Loco Maintenance - Lubrication

[PVT Kanaka]

Aloha, All!

I am about ready to put in an order for various supplies, to include lubrication for my locomotives.  I want to order from one supplier, if possible, to save on shipping, and this is the one item that has me flummoxed. As I understand it from my hard copy  resourcers at home and some internet sleuthing, there are three grades - light, medium, and heavy, with light for the connecting rods, heavy for the gear boxes, and medium for an indeterminate "other."  Also, every equipment manufacturer has their own brand of lubricant.  Basically, it comes down to what do I actually need, and are the lubricants cross-compatible across brands of locomotives (i.e. A Bachmann branded lubricant won't turn my LGB gear into slagged plastic or vice versa.)?

The rest of the order will be railclamps (I've settled on "Splitjaw" based upon its prevelance in this forum.), some Hartland "minis," and maybe some track, so nothing especially hyper-specific tht would require splitting the order unless there is a real issue of compatibility.

 

As ever, thanks for the guidance!

- Eric

[ttrigg]

From my prespective the important thing to look for is "plastic friendly". I have used 'cross branded' lubes with no problem. I have heard that others had problems that I never experienced. However, I do stay brand specific with the gear grease used in the drive shafts of my 3 truck shay. I also use that same grease in other gear boxes.

[PVT Kanaka]

Mahalo, Tom!

[Greg Elmassian]

I like aero-lube and hob-e-lube products.

Here's some musing on lubrication from my site:

http://www.elmassian.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=20&Itemid=50

 

Greg

[PVT Kanaka]

Greg,

 

Thanks very much.  Your photos certainly made clear the point of "know before you buy!"  I am going to hunt around to see if I can find your recommended product line at a vendor that also carries the other stuff I want (need?), but it seems that eating the postage is certainly worth it in the case of lubricants!

Aloha,

Eric

[PVT Kanaka]

Greg,

Quick follow-up to close the loop on this.  I picked up a pack of lubricants and tested them out on a second hand Bachmann 4-6-0 and its Christmas train, most of which have lived in a box and all of which squeaked like a family of mice.  I put a dab of lubrication on all the rods and linkages on the locomotive and in all the journal boxes of the train cars.  What a difference!  Following your website's advice, I will spariningly lube up the rest of the collection if and as it needs it to avoid making dirt traps out of over-lubed bits and pieces.

Thanks again!

Eric