do you recommend precision oilers? - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: coppercone2
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 06, 2024, 01:29:28 pm
content: I use a 1oz bottle with a thin syringe needle on top (blunt) for oil dispensing generally.I have been looking at those push button oiler pencils that are refillable and made from aluminum.I had a oil spill in the lab because the 1oz bottle sucks and I want to prevent this from happening. For a similar price I can get a good bottle or a oiler pen.Do you find the oiler useful or is it a gimmick? I see they are in the 5 to 20 dollar range.Will it be durable? Do they have problems with dripping or weird rubber or plastic hard to replace parts? In this case it would be to oil a tool or potentially a potentiometer shaft or to dispense lubricant for drilling tiny holes etc

author: Stray Electron
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 06, 2024, 02:15:07 pm
content: I just keep my oils in plastic or metal tray that will catch anything that leaks out. The biggest problem that I've found is that most small oil cans are tall and thin and tip over easily so you have to put them into something that is too large to be knocked over and you have to wedge them in so that they can't be knocked over inside of the container. I also keep one can of liquid graphite wedged into one specific corner of my large automotive tool box where I know that it can't fall over or be knocked over. I use a lot of the liquid graphite that's made for lubricating locks (Dixon brand). It's very fine graphite in a liquid carrier and after you use it, the liquid quickly evaporates and leaves a very fine graphite coating. Just about any liquid lubricant would gum up some of the delicate mechanisms that I work with so those are out. And the dry coating doesn't attract dirt and dust so it's good to go.I have a couple of precision oilers somewhere but I've never used one. I just put a DROP of liquid graphite on a small metal plate and then use a small screwdriver or something similar and dip that into the liquid and take a tiny drip about half the size of of a pin head and then touch that to the part that I want to lubricate. That's all they need, the liquid wicks into the joint and spreads the graphite. A lot of times I just put the drop on one of my car or house keys and then when I've finished lubricating what I'm working on, I take the key and insert it into all of the locks that I have that it will fit into and turn it a few times if possible. That way I use the rest of the lube and I also keep my locks lubricated.FYI. when I go to garage sales I also look for the old cans of sewing machine oil from the 1960s and early 1970s. That was a very high grade of light oil and you can't buy anything like it today. I carefully hoard that stuff and use it were I need real oil but on light mechanisms that can easily be gummed up.

author: Stray Electron
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 06, 2024, 02:20:38 pm
content: Quote from: Stray Electron on June 06, 2024, 02:15:07 pm

author: David Hess
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 06, 2024, 04:50:21 pm
content: I have not had any trouble with needle bottles like these:https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07NKT2KJ9/I bought an assortment of smaller needles, and I glue the needles into place using clear Gorilla glue so they cannot leak.

author: coppercone2
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 08, 2024, 05:12:59 pm
content: I had a thought, if its loaded with penetrating oil it might be a solution to removing stuck sockets, particularly DIP, in a way that does not get the PCB too dirty. On a PCB it seems like there is the highest benefit to the oil pens reliability in not over dispensing if it does infact work decent

author: Doctorandus_P
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 09, 2024, 01:03:15 pm
content: Some time ago I bought a few oiling pens They are basically just a plastic tube with the nose of a mechanical pencil, and you squeeze oil out of it by flattening the tube itself. No gaskets or other thing that break (except for aging of the plastic itself) and I'm quite happy with them.And of course it all depends on the work you do. My oilers would be much to coarse for oiling watches, and far to small for a tractor, but they are suitable for dispensing less than half a drop.