Hi gents, I am still a relative newbie to all of this, and I searched in the forum for a post addressing this issue, but couldn't quite find the answers... So, I own a couple of N-scale Bachmann Spectrums. A 2-8-0 Consolidation and a 44-Tonner. Perhaps naively, I used 3 in 1 household oil to lubricate the gears (applying it to the bottom of the engine at the visible gear point). For non-U.S. readers, I am not sure what the equivalent brand is... I have a sneaking suspicion that this oil may not be friendly to plastic gears... The engines have run fine for weeks, but I don't think I run them anywhere near the amount that would allow problems to develop. Have I made a major error? If so, what can I do to fix this. What oil SHOULD I use. Or should I just drop both engines off the table and mail them to Bachmann crying "defective" and see if they send me some new ones? cute: Thanks!
I don't know about reactions between 3-1 and plastic gears, but since the locos don't seem to have any problems after "weeks", they may be OK. However, I recommend you use LaBelle Lubricants available from your LHS, or various on-line vendors. LaBelle offers many weights from light oil to heavy grease. Also, sewing machine oil works well, many come in a squeeze cylinder with a long needle application tube.
Hi, Mark, and welcome aboard! 3in1 is, or was until recently, available in the UK. I used it once or twice in my OO/HO days, but it will kill a number of types of glue that you might use instead of solder for assembling kits. PECO used to produce something especially for lubricating locomotives, and they called it ELECTROLUBE. That product is still on the market, but the name has changed. It's now POWERLUBE and is more expensive - as you might expect after something has its packaging changed . . . Regards, Pete
Here is a good link on using synthectic ATF (automatic transmission fluid). Plastic safe and never gums up http://model-railroad-hobbyist.com/node/1932 ratled
I have used both 3-in-1 and sewing machine oil without problems. The main concern is quantity. On motor bearings, I take a needle and get a small drop on the tip, then apply that to the point of interest (in any case, there's rarely enough room to get the applicator of most household oil containers in there).
I think it, in part, boils down to a question of scale. Scale often, but not always, influences the material used to make the gears. N scale gears are necessarily small and nearly always some sort of plastic. Labelle 108 is the oil that is often recommended for those. It's about $7 a bottle, which seems expensive but is less of a pain than having to replace damaged gears.
In my earlier years, I used 3 in 1. Then I switched to LaBelle. Whatever you use, do so sparingly. It's easier to add just a tiny bit more, than it is to dismantle and clean... Boxcab E50
Wow, I could be sitting on a gold mine! I'll have to read some labels at work.. we go through gallons of ATF daily... and I think the Toyota World Standard is synthetic - 100,000 miles replacement interval sorta hints at it.
