Received the 4 shaft steel gears from Dominique and broke them in via Max's method. A few hours running in regular oil
forward/reverse (hooked up a car battery and used voltage adjustor) Then cleaned- applied grease and then ran them with a drill for a min or so fast forward/backward. (High speed with drill made a difference in free spinning) Wow they are really really smooth now! Haven't run them in the tank but I am sure it will make a great difference creeping along compared to the zinc. Oh small tip on getting those tiny screws that sometime hold magnetically but sometimes not..a little dab of crazy glue and you can really get into tight spots.
Hand spin time without motors:
Stock Zinc broken in for years: 1/4 -1/2 sec.
Steel pre-break in: 2 sec.
After break in : 8-9 sec!!
4.1 steel gear review: Hand spin times
Re: 4.1 steel gear review: Hand spin times
That's excellent, Tom. Did you get any photos or videos? I just recently met you but I can tell already that you're doing cool stuff, and I want to SEE it, Man! A photo of the ends of the motors that came on the GBs would be pretty cool.
When FDR coined the phrase "The Arsenal of Democracy", he was talking about Detroit. Proud to live in the 2nd most violent city in America!!
Re: 4.1 steel gear review: Hand spin times
Thanks! I was thinking about a video but just did the stopwatch to time it and now everything is already installed 
But the point for me was that the break in you suggested did make a difference! And after the oil run/bath and cleaning running the drill on the shaft when they were greased also make a big difference- going from 2 sec stock- 4 sec after run in oil to the final approx 8 sec free spin. So bottom line was lot's of people said no break in and I wanted to see for myself if it would make any significant/measurable difference...and it did!
But the point for me was that the break in you suggested did make a difference! And after the oil run/bath and cleaning running the drill on the shaft when they were greased also make a big difference- going from 2 sec stock- 4 sec after run in oil to the final approx 8 sec free spin. So bottom line was lot's of people said no break in and I wanted to see for myself if it would make any significant/measurable difference...and it did!