2 Jul
2000
2 Jul
'00
7:31 a.m.
Argh!! You moan at me for perhaps over enthusiastic
restorations that
damage the fabric of a computer, and then you lubricate with WD40???
That, IMHO is a whole lot worse. Running a machine for 10s without proper
lubrication can ruin it...
Now, in order to MAKE THINGS CLEAR TO THOSE THAT LIKE ASSUMING THINGS, I
bathed the mechanism in WD40 to get the old lubricant and garbage _out_.
That is what WD40 is _made_ for, so it looks like I used the product in a
very _proper_ manner. I am sure this machine had not been run in fifteen
years, and maybe never lubed at all thru its entire lifetime. Running for
a few minutes (yes, just a few) on what little lubrication WD40 provides
(or the short term rejuvenation of the old lubricant) is a whole
bunch safer than running with nothing, or the old garbage still present
(in fact, when I first obtained the machine, I spun the motor by hand to
find the whole mechanism had seized). When I am confident that things are
operating properly, I will lube the thing up with a good synthetic oil.
For now, liberal shots of WD40 when I work on the machine are just fine.
OK, back to the problem. I've got a wind-the-crank
Facit mechanical
calculator that sometimes malfunctions (carriage doesn't lock at the
right point, etc). The cause has _always_ been old, gummy, lubricant that
is causing spring-loaded linkages either not to move or to more too late.
A pawl is released, but it doesn't move forward to lock another linkage
-- things like that.
It appears to be within the carriage. When the thing does lock up, the
digits get very sticky, as well as the clearing mechanism. With some
fiddling with the clearing mechanism, the seize goes away.
William Donzelli
aw288(a)osfn.org