Oiling?

[buckingham]

Just looking at an item on eBay (Tomix ef210) and the seller has stated

"Do not oil as it will ruin the mechanism as with all Japanese N."

 

Is this true i.e. do not oil mechanisms on Kato, Tomix locos etc?

[Themetropolitainline]

Not true I have always oiled with the thought LESS IS MORE I oil mine about every 20-30 hours or when i remember, also clean off any old grease/oil before oiling. Metro

Edited November 6, 2016 by Themetropolitainline

[kvp]

Locos that are greased with syntetic grease should be either greased again or fully cleaned before adding a plastic friendly oil. Grease and oil at the same time usually don't mix.

 

Conventional oils used for metal drivechains might end up dissolving the plastic parts, so the right oil or grease is important.

 

Some parts, like motors are sealed and lubricated for the expected lifespan of the internal parts (like the brushes), so these should not be taken apart as reassembly is often not possible.

 

Generally, it's a good idea to always check the maintenance instruction sheets before doing anything.

[railsquid]

Just looking at an item on eBay (Tomix ef210) and the seller has stated

"Do not oil as it will ruin the mechanism as with all Japanese N."

 

Is this true i.e. do not oil mechanisms on Kato, Tomix locos etc?

 

If this was the case, I wonder why Kato would go to the trouble of manufacturing Uni-Clean Oil (24-021). But as the instructions say, only required in minuscule amounts when actually required. I've only ever used it on new British Dapol locomotives, where the instructions indicate this is required, and some Very Old (20+ years) second hand trains (including Kato and Tomix) which were very obviously "dry". The "oil by default" attitude is one to be avoided, I've actually acquired a couple of locos from Ebay where the seller said "will be oiled before dispatch" and requested that they *not* do that, and had to clean up other over-oiled 2nd-hand purchases.

[kvp]

I would like to streess again, that many new locos are actually greased in the factory, so must not be oiled. I would suggest to replace synthetic grease with synthetic grease only as these mechanisms might actually operate correctly only with syntheteic grease. (and most oils would just drip out) So, imho the warning above might be the result of this.

[inobu]

Lubing these components are for a "peace of mind" for us more so the well being of the train. The gear and pressure angles are so small that we don't have the lubrication with the correct viscosity to work with these tiny gears anyway. The grease that you pack in will be squeezed out by the gear face anyway leaving a cauldron of grease to collect lint and dirt (mind you the dirt is prototypical). This means in 1/160 a 1mm piece of lint to us is a 6.29 inch rope to a N scale train. Just imaging having a 6" piece of rope in your transmission.

 

Inobu 

[buckingham]

.... Just imaging having a 6" piece of rope in your transmission.....

 

Inobu 

 

:hmh:

[nah00]

I rarely oil and when I do it feels like more of a placebo. Taking apart the running trucks and cleaning out whatever has been picked up from running always seems to work better. Found mud (!) in a secondhand set once. Just don't drop anything on the floor....

[cteno4]

I do find that oiling does work well. Just did it to an older tomix 100 that was sputtering some at a show. Wheels and truck gears were clean but gears were totally dry. Tiny application of labelles 102 on the truck gears and then running like a charm! I do this in tiny bits just the little pointed makeup stick shift (basically a tiny pointed q tip) I put a drop of oil on something the dip just a tiny bit on the tip ornate applicator and paint the gears that are accessible thru the truck slots very sparsely and as evenly as possible (i.e. No globs). Then hook it up to power to let the wheels spin. I usually do this with my little piece of wood with two copper strips on it hooked to any power supply handy and rest the strips On the flange ends to make contact and spin the wheels. Then if it looks like there is an even very light lubricant coating I try running it to see how it's worked. In most cases where cleaning has not solved the problem the lubing does. If it does not I strip down the chasis to look at the motor bearings and shaft couplings and listen to just the motor spin. If sounding at all rough with some resistance applied I will very lightly apply some fine motor oil to the motor bearings. In all my years of doing train I've been able to resurrect all grumpy motor cars this way. Only exception has be the tomix spring worm drive mechs but they just growl and stick by design saddly if they are acting up.

 

Jeff

[kvp]

 

 

Only exception has be the tomix spring worm drive mechs but they just growl and stick by design saddly if they are acting up.

Imho adding a brass friction bearing rod to the plastic housing opposite of the motor could help as the spring ends will have a place to rest. This keeps them centered and also helps to bend them in the right angle. The length must be small enough not to block the bending, but long enough to engage the spring worm and the rod must be thin enough to allow the spring to move and thick enough to keep it centered and from hitting the plastic housing. Also the outside end must clear the fixed loco shell and any weights nearby. Of course, for me most of the time, adding a large amount of grease for the spring to run in did the trick without any modifications. (large amount = almost filling the bogie mounted plastic spring cover) This amount is based on how i got a brand new spring worm drive unit from HS.

[cteno4]

yep it really needs a bearing at the ends to keep the end of the spring which is the worm gear essentially from wanting to fly around. ive looked at like 4 of these now and find that with time the centripetal force causes the end of the spring to carve out a larger and larger area from its plastic housing. some sort of an end pin that would just be big enough to fit into the end of the spring and keep it from wanting to fly out tangentially would really help.

 

my solution was well was to clean them out and pack with grease like you describe. but it does end up making a mess in the long run i expect and a great collector of smutz as the ones i cleaned out were really fouled. lots of cat hair in one!

 

jeff

[beakaboy]

 lots of cat hair in one!

 

jeff

 

Cat Hair or cat whiskers from getting too close! HaHa!

[cteno4]

well usually cats learn so if it was a whisker it should only have been one! you put a good picture of a cat curiosity reaction!

 

it was from one of the moderators trains here locally and he had a cat! ive seen cat hair lots in the past sucked up into trucks mainly. but the spring drive had it really wound up into the spring drive big time. sure it was all the grease and the great thing of the spring to get all wound up in! other spring drive mechs were just black and messy! i think the drive also sort of rattle themselves apart as when you put them all back together tightly they tend to be quiet for a while and slowly get louder!

 

jeff