OIL

[daryll]

Which oil do you recommend for an old 

Triang motor ( from R 156 EMU) , I have some sewing machine oil , is that light enough oil

[uax6]

Should be, just remember light oiling, you are looking at applying drops of oils, not floods. Use a bit of 1mm brass rod or similar. Dip it in the oil bottle, and then transfer to the bearings of the motor, a couple of drops for each bearing is plenty.

 

Andy G

[vikingsmb]

On 01/01/2023 at 21:05, daryll said:

Which oil do you recommend for an old 

Triang motor ( from R 156 EMU) , I have some sewing machine oil , is that light enough oil

gaugemaster oil i use

[TheSignalEngineer]

I used my mother's sewing machine oil for my Hornby Dublo locos. Just one drop at a time on the end of a bit of telephone wire.

[RAF96]

Sewing machine oil, clock oil or if you are flush then specialist model oil.

[uax6]

I tend to use Shell Tonna 26, more commonly known as Lathe oil (or to you ex Strowger men, as Oil, Bearing 19). this is a little bit 'sticky' so that it tends to stay where you put it, and not run off everywhere....

 

Andy G

[PaulaDoesTrains]

I use sewing machine oil for everyting except the gears which I feel need a something a bit stickier to stay attached to the gear.

[polybear]

It's worth remembering that some oils won't be "plastics compatible" and will adversely affect some plastics with time  (I seem to recall 3 in 1 falls into this category)

[Nearholmer]

A good, very light, plastic compatible synthetic, LaBelle 108 being a very reliable choice. I’ve had the same small bottle since about 1990, using it very sparingly on a great number modern mechanisms and ancient, including 1920s clockworks; it doesn’t deteriorate in the bottle, or in the mechanism.

 

For applications that need grease, rather than oil, so typically high speed gears that will throw oil off, and things that slide across one another, again I use a modern synthetic, in that case one from LGB. I don’t think they market it any more, but similar is available from other suppliers.

 

Because I collect old models, I’ve got quite into all this and have spent plenty of time cleaning old, and deteriorated, mineral oils and greases out of old mechanisms. I would never use a mineral oil or grease, because even modern ones will “dry out” or break down in the long term. I guess that one day the synthetics will deteriorate, but they do seem to retain their qualities for an incredibly long time.

 

 

Edited February 27, 2023 by Nearholmer

[ianLMS]

I use Peco oil for my axles, bearings and motion gear.

 

BTW - POL related - what grease is recommended for plastic and/or metal gears? I picked up a tub of clear "silicon" grease from a show years ago which is a little lighter than the consistency of Vicks nasal decongestant but im not sure if its the right type to use. Applied with a cocktail stick i'm not sure if it flungs off, thins down quick or does the job it should!!

 

Thanks.

Ian

[Nearholmer]

I’m still on the same tube of LGB 51020 gear grease I’ve had for about thirty years. They gave up selling it I think, probably because a 1:50 year purchase by each user makes no profit, but Bachman sell much the same thing (Code: 99982), and I’m sure you can buy huge tubs of it for next to nothing if you know where to find it.

 

The key is that it needs to be simultaneously sticky and soft, and it shouldn’t get stiff when cold; a lot of very light greases aren’t sticky enough, they get thrown or squeezed away from where they are needed.

[DCB]

The oil needs to NOT attack the plastic insulated bushes in the driving wheels and not attack the Top Hat insulated brush holder on the A1A / Hymek etc power bogies. 3 in 1 oil used I used in the 60s and early 70s attacked both and made them crumble away.

[kevinlms]

On 14/03/2023 at 14:05, DCB said:

The oil needs to NOT attack the plastic insulated bushes in the driving wheels and not attack the Top Hat insulated brush holder on the A1A / Hymek etc power bogies. 3 in 1 oil used I used in the 60s and early 70s attacked both and made them crumble away.

3 in 1 was intended for bicycle chains and other metal gears.

[Nearholmer]

Yes, I believe it was especially formulated for bikes during the initial cycling boom in the 1890s. I think the tin I’ve got may have been bought then!

 

 

 

Edited March 15, 2023 by Nearholmer

[stewartingram]

Many years ago I used Duckhams 20W/50 in my car engine, and it was suggested somewhere that engine oil was better on loco gears as it was more 'clingy', so I tried it. It certainly worked ok, with no plastic problems. Sadly I no longer need to use it (and believe it is no longer available anyway). However, I did try a small can (3in1 size) of Duckhams Cycloil (spelling?) which was equally as good - never did find any more though.

[uax6]

Ah the old Duckhams 20-50 (Duckhams, the engines choice) started to go downhill when it stopped appearing in tin cans, and then they took the green dye out of it, and then Castrol bought Duckhams and killed the range instantly.. Not great for us with classic cars that used it....

The lathe oil is clingy, hence why I use it now, and the fact that I have a 20 litre drum of the stuff for oiling the strowger...

 

Andy G

[Halvarras]

On 14/03/2023 at 03:05, DCB said:

The oil needs to NOT attack the plastic insulated bushes in the driving wheels and not attack the Top Hat insulated brush holder on the A1A / Hymek etc power bogies. 3 in 1 oil used I used in the 60s and early 70s attacked both and made them crumble away.

 

3-in-1 oil cracked the boiler of my Tri-ang L1 4-4-0 in line with the worm gear (and the plastic baseplate of the Class 31/37/EM2 motor bogie didn't like it either).

I remember writing to the Railway Modeller's letters page about this in 1974 - must have been my first ever letter to a magazine! - because I'd realised what had happened and thought it should be brought to the attention of other modellers who also thought a can of such stuff was a cheap way to buy oil......😕

[andyman7]

8 minutes ago, Halvarras said:

 

3-in-1 oil cracked the boiler of my Tri-ang L1 4-4-0 in line with the worm gear (and the plastic baseplate of the Class 31/37/EM2 motor bogie didn't like it either).

I remember writing to the Railway Modeller's letters page about this in 1974 - must have been my first ever letter to a magazine! - because I'd realised what had happened and thought it should be brought to the attention of other modellers who also thought a can of such stuff was a cheap way to buy oil......😕

Ironically, Hornby instruction leaflets in the late 70s and 80s suggested a 'light machine oil such as 3-in1' but added that contact with plastic parts should be avoided. However the spinning armature inevitably misted close by plastic parts, not helped by the tendency for many people to over-oil.

 

Apart from disintegrating 'top hats' on the Triang A1A/Co-Co bogies, it tended to result in the removable A1A roof section splitting neatly in two where the armature had spun a neat line of oil on to the underside!

[DCB]

On 15/03/2023 at 13:33, stewartingram said:

Many years ago I used Duckhams 20W/50 in my car engine, and it was suggested somewhere that engine oil was better on loco gears as it was more 'clingy', so I tried it. It certainly worked ok, with no plastic problems. Sadly I no longer need to use it (and believe it is no longer available anyway). However, I did try a small can (3in1 size) of Duckhams Cycloil (spelling?) which was equally as good - never did find any more though.

I worked at a British Leyland dealership in the1970s and we had Duckhams 20/50 in a big several hundred gallon tank.   We could easily purloin a gallon or so for our own use without anyone being aware, but we preferred to use Castrol GTX or XL    Duckhams felt gritty compared to Castrol and was a strange colour whereas Castro was like golden nectar. Duckhams Fleetol detergent oil was great for oil guzzlers as it tended to un gum sticking piston rings.    Nowadays I use any old cheap oil, and sometimes Castrol is cheap, with Wynns additive.  My Rover 25 is at around 150K miles and still runs very strongly and I got 190K miles out of a MG Maestro 0E series engine.   BL upgraded the A series to become the A Plus but called the upgraded O series the OE not OPlus for some obvious reason.     I find the dregs of Wynns Supercharge for oil very useful for quietening  noisy worm drives