One cleaning step too far?

[nick123]

I'm getting into dismantling and refurbishing the untouched-for-a-decade strand lanterns from the village hall, some of which have T28's, and decided to use some lubricant on some of the screw threads and lamp holder slider; it's a spray lubricant oil for cooling drill bits and really works a treat. However, I'm now wondering whether this was one step too far and if I've condemned the T28's from the lantern heating up, oil vaporising, and then depositing onto the lamp. Is this probable, and any experiences of this?

[gyro_gearloose]

Just because something has oil in its title doesn't mean its meant to be used as a lubricant. You'd have been better off with some form of high temperature grease as lamps will get very hot inside. I've seen Fresnels where the aluminium reflector has melted!

 

I've recently bought some silicone-based oil to service some moving lights and it works at temperatures up to 200 degrees Centigrade. If you want to lubricate an iris then graphite powder is a good choice, though quite messy to work with. Do not use oil.

 

I wouldn't worry about the oil vaporizing and then being deposited on the lamp. What will happen is that the lighter components of the oil will just evaporate in the heat and the oil will get thicker and thicker until it starts to gum things up. Then you can clean off the residue and use a more suitable lubricant.

[nick123]

Just because something has oil in its title doesn't mean its meant to be used as a lubricant. You'd have been better off with some form of high temperature grease as lamps will get very hot inside. I've seen Fresnels where the aluminium reflector has melted!

 

Thanks for the reply, and I'll find out in due course :blink: It is a cut and drill lubricant and actually doesn't say oil in the title, and it's always worked well where I've used it so far, but I've not tried high temperatures. I called the manufacturers in Holland and they said that what I used has a little oil in it but not much, so I doubt that anything will jam up as there's no noticeable residue from the spray. Thanks for the other tips.

[paulears]

I've plenty of ancient kit still in use, and never needed to lubricate these parts, just keep them clean. Lubricant doesn't last anyway - so for the occasional move of the focus or lamp adjuster, I've never seen a need? What is for certain is that in any slack use venue - then anything that's 'slippery' attracts dust like a magnet. Graphite works quite well on things that have to slide frequently, but even that doesn't come out regularly.

[nick123]

Maybe I'm overcompensating, but these units are in such a bad state, in some cases with the sliders juddering or jamming that I felt compelled. Around 10 to 15 years unused and probably never cleaned in that time, with massive amounts of dust, cobwebs and general detritus on every surface. A few had gels in the runners, and some of those had melted and burnt too.