[GreenKeys] Synthetic motor oil

[Jim Haynes]

Of course the important thing about the genuine KS-7470 is the aroma!

I'm sure that by now there are better lubricants out there.  And then
the amount we use our Teletype machines it probably doesn't matter a
whole lot what kind of oil we use, if the viscosity is about right.
I've been using 3-in-1 large motor oil, which comes in a blue and white
can and is 20 weight.  It has an aroma too, but not the correct one.
A very old Teletype publication, perhaps pre-dating Western Electric
ownership of the company, says not to use 3-in-1 oil meaning the lighter
stuff that is in a red and white and black can.  I once used excessively
heavy oil and it was OK in most places but slowed down the selector action
too much in a Model 15.  I later used some airplane engine oil, because
it was all I had at hand at the time.

We used to be told to use non-detergent engine oil because the detergent
would turn all the nickel-plated parts green.  Apparently that is no
longer a problem.  Back then you could buy non-detergent oil at any gas
station because it was still in use for some kinds of car engines.

Then I remember a Digital Equipment Corp. publication which said to
lubricate the Model 33 with a 50/50 mixture of engine oil and STP.
That certainly wasn't Teletype's recommendation.  Maybe they found it
was actually an improvement for Model 33's that ran 24/7 on minicomputers,
which was certainly not how Teletype intended them to be run.

If someone can find out what the aromatic component of KS-7470 is,
perhaps we could just get some of that and add it to our regular oils
to take us back to the good old days.

Not being a mechanical engineer or a lubrication expert, I've often 
wondered about that aromatic additive, whether it served some useful
purpose or was just to trademark the product.  A possible explanation
is that there is a volatile constituent in the oil which gives it the
aroma, but which also helps the oil to penetrate into tight spaces.
Then when the volatile constituent evaporates the oil that is left
behind is the right weight to lubricate the parts.  That's just
speculation on my part.  If correct, it suggests that a mixture of oil
and something like WD-40 or penetrating oil would be good for helping
the lubricant get into narrow spaces and then evaporating to leave a
good lubricant behind.