spring motor grease

[Orthophonic]

I use the black engine assembly lube available from auto parts stores. It has 1-½ weight grease with molybedenum (I can't spell that word) and is noted to be a high pressure lubricant. I use it for gears and that sort of stuff and you can get it in various sized tubes. I reckon the white colored kind would work but I have seen it separate and make an oozy mess. For oil I often use Singers sewing machine oil since it is not supposed to gum where extremely light oil is needed. I also oil the top bearing in the motor frame since this can often cause a sluggish motor and is often neglected. Hope this helps someone!

[Guest]

Is there a tip on how much grease to use? How much is too much? Thanks, I am a novice.

[VintageTechnologies]

Is there a tip on how much grease to use? How much is too much? Thanks, I am a novice.

In my experience, there is no "too much". Here's what I do with great results: I remove the spring and use solvents to clean the spring and spring case completely. If nescessary, I use 0000 steel wool to polish the spring and remove any stubborn graphite that has fused to the spring. Next I reinstall the spring dry. Then I use the black Moly grease and pack as much into the spring case as I can. That grease has no trouble squishing through tight areas and through cracks under a little pressure, so after you seal the spring and wind it tight a few times, the grease will flow back and forth between the coils and be completely distributed the whole length of the spring. Unless the spring cases have really tight-fitting seals, the excess grease will ooze out. Sooner or later, some grease will escape. Just lay some paper or cardboard below the motor to catch the mess and inspect the motor sometimes to wipe off the excess ooze.

I bought a phonograph on eBay whose spring was bumping like mad. Evidently, the spring case had been flushed out with a solvent, without being removed from the motor, leaving hardly any trace of grease. Bright steel, no mess. It had then lubed with something like WD-40. After I cleaned again and re-lubed with Moly grease, the bumping went away.

[phonojim]

Thanks for the tips. For several years I was using Slick-50 brand. It was an excellent lubricant with little smell to it but I can't find it any more. I just put a new spring in a Home and used Walmart's cheapest house brand grease which seems like it should do the job quite well but I haven't finished reassembling the motor so I can't really say. I did use some on the gears in my Triumph and it seems good for that purpose. I still have to the springs on the Triumph and I don't want to have to do that again in my lifetime. I'll check out the Mobil 1. How much odor does it have? Some automotive greases absolutely STINK!

Jim

[Sansenoi]

one note, once you remove the springs and de-grease them, even humid air can start to rust them in short order and rust is killer of springs, even tiny spots the size of a pin head can bloom into a large spot. Be sure to lube them with something if storing them out of a well greased spring barrel for a while before reassembly.