Gonna do the Naptha Flush to the TWG

[carioca100]

I'm going to flush the gunk out of myTWG on the B3 and hopefully get it to sound quieter. How long after I do the flush and fill the cup back up w/ 100% Hammond oil do I wait for that oil to get to the threads and to the bearings to where I can play it?

thanks

[enor]

I usually do it like this:

1. LOTS of naphtha.
2. Wait 45 minutes
3. Oil with a 50/50 mix of oil and naphtha
4. Wait until the next day
5. Oil with pure oil.

[carioca100]

It's now been almost 2 months since I did the flush on my B3 and I believe the TWG intermittent squeal is no longer there. Thanks Enor and others on the advice on how to perform the flush. I probably put about 10-12 ounces in the TWG and then followed up w/ 50/50 mix and then pure oil the next day. The TWG is very quiet now. Don't know why flushing would eliminate the squeal . Maybe there was a bit of dirt near a bearing that got flushed away.
Naphtha evaporates really fast so the newspapers under the TWG dried up pretty quick. Wasn't that big of a mess after all.
thanks again guys!

[enor]

The main thing the naphtha does is: it wets the oiling wicks, which speeds up their ability to transfer oil to the bearings tremendously. It's not so much the "cleaning" as the "wetting" that does the trick.

[tiredoldgeezer]

Dirt doesn't cause the squeal in a bearing.
Dry causes the squeal. Squeal is metal-on-metal.
Getting anything in there, from lighter fluid to 10W-40, will eliminate the squeal. But not all compounds are good for long-term usage.
So, naphtha, having a wildly variable composition, works as a solvent to take out whatever mighta been in there before. But unlike ketone or acetone, it has its own lubricity properties, too. In a tiny bearing like a TWG shaft, it's adequate, temporarily.
Now you got proper oil and all the unknowns removed. Oughta last a good long time. Should start in 2 or 3 seconds, if you did it right.

[peterb_2795]

I just recently did a deep clean on a TG with a 3x round robin of Naptha (shellite) flush, compressed air blow-through on the bushings and then oil and run. It was a long process but my TG is now up and near silent running with 4 sec start and 1-2 sec run switch-on and 23 secs spin-down time. The TG now sounds like a very quiet high precision turbine as it spins down - rather nice. I first read of this method of cleaning the TG on Steve Leigh's website quite a few years ago and never really got around to trying it out until just recently.

[David Anderson]

The thing about naphtha (especially VM&P naphtha) is that it's just another fraction of petroleum distillation, so it acts as a solvent by diluting the oil and re-liquefying oil that has gummed-up with age and oxidation. Then, because it is a lighter fraction than the TG oil, it evaporates, leaving the oil behind. It dissolves the oil without affecting the oil's lubricating properties. This is just to add to what tiredoldgeezer said.

[Papus]

Do you run the motor after the first naptha flush and the 50/50 flush, or only run it after the final oil fill?

[enor]

Do you run the motor after the first naptha flush and the 50/50 flush, or only run it after the final oil fill?

I turn the shaft by hand to see how loose (or stuck) the generator appears, and run the motors when it's loose enough. Highly subjective, I know - it's something that you need to get a feel for by experience; it's very hard to explain in words just how loose is enough.

[tiredoldgeezer]

I do something similar.
I loosen it up if it needs it. Whatever light solvent is handy. Then I flip it over on its back and have some blocks to prop it up at an angle, so I can examine things from underneath. They're almost always gummed up by the time i see it. But I get it running and leave it running during the entire process.
Then, i do the double-hypodermic technique and address each bearing individually. A hypo full of acetone (which I have to replace the seal on occasionally :-), and a hypo full of lube.
It's a rather unimportant and trivial matter, but I use a lube of my own formulation that's considerably lighter than Hammond oil. If I encounter a bearing that continues to rumble, I'll hit it with a third hypo full of Hammond oil. I've been known to go even heavier with certain very-worn bearings. But only once or twice ever. The hypo full of Hammond oil would work.
There now exists lubes that are better than Hammond oil, but you can't go wrong using Hammond oil.
I know it's done when it will start-up under 3 seconds and spin down over 20 seconds.

[carioca100]

I did not start the organ until I was done w/ the flush and put pure Hammond oil in the cups and then let that soak into the threads/wicks for 24 hours. I then started the organ. However, throughout the flushing process, I turned the TWG several times by hand . I wanted to make sure the Naphtha had evaporated until I started it. That stuff is highly flammable.
I just did a test on starting the unit . I held the start switch for about 3 seconds then hit the run switch for about 2 seconds ( I usually hold them both much longer) and the organ fired right up. I also timed the spin down of the TWG ,after shutting off the organ, and I got 24 seconds. All is good!!

[Papus]

I did not start the organ until I was done w/ the flush and put pure Hammond oil in the cups and then let that soak into the threads/wicks for 24 hours. I then started the organ. However, throughout the flushing process, I turned the TWG several times by hand . I wanted to make sure the Naphtha had evaporated until I started it. That stuff is highly flammable.
I just did a test on starting the unit . I held the start switch for about 3 seconds then hit the run switch for about 2 seconds ( I usually hold them both much longer) and the organ fired right up. I also timed the spin down of the TWG ,after shutting off the organ, and I got 24 seconds. All is good!!

Flammability is my main concern too.
I don't want to run my T202 while the case is full of Naptha vapour.