Victrola Motor Grease and Oil Recommendations

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Jordan C
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Victrola Motor Grease and Oil Recommendations

Post by Jordan C »

Hello all! I'm making my first attempt at taking apart, cleaning and rebuilding a Victrola 2-spring motor. I've spent a fair amount of time combing through some of the past threads and there seems to be a lot of varying opinions as to what products a person should use when doing so. Specifically, I've seen advocates both for and against a molybdenum grease, white lithium, vaseline/graphite etc. I've also seen comments regarding the use of an extreme pressure grease and how it may or may not cause problems down the road.

My main question is this- the grease I have handy is a moly-graph extreme pressure multi-purpose lithium grease that I believe is made by Sta-lube. The guy at the hardware store seemed to think it would be best suited for the job as I explained it to him. Could anyone tell me if this is a suitable grease to use when re-packing the springs/applying to the gears? And if not, could someone recommend a specific brand and type of grease that would be suitable. I thought about the vaseline/graphite method but I've decided I want to use a commercial grease instead.

My other question is sort of along the same lines- I'm looking for a recommendation for a specific brand of oil to lubricate everything. If anyone could shed some light on this, it would be much appreciated!

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Marco Gilardetti
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Re: Victrola Motor Grease and Oil Recommendations

Post by Marco Gilardetti »

Jordan, it seems very odd to me that a grease will have molybdenum and graphite and lithium as lubricants, usually it has just one of the three. However, it looks like a suitable product to me. (I prepare a custom mix of industrial molybdenum grease and graphite, which I believe is the best mix for coils and has some residual lubricant properties even when it is fully dried up - which will happen in another 100 years or so :mrgreen: ).

Concerning oil, a good quality sewing machine oil will do well.

Dave D
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Re: Victrola Motor Grease and Oil Recommendations

Post by Dave D »

I use the Sta-Lube moly graphite grease you discussed and have been happy with it.

Dave

Stephen_Heatherly
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Re: Victrola Motor Grease and Oil Recommendations

Post by Stephen_Heatherly »

I mixed up some main spring grease out of Vaseline and graphite flakes like was originally used. The spring in my home model a winds and unwind smoothly with absolutely no thumping. I'm very pleased with the results and will use this grease again when I clean and repack the springs in my amberola 75.

Stephen

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