It’s simple. Incredibly simple. But how many coaches or pool administrators do this one simple thing to help keep their diving boards and stands working the way they were meant.
Grease the wheels. Actually, grease the fulcrum!
I’ll bet it’s not as many you think, or should. But it is a simple five minute task that will increase the life of your equipment, allow divers to move faster while on the diving board, and reduce a lot of headache. So here are the fulcrum parts and points that need some attention, and some grease!
The Fulcrum
Photo: Woody Franklin
The fulcrum is a moveable wheel that sits underneath the mid-point of a springboard diving board, allowing a diver to adjust the amount of spring they receive. The fulcrum is made up of multiple smaller pieces that support a wheel that allows the diver to roll the fulcrum forward or back. These pieces take a pounding from the springboard, in addition to being yanked, pulled, pushed and otherwise beat up by divers as they move the wheel.
As with any equipment with moving parts, the smoother the apparatus works, the better. So to assist the fulcrum in its task, applying a lubricant will lessen the wear and tear on the smaller parts.
The Grease and The Gun
Photo: Woody Franklin
As you would expect Duraflex International, the manufacturer of the Durafirm Diving Stand, suggests using Mystik JT-6 Grease that is applied using a hand held grease gun. The Mystik JT-6 Grease is both water resistant and water insoluable so this product works well in, you guessed it, an aquatic environment.
While there is not doubt that this is the best scenario due to water resistence, as long as you apply any type of water soluable lubricant to the fulcrum, it will be a benefit. So where should the grease go? Good question, so read on ….
The Nipple
Photo: Woody Franklin
Using a grease gun, apply grease to the “Zerk Fitting.” Ok, that’s nice, but what is a zerk fitting? Well the Zerk Fitting is a small metal piece, essentially a small nipple, that is attached to the Fulcrum Roller Block.
One or two pumps with the grease gun and your fulcrum wheel will move freely. The Zerk Fitting channels the grease into the inner workings of the roller block allowing the wheel to spin without destroying the smaller pieces that make up the Roller Block.
And as any coach can attest, it is also nice if the wheel moves easily, then the coach does not need to move the fulcrum every time a diver needs more or less spring!
Slide Tracks
Photo: Woody Franklin
The slide tracks are the two black metal pieces (made of anodized aluminum) on which the Fulcrum Roller Block sits, and the Fulcrum Wheel spans. The slide tracks allow the fulcrum wheel and assembly to move forward and back.
As you might expect, when two objects rub against each other there will be friction. By applying a lubricant the friction is reduced and the fulcrum slides easier.
The best application for the grease involves applying a small bead of grease down the length of each track on both the top, and the inner and outer sides.