How Frequently Should You Lubricate A Motor

[Kotori]

Just a quick question: How often should you lubricate your locomotives’ motors?

[Kingmeow]

Unless it's making a noise or slowing down, I leave it alone.  For N-Scale I go by the adage, if it works, leave it alone.

[Kamome]

Motors, No!!! Gears are/were often teflon coated so as @Kingmeow says, generally also leave them alone unless there’s a problem.

 

Depending on how you’re using your trains, they’ll need some maintenance from time to time. Floor running will obviously have the biggest detrimental effect for things like carpet fuzz and hair. You can keep an eye on any buildup then clean and re-grease if necessary. I like to use the Cera-grease from Tamiya for bogie assemblies, especially if they’re a little noisy. Oil can often get into places you don’t want and may exacerbate the buildup of fluff. 

Edited February 3 by Kamome

[cteno4]

Luckily the motor bearings are usually pretty isolated and don’t get schmutz in there much and tend to stay well lubricated if lubricated with a nice fine oil.

 

my experience has been the opposite of Kamome with greases on n scale trains. The most gummed up gear systems I’ve dealt with have been ones lubricated with grease. I’ve always used a medium to heavy oil on gears and rarely get gunked up. I too tend to only lubricate gears if I hear noises or there are performance issues.

 

jeff

[Kotori]

@Kamome Thanks; I thought motors required regular lubrication.  Luckily I haven’t done anything; so I’ll only do gears if there’s noise or performance issues.