I am gradualy builing up my rolling stock and have a mixture of bearing surfaces for the wheel axles/bearings.
Is there one lubricating oil suitable for metal on metal, metal on plastic and plastic on plastic?
Or will they have to be different?
And which is the best?
Thank you
Hi David
I have never oiled my rolling stock bearings. But I do always make sure that they run freely when I make any kits and all the ready to run stuff is usually free running anyway.
If the wheels do not run freely there is usually a reason, perhaps the axle is too tight in the bearings, too lose, or there is damage to the bearing or it is out of line with the axel. It can even be that the axle has the wrong shaped point at the end that does not suite the one in the bearing. I have also seen on some kits when assembled as per the instructions the flange on the wheel will rub on the underside of the vehical.
It has to be said that getting the wheels to run freely on some 009 kits is not easy and there are times when the instructions are inadequate in this respect and modifications are required to some kits to make them run well, wheels and axels diferent to those provided are required are sometimes required.
If you do oil the bearings one problem that you may find with any mineral oil is that it will not remain in the bearings and it end up on the wheels and the rails. You may find that PTFE oil is far better in this respect as it does appear to stay where you put it.
I have metal axels and plastic axles running in plastic and metal bearings that have been in use for 30+ years and they still run ok.
Axles that have inside bearings will be the worst to get running freely and as a result in most cases I have avoided using them when I can.
Brian Meldon
Hello david.
You might want to try rubbing graphite on the axle ends and into the bearing cups.
A pencil, HB grade will supply enough graphite to do the job
As Brian has said above, clean the axles and cups, remove any old lubricant, then do the bit with the point of a pencil.
As Graphite is a dry lubricant, you avoid the problem of the oil type lubricant picking up dust and fluff which then adheres to the bearing area Exacerbating the problem further.
Kind regards,
another Brian.
Thanks guys - I've been thinking about this subject for quite a time now. I was wondering about a safe lubricant for the nylon and plastic gears and certainly wouldn't use a mineral oil for that job because I'm always concerned that over time it will destroy the material. I'd certainly want to keep the motor bearings lubricated but like Brian haven't ever lubricated the rolling stock axles and I prefer to run the loco motion and valve gear dry. I have this feeling that the oil just attracts dust and fluff!
As Brian says, some chassis need a bit of care when building up and quite often the axleboxes need relieving slightly to ensure the axles run freely (but not too much or they'll drop out!) A few minutes work at this stage saves a lot of trouble later on. If a piece of rolling stock rolls freely the obvious advantage is that it takes less effort to drag it around the layout. However the less obvious but more important advantage is an improved wheel/rail interaction which will help reduce derailments, especially when propelling.
Graphite will do the job on axleboxes. I use powdered graphite sold for lubricating door locks.
I have used a soft pencil, spun inside the bearing "hole" to lubricate for many years and it seems to work rather well. Being dry it doesn't attract dust and dirt and you can't get it on your hands and therefore on paintwork. It's easy to drop wheelsets out during periodic cleans and lubricate some more.
There are so called plastic tolerant lubricants around and I have in the past bought an aerosol from Maplins. But, this was for large scale and I have always been somewhat dubious about the long term implications and have never used it on OO9 rolling stock preferring to use traditional oil on anything with motors and dry lubricants everywhere else. Having said that, so far so good. I just don't fancy being the first to discover that in the long term the plastic falls apart - in 009 there just isn't that much of it.
Hope this helps
Tony Deighan
Often the problem is too much oil in loco mechanisms introduced by over zealous owners. :( In new locos with plastic gears I've seen a whitish grease - could it be PTFE-based?
The microtrains (kaydee) coupler kits come with a graphite "toothpaste tube" tube/puffer for lubricating the coupler mechanisms. I use an artists graphite crayon on track after cleaning (for protecting the suface and electrical conductivity, not lubrication!), but I've not thought of using it on the axle needle points. I must give it a try.
Carrying on with the "Oils and Unctions" thread.
I have been using Lithium Grease for 10 years + as a grease on gears and worm drives, without any problems - although in a large scale environment.
It's very stable, doesn't melt and doesn't seem to have any adverse effect on plastic / nylon / brass etc. It's meant to be used as a bearing lubricant in cycles where it is brilliant at reducing rolling resistance. I wouldn't have any qualms about using it on an OO9 model.
My tube came from Halfords and cost
Thanks Tony - I couldn't find anything in Maplin's that I would really feel comfortable using.
Hi,
I have been wondering about lubricants too and am intending to investigate the greases used in radio control cars (racing buggies). Tamiya for example do a moly grease in a small tube that might be OK for loco gears. Not tried it yet though. Also there is a graphite lubricant by Hudy although this is not a dry lubricant.
You can find these online or visit a radio control model shop if there is one handy.
Frank
Sounds like a thread well worth following up Frank.
My "take" on lubricants is to be generally very conservative, given that the specific applications for new lubricants probably won't have the longevity of the kind of things we tend to produce - i.e measured in many years rather than a few seasons.
Having said that if Tamiya is the brand on the tin then that's probably as good a recommendation as you can get.
Best regards
Tony
My thoughts for what they're worth...I use graphite (actually a carpenters pencil) to go over the head of the rail after cleaning, tip passed on to me by Steve Bennett. I have it on good authority that Silicon based lubricants are safe with most (?) plastics, so I have since been using (very sparingly though as a little goes a long way!) Silicon grease on gears. This I used to get in small pots as we used this for work, and silicon based oil obtained from my informant above in exchange for a pot of the aforementioned Silicon grease.
In my toolkit I take to exhibitions I have a tube of white lubricating grease with "Teflon" sold as Labelle 106 and this also says safe for use with plastics, this also has it's uses.
Given the not infinite life of our toy trains it is behaps an idea if we can care for them the best we can.
John.
I would suggest using Labelle oils http://www.con-cor.com/Labelle.html
The 108 is probably the best for 009 use.
One of the benefits of this forum is that you get linked into things that you wouldn't find or have the time to look for in the normal course of events - good advice on the lubricant for models front, always best I think to use something designed for the job.
Best regards
Tony