Plastic Safe Lubricant?

wallyworld

Member since
July 2002
From: A State of Humidity
2,441 posts

Posted by wallyworld on Saturday, February 10, 2007 12:55 PM

I noticed some of my motive power that has plastic gearing is starting to show signs of needing lubrication. Is there something that can be gotten that does not require a special trip to the hobby shop? Plastic safe of course. Any help appreciated.

Nothing is more fairly distributed than common sense: no one thinks he needs more of it than he already has.

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chuck

Member since
July 2006
From: Plymouth, MI
1,615 posts

Posted by chuck on Saturday, February 10, 2007 1:34 PM

Light machine oil (like 3 in one) is fine for oil. Lubriplate (white lithium grease) is usually used for fishing reels and bicycles. It also works well on toy trains.

When everything else fails, play dead

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Back2Trains

Member since
June 2004
From: Southeast Florida
134 posts

Posted by Back2Trains on Saturday, February 10, 2007 8:48 PM

Get Labelle 106 grease with PTFE. It is plastic compatible and designed specifically for trains and other small mechanical items. Most hobby shops have it.

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sulafool

Member since
November 2002
From: US
192 posts

Posted by sulafool on Monday, February 12, 2007 1:35 PM

3 in 1 oil is most definitely *NOT* safe for plastic!!!

This has come up before, time and again--it may be ok for nylon but any styrene type plastics will be destroyed by it. Don't take a chance, leave the 3 in 1 in your garage and get some real hobby grade stuff specifically marked for plastic.

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