What are some of yall’s recommendations for lubricating the HO Spectrum Shay? Before I go buy something, I thought I’d run it by yall and see what you thought. Not having any trouble, just want to be ready when it needs it. Thankya.
Labelle series of oils, greases and (I think) dry lubes are great. Not sure if they make dry lubes. Remember when lubricating, less is more (apply with the sharp end of a pin, not a squirt from the tube), and grease is for gears, oil is for bearings and other parts.
One lube I like for siderods and so on on conventional steamers is NeoLube. It is a graphite lube in alcohol suspension. Goes on with a fine brush, and then the alcohol evaporates leaving the graphite behind. Gets into tight spaces because of the alcohol, and gives the siderods a nice “gunmetal grey” colour.
Andrew
The Spectrum Shay comes with lubrication instructions, so you can determine what you need after it has been purchased.
Basically, you’re just going to need Labelle 107 plastic-compatible, synthetic oil.
Lubing the shays can be problematic because you can’t really take them apart to get at certain gears. All the outside and underneath stuff is easy, but getting to the interior gear tower is not really possible from the outside. I e-mailed Bachmann about this and their reccomendation was to lube it as best you can from the outside and NOT to disassemble it to lube. One other person responded on the “ask the Bachmann” site and said they had taken theirs apart to lubricate and could not get it to run right after re-assembly. I have three and have run them off and on for the past three years and have lubed them following Bachmann’s instructions using Labelle products. They all run great with no apparent problems from lack of lube grease.
Where do I look for Labelle products?
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Labelle oils and grease are available at most well stocked Hobby/Train shops. You might look at Walthers online if there isn’t a hobby shop nearby. I forget the numbers, but there is a plastic compatable oil and a palstic compatable grease that they sell that are used by almost everyone for engine lube…
You’re right, it does. I just wanted to get the opinions of those here, because I know the level of experience on this forum. Quite ferquently, there are better ways of doing things.
Now why didn’t I think of that? Sometimes the obvious escapes me. Another example as to how MR forums are great for getting answers to a wide range of questions, there’s always someone willing to help.
I dashed over to my LHS, who was amused that I hadn’t thought to ask there first. I’m now euipped with Labelle’s 108 multi-purpose light oil, 106 grease with PTFE (polytetrafluorethylene as I recall) and 102 Gear lubricant.
Now to get to work in the engine shed, 2-8-0’s and 2-10-0’s await some TLC.
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