Epicyclic greabox

[Radio Fixer]

These are the slo-mos found in many radios, often about 3 to 1 ratio.

My question is should I put a drop of 3:1 oil in it? Or do they rely on friction to operate.

thanks Gary

[Eddystonepete]

Hi Gary, I see your dilemma. Most ball reduction drives Ive seen had oil in them, I would avoid the moly additive type or silicon just in case. I,ve just oiled the ball drive on my Marconi CR100 and it now works very smoothly. Before you ask, yes the chassis is very rusty. I dont want to do a restoration, just a user type set so I had the hoover running as I scraped the worst of the rust from the chassis.

Peter


[attachment=11585][attachment=11586][attachment=11587]

[Alan Douglas]

I would think they work by the ratio of friction from the ball diameter to its midpoint (sort of a 2 to 1 lever), so the overall coefficient wouldn't matter, and they might as well be oiled.

[Radio Fixer]

Thanks I will try just a little.

Gary