Engine lubrication ...


Tony,

I'd agree with you on that account. Moving parts is moving parts.

wombat457 said:
Crap ... I'll have to look around for a DCC equivalent or one that includes DCC then when the time comes. This is going to be a "newby type of question" then:

If the only difference (essentially) between a DC engine and a DCC question is the decoder that is installed, how does that effect the lubricating of the engine?

You can't tell me that "they" make DCC Equipped, DCC Ready and DC engines differently with regards the lubrication and maintenance of the "working parts" of the engine. You buy a DC engine, you can convert it to DCC ... the actual engine hasn't changed.
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Tony,

And those are precisely the reasons I wanted such a book. It works for me. DC loco wiring is quite basic, given the absence of a circuit board to complicate things.

wombat457 said:
Kevin,

You make a very good point regarding the advancements in motors. No doubt, what worked 20 years ago may not be appropriate for today's engines. That being the only possible "flaw" with the book then, it (the book) might be a good guide for engine lubrication and maintenance and handy to have around.
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It would be the "servicing" part of the book I would be interested in as well. I'll take your word for it regarding DC engine wiring. That is some thing I steer clear of be it DC or DCC. Wiring the track and lights for buildings is about the extent of my abilities and courage.
 
Tony and Toots,

In the very off chance you're unfamiliar with Labelle lubricants, they've been highly recommended in the model railroading literature I've read. The company makes different viccosities for different parts and usages in both locomotives and on tracks, as does Aero-Car below. The book mentions only Labelle for locos and WD-40 for cleaning wheels.

http://www.labelle-lubricants.com/Labelle-Train-Micro-Lubricants.html

My local hobby shop also speaks highly of Aero-Car lubes:

http://achlubes.com/
 
Tony,

Then that book will meet those servicing needs.

wombat457 said:
It would be the "servicing" part of the book I would be interested in as well. I'll take your word for it regarding DC engine wiring. That is some thing I steer clear of be it DC or DCC. Wiring the track and lights for buildings is about the extent of my abilities and courage.
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Thanks mate and while I have had other people here post about Labelle Products, I hadn't heard of them previously. To be ashamedly honest, in all the years I have been in the hobby I've never "serviced" my engines. I figured it was time I both learnt and did it.
 
If you're buying new release, then they should be OK, except, as in the case of the Intermountain SD40-2 I got, that had so much grease in the trucks it was working it's way out after a 10' trip up and back.
 
GNMT76 said:
The book mentions only ... WD-40 for cleaning wheels.
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Which I take objection to. I would never recommend this. It might clean the wheels and work really good, but WD-40 and other water displacement liquids (like Amzoil Metal Protector) leave a film of some sort over the object (obviously to keep the water off) that through time becomes sticky and a dust magnet. So guess what, there you are cleaning the wheels (or track or whatever) AGAIN.
 
Selector said:
I know this will be looked at askance by some, but I have used automatic transmission fluid on all my steam locomotives' valve gear, rods, and axles. Since about 2005. However, ensure the one you use, if you have some dregs lying about in an open plastic bottle, is safe for plastics and for paints. In N. America, the variety known universally as Dexron III Mercon is such a safe transmission fluid. Dexron III is formulated to spare plastic seals inside transmissions.

Why transmission fluid? Because it flows easily, is highly viscous, has great surface tension, is anti-oxidant and anti-corrosive, and is generally a great lubricant available in most garages....household garages. By the time you add a quart/liter, you still have a tsp or more left in the bottle. Dip your needle applicator into a bit of the red stuff in the bottle cap and touch the tip to your axles' bushings and to rod pins.

Thirteen years later, the paint on all my tenders and locomotives is unmarred, none of my plastics (loco shells and railroad ties) have been harmed, my steamers' valve gear and rods churn silently and freely, and I still have about 70% of those dregs I mentioned.

Before I tore down my second layout, I decided to try an experiment. I wiped a good portion of my single track main with ATF. Then I let my a train run around the main for about 15 minutes. The grades were near 3.5%. There was no slippage, oddly, but there was also no disruption of electrical contact between the rails and the metal pickup tires under the tender and locomotive. None.
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Did you have any freight or passenger cars with plastic wheels??
 
labelle works good, there are others on the market. atf works also, just be careful. transmissions are being made cheaper and the manufacturers are looking at the fluid companies to add things to the fluid to compensate. look out for the plastic and paint mainly. as far as the gears and motor, even though the actual power delivery and conversion from track power differs, the motor and gears do not know or care if they are dc, dcc. all it knows is it has power and ground and just spins. the gears dont really have a choice but to try and spin.
 
beiland said:
Did you have any freight or passenger cars with plastic wheels??
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A few, perhaps 10% of my consist might have still had plastic wheels. I learned early to only purchase cars that had metal wheels, or else to get used to replacing those plastic ones with metal equivalents. I tend to run a lot of coal hoppers, all with metal tires, and Walthers heavyweights or smooth-side Pullmans, also with metal wheels. All my cabooses have them. I think I have maybe four cars, all boxcars, with plastic. When I see them begin to teeter and totter, I know it's time to take a piece of bamboo skewer and free the tires from crud build-up.
 
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