Grease recommendations

LUCAS

Red & Tacky  or

 

http://www.megasteam.com/lubricants.html

Lucas Red & Tacky, available from auto parts stores or on-line. One tube will last you forever, and you can use it for other things as well. I quit using White Lithium because it dries out.

Ordinary motor oil.  I don't use grease.

Servoguy, what weight oil do you use and regular oil or synthetic?

I use 5W-20 non synthetic.

 

A quart is a lifetime supply.

But oil drips. The best thing about Lucas red and tacky is its blend had the grease clinging onto the application area without dripping off or easily liqifying when there is some heat buildup.

The problem I have with greases is that I cannot find any technical data on them.  For motor oil, I can find information that states that the vapor pressure of motor oil is 10^-2 torr at 100 deg C.  With that said, some of the guy on the forums have been using red and tacky for some years without a problem.  I am an engineer, and I don't believe much that is not technical data.  

Call "LUCAS" (Red & Tacky) - they will give you more tech data than you may wish to digest.  They also have an oil that is usually available on "Special Order" from auto stores which I believe has the best specs for our trains. 

For what it's worth, LUCAS website provides these specs:

http://lucasoil.com/images/doc...Red-Tacky-Grease.pdf

I use Labelle #106 plastic compatible grease on gears and 30 weight non-detergent motor oil on bearings and any other non-gear applications. Never had a bit of problems from either.

 

Typically I use Labelle 106 grease. I have a container of the Lucas Red N Tacky. It seems OK as a lubricant, but it has a slight odor, and I wonder about staining.

And Red and Tacky is plastic compatible.

 

-Roger

Red and tacky here too.

I just use MTH grease on MTH Loco's because thats what MTH gave me and if it ruins something I can yell at them.

I have used Labelle 106 for years without any problems.

 

Brad

Labelle 106, although my train store guy says the new stuff should be lubed with a tacky oil instead.

red n tacky works great, any plastic compatible "synthetic" grease is good, the key word being synthetic. the lubrication properties remain much longer where they are applied 

Switched to Red n Tacky over a year ago. It stays on the gears and doesn't end up everywhere else.

I use white lithium grease recommended by most people on the forum before Red & Tacky was discovered.  I didn't switch because I have a large tube of it.  Labelle products are also good and have been around a long time.  For oil I use the tubes of model train oil you can pick up at train shows for a buck or so.

.....

Dennis

Another advocate here for Red 'N' Tacky grease.  Before I switched years ago white lithium grease was what I used.

Red "N" Tacky!

I looked at the web site for red and tacky.  Missing from the data is the vapor pressure of the oil used to make the grease.  The vapor pressure tells you how fast the oil evaporates.  While it appears that many people are using red and tacky, we don't have any data on how long it lasts before the oil evaporates and the grease gets hard.  

I use Labelle #106 plastic compatible grease on gears

 

I just use MTH grease on MTH Loco's because thats what MTH gave me and if it ruins something I can yell at them.

 

I use white lithium grease recommended by most people on the forum before Red & Tacky was discovered.  I didn't switch because I have a large tube of it.  Labelle products are also good and have been around a long time.

 

Red and tacky

 

Any of the above are reasonable choices and should serve our needs for model trains.

 

Lucas Red and Tacky has built quite a following.  From what I have read it is just another good quality NLGI 2 lithium grease with red coloring added.  Maybe people like red!  If red is your color Mobile makes Mobilelith SCH 22O. It is a nice synthetic NLGI 2 EP lithium grease too. 

 

But then there is nothing wrong with white, blue or good old tan grease either. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ditto

 

Gilly

white Lithium Grease purchased in large Tubes. I sqeeze it into a food injector purchased at Walmart for about $4 bucks, Viola!! Instant grease gun!!

Don't forget to cut the point off the food injector, you may have to reshape the end as I did.

 

OK, just what is a "food injector"?  Is it actually used to "inject food" into someone or something?

that's exactly right. its used to inject and/or infuse flavor into food such as steaks, chicken, turkey. instead of basting, the injector is filled with broth and injected into the meat.

It makes a great grease gun though, been using it for years.

I gotta admit though I use White Lithium Grease, Im tempted to try out the Red-n-Tacky that you guys keep bringing up. Its sounds like a win win for toy train locomotive maintenance.

hello guys and gals..........

 

I use Red & Tacky in the large gear box of my 1300 dollar Sunset 3rd brass locomotive. The red grease has been in the gear box for 2 years since I purchased it in 2012 and I did a inspection and found out the grease did a outstanding job protecting as it show very little if any wear marks on the teeth of the gear.  I ran the engine for more than 12 hours with the Madison cars. The MTH Madison cars are heavy and they do not roll freely.  I use the grease on the Lionel classic F-3 and the Williams Geep.  I will buy another tube of that.  I believe its the best grease for heavy"O" gauge or larger trains.

 

the woman who loves the S.F.5011,2678,2003,200

Tiffany

I have a 2025 steamer that I oiled in 1965 and then put in the closet for 40 years or more.  It was oiled with Valvolene 20W-40.  When I took it out of the box it ran just fine.  The oil was not dried out or sticky.  This is the kind of information I am looking for.  Very long term storage or use of a loco.  Two years is not enough time.

And go for Mobil 1 for your oil  needs. 1 quart will last forever.

 

Roger

Lucas Red-N-Tacky here also. Looks extremely similar to the grease in the MTH tube that came with their Lube kit. Got a massive tube of it at Home Depot for $5 and change. It was enough to last several lifetimes. Still using the oil that came with my MTH lube kit, not sure what I will get when that is gone?

It's for those who don't have time to stop and eat. Load it up with PB&J or leftover turkey and mainline it into your arm! Gets all those vitamins and minerals into the bloodstream quicker too!  LOL

Do we really need all the technical data for Red N Tacky? They are model trains, not the space shuttle. It really doesn't need to be that complicated. Sooo many people on this forum use it, and no one's trains have blown up......

Well, I had a derailment exiting the engine terminal with my Sunset/3rd Rail C&O H-8, and it shorted the 180 brick and burned some wires up in the tender. Suppose my using Red "N" Tacky had anything to do with THAT?

For food injectors, I got some of these syringe assortment and use them for grease, assorted glues etc.

I've used Labelle products for a number of years and very happy with them. 

Precisely. The vapor pressure is a non-issue at these operating temps. I've told that to Bruce a few times.