# Looking for lube



## JoeyJoeJo

I have a garden gate with a suffolk latch and the latch keeper piece doesn't allow the latching piece to slide up it and get to where it needs to be.

A squirt of WD40 helps but it doesn't last and leaves both parts grimey.

Any tips for a long lasting, (perhaps dry), preferably clean, solution?

Would a couple of dabs of smooth hammerite help on the rubbing parts? Might be better than the zinc?

And if you made it through without {laughing in a half-suppressed, typically scornful way*}, well done, very mature of you


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## GeeWhizRS

Can you slip a flat bladed screwdriver into the keeper and twist it to add a little more clearance?


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## JoeyJoeJo

Thanks but it's not really the clearance, it's the slope and the friction. The latch hits the keeper and doesn't have momentum to overcome. If it's fresh with WD40, the weight of the gate and spring are plenty to get it home but that doesn't last.
I've filed a bit off to reduce the slope and that helped a little but for that to be effective, I'd need to take off most of it which would mean it wouldn't latch at all.
I've also moved the keeper down a little but again, if I go any further, it won't latch at all as the latch will be too high, the keeper to low.

My thought was a dry graphite or ptfe lube might be cleaner but have no experience of those at all.


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## GeeWhizRS

Ah I know what you mean now, I had the same thing with mine. I tie wrapped a M6 nut underneath the latch so it's starting at a higher point.


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## JoeyJoeJo

ooh, couple of skinny cable ties round the latch holder might help too... off to try


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## HEADPHONES

Any lubrication oil will be better than WD-40.
As you've discovered, lubrication is not what it was designed for.

A cheap "3 in 1" oil from the supermarket, or dedicated grease/oil will be much better.


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## JoeyJoeJo

Cable tie round the latch holder helped a little with the added benefit that it made it a little quieter.

I did actually have a spray of 3 in 1 with PTFE hiding behind the WD40, gave it a spray and it's good but I think I'd rather have something dry that's not going to drip with my ham fisted application. Will see how it lasts. Thanks for the pointers.


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## Deathstar

Look at some cycling dry lube, normally clean and will not gunk up if applied sparingly. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## bigbrother

Sounds like you have tried all avenues regarding the keep and latch, i would trying look at the pattern on the post that stops the gate from going to far it could be to close or not close enough and the gate is bouncing back before the latch has time to drop down or the latch is a cheap version and the latch is not heavy enough to drop down in time, some of the latches from the likes of B&Q and Wilcos are of a poor quality.As the latch hits the keep it would flex so as not to drop into the keep


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## JoeyJoeJo

Gate itself is fine, entirely the friction and slope of the keeper.

I remember when I spent my saturday evenings out and being sociable, I didn't cry at all doing this.....










*not to scale

Standard is the red, bar hits the keeper a bit low and the friction and angle of the slope means that the bar moves vertically x mm while closing but because it can go no further, the bar acts like a spring, the gate bounces back and eventually comes to rest against the keeper rather than in it.

Raising the point of strike (green) and reducing the friction means that the bar can travel x + a little more mm vertically which allows the bar to drop in the slot and prevents the bounce back.

Higher strike, shallower slope or less friction would give better results, I can't reduce the slope without rendering the keeper useless so less friction and higher strike is what I'm working on.

I fully expect to spend at least an hour tomorrow looking at dry bike lube

FML


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## GeeWhizRS

I love the picture - this is first class fooking about. 😂
Consider also, filing the keeper slope so that it is angled (or rounded) in the vertical also. So rather than having a flat slope, you have more of a knife edge, or rounded edge to let the latch ride up ... i.e. less resistance.


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## mand

How is the keeper part screwed on?
Maybe you put some washers behind the bottom fixing point to pack it out, this would alter the slope?
And also lower the height of the whole keeper assembly whilst your at it.


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## dholdi

Could you attach a triangular piece of ptfe which would increase the slope and decrease friction and also reduce noise ?
Grinding the leading edge of the latch to the same angle as the keeper would also help.


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## bigbrother

Wow if that's the angle of the keeper that is always going to cause you problems, what i have done to get me out of a sticky problem is to get a 4" nail cut the head off bend over about an inch so it's nearly folded back on it's self and then drill a pilot hole and knock it in two the desired depth you can alter the angle of the bent part to create depth for the latch to sit in.
Google Suffolk Latch and you will see simular keeps but as a solid piece of metal.


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## James_R

Graphite powder is a dry lube solution.
Works pretty well - is dirty if you get it on your fingers!

At the hinged end of the gate, put a washer or two under the hinge points if you can, ti lift the gate higher, so it doesn't have to ride over quite such a height.

Or file the keeper down a bit if you can.


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## Shiny

Try some GT85.


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## JoeyJoeJo

all goot tips, ta.

Issue with lowering keeper (I have) or raising gate (effectively have with a cable tie under the latching bar) or filing profile is that the amount of material holding the latch is finite so too much and ends up barely latching.

Filing the vertical is interesting as is the angle of the latch to match but would that increase friction if more of the surfaces are in contact?

Graphite is intriguing, I can imagine me brushing against it and subsequently transferring to the house/sofa etc.

Off to google stuff....


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## bigbrother

Could you post a pic of the latch


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## GeeWhizRS

JoeyJoeJo said:


> Filing the vertical is interesting as is the angle of the latch to match but would that increase friction if more of the surfaces are in contact?


Yes it would. You would only do this on the keeper slope for that reason. You are aiming to reduce the contact area.


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## Tykebike

Am I missing something here, I thought that you lifted the latch bar using the thumb latch or from the other side the finger lift, close the gate to contact the post/jamb and then release the thumb latch so that the latch bar rises or falls in a vertical plane into the keeper slot? 
If you try to engage the latch bar by pushing/pulling the gate and hope that the latch bar rides up/down the sloping surface then you will experience problems because the latch bar is subject to horizontal and twisting forces that put pressure on the pivot point and possibly the jump staple which will hinder the rise of the latch bar on the sloping surface of the keeper plate.


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## JoeyJoeJo

Not missing anything. Getting the bar to slide on the slope so it doesn't have to be operated by hand every time is the goal.
If there's a slope there, that's how it should work, otherwise they could just make it square.

With a couple of tweaks suggested here, it's now working fine, spring closure swings the gate, bar slides up the slope and latches.
I don't want to be applying oily lube every week so will see how the 3 in 1 lasts and look at some the suggested alternatives.


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## Rakti

Amazing thread! Think I have the same problem with our gate (cheapo latch from Wilko, so what did I expect).


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## GleemSpray

At the end of the day, the only thing which will last is a grease.

Dry Graphite will disappear when it rains and WD-40 is a solvent cleaner, not a lubricant, so will evaporate down to a sticky residue. 

3-in-1 is an oil, so wont have the tenacity of a grease and will just slide or wipe off quite quickly.

A tub of lithium based grease and a tiny paintbrush is the answer- but even that will need replacing at some point and carries the risk of transfer to clothing. White grease is intended to be visible for this reason.

Or .... you can smooth / flatten both contact surfaces of the metal to make it as slippery as possible - work thru a few grades of abrasive paper ?


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## ridders66

Try some silicone oil, many places sell it as treadmill lubricant. or, as suggested above, a dry cycle lube. 
Failing that, try a new latch set, they're not too expensive.


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