A technic lubrication question....

[marvinblue]

Hi all! I recently rescued my technic forklift from my Dad's place the other day and all the gears are pretty much seized up. I'm going to break it down and wash it, but I was thinking of lubing the internal workings with some graphite powder as I put it back together. Would anyone have any other ideas of what I could use?

Thanks!

[Brickmaster]

Personally I have never had any trouble atall with my technic gears locking up or being too stiff, except for the gearbox on the huge red supercar. I didnt lube it or anything, however in theory graphite would work well, but I wouldnt use and kind of petrolium base as it would be very messy, and Ive heard about some lubricants weakening plastics. Graphite may seem the best option - but this is just an educated guess on my part.

Goodluck ;-)

[Siegfried]

I don't recomend it. It's probably just dirty. I have heard of people lubricating pneumatic parts, but I don't think it will be necessary in this case.

[gylman]

I advise against it. Take it apart, clean the parts, make sure it all fits tightly. Lego sets do not need "lubrication". I have seen lubricants used for extreme applications beyond the load that the plastic was meant to carry. But for a regular set, no way.

[Conchas]

Don't believe you need to lubricate it at all.

Wash all the parts with warm water (bellow 40

[marvinblue]

Thanks guys for your comments and suggestions! I'll give it a good clean up and let you know how I go.

[Blakbird]

Hi all! I recently rescued my technic forklift from my Dad's place the other day and all the gears are pretty much seized up. I'm going to break it down and wash it, but I was thinking of lubing the internal workings with some graphite powder as I put it back together. Would anyone have any other ideas of what I could use?

Thanks!

This particular forklift is rather infamous for jamming. It is not because it has been sitting for a long time. The chain mechanism lifts in the front, which tends to rock the forks towards the back. The corner plates on the back that prevent it from pivoting tend to jam and make the whole thing "stick". There is not much you can do about it, it is just a problem with the design. You can try rotating the 2x2 corner plates on the back of the fork mechanism out a little bit so they are not so tight.

Mine very rarely goes all the way up without sticking.

Eric

[marvinblue]

This particular forklift is rather infamous for jamming. It is not because it has been sitting for a long time. The chain mechanism lifts in the front, which tends to rock the forks towards the back. The corner plates on the back that prevent it from pivoting tend to jam and make the whole thing "stick". There is not much you can do about it, it is just a problem with the design. You can try rotating the 2x2 corner plates on the back of the fork mechanism out a little bit so they are not so tight.

Mine very rarely goes all the way up without sticking.

Eric

Thanks for the heads-up! I haven't been able to get to it at the moment, been pretty busy, but I'll give that a go as well after I've pulled it down.

[paul_delahaye]

I've had to use a silicone based lubricant on the pneumatic rams used in set 8851 Technic excavator. They had become really stiff and would not move. This worked a treat and they now run smoothly again like they did in 1984 when I first got the set.

[marvinblue]

Hi all! I finally broke down my set and washed it yesterday and reassembled it last night. Although it looks a treat, it doesn't work any better. Oh well, it's obviously a design error. I might put a little bit of baby powder around the contact points around the fork mechanism and see what happens.

Thanks all for your suggestions and help.

[Siegfried]

I might put a little bit of baby powder around the contact points around the fork mechanism and see what happens.

:-X Did you try Blakbird's advice? Accoding to Peeron I have the parts to make a functional version of that set. I might make it myself in the next few days. That way I can act all superior if it works OK for me. X-D

[marvinblue]

No, not as yet, I'll give it a go tonight and see what happens. You don't happen to have a link for the peeron set do you?

[Siegfried]

No, not as yet, I'll give it a go tonight and see what happens. You don't happen to have a link for the peeron set do you?

It's in your first post.... 8-|

[marvinblue]

Sorry, I misread your earlier post! :-$

[Dafgek81]

So I could use a silicone based lubricant to lubricate my older pneumatic cylinders?

Have an old 8868 and 8862 set with rather stiff pneumatics.

But could I use it on new ones to keep them smooth??

[aol000xw]

Nice necromancing powers.

Anyways... I'd say yes.

[nerdsforprez]

Lubricating is necessary for pneumatic engine running at high RPMs. other than that not really necessary.

[DrJB]

While it is true that most lego designs need no lubrication, let us think for a moment about the benefits of lubrication. In its simplest form, a lubricant creates a thin film (with small friction( that eliminates direct contact of the adjoining parts. As such, and if you plan on running your designs for a long time (e.g. GBCs), it is not that bad an idea to add some lubrication. Yes, it could get messy, but t if done 'judiciously' it's a good thing. Like many have pointed above, make sure the lubricant does not have any solvents that 'may' hurt the plastic.

[dr_spock]

It is not a bad idea to lubricate GBC parts where they are spinning at high speed all day long. As you can see there is quite a bit of ABS dust around the 8T gear after running non-stop all day long.

gbc wear and tear by dr_spock_888, on Flickr

Edited November 29, 2014 by dr_spock

[Rikus]

I bought and recovered many old and used sets.

A wash with a mild soap is often enough to bring all parts at their original splendor...

Sometimes, anyways, the sets are very dirty, slightly yellowing or somewhat smelling... In those cases, I have to use kitchen soap mixed with vinegar and this treatment makes the parts couple very tightly, especially pins (both with or without friction), making them very difficult to disassemble.

To avoid this, usually I put few drops of silicon grease (or oil) in water, during last rinse, this is enough to have all the parts behave as the new ones.