Help...Lubricating Oil

You'll get a ton of opinions, none of which are absolutely correct.

 

I use whatever is handy, just not vegetable based oils.  3-in-1 motor, Breakfree, Rem-Oil, 5W30, sewing machine oil, clipper oil, whatever.  Just make sure it's compatible with plastic.

 

What does the manual tell you to oil?  The motor shaft or the oilite bearings?

 

IMO, these are just toys.  If you are not running them 24/7, then they probably will not wear out in your lifetime.

I use Labelle 102 for my O-guage stuff. Its a quality plastic compatible oil and 102 is a bit thicker and stays where its put.Comes in a handy needle tip bottle, and it can be found at your local hobby shop and other places like amazon, ebay etc.

 

http://www.con-cor.com/Labelle.html

Thanks guys.

It says to lubricate the axles and pickup rollers, also to grease the gears

 

Mike

For grease Red n' Tacky #2 can be found at the local hardware or auto parts store.

 

I always use the Atlas O Motor Bearing lube on wheels and their Conducta Lube on center rail pick up rollers.  For gears, I use the Red 'n Tacky.

Whatever you do use just don't overoil things.  A drop at each end of a wheel set and each end of pick up rollers is all that is needed.

Has anyone ever used white "lithium grease" to lube the gears?

 

Rick

Yes,  Works well and stays put.

MTH recommends lithium grease as a lubricant. I use it on gear sets. Red n Tacky is also lithium grease.

Well, the manual says "household oil", so...use that.

 

This typically means "3-in-1" oil, available most anywhere. It's a brand, and there are others. I think that you can get it a grocery stores! (In fact, I need some.)

 

I pretty much use 3-in-1 for all oiling; I use Labelle white grease for greasing. I seem to

recall Scott Mann at 3rd Rail recommending automotive axle grease for gearboxes.

Good idea. Easy to get - and very manly! - and a small can will last you a lifetime. Most lubricants will do the job; I've never experimented with oddball stuff, however you define that.

 

And get a tube of powdered graphite lubricant (it's dry) for such things as knuckle coupler mechanisms.

How about 75W90 synth gear oil for gears? Just a drop or two. Seem like it would get better distributed than grease in many cases.

I don't use oil for anything. I use Break Free CLP, a synthetic Teflon lubricant that was originally developed for machine guns. It is great stuff, never dries out and gets sticky. You can get it at most any gun store.