Am I meant to use grease on parts of model trains when servicing them?

[centraltrains]

If so what type please? I tried googling but everything only pointed to articles about trains in the country Greece... I oil my trains with an oil pen at the moment however they seem to go a bit noisy after not that much extra running and some of my trains start of really slow and take ages to get up to speed and am wondering if this is realted. I am sure this has probably been covered 100s of times on this forum but I either can't spell greece properly or i'm not meant to use greece, Any pointers are much appreciated!

Edited March 23, 2018 by centraltrains

[Free At Last]

Try G R E A S E

[meld]

Try Grease instead, like the film .

 

HTH

 

Meld

[Andy Hayter]

Grease

not greese.  FWIW I use a Teflon impregnated grease very sparingly.  A good quality light oil is all that is  usually needed.

Edited March 23, 2018 by Andy Hayter

[Graham456]

Well try spelling it Grease, it comes up with the stuff you require, with out any mention of hot sunny beaches

 

Doh beaten to it a few times whilst typing

 

P S the slow running might because it's gummed up with to much oil !

Edited March 23, 2018 by Graham456

[Kris]

I use a light oil, generally daywat (might be spelt incorrectly).

['CHARD]

I recommend serving them with a side salad or half rice - half chips 

[centraltrains]

Thank you very much for the spelling correction!

 

Is this any good? http://www.petersspares.com/hobelube-hl651-dry-graphite-lubricant.ir

 

A few things I read said "just oil" so a little puzzled by that...

 

[is there any way to correct my typo of serving which would be servicing in the title?]

Edited March 23, 2018 by centraltrains

[Andy Hayter]

Read what it is recommended for, use it for that.  For the rest use a light oil.  I have some watch makers' oil, but commercial makes are available.

['CHARD]

Thank you very much for the spelling correction!

 

Is this any good? http://www.petersspares.com/hobelube-hl651-dry-graphite-lubricant.ir

 

A few things I read said "just oil" so a little puzzled by that...

 

[is there any way to correct my typo of serving which would be servicing in the title?]

 

Go into editor in your original post, I think.

[yelrow]

Singer sewing machine oil. applied with needle. If you can see the oil, you have put on too much. john.  No Grease

[centraltrains]

Singer sewing machine oil. applied with needle. If you can see the oil, you have put on too much. john.  No Grease

 

Don't people say not to use sewing machine ones?

 

I use a light oil, generally daywat (might be spelt incorrectly).

 

Still on the same bottle? http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/29332-what-lube/

Don't think it is made anymore? Can't find it anywhere... Someone else on a different forum from 2011 saying it was out of stock everywhere.

[Nearholmer]

Ideally, use a plastic-compatible synthetic oil for things like bearings, valve-gear, and connecting rods, and a plastic-compatible synthetic grease for gears, and only use a tiny bit of either.

 

To give you an idea, I own more toy trains than is really good for any person, and this little bottle of oil has lasted me c25 years, and should do another 20.

 

I can’t quickly find my gear grease, so here is a catalogue picture.

 

Because I like rather old toy trains, I see the trouble caused by over-oiling and the use of mineral oils. Too much oil is a sure way to gum things up in the long term, and mineral oil, even the finest, degrades to a watery substance with no lubricating quality, and solid shale, if left long enough. These modern synthetics seem very stable indeed by comparison, and seem OK with steel, brass, plastic etc.

 

Don’t get tempted to use 3-in-1 or similar, because they contain things that can attack some plastics and, I’m told, some brass.

Edited March 23, 2018 by Nearholmer

[Kris]

Don't people say not to use sewing machine ones?

 

 

 

Still on the same bottle? http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/29332-what-lube/

Don't think it is made anymore? Can't find it anywhere... Someone else on a different forum from 2011 saying it was out of stock everywhere.

Yes. I’ve got a couple of bottles. Given just how little your average n gauge loco uses it last for a very long time. I do also use some on my 7mm locos, but the get run even less than the n gauge ones.

[brossard]

I have some of the Labelle stuff.  I also have some lithium grease, bought at a DIY store.  For metal to metal lubrication there's Nano oil and grease (  https://www.nano-oil.com/Products.html ).  Rather a dear do and could be overkill but it's in my tool box now.

 

John

[RexAshton]

I use this on gears - sparingly and oil everywhere else.

[APOLLO]

Seen in Thompsons travel agents window in Wigan a while ago --

 

Two weeks in Grease full bored £399   !!!!!

 

Back on topic, I use an electrolube pen - never any problems.

 

Brit15

[newbryford]

I just use scrape off the excess grease from new locos to service the older ones.........

 

Cheers,

Mick

[BR60103]

Most model shops will have a selection of model lubricants. Get ones that say plastic compatible. One of my school friends used some of his mother's cooking oils and ended up with a stock of immobile Kitmasters as the plastic axles expanded.

 

Parts that slide against each other get grease or teflon dust or graphite dust. (worms on gears, sliding valve gear). Bits where you can't reach the sliding surfaces (shafts rotating in bearings) get oil.

Use the smallest drop of oil possible. 

Parts that are involved in electrical pickup get Peco Electrolube. I don't know if that's proper, but I do it.

[Mick Bonwick]

I just use scrape off the excess grease from new locos to service the older ones.........

 

Cheers,

Mick

 

You must have a very large number of older ones!   

[The Johnster]

Model shops will also sell you a hypodermic syringe to apply the lubricant.  I always remove the grease that a new model comes with with Maplin's switch cleaner in a rattlecan; fortunately the one I've got should last a while, but I will no doubt be able to source a substitute.  It is powerful enough to blow most of the muck out of the way.  Leave it overnight to evaporate completely, and apply plastic tolerant lube with the syringe, sparingly as excess attracts gunge.  For obvious reasons, keep the syringe with your modelling stuff and away from any others used for medical (or any other) reason in your household...

 

My first train set, a Triang Black Princess 2 coach oval, came with a small glass bottle of Shell Fine Machine Oil; there was a pin attached to the top to aid application (you can still use a pin if you don't want to go down the syringe route).  I believe it was actually whale oil.  It gave you a lovely impression that you were dealing with precision engineered British (dammit Carruthers) machinery...

[Il Grifone]

 

omis

To give you an idea, I own more toy trains than is really good for any person,

omis

 

 

I fail to understand what you mean by this statement!   

 

Seriously though, I can't disagree with the rest.

 

I have been using some PTFE loaded oil (from Aldi) which seems to give good results (I can't speak for the long term results and it is probably not plastic compatible*, so I have only used it for metal to metal.)

 

White lithium grease seems to give good results with plastic gears (e.g. Lima), but again I have doubts about its plastic compatibility. It used to be used by the manufacturers of VCRs to lubricate the plastic slides and gears. Its later removal and regreasing was a frequent maintenance operation. With some makes, the nylon parts were prone to cracking, but I don't know whether this was due to the grease or just poor quality plastic (planned obsolescence?). Otherwise I use powdered graphite (Kadee for example) or just rub the surfaces with a pencil.

 

I'll have to order the grease from Eileen's.

 

* I assume that, if it doesn't claim to be plastic compatible, it isn't.

 

Years ago (in an article on motorising a Kitmaster kit), vegetable oil was advocated for lubrication. I tried it and was rewarded by a seized mechanism and a nasty smell....

[Sir TophamHatt]

I use the Gaugemaster oil.

Probaly got ripped off but it seems to work okay.

 

As others have said - don't use too much!

 

I over oiled a Hornby Castle which resulted in it no longer working.

Stripped it, wiped up the oil and gave it a whirl and now it's great again.

[The Johnster]

The thing that cannot be overstressed is that you are aiming for the least possible amount of lubricant to perform the function required; any surplus will attract dirt and gunge which will have the opposite to the desired effect and increase wear on your drive train.  The grease supplied with new models is awful stuff; it goes off hard if the model sits on a shelf or in a warehouse for any time (beware of this on 'brand new  box never been opened' eBay bargains) and seizes the model up, and there is always far too much of it.  Get rid of it and do the job properly.  And sparingly!

[34theletterbetweenB&D]

...I also have some lithium grease, bought at a DIY store...

 I have no idea i this applies to all lithium greases, but the most comprehensive destruction of plastic model rail mechanism components i have ever seen was on OO RTR locos that had been lubricated with a lithium grease over a dozen years or so. The wheels were falling off the axles and plastic gears were stripping, because the polymers used for the gears and wheelset insulators were of the consistency of chewing gum...