bilateral below elbow amputee who likes to use weed wacker cable instead of traditional cable. He says it doesn't pull out of the hangers and triple swivels as easily. It also negates the need for Teflon or lubricant since it is smoother than regular cable.
  Katie Willison, Prosthetist
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  Greg... Other than sewing machine oil, there is nothing I am aware of that would address your patients need with a H/D stainless steel cable and housing.

  Have you ever considered using the Otto Bock Perlon cable systems? I have been using Perlon within a nylon housing for 25+ years very successfully on active and not so active individuals. It is user friendly, will wear to 1/5th of its diameter before having to be replaced, and can even be replaced by the user with proper instructions and a standard hand crimping tool.

  It provides a high efficiency (low friction) Bowden Cable System much like the teflon liners, but without the wear problems you have a stainless steel cable grating on a Teflon liner.

  I know.... But its plastic? I can't wear as good a stainless steel!!... All I can say is, give it a try and I think that you and the user will be pleasantly surprised!

  The only contraindication has been someone who is a welder or works in a very hot environment; however, even in these situations there are other was to protect the cable with a leather or insulated protective sleeve.

  Hope this is of some help around!!... John
  John N. Billock, CPO/L, FAAOP
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  Take a look at Remington Dri-Lube. It is packaged in an aerosol can with
  a spray tube that allows you to spray into the housing. Remington
  Dri-lube is a teflon / lubricant mixture in an alcohol solution. The
  solution allows the lubricant to flow into the necessary areas and
  quickly evaporates leaving only a lubricating powder that reduces the
  coefficient of friction. You can find this at www.midwayusa.com .
  Robert H. Ward, C.P.O., L.P.O.
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  WAX
  Jim Young, CP FAAOP
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  Some time back I was working with a bilateral UE; short BE with stump activated lock and midlength to long AE. He used a lubricant that was made for lubrication of brass musical instruments. I remember him telling me that he had to be careful not to over lubricate but he found it lighter and cleaner than anything that he had ever tried.
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  In response to your question, There is a teflon based lubricant found in most bike stores called White Lightning. It dries clear and can be cleaned up very easily. A colleague showed it to me and I have used it a lot since on body powered devices. Give it a try. I think that 8 oz costs a few dollars. Good Luck.
  Sean Zeller, O&P technician
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  Try rubbing a furniture paste wax into the cable over its entire length. This provides good lubrication and forms a relatively hard coating over the cable that resists wear as well.
  jim Rogers, CPO, FAAOP
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  LITHIUM
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  Have you tried Spectra cable inside teflon liner instead of heavy duty cable?
  Michael Lavezzo, CO
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  Sure, you can try wax. Waxing the cable reduces friction inside the housing. I will check at work and see the brand that we use. Sounds like your patient is a heavy duty user. You can also try spectra cable with teflon housing inside the heavy duty cable housing. This is as heavy duty as you can get and the spectra cable has a low coefficient of friction so it will slide with ease.
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  Try mother nature's bee's wax. I have used it and it appears to stay with the cable.
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  gun oil whether Hoppes or Outers is irrelevant...it's absolutely clean, leaves no residue, and will last damn near forever in O&P applications. it's also killer for knee brace or ankle joints. hope this helps.

  Steve Burnett CO/L

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  I use a candle

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  White graphite power. It comes in a small squeeze tube.

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  I use liquid bicycle chain lube with teflon. There are numerous brands available. The carrier thinner evaporates and leaves the teflon molecules. Keep the thinners away from the rest of the prosthesis while it is drying. Post cable fabrication, I drip the liquid into the housing and slide the cable back and forth to distribute it. This can be reapplied as necessary. You really need the teflon at the elbow joint axis mostly since this is where the friction is the highest and
  possibly at the baseplate. Your strain relief and pivoting should protect the crossbar location. I don't use the spray teflon because the inhaled particles are very difficult to get out of the lungs. Since residual liquids would normally attract particles to a chain, these lubricants are designed not to attract dirt etc. It is pretty
  amazing how much this substance increases the efficiency of the cable even with high friction loads from a large number of tension bands. For cables used for high level prostheses with lots of high friction locations, decreasing the friction, increases the amount of excursion you will capture and increases the ROM and function of a cable powered system. Current HD cable braid is coarser compared to ancient cable stock, so the friction is higher, but liability wise, I guess I
  wouldn't choose to go to the motorcycle repair place and use their cables, even if they might perform more efficiently.

  If you are fabricating a new cable, I have also used Bob Radocy's (at TRS) wax. Needs to be rubbed into the cable strands prior to finishing
  the cable so you can lubricate the high friction parts of the cable. The excess wax needs to be removed or it is a dirt magnet.
  Ramona M. Okumura, CP, LP