WD-40, duct tape, and big hammer, sounds like we both grew up in trailer town, Elkhart, Ind. I remember taping the leading corners of the mobile homes with duct tape so the siding wouldn't blow off in the wind when being towed down the highway. That was 1965.
This post was gold by the way. The little things make life interesting.
I have had the fortune of trying several Makes and models on dryers, fridge, ovens, etc. My conclusion is: Made to fail. These companies are so good at making their appliances to fail it's sad. The best part is when they make a simple failure to be the biggest thing. Had a few shocks go bad on a washer once. Called company tech he asked for 200$. Instead i searched on E-bay found imitator shocks for $5 and in under 2 hours had the things replaced. I think the tech never got the memo that another $200 and i can buy a new washer?
There are several brands of synthetic motor oil, typically the big claim is that it lasts much longer. It is usually in with the regular motor oil, but it may cost $4 or more per quart. IT was recommended by an earlier poster, see some of the previous comments. The claimis that it is less likely to be oxidized as rapidly, plus some of them do claim to provide better lubrication.
Automatic transmission fluid is quite different, it must keep the clutches in the tramsmission from wearing out, so it has to have excellent shear properties, meaning that the oil is mechanically rugged. That would be good for many other applications as well.
For the heavily loaded dryer bearings what you need to avoid is the extreme duty gear lubricant, because it is primarily intended to prevent glling of metal surfaces under extreme presure by allowing the metal to disolve, (soap), instead of grinding away. Unfortunately I have probably created more questions than I have answered.
But if the dryer application is for a hot bearing then the synthetic motor oil that is high temperature rated would be a good choice.
Only trwo things are needed to get by: duct tape and WD40. The first for things that move and shouldn't. The latter for things that stick and shouldn't. If all alse fails, get a bigger hammer.
Since I know nothing about synthetic oil, I'm all ears. Do I need any particular weight / viscosity or any other designator? Can I get it at any auto parts place? I know it won't sit well if go in there and ask for oil for my clothes dryer. Thanks for any advice. Pete
I was talking about electric motors, not gas engines. I found that the synthetic stays on the bearings a lot longer and doesn't gum up. Window fans with cheap motors like it.
I've used it in engines with good success. As for leaks, you're right. It takes the varnish off the metal parts in an engine. That's why you are supposed to start using it when the engine is relatively new after break in.
I don't know whether it will burn or not but it doesn't matter for this purpose.
Lubrication doesn't have to be frequent to be done on a regular basis but it should be done. I collected military stuff even before I went in the Army. I have rotary inverters and dynamotors from WWII that still have the original grease in the bearings. Once in a while I will fire one up just to hear it run and it will do so quite well. Pete
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New versions of BASF's Ecovio line are both compostable and designed for either injection molding or thermoforming. These combinations are becoming more common for the single-use bioplastics used in food service and food packaging applications, but are still not widely available.
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For industrial control applications, or even a simple assembly line, that machine can go almost 24/7 without a break. But what happens when the task is a little more complex? That’s where the “smart” machine would come in. The smart machine is one that has some simple (or complex in some cases) processing capability to be able to adapt to changing conditions. Such machines are suited for a host of applications, including automotive, aerospace, defense, medical, computers and electronics, telecommunications, consumer goods, and so on. This radio show will show what’s possible with smart machines, and what tradeoffs need to be made to implement such a solution.
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