4 Nov
2004
4 Nov
'04
9:18 a.m.
On Thu, 4 Nov 2004, Joe R. wrote:
I opened up the Flexowriter today and decided
against bathing it in
anything. There are too many open switches, electromagnets and other things
that don't look like they'd be happy in water or mineral spirits. I cleaned
it bit by bit with a toothbrush and a vaccuum cleaner to get the crud out.
I sprayed WD-40 in places where it wouldn't hurt and then wiped it up with
paper towels. That picked up a lot of the dust and dirt that was sticking
to everything. It took all day but I finally got it reasonable clean. A lot
of the mechanical stuff was frozen due to solidified grease. Even the motor
was frozen. I had to take it out and turn by hand for a few minutes to get
it lossened up enough to run.
That's a fine approach. Go buy a hypodermic type oil can (model
railroad places?) and use a nice light synth oil. Hit every
single pivot and rotating part!
The carriage on mine took extra work. THe carriage rides on a
pair of rails that have flat sliders, and therefore stickiness
really, well, sticks. I mixed a little oil with synth grease
and applied with a popcicle stick to the rails then slid the
carrige to the other side and did the same, etc. Took a lot of
lube to get it to slide freely.
The motor bearings probably want oil too. I slithered some in
there but I suppose I should take the motor out and do it right.