Introduction:

After skating for a long time indoors or a while outdoors, your skates should probably be serviced. The main sign of this will be that the wheels are worn more toward the inside of the skate than the outside. Also, if you skates outdoors you might see some dirt built up on the frame of the skate. If you see either of these, then you need to service your skates.

Taking Your Skates Apart:

To take apart your skates for servicing, I recommend you have some kind of special tool. I recommend the Sonic Pro Tool ($10) or a similar tool. If you do not want to buy one you can use a 5/32" hexagonal screwdriver something you can find that can push your bearings out.

Steps:
1) First take the hexagonal tool and use it to unscrew all the axles/bolts. You should now be able to take your wheels off.
2) Take all your wheels off, keeping them in their order from the skates, and set them somewhere.
3) Get the rag wet and squeeze out the extra water. Use it to wipe off your skates (which now have no wheels on them).
4) Take the bearing pusher or the tool on something similar and take all your bearings and bearings spacers out.
5) You should now seperate your skates, wheels, bearings, and spacers.

Wheels:

Wheels are very easy to maintain. Usually all you have to do is wipe the dirt off them. If your you have had your wheels for a while and they seem to be much smaller then when you got them and they are very rough you may consider new wheels. You can get new wheels for $1.75 or less each at www.venicerw.com.

Steps:
6) Rotate your wheels, switching the first wheel with the third, and the second wheel with the fourth.
7) Turn them around so the writing is on the opposite side from before.
8) Also make sure later you put the wheels from the right skate on the left skate and vice versa.
9) Keeping them in their new order, wipe each one off inside and out with the rag.
 

Axles and Spacers:

The axles are the bolts which hold your wheels on. The spacers are the parts which are in between your bearings. Take a look at the spacers (if your skates have them). If they're plastic, look for signs of wear or broken spacers. Plastic ones can break if you jump a lot. You can get 8 new spacers for $2 at Venice Rollerworks. A good sign of a broken spacer is a clicking noise as you put your skate down on the ground. This is because the wheel has a little freedom to move around and may slide a bit on the axle.

Steps:
10) Wipe off the axles and bearing spacer with the rag.

Bearings:

The bearings are the most important part of you skates and need to be cleaned thoroughly. Inside them are balls which spin as your wheels spin. They should have very low friction inside which lets you go fast. Exposure to dirt and water are the main reason that your bearings slow down. You don't have to clean them every time you service your skates. You should clean them when you can hear the friction inside or when they don't spin very well. Assuming normal usage, they should last through several sets of wheels, depending on how much skating you do.

If some of the balls or bearing surfaces have become roughened, and don't spin too well even after being cleaned then there's not much you can do. They won't get any better, but they may be okay to use for a while anyway. You can always replace (VeniceRW - ABEC 5 - $1.00 ea.) your bearings a few at a time if they stop spinning well.

First off, there are many things to clean bearings with. I use Dow Fantastik which is the only household product I recommend. Real bearings cleaning probably work a little better but not enough to pay $10. Also, there are many lubricants you can use. Lubricant choice always seem to be somewhat preferential. Lots of people find one lube that works for them and they just stick with it. Grease works well because after a while most of it gets shoved out of contact with the balls and only a little bit smears onto the workings. However, newly greased bearings, will take a while to expel any extra grease and move the rest out of the way. For oils, most mail-order shops sell their own brand of lubricant, as do many of the bearing manufacturers. You should probably go ahead and spend $5 on bearing oil because it is designed so you can put the oil just where you want it. Household oils aren't good because they may gum up after a while.

Steps: (for non-serviceable bearings skip steps 11 and 12)
11) First, pop the C-ring out from only one side of each bearing by putting the end of a pin in the opening of the c-ring and popping it off. Be sure to cup your hand around it because sometimes the c-rings fling off and are really hard to find. There is no force needed to do this. A tiny slotted screwdriver might be helpful, too.
12) Now pull the shields off the bearings. To do this, stick the pin in the little spot inside the sheild or use a small screwdriver to put pressure on one side of the shield.
13) Rinse all the pieces under warm or hot water for a about 15 seconds or so.
14) Put all the bearings in a small container (with a top) about 4-5 in wide. Lay everything flat so it it takes up as little space as possible.
15) Pour in a just enough bearing cleaner so it covers the parts plus a little more.
16) Put the top on the container.
optional) fill the area around the container with warm or hot water
17) Let the bearings soak for 10 minutes to an hour. During this time it is good to move the bearings around with toothpicks, but be careful and make sure you don't scrape the balls. During this time, wipe the c-rings and shields with a moist cloth.
18) If your bearings are not serviceable or they still have their shields on then you can shake the container around a little.  Danger - Don't do this step if your sheilds are off because you could damage the balls.
19) Pour the cleaner down the sink, and rinse the bearings under the water with them in your hands a few at a time.
20) Put them back in the rinsed container and put warm water in it.  Repeat step 18 and 19 again or as necessary (using water instead).
21) Put the bearings in the rinsed container and put warm water in it.
22) Now take each bearing out individually and spin it in your hand and shake water out of it. Put them on a paper towel.
23) Take about 4 at a time in your hand and dry them with hairdryer on low. Now set them on another paper towel.
24) Now lubricate the bearings with your favorite lubricant with only a few drops of oil. Using too much lubrication can attract dust and dirt. Spin the bearing around too spread the lubricant.
25) Then put the shields and c-rings back on. Wipe the bearings with a dry paper towel to get off extra lubricant.

Putting Your Skates Together:

Steps:
26) Put the bearings back in the wheels with the bearing spacer in between them.
27) Put the wheels on the skates how it was mentioned earlier.
28) Use the hexagonal tool and use it to screw back on all axles. Make sure they are tight enough not to come loose. Make sure they are not over tightened.