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AeroCar
lubricants have been used in the radio-control car field for some time
and have been time-proven by those modelers. AeroCar's products also
work very well indeed in the model railroad field, and they have chosen
several of their lubricants and packaged them especially for our use. I
recently tested them and was impressed with the results. I have an Akane
USRA 4-8-2 that is somewhere around 30 years old with an open frame
motor. It has always run smooth but required about six volts to move and
drew heavy amperage no matter what I did or how often I cleaned and
re-lubed the engine. Since the motor was not damaged by the electrical
draw, after trying every lubricant I could find, I just let it run and
lived with it - until recently.
AeroCar
recommends that prior lubrication be cleaned off a mechanism completely
before using their products. After cleaning, I applied AeroCar's
"N" Jel to the gears and touched the motor brushes with
Conducta (a clean lube for the commutator). All bearings rods, axles and
other moving parts received a small amount of the motor bearing
lube.
I
reattached the boiler, hooked up the tender and placed the Akane 4-8-2
on the rails, then applied power. As the loco ran I could actually see
it run smoother, quieter, and pick up speed and the AeroCar Lubricants
worked into all moving surfaces. After five minutes of running, I placed
the old Akane next to a can-motor equipped 2-10-2. The 30-year old, open
framed motor 4-8-2 ran almost as well as the 2-10-2.
I
have never seen anything make such a difference as the AeroCar
lubricants; they are superb.
AeroCar
clearly states to use one (and just one) drop of Conducta on each motor
brush. Since the engine was so old, I decided to give the brush is a
really good dose of the lubricant. This was not a good move. AeroCar
Conducta is a conducting brush and commutator cleaner and lube,
and the result was an over application that built up a film over the
ground brush and created a short. I just cleaned off the excess using a
pipe cleaner, made some mental notes about reading and following
the instructions next time, and the engine ran fine. The Conducta
enhanced motor operation and will reduce brush wear and lower current
draw.
I
also lubed locos without cleaning out the prior lubricants; the results
were impressive and all engines ran better. However, for best results
take time to clean out the old lubricants.
I
am very pleased with AeroCar's entire line of lubricants.
Excerpt
from Railroad Model CraftsmanŽ June 1995 by John Swanson
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