Omega D Care -- Lubricant type for enlarger rods & track

f/Alex

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Hi Forums!

I work part time in a school darkroom, and part of the back-to-school thing is getting a few enlargers back into shape for the few fellow students who use them. Part of this is that the enlargers need to be cleaned, there's no ventilation in the darkroom, and none of these machines have been lubricated in the last century. Since they're Omega Ds, they have a pair of brass rods that appear to be parts that should be semi lubricated. Since they're tarnished to high hell, and a lot of these enlargers don't hold focus very well, and therefore need to come apart anyways, I'm planning to submit to my supervisor a request for some really fine Steel Wool, and Lithium Grease. The plan is to clean up the contact surfaces on the brass rods, strip off the top layer of corrosion, and then thinly lubricate them to hopefully eliminate the shrill squeaks and make focusing a bit easier.

Pitch over, question is: would lithium grease react with anything commonly found in photo chemistry? I use it on my bessy 45mx at home, but if someone goes wrong in a university setting, i'm partially liable, so figured I'd run it past the net first.
 
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f/Alex

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RE: also what grain of steel wool should I use? the plan was 0000 stuff meant for polishing to avoid taking off any real amount of material or ruining the contact surface. Alternatively, dish soap and a dish sponge is an option, but i'm not sure that would work.

EDIT: figured I should include that the service manual says to use vaseline but honestly, sorry, i don't agree. The year is not 1970 anymore and we have better synthetic lubricants than that.
 
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f/Alex

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Paul Howell said:
Here is a link the manual for the D2, maintenance is covered in the past part.

Click to expand...

Yup, i've read that, refer to my reply. Vaseline seems like a bad long term solution, these enlarges will get little to no love after I graduate. There's always a few ppl who use em, but i'm the only one I know who knows anything abt their servicing. I hate to say it but i'm the only one in the entire university who has managed to even get them level...
 

MattKing

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The reason that Vaseline is recommended is that these enlargers were designed to be easily lubricated regularly and simply with a lubricant that was reliable and consistent and cheap and really easy to obtain.
Sort of like Chapstick .
Or older cars that you would expect to need to have lubricated each time you changed the oil.
 

DREW WILEY

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Never use steel wool. It can leave behind abrasive strands which rust. Use a synthetic Scotchbrite pad or sanding sponge of the correct amount of abrasiveness instead.
 
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f/Alex

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DREW WILEY said:
Never use steel wool. It can leave behind abrasive strands which rust. Use a synthetic Scotchbrite pad or sanding sponge of the correct amount of abrasiveness instead.
Click to expand...
Got It! Sanding Sponge it is.

MattKing said:
enlargers were designed to be easily lubricated regularly
Click to expand...

yea, unfortunately, we're looking for the longest term care solution for these enlargers cause once I'm gone, no one is going to be taking care of them. There's only about 3-5 students a year who use them, since we haven't had a darkroom class here in 2 years. I'm going to go with the lithium grease solution, I'll keep it thin. The ventilation situation in this room is dismal and all the equipment is constantly taking the shit. When I get closer to leave I might oil some of the exposed metal, who knows.
 

BrianShaw

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Have you considered the even-newer PFTE dry lubes? Modern miracle solution in many situations.
 

Tom Taylor

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Learning how to level the enlarger and adjust the lens stage so that it's perpendicular to the baseboard/easel should be the very first thing to be taught in a darkroom class and the first thing to check when beginning a printing session.
 

BMbikerider

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As for lubricant Lithium grease will without doubt get everywhere it should not even be within a a mile of. Lithium grease is usually a HMP (High Melting point) lubricant. What I would suggest is using a silicone lubricant either brushed on an then virtually wiped clean or wiped on with a clean cloth. It does not easily attract and hold dust, so will be ideal..
 

DREW WILEY

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I recommend LPS1 greaseless lubricant, sprayed on a rag, then wiped.
 

wiltw

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Barkeepr's Friend only moitened with water to form something a bit pasty in consistency will disolve corrosion but leave the base metal pretty much untouched. I use it to remove battery corrosion off terminals whose depleted alkaline batteries have corroded forgotten in battery compartments of flashlights and electronic items.

SailKote High-Performance Dry Lubricant is used on sailboats to lubricate thinks like pulleys or things that slide along metal tracks, without leaving something greasy that gets other things dirty when you rub against it.
 

Nicholas Lindan

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A dry teflon lubricant might be a good choice. As John_S says - grease just attracts dust. I remember getting hold of an army surplus D3 enlarger and spending an afternoon removing gunky black dirty grease from the vertical mechanism.
 
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f/Alex

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BrianShaw said:
Have you considered the even-newer PFTE dry lubes? Modern miracle solution in many situations.
Click to expand...

ptfe/teflon is a carcinogen isnt it? There's a limit to what we can be allowed to use since it's a univeristy setting. even if it's not a real issue unless you eat it, it wouldnt get past the osha guys . Silicone would be a better idea than lithium, but uhh we have lithium already so i think the origional plan of "very thin layer applied with a brush or cloth" will be the best solution. I'll check it in half a year before I leave, if it's still an issue we'll go with silicon.

Edit: something graphite based would probobly be fine but meh we'll see how this goes, graphite is really dirty anyways.
 

BrianShaw

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Use your best judgment on what type of grease you use but please don’t be led astray by bad information. PFTE is inert and safe unless heated to about 500 degrees F.
 

DREW WILEY

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There's more to a teflon lubricant than teflon. You've got a propellant, and sometimes solvents associated with grease. If in spray fashion, it can get places you might not want it. If possible, apply it by rag, or mask off unwanted areas. I do keep dry teflon lube around. Cosmetically, teflon can leave white stains.

Regarding silicone, it's awfully bad for certain things like leather or wood. Silicone is also miserable to remove if you need to touch up an area with paint.

Graphite seems to get all over the place; it's the last thing I'd want around an enlarger.
 

BrianShaw

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Similarly, there are other dry lubes mostly associated with the bicycle industry (and maybe other industries too) that are "ceramic" based. Finish Line is a brand I've used in many applications other than bike chains. They, too, tend to leave a white film but in most cases that's not much of a problem. Personally, I shun spray lubes in most situations.
 

darkroommike

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I don't know what you have done so far but I would just CLEAN all working surfaces, using naphtha (light fluid) then relubricate with Vaseline and/or 3-in-1 Oil as originally specified. Now if that isn't good enough, you could use lithium grease (a small tube will last several lifetimes) and 10W turbine oil but things won't be any better lubricated, this is a pretty low impulse type of machinery. Don't use any abrasives until after you clean, easy does it, and abrasive particles and gunk scraped off will need to be removed from the darkroom. Better to do you cleaning elsewhere but do what you can.

The focus holding is more about tension on those rods, the tensioning method varies some by machine but a good cleaning first is a good idea, some parts may be worn out of spec., especially on older Omegas.

I like to use a vacuum and a soft brush to clean bellows. Hold the vac near the bellows and dust with the brush (a small paint brush works well).
 

titrisol

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While vaseline (petroleum jelly) might work fine, silicon based lubricants are way better (they dont leak oil, last longer)
Give Superlube a try, it is a PTFE doped silicone grease and a very small film goes a long way
 

eli griggs

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Johnson & Johnson paste wax applied and allowed to leave a clean, dry finish will do the job just fine.

Raw brass runs on steel as a natural lubricant, the fittings, for thousands of years, just clean and polish it to its natural, thin, hard finish once, twice a year and keep tarnish at bay for a darkroom free of grease and dust.

Renaissance wax would work but is massively expensive!
 

darkroommike

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Priced Johnson Paste Wax lately? Johnson and Johnson discontinued it about five hears ago but the Ebay vultures will sell you a can for about $115 USD! I use it on my Shopsmiths and am darn glad to still have about a can and a half left. Minwax was being offered as a workable substitute for JPW, works fine but doesn't have that fresh pine forest scent (no turpentine in the wax composition).
 

eli griggs

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I had no idea it’s out of production but at the price you quote Renaissance wax at $25 a can is a steal and I’m gonna buy me some when I get back to Charlotte, this Sunday, with, what I’ve got, my lifetime supply should be OK.
I might start buying partly (and full) cans and offering large syringes of the stuff here on photrio.com as barter for, whatever!
 

mshchem

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