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

[Tisha Hayes]

I was an early advocate of the tungsten disulphide and ethyl alcohol
technique; The post from (+15 years ago) might of been on a thread that I
had an active part or even initiated.

I can say that the original one pound container of powder I purchased I
still have at least half of it left.

I use it for quite a few things; Lubricating firearms, hinges and even
additive in my Mercedes that now has 250,000 miles on the engine. For
automotive use I add about a tablespoon full of powder to a liter of oil
(in the bottle) and shake it up. It is one of the bottles that I add to the
engine (every-other) oil change. Putting a borescope in the upper camshaft
gallery and things are still shiny without a wear pattern.

The only place it has gotten 'annoying' is on external parts of something
like a firearm. You need to let it dry and then burnish the metal with an
old towel. It takes on a metallic look, like an insect shell. If you don't
wipe the stuff off it gets on your skin and that is difficult to remove.
Normally I just keep it on sliding parts (like the slide of a semi-auto
pistol.)

Also remember that it is a nanopowder so if you try to work with it dry is
can be a potential inhalation hazard.
---
There is just something 'different' with how anhydrous ethyl alcohol
behaves when compared to isopropyl. I stopped using methyl alcohol (liquid
HEET) because of its toxicity. I had found the anhydrous ethyl alcohol at a
laboratory supply company. I can understand why it would be
banned/regulated as it is the drinkable type of alcohol and the ATF would
want a tax stamp on it. Everclear might be a more available choice; That
is, unless your US state is ran by an Alcohol Control Board that refuses to
put hard liquor on their list and it is considered a prohibited substance.

To apply it use a very tiny amount of powder inside of something like an
old two liter bottlecap and a spritz of alcohol. I apply it with a cotton
swab (Q-tip). It does not need to be goopy and just the barest of smears on
something like the slides on the RF deck or a touch on a few teeth of a
gear is enough. I guess you could use it to 'dust' something like the slugs
on the deck if they are sticking. Fortunately I found that by just cleaning
up the bores of the RF deck takes care of that sticky slug issue.
---
I had also purchased the tungsten disulphide grease. It is blacker than sin
and has one behavior that is a negative; If you put it in something like a
glass bottle with a cork, the cork or plastic plug will not stay in the
bottle. Just the increased air pressure from pushing down the plug will
refuse to say down due to the high lubricity of that grease. I did that for
a while where I was giving away little sample bottles of grease (wasn't
selling them) to some other restorers.

As far as doing any more restorations; The two 390A's and the R-392 are in
perfect shape as they are. Unless something breaks or burns out I am
leaving them alone.

*Ms. Tisha Hayes*

*AA4HA*