Why did my roller luggage's wheels stop turning smoothly?

[scherz0]

Two weeks ago, my carry on worked perfectly. But last week the detachable wheels stopped rotating smoothly, when I tried to glide my carry on. The wheels budge JUST A TAD when you push them hard, but it should be EFFORT LESS! Pls see two pictures below.

 

I see nothing jammed in the wheels. I ventilated wheels with  my hairdryer. I hosed water into wheels. But nothing fell out. Wheels are still stiff! Why? 

 

I bought this carry on for $350 USD. It is out of warranty. I can't afford buy new one.  

 

 

 

[mistermack]

On 11/15/2021 at 9:30 AM, scherz0 said:

I can't afford buy new one

I'm not surprised. If you are willing to pay 350 dollars for a case, you will probably be poor all your life. My suggestions are 1) get a replacement wheel. If it's detachable it should be replaceable. 2) Have a look on your local freecycle, freegle, or charity shops if you have them where you live. You would find something either free, or costing about 10 dollars, with wheels that move. 

I wouldn't bother trying to repair the wheel, chances are it's beyond repair. You could try pulling the stuck wheel off using brute force or a lever, but it would probably break.

[Phi for All]

12 minutes ago, mistermack said:

1) get a replacement wheel. If it's detachable it should be replaceable.

And even if they don't make them anymore, it should be possible to unscrew the attachment piece on the luggage as well, and then replace the whole caster (as long as the holes match). You could replace all four fairly cheaply, for that matter.

The OP doesn't say how old the wheels are, but it sounds like a frozen bearing.

[studiot]

1) Is there a wheel lock and if so is it unintentionally engaged ?

2) Since you can detach the wheel, is there any relative movement or 'backlash' at all between the two moving parts ?

3) You might be able to free it up by spraying with silicone dry lubricant and hand twisting the two parts back and fore.

4) Are all the wheels locked or just some ?

[mistermack]

To answer the question posed by the title, it's most likely that somebody has carried too much weight in the case, and been rough when bumping up and over kerbs or rough pavement. Most likely a combination of the two. The bearings will outlast the cases usually, but go over the loading limit, and they won't take it.

[J.C.MacSwell]

Assuming you haven't heat distorted them beyond repair with your hair dryer you might want to try a little teflon spray lubricant. (or better believe it or not, a little Armor All).

[iNow]

2 minutes ago, J.C.MacSwell said:

try a little teflon spray lubricant. (or better believe it or not, a little Armor All).

Interesting. I may need to remember this one. Are you suggesting this bc they’re hard rubber wheels, or would the same suggestion to use Armor All also work better than Teflon if used on a metal wheel axle?

[J.C.MacSwell]

6 hours ago, iNow said:

Interesting. I may need to remember this one. Are you suggesting this bc they’re hard rubber wheels, or would the same suggestion to use Armor All also work better than Teflon if used on a metal wheel axle?

It's the fastest thing I've tried on a pinewood derby car. So plastic wheel on a polished nail axle. These are short races, around 30 feet or so, with very little load, but it was faster and for longer than teflon spray (or graphite powder, among other lubrication experiments).

So I should add the caveat that I haven't tried it on anything else in direct comparison for heavier use.

The teflon spray I tried was a marine spray to lubricate small fittings and bolt rope track.

 

[iNow]

5 hours ago, J.C.MacSwell said:

It's the fastest thing I've tried on a pinewood derby car.

It's a cool idea. Appreciate the tip!