[GreenKeys] Non-detergent oil for Teletype machines

[Jim Haynes]

It's long been said that non-detergent oil is necessary; that if you
use detergent oil it will turn all the nickel plating green.  Maybe
that explains the green varnish-like stuff I had to clean off the
selector separator plates, althought there was no evidence of green
crud elsewhere.

I would not be surprised if some particular detergent used in the
past was the culprit, and that modern oils do not have the problem.
I know once in a pinch I had to lube a machine with some 5W20 or 5W30
aircraft engine oil, which is definitely a detergent oil, and I
didn't see any bad effects.

Seems like the regular Three-in-One oil, the household stuff, might be
about 10 wt., given that the stuff in the blue and white can is stated
to be 20 wt.  I remember some Teletype document where they specifically
said not to use Three-in-One oil (meaning the household kind).  This
was quite an old document, but then the Three-in-One brand has been
around for a long time.

I guess there is nothing wrong with too-thin oil so long as you oil
the machine often enough to make up for the oil draining or vaporizing
or wearing away.  Too-thick oil we know will make some of the fast moving 
parts
too sluggish.


jhhaynes at earthlink dot net