[R-390] Today I Tweaked my PTO endpoint and lubed gear train.

[Phil Atchley]

Good morning Barry.
I know what you mean about the "lifetime-supply-and-a-half" of the oil.  =
I
poured a little into the plastic lid from a DeOxit spray can and dipped =
the
toothbrush in that.  At that rate I should be able to do at least a =
"half a
gazillion" R-390 receivers of various genre.=20

> "Is that hypoidal gear oil -- with sulphur content?  I picked up a =
quart
of Valvoline synthetic gear oil (75W-90, I think). Enough to do 5000 =
radios,
but has that sulphur odor".

I'm not sure if it has any sulphur content or not.  It doesn't have the
"skunk or rotten egg" odor that I associate with sulphur.  Yesterday the
radio room did have a "petroleum" smell after the receiver was lubed and =
run
in its case for several hours.  It was just kind of an "oily" smell.  I
didn't find it unpleasant or anything, just the "manly" smell of =
machinery
8^).  When I entered the radio room this morning it had dissipated so it
should be ok.       =20

73 de Phil, KO6BB
DX begins at the noise floor!
k06bb@elite.net
Merced, California
37.18N  120.29W  CM97sh

-----Original Message-----
=20
Phil wrote:

>Then, I went down to the auto parts store and bought a Quart (!!) of
>Valvolene DuraBlend (synthetic blend) 85W-140 gear oil.

Nolan warned that this stuff in proximity with
silver will cause extreme tarnishing (as with silver plated contacts).
However, I conducted a long term experiment, suspending a freshly =
cleaned
silver plated connector over about 1/4 inch of the gear oil in a =
styrofoam
coffee cup.

After many months -- no tarnish.  However, the experiment did firmly
establish to a high degree of statistical significance (well... as high =
as
you can get with an N of one) that synthetic hypoidal gear oil eats =
through
styrofoam.  Fortunately only a small puddle.  I suppose the stuff is OK, =
but
it does stink.

<snipped>

>They were taken care of when I went through the RF deck, along with
>a very light coat of Valvolene DuraBlend grease on the inner surfaces =
the
>racks rub against.

If you wanna really gild the lilly, first treat the surfaces with moly =
lube
paste.  You don't glop it on -- you simonize it in.  The moly fills the =
pits
and pores in the metal and makes the surface very smooth.  Then apply =
very
very little lube -- the surface won't hold as much anyway.  You can also
leave it dry on sometimes sliding surfaces (slug rack ends and frame) to
avoid attracting dust.

>Anyway, after using a toothbrush and a artists paintbrush (I buy
>"throw-a-ways" at Ace Hardware for 29 cents each, buy them by the dozen =
for
>odd jobs) to apply a light coat of the gear oil to all the gear teeth,
>planetary gears, 10 turn stops etc.  I'd dip the toothbrush in the oil,
hold
>it against a gears teeth and "tune" the set.

While you're at "Ace is the Place", they have flux brushes for about 10
cents apiece.  Those are the ones with the hollow sheet metal handles.  =
I
find that they are very handy for cleaning and applying lube.  I take =
some
and cut the bristles halfway to make them stiffer for working into the =
gear
teeth, etc.

>After everything was oiled I
>used a small cloth on seizers to soak up any residue or excess so it
>wouldn't run where I didn't want it to.  This is my first experience =
with
>the gear oil and I'm not sure how well it'll stay "put", but the set is
>MUCH, MUCH smoother in it's tuning (It wasn't too shabby before) and
doesn't
>have any "sticky" spots in it's tuning.

Interested to know if the stuff you bought has that sulphur aroma.  Even
though I have a lifetime-supply-and-a-half remaining of the Valvoline =
gear
oil I bought, I don't care for the "bouquet."

Barry





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