54 replies to this topic

[ickus305]

I have a dog and we love her dearly so I don't want to poison her. What could I use that's animal safe? Also my dad said to use vegetable oil and that was a BIG FAT EPIC FAIL! but I cleaned it up and it was fine...

ALL synthetic oil is safe for plastics.
ALL synthetic oil is also non toxic.
(Ok maybe not all 100% but probably 95% are. Just double check the labels to be positive.)

[KahluaCoasters]

ALL synthetic oil is safe for plastics.
ALL synthetic oil is also non toxic.
(Ok maybe not all 100% but probably 95% are. Just double check the labels to be positive.)

Thanks now I can make better coasters without killing my dog! Yippy!!!

[comatose]

I used WD40 and it worked perfectly.... don't see why it can't be used?

[Yognog]

^ if you would read the caption for the picture it clearly states "THESE ARE NOT LUBRICANTS (DO NOT USE THESE)" WD40 stands for water displacement 40. it may work only because you are getting a fluid in the axial but that will not work for long. Also it may damage your wheels or axial i don't know. The main point is DON'T USE IT!

[Knexrule11]

^^ It will ruin your cars over time. You can place almost any oil/liquid in your cars, and they will perform better for a hour to a day, but then most will start to eat away at the plastic, or ruin your performance for good, unless they are meant for this use.

[soggyhotdoggg]

Ickus is there a specific brand of pen oiler I should use?

[ForgotToGrowUp]

Ickus has provided a great tutorial, it's all very good informaiton. Can not stress enough that Pledge and WD40 are NOT lubricants. Seems to be one of the biggest misconceptions on this site.

Follow up on CD33. I too experimented with lubes and settled in on silicone. I found it worked better than oils, the oil I found worked best for me was light sewing machine oil.

Another thing to watch for when using silicone sprays (I use the red CRC can) is the propellent can disolve paints. I've messed up the finish on a few of my cars. Now I am very careful when applying it trying to only get a few drops on the axel. One method that has worked well for me is to spray some of the lube into the cap of the can and then use the straw to pick some up (dip in and then hold finger over opposite end) and apply like you are using a pen oiler.

[ickus305]

Ickus is there a specific brand of pen oiler I should use?

A pen oiler is a pen oiler. But I assume you mean what type of oil to use. In the video I showed what I use, but I know most of the guys on the site use a silicon based oil. Bottom line use OIL and keep it as light weight as possible.

I have not looked but I bet you can get sewing machine oil in a bottle with a metal tip.

Ickus has provided a great tutorial, it's all very good informaiton. Can not stress enough that Pledge and WD40 are NOT lubricants. Seems to be one of the biggest misconceptions on this site.

Follow up on CD33. I too experimented with lubes and settled in on silicone. I found it worked better than oils, the oil I found worked best for me was light sewing machine oil.

Another thing to watch for when using silicone sprays (I use the red CRC can) is the propellent can disolve paints. I've messed up the finish on a few of my cars. Now I am very careful when applying it trying to only get a few drops on the axel. One method that has worked well for me is to spray some of the lube into the cap of the can and then use the straw to pick some up (dip in and then hold finger over opposite end) and apply like you are using a pen oiler.

Thank you FTGU.
Sewing Machine oil works great (the oils I use are a bit heavier then sewing oil, but I also run my builds 8 hours a day, and every day)

Excellent way to not get spray everywhere.

[Witting]

i lubed my trains with teflon lubricant for a bike will this eat away the plastic or not?

[Balu1234]

Can i use panasonic Oil?

[soggyhotdoggg]

would a needle do better than a toothpick applying lube to a vv car?

[Knexrule11]

^ I think what they mean by needle is a needle attached to the can, so you squeeze the can, and a small drop comes out of the tip of the needle.

[soggyhotdoggg]

^like a regular sewing needle instead of a toothpick to apply the lubricant. Would that work better?

[Maxlaam]

It doen't really matter. When applying lube just use a little bit of it. These things are merely tools to speed up the process. It's not rocket science you know...For crying out loud...

[soggyhotdoggg]

It doen't really matter. When applying lube just use a little bit of it. These things are merely tools to speed up the process. It's not rocket science you know...For crying out loud...

I just don't want to mess up another one of my cars

[Micronex]

A good tip for fellow VV builders, if you're using silicone spray (like me), once you've sprayed between the axels, get a few tissues (toilet roll, kitchen roll or tissues), and wrap it 2-3 layers around your track, so that a car can still roll over it, and run your cars from one end to the other a few times, just to get any silicone spray off the wheels. It worked for me (as opposed to when I lubricated the wheels on Firefly), although it would be good if someone like Ickus305 could confirm this isn't going to damage my cars long-term, it would be great.

[amagzi24]

I have the tube-o-lube dry powdered graphite. I'm guessing this will screw it up right?

[soggyhotdoggg]

I suppose this kind of lubricating works only for certain VV cars. for me the only car that improved was my red LL car. It improved when I mounted a small battery onto it after lubrication.

[amagzi24]

I'm kinda confused...

[rotccapt]

what about royal purple Maxfilm spray lube. it drys and leaves behind a dry film lube. i sent an e-mail to the manufacture to see if it is ok on plastic.