26 Jun
2007
26 Jun
'07
2 p.m.
A bike-shop guy once told me to never use WD40 as a
lubricant for
things bicycle, but that it works fine to wash dirt off (say) a chain,
preparatory to lubricating it. (As lube, he recommended automatic
transmission fluid - apparently it's made with a good grade of oil
under very strict quality controls, and is widely/cheaply available.)
Now, bicycles aren't computers, but it does seem to me that similar
remarks should apply to anything with complicated mechanical parts,
such as an ASR33 or a Selectric...though you might want to use grease
rather than oil as the lube once you've washed it relatively clean.
I normally call it 'Wanton Destruction 40'. It's great as a Water
Displacer (the original intention), to keep rust off garden tools and
steel stock. It's OK as a penatrating oil _provided you wash it off
afterwards_. It contains some long-chain waxy hydrocarbons (ideal for the
original use) that can really gum things um
For that reason it's not suitable as a lubricant, at least not on
precision machinery (clocks, cameras, ASR33s, etc). For example, I bought
a cheap non-working camera. The original fauly was that a spring had
become unhooked inside. Unfortuantely, the previous owner had sprayed
WD40 everywhere. What should have been a 10 minute repair took several
days as _everything_ had to some apart and be cleaned.
-tony