Mark, this might be way off, but maybe you could try diamond powder. The
reason I say this is my youngest son is into lapidary work and he uses this
diamond powder compound to do the final polishing on his work. Maybe it
would lubricate the fine bearings in the tachs. Let me know what you think
of this idea, I could steal a little of the compound from him and send it
to you to try. He has one that is 50,000 grit, that ought to be fine
enough to work.
regards Armand
>Sunbeamers,
>
>Over the holidays, I worked on about a dozen Smiths tachometers, in addition
>to the many tachs I've worked on prior to that. I have noticed that a lot
>of them were unable to register above 4 to 5 grand. I surmised that the
>movements were getting dirty and or worn, so I went to my local jeweler to
>tell him my problem and ask him how he lubricates watches. He suggested I
>try sewing machine oil. The good news is it didn't seem to make the
>movement worse, but it sure didn't improve it either. So I gave up on that
>idea.
>
>I solve the problem literally using brute force. I lower the resistance of
>the thermistor/resistor pair to provide more energy to the deflection coil.
>While this works, I'd really rather have a way of effectively lubricating
>these old tachs. The original lubrication is 30 years old.
>
>So the question is, what do the various materials and/or mechanical experts
>on the lists recommend I try to extend the life of these old beasts?
>
>I've already had one person suggest sperm oil, but I wouldn't even know
>where to find that, let alone want to risk bringing down the wrath of whale
>lovers everywhere onto my head.
>
>Mark
>
>PS, this email is also a test to see if the "smut filters" at Intergraph
>will reject an email with the word "lubrication" in it. T.J, email me if
>you don't get this.
ritchie@mcn.org
Armand & Lorie Ritchie
|