[R-390] To lube or not to lube gears?

[Jim Whartenby]

I'm pretty sure that I am in the minority here but lubricating gears causes more problems then it solves, IMHO. Lubricating pivot points is another matter entirely.  In my experience, clean gears and lubricated pivots offer the least resistance in turning the KC and MC knobs.  Don't forget to recenter the two bushings that support the MC and KC shafts.  When those two shafts bind, it makes turning them quite labor intensive.
I base this observation on the many "clock collector" blogs I have visited over the years.  I figured that they would know much more about gearworks then this old radio collector.
As for the cleaning process, a degreasing agent (I chose WD-40, long ago) a detergent (your favorite) a water rinse follower by an alcohol rinse to release the water, then repeat.  I use repurposed spray bottles filled with the four liquids so the process goes quickly.  An acid brush with a dowel extension will reach far into the gearworks to scrub the gears.  Turn the MC and KC knobs each time to bring new surfaces into reach.
The only lube I use is a small bottle of Tufoil that is so old, it has the original slogan, "The Transistor of Lubrication" printed on the 8 oz bottle.  It is still in the Guinness World Book of Records, as the most efficient lubricant, so that is good enough for me.  Less then a drop on a wire probe is all that is needed at each pivot point.  My bottle is decades old and is still more then half full.YMMV,JimLogic: Method used to arrive at the wrong conclusion, with confidence.  Murphy 

    On Monday, September 9, 2024 at 11:16:59 AM CDT, Barry <n4buq at knology.net> wrote:   

 I don't think I need this - at least for the moment.

After much cleaning, I was still feeling places in the rotation where something felt like it was "catching" and I could not see anything that was causing that so I decided to remove the first plate (#45 in the exploded diagram) which is relatively easy to do.  I couldn't believe the gunk that was still on the inside and gears where I just couldn't see before.

This morning, I happened to notice an odd washer that I remembered seeing but just wasn't sure where it went.  It has a small counterbore in one side and I finally determined it goes behind one of the split gears (#56) and the washer is #57.  It prevents the split gear from separating too far so "mystery" solved.

While things are a bit messier to reassemble, the instructions are complete so it shouldn't be too difficult to get things back together (and hopefully no more "catching" points).

Thanks,
Barry - N4BUQ