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Post by chris vine on Apr 25, 2014 19:34:31 GMT
Hi Callum,
What you should do is to run your loco for a couple of years with oil in one side and grease in the other. Then you will be the one who knows the answer rather than us all guessing it!!!!!
Chris.
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steam4ian
Elder Statesman
One good turn deserves another
Posts: 2,069
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Post by steam4ian on Apr 25, 2014 22:27:37 GMT
Callum
My understanding of grease lubrication is that it requires the bearing to heat up to melt the grease so some flows to the bearing surface. On models bearing may well be scrubbed out before they get hot enough to melt grease, too late to undo the damage Both oil and grease bearings need a reservoir. Oil suits frequent oiling round if you don't have reservoir space.
Ian
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Post by keith6233 on Apr 26, 2014 6:50:44 GMT
H! Callum
I have a Thomas 2 and the oil pots all have wicks in this allow the slow release of the oil .The rest of the motion is fitted with grease nipples and i use grease on the small end and motion pins , I have had no problems with this set up.
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Post by Callum Darraugh on Apr 26, 2014 13:08:21 GMT
Hi Keith, where do you run your T2?
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Post by keith6233 on Apr 26, 2014 13:56:29 GMT
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Post by Callum Darraugh on Apr 26, 2014 14:55:02 GMT
I think there is a possibility that we have met at Crewe Heritage Centre? I remember somebody saying they had a maroon T2 that they ran at Leyland - Not sure if that would be you or not
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Post by keith6233 on Apr 27, 2014 6:23:47 GMT
H! Callum
Yes I remember seeing you at the heritage centre.
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Post by Roger on Apr 27, 2014 13:37:18 GMT
Thanks for your replies chaps. It seems that nobody is keen on the idea of grease! On our railway at Brookside, we have 5 Exmoor locomotives (www.brooksideminiaturerailway.co.uk and click on locomotives link for those who don't know what they are) and they are grease on the big and little ends and we have never had a problem in the 14 years that we've had them. My loco is quite a chunky, industrial machine so I think I could possibly get away with fitting roller bearings into the motion..? Just for an idea of size, I've attached a picture below. (Please ignore the three stooges stood behind!) Kind regards Callum Are they definitely plain bearings though, there's room for needle rollers in there by the look of it, and what would be a different story.
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leliev
Seasoned Member
Posts: 114
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Post by leliev on May 7, 2014 19:51:19 GMT
Not that i prefer grease, but that grease line was so lonely. I concidered grease bearings for the axleboxes of the enterprise though.
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Post by Roger on May 7, 2014 20:11:46 GMT
Callum My understanding of grease lubrication is that it requires the bearing to heat up to melt the grease so some flows to the bearing surface. On models bearing may well be scrubbed out before they get hot enough to melt grease, too late to undo the damage Both oil and grease bearings need a reservoir. Oil suits frequent oiling round if you don't have reservoir space. Ian I Just spotted this and need to say that this is not the case at all. The soapy element of grease is like a sponge, it's function is to store the oil which is the lubricant. You may have noticed that very old grease ends up like cheese and that a tub of it can separate out, leaving oil on the surface. The spongy element of the grease stays in close proximity to the bearing surfaces it's lubricating and delivers the oil. In slow speed applications, the grease is usually packed in and gets churned around. That's fine because it doesn't really get hot and there's more oil in the sponge. You absolutely can't do that when the speeds go up. I used to repair 80,000RPM drilling spindles, yes that's the right number of zeros. The grease is very special but the principle is the same. In those cases great care is taken to only put a small amount of grease in else it's impossible to run them in without the grease melting. That's catastrophic because it runs everywhere and then disperses. It took 5 days to run in one of those spindles, starting and stopping them and gradually building up the speed. The grease gradually gets moved out of the ball tracks until it's all on the periphery of the tracks but close enough to still oil them by capillary action. A bearing run in like that feels the same as one that's just been oiled. Whatever type of bearing it is, the oil is just stored and delivered by the sponge element, it should never melt.
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