[GreenKeys] Lubricants, and how things work, and old computers, and...

[jhaynes@alumni.uark.edu]

The late W6SCR had a Teletype repair business, and I believe it was he who 
advised soaking the machine in kerosene.  At least somebody advised that,
and that is what I have been doing.  Then you have to do some brushing to
get at the really sticky stuff, but most of it comes off in the bath.

The first machine I ever did was a Model 15, when the late Ray Morrison 
gave me a box of enough parts to build one, mostly in the form of broken
machines.  I took that absolutely apart, cleaned each part with Gunk,
washed in water, used some kind of de-rusting stuff on rusty parts,
dried everything carefully, and put it all back together using the parts
book as a guide.  Later learned that there are some assemblies you aren't
supposed to take apart.

Lately I've been using 3-in-1 large motor oil.  This comes in a blue and 
white can instead of the red and black and white of regular 3-in-1, and
says it is 20 wt.  Doesn't have the right odor tho.  We need some Teletype
perfume.

I have a couple of PDP11/03s looking for homes.

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jhaynes at alumni dot uark dot edu