kadee dry grease or toothpaste

[h44]

i'm going to be able to start up working on the athearn tune up saturday, i'm at the part where it says to put pearl drops on the gears and run for about 20 mins to "break in" the engine. would kadee dry grease have the same affect?
thanks
mark

 

[35tac]

Tuneup

Dont think so. Pearl Drops act as a lapping compound to remove small burrs not a lubricant.
Wayne

 

[DanRaitz]

Agree with Wayne,

The Pearl Drops are an abrasive they will take off any burrs and will also polish the gears. BUT, you will have to remove any TRACE of it after the "break-in" period. The you will lubicate the gears with your favorite lube.

Dan

 

[Lightstorm]

Be sure to only use plastic safe lubricants when greasing the gears.

 

[DakotaLove39]

Be sure to only use plastic safe lubricants when greasing the gears.

I thought small drops of transmission fluid was popular? Or am I thinking for the worm shafts?

 

[Selector]

For slow speeds and low impact/low work, ATF would be fine in a gearbox in toy trains, but it doesn't measure up for the type of work required of the surfaces for typical use. The ATF is best in link pins, crankpins, valve and piston rods, crossheads, and wheel bushings on steamers, but grease is the best for the interiors of gearboxes.

 

[Graham Line]

You could try a fine-grade lapping compound if you have a source.

I generally tune Athearn trucks by brushing the spur gears lightly over a sheet of 100-grit sandpaper and inspecting the gears under a magnifier for junk in the teeth. Then it's a pin-head of Labelle Plastic-Compatible grease and propping the engine up to run for 15 minutes each direction with no load on the drive train.

I use a light, thin oil on the worm gear and motor bearings.

http://www.pearldrops.com/products.aspx

 

[railBuilderDhd]

If you use the toothpaste on the gears for the break in don't you need to worry about it getting all over? I never hear of using toothpaste to put on a locomotive but I've not heard of a lot of tricks you can use. What other trick can be used to tune up a locomotive and what is better for the lube, grease or graphite?

Dave

 

[Graham Line]

The toothpaste, if you use it, has to be completely cleaned out after the gears are lapped in. All you need is a small amount -- "packing the gearbox with Pearl Drops" is excessive. Because it's abrasive, it can't be left in the engine long term.

Frankly, unless you run into an engine with badly-molded gears with a lot of flash, I don't think you often need that step.

What I generally do is disaasemble the truck, inspect it and clean up any stray plastic, and then put about a 1/32" dot of grease on one of the big spur gears -- the action of the truck when running will distribute it.

Light plastic-compatible grease is better for a long-term lube because it sticks to the parts.