[GreenKeys] Zoomspout oil

[John Nagle]

> On 5 Aug 2012, at 4:15 PM, Paul Heller wrote:
> 
> I live in a part of the country where evaporative cooling is common. I  
> use this nifty oil on the bearings of my cooler:
> 
> http://www.zoomspoutoiler.com/
..
> But I'm guessing the oil is probably wrong. It is listed as  
> ConocoPhillips/Unocal 76 Turbine Oil. It is a 10 weight oil. You folks  
> know a lot more than I do about what oil is safe / best to use in the  
> teletype. Is my guess correct?

   I use Valvoline synthetic motor oil, 5W-20 weight.  That's
just tacky enough to stay on metal surfaces, while not being
so viscous as to slow down the mechanism.  (Teletype mechanisms
are typically driven in one direction and spring-return in the
other.  Too viscous an oil will slow down the spring-return
functions and throw off the timing.)  Synthetic oil tends
not to evaporate the lighter fractions and turn into a
gummy material.  It's more expensive, but you don't use
that much.

   I also use lithium grease for the sliding grease points.
The big gears get Lucas Red-and-Tacky grease, which is
tacky enough not to be thrown off by centrifugal force.

   Turbine oil is intended for applications where there's
a high-speed shaft flying on a film of oil.  Nothing
in a Teletype except the motor shaft turns fast enough
to get that effect, and the motor bearings are bronzes
in the older machines.  But turbine oil probably won't
hurt anything.

   Just don't use WD-40.  That's for getting stuck bolts
unstuck, not machinery lubrication.

			John Nagle