What oil do you recommend for oiling the wheels and bearings of engines and rolling stock? there are several different 4 ounce bottles on ebay for about $13.95.
thanks Ed Roth
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Any cheap synthetic 20 wt oil by the quart. $13 for 4 oz is not required and not a good as the recommend oil.
Charle
@ed roth posted:What oil do you recommend for oiling the wheels and bearings of engines and rolling stock? there are several different 4 ounce bottles on ebay for about $13.95.
thanks Ed Roth
I always preferred EXEL lubricants.
As brass steam engine models have become more and more detailed, with bell and whistle cords and other delicate parts on top of the boiler, it has become harder and harder (I think) to safely turn them upside down to lubricate the journals and change the grease in the gear box. Old US Hobbies engines didn't have this problem of delicacy.
Any suggestions on the best/safest way to lubricate these fancy new imports? I'm also getting older and not as agile and nimble as I used to be ...
I made a foam cradle out of hardware store foam meant to insulate a window air conditioner. The foam is 2x2x48 or so. I bought two pieces, I used JB Weld to glue 3 lengths across the bottom (6 x20) and 2 pieces above the 2 outside pieces (2X20 each)--like a "U". I also bought a set of 4 exel lubes at a hobby shop for about $30. I use "medium" on everything except the gearbox, which gets the white grease. After spending $$$ on brass locos, no point in risking it on a cheap lube.
@ed roth posted:What oil do you recommend for oiling the wheels and bearings of engines and rolling stock? there are several different 4 ounce bottles on ebay for about $13.95.
thanks Ed Roth
Ed, I bought my first round in the 4OZ tube just to get the needle-point oiler. Then refilled with 20W synthetic out of a quart when needed as suggested above. If you do that, make sure to use synthetic oil.
Good luck! Bob
@endless tracks posted:Ed, I bought my first round in the 4OZ tube just to get the needle-point oiler. Then refilled with 20W synthetic out of a quart when needed as suggested above. If you do that, make sure to use synthetic oil.
Good luck! Bob
I did the same thing with my first 4OZ bottle but wasn't impressed with the needle applicator that it included as it was too big. Went to Amazon and found much smaller blunt needle applicators to get into some tight places. Also picked some small 1mL plunger syringes to easily control how much I dispense.
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Clock oil. Lightweight mineral oil that is non gumming non evaporating and long lasting
How often would you say? Assuming slow to medium speed running; every how many hours?
I use the Labelle stuff with the long needle proboscis on it. And I oil only very rarely. The interval is based more what the calendar says rather than how much it's been used.
@Sparty1225 posted:How often would you say? Assuming slow to medium speed running; every how many hours?
About every 25 operating hours. 👍
Thank you!
Excelle products yield excellent results. It’s why places like Muffins Trains, Mega-Steam and Hennings carries their line.
Lionel documents show oiling after 30 hours of run time.
When synthetic oils for cars first came out, cars would start to leak oil. The additive to "swell" the engine seals and o-rings was missing in the early synthetics. The additives are what you need to be careful about. I stick with synthetics made for model trains that are made to be plastic safe.
One drop as directed for wheels and axels takes up to 3 years for me to go through 1 small, 15cc/.5oz bottle. With hundreds of cars and engines.
Does anyone track loco run time? Does anyone have any ideas how to easily do it?
@Ken Wing posted:Does anyone track loco run time? Does anyone have any ideas how to easily do it?
With DCS it's pretty easy. All DCS engines have an odometer and chronometer.
Some of us dinosaurs still run conventional only.
@Ken Wing posted:Some of us dinosaurs still run conventional only.
I have a portable layout that has an hour meter attached to the track output to measure runtime of the engine that runs on it. That's one way to do it.
@H1000 posted:I have a portable layout that has an hour meter attached to the track output to measure runtime of the engine that runs on it. That's one way to do it.
H1000,
The trick with that is the hour meter clocks the time the electronics are powered vs "mileage". I found out the hard way after queuing off comments here in other posts, to wit: I have engines with only 18 or 20 scale miles but several hours of "run time" added while sitting still on powered tracks. The cure in that scenario is remove the engine(s) your not using, or park them on a powered-down spur you designate for the purpose. My new layout will have that feature.
For the purpose of the 'oiling" discussion, I'd use milage over elapsed time if the time" was largely added while parked but still powered as mine were.
Yeah, an hour meter might measure how much I'm running the layout, but not how long any given engine is running. I also leave my MTH locos with rechargeable batteries on powered tracks idling to keep them charged. Hours of electricity, but not running time.
For now, a calendar year based system is probably better for me. I keep a spreadsheet of when ALL my rolling stock last received maintenance. My longest-ago loco maintenance one was 12/22. If I had to guess running hours, it would be less than 10.
Freight car lubrication is where I need to go next, but other priorities impinge. Since I have about 100 freight cars on the layout, it's hard to keep track of which ones were done and which not, especially as consists change, but 100 is too many to do at once. Even more complicated because I have multiples of some cars. I probably need to halt operations for a week or so, and lube one train or yard/spur track at a time.
@endless tracks posted:H1000,
The trick with that is the hour meter clocks the time the electronics are powered vs "mileage". I found out the hard way after queuing off comments here in other posts, to wit: I have engines with only 18 or 20 scale miles but several hours of "run time" added while sitting still on powered tracks. The cure in that scenario is remove the engine(s) your not using, or park them on a powered-down spur you designate for the purpose. My new layout will have that feature.
For the purpose of the 'oiling" discussion, I'd use milage over elapsed time if the time" was largely added while parked but still powered as mine were.
Well your best bet then is to invent some kind of mechanical odometer for conventional operation... Good luck.
Given the choice of an hour meter or nothing, I'll take the hour meter.
@Ken Wing posted:Does anyone track loco run time? Does anyone have any ideas how to easily do it?
Is it dry? Oil it. Does it have oil? Don't oil it. 😉
@RadioRon posted:Thats good, but it represents an overall small proportion of all trains in use from all time.
The original premise was for locomotives only.
For rolling stock, oil it when starts squeaking. I've got rolling stock that has been oiled maybe once in decades, I suppose if I don't do it again in next 20 years it'll only last long enough for my great grandkids kids to enjoy before the wheels fall off.
@Lou1985 posted:Is it dry? Oil it. Does it have oil? Don't oil it. 😉
Couldn't agree more, some people are WAY over thinking this.
One nice thing about O-scale Athearn Delrin trucks with Intermountain 2-rail needle-point axles is that they never squeak!
