Greasing the Hatch Actuator Gearbox

Dave S

Well-Known Member
TECHNICAL Contributor
Oct 3, 2006
6,014
Upstate South Carolina
Boat Info
Boatless
Engines
Boatless
I have a motorized engiine hatch that has a grease fitting on the gearbox. Unfortunately my owners manual doesn't mention how often to grease it nor what kind of grease to use. Is ordinary lithium grease OK and how frequently does everyone lube their gearbox?
 
I'm not 100% certain, but that zerk may be used as a fill for the grease at the factory.
I looked through my manual too, nothing....I didn't even know it had a zerk!
 
These are the same acculift lilnear actuators, I suspect, that I just replaced in my boat-my hatch has two 24" lift, 500 Lb capacity actuators. I e-mailed acculift for the maintenance requirements.
Nothing heard yet, but I will post whatever I get back.
Ignoring them cost me $760, or the cost for two new ones. The first ownwer of the baot never lubed them, and by the time I figured out I had a problem it was too late.
I installed the two new ones on Friday, and gave each a shot of lithium grease. I also plan to spray the lifting rams with WD 40 monthly.

Skip
 
Lithium is a good all-purpose grease. On the other hand, WD-40 is a crappy lubricant but a decent displacer of moisture. T9 might be a better choice as it protects and lubricates.

Best regards,
Frank
 
Anyone find anything about greasing the acuators? Where is the zerk fitting? I dont recall ever seeing one.
 
Hey @Bottom Line - I just did that this week. My actuators were making strange noises - and was worried when I saw posts by @Skip , @mquiet and @suss1173 about their actuators failing.

Reading the reply by @brewster16 gave me the idea to buy the West Marine Grease Gun with a zerk fitting for $29.00:

Screen Shot 2020-08-10 at 6.58.38 PM.png Here is what the Zerk fitting looked like on my engine actuator.
Screen Shot 2020-08-10 at 6.59.03 PM.png The West Marine grease gun fit right on the zerk fitting and I pumped it multiple times as @brewster16 described in his post.

The result was a much quieter raising and lowering of the hatch (although the time to raise and lower stayed about the same as before).
 
Hey @Bottom Line - I just did that this week. My actuators were making strange noises - and was worried when I saw posts by @Skip , @mquiet and @suss1173 about their actuators failing.

Reading the reply by @brewster16 gave me the idea to buy the West Marine Grease Gun with a zerk fitting for $29.00:

View attachment 90061 Here is what the Zerk fitting looked like on my engine actuator.
View attachment 90062 The West Marine grease gun fit right on the zerk fitting and I pumped it multiple times as @brewster16 described in his post.

The result was a much quieter raising and lowering of the hatch (although the time to raise and lower stayed about the same as before).
I did this a few months ago, but it did not save my actuator, nor did it help the sound. I had to buy a 90 degree adaptor, my boat had about 2” between the fitting and the waste tank. Turned out the actuator was no longer working, and the good one was pushing up the hatch, and pushing up the bad actuator, grinding it through all the gears.
 

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