[R-390] Gear Train Removal

[Jim Whartenby]

I think that the tendency is to over do gear lubrication, not under do it.  The Preliminary R-390 manual says "It must be remembered that over lubrication can cause more harm then no lubrication."  I tend to agree having bought an R-390A from the late Hank Arney that was so over greased, the kc and mc knobs were frozen.  A lot of solvent, detergent and denatured alcohol using an acid brush mounted on a dowel to get deep into the gear works finally freed the binding.  There was no need to do a complete teardown.

Our brother collectors of clocks do not lube gear teeth, just pivot points, and sparingly.  The thought is that grease attracts dust and dirt which does more harm then good.  In the half dozen R-390A I have reworked, I have yet to find a worn gear.  Has anyone?

YMMV,
Jim
Logic: Method used to arrive at the wrong conclusion, with confidence.  Murphy 

    On Monday, September 2, 2024 at 05:55:29 PM CDT, Barry <n4buq at knology.net> wrote:   

 While I have the RF Deck out, I'm going to clean and lubricate the gears, rollers, etc.  Reading the manual, apparently the from "apron" of the gear train can be removed without all that much difficulty.  If I remove that apron, do the gears stay with the main part of the deck or does some of them come off with the apron?

I'm asking because, while I'm still considering a complete teardown (which is just a bit more daunting than the A model which I've done before), it might be good enough if I can maximize the exposure of the gears and just settle for cleaning/lubing them in situ.  Any comments on that? 

Thanks,
Barry - N4BUQ
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