PaulI took the advice from those who should know gear works, the clock
collectors. Their advice is not to lube gear teeth, it will only attract dust
over time and gum up the gear works. Pivot points are a different story and
should be oiled, do not use grease. I use Tufoil full strength for this, see
below. You can use any synthetic oil you like. The Tufoil bottle I have is
very old and uses their old slogan "The transistor of lubricants."
I use WD-40 from the gallon container as a solvent along with your favorite
detergent, use something that does not attack aluminum, then a water rinse and
repeat till clean. I use old spray bottles each filled with one of the above
liquids. An acid brush on a wood dowel will get the hard to reach spots.
Follow the final water rinse with an alcohol rinse to release the water.
Once the gears are clean and the pivot points and slug rack rollers are oiled,
you will be amazed at how easy it is to rotate the frequency knobs. It only
takes a drop of Tufoil applied from the point of a bamboo skewer to lube a
pivot point. Avoid the temptation of over doing the lube. Less is
more.Regards,Jim
Logic is a systematic method of coming to the wrong conclusion with confidence.
Murphy
On Thursday, June 18, 2026 at 09:30:33 AM CDT, Barry via R-390
<[email protected]> wrote:
You might have better luck with a different solvent other than isopropanol.
Naphtha works well for me but others have their favorite degreasers.
Synthetic oil is my choice for lubricating the shafts and bushings as well as
the rollers for the slug racks. It doesn't harden over time. A bit of oil on
the gear teeth should be enough. There's really not much need for grease on
those teeth. If you've gone so far as to disassemble the gear train, then some
oil between the split gears is good as well.
Aligning isn't all that difficult. There is documentation in the manuals as to
how do that but the folks on the list can offer good advice as well.
Have fun,
Barry - N4BUQ
> I have panel off and waiting for a gear clamp off a MC shaft assembly I just
> got
> on eBay.
>
> Going forward, is there a COMMERCIAL source who sells clamps that would work
> as
> gear clamps, (Bristol or hex or slotted) for other clamps that might break?
>
> Thanks for the help. I might need help with aligning this thing to read
> correct
> frequency when I am done, lots of gears! But I will read the literature and
> hope I get it. At least now that this is apart I can clean off the gears/gear
> teeth with isopropanol and “re-lube”. I assume just put light oil on the
> shafts
> themselves, not the teeth on the gears?
>
> Paul
>
> From: [email protected] <[email protected]> on behalf
> of
> Jacques Fortin via R-390 <[email protected]>
> Date: Wednesday, June 17, 2026 at 8:17 AM
> To: Paul Roche via R-390 <[email protected]>
> Cc: R390A <[email protected]>
> Subject: Re: [R-390] Removing Megacycle Change shaft
>
> Chapter 10 again: Read everything to the end !
> Jack14 iPhone 16e
>
> Le 16 juin 2026 à 23:09, Paul Roche via R-390 <[email protected]> a écrit
> :
>
>
> <image0.jpeg>
> <image1.jpeg>
>
> Sent from my iPhone
> I dont know if you can get see this. Now what? I see how to remove the KHZ
> gear
> but not sure about the clutch disk and the “gear” above it.
>
> Paul
>> On Jun 16, 2026, at 10:09 PM, Jacques Fortin via R-390
>> <[email protected]>
>> wrote:
>>
>> Here is the needed clamp.
>>
>> 73, Jacques, VE2JFE in Montreal
>>
>> Hello Nick,
>> Good try, but the hole on this one is too big (0.435) the one to be replaced
>> measures 13/32" (0.406).
>> <00-99-SM-B-178486-CLAMP.pdf>
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