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My 68 lightning tach is squeaking and fluctuating. I understand its mostly because the upper needle bearing needs lube. Has anyone done this?
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Joined: Jan 2004
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I believe Smiths tachometers use None-O-Jewels pivots. Any lube will make the needle stick. Maybe the bronze bush the cable end runs in is squeaking?
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Joined: May 2013
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I believe Smiths tachometers use None-O-Jewels pivots. Any lube will make the needle stick. Maybe the bronze bush the cable end runs in is squeaking? As Dave says it really wants sending away to be fixed, but if your like me I sprayed one of mine anyway with ACF50 and it started working fine and stopped howling. If your going to send it away to be fixed then there’s no harm in trying, although your smiths restorer might not thank you very much.
Life is stressful enough without getting upset over the little things...
Now lets all have a beer!
68’ A65 Lightning “clubman”
71’ A65 823 Thunderbolt (now rebuilt)
67’ D10 sportsman (undergoing restoration)
68’ D14 trials (undergoing transformation)
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Snakepitt, from their very beginning, the Smiths gray faced instruments were a terror for seizing up and emitting howling noises. They have no proper bushings, and the main spindle is usually the first to fail: it's a repair you do not want to put off. It wasn't until the black faced instruments came out that Smiths fitted a proper Oilite bush to the center spindle, but they still need to be lubed.
If you get to the non-bushed ones soon enough, they can be refurbed, although the work requires complete dismantling. If the center spindle has run seized for any length of time, replacing the frame becomes the only real option. The thing that fails after the center spindle is the needle/pointer and bridge plate, often accompanied by the needle oscillating wildly.
.. Gregg
Spyder Integrated Technologies Lucas & BTH Magneto Restoration Lucas & Miller Dynamo Restoration SMITHS Chronometric & Magnetic Instrument Restoration [email protected]
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Snakepitt, from their very beginning, the Smiths gray faced instruments were a terror for seizing up and emitting howling noises. They have no proper bushings, and the main spindle is usually the first to fail: it's a repair you do not want to put off. It wasn't until the black faced instruments came out that Smiths fitted a proper Oilite bush to the center spindle, but they still need to be lubed.
If you get to the non-bushed ones soon enough, they can be refurbed, although the work requires complete dismantling. If the center spindle has run seized for any length of time, replacing the frame becomes the only real option. The thing that fails after the center spindle is the needle/pointer and bridge plate, often accompanied by the needle oscillating wildly.
.. Gregg Is there a specific lube that should be used?
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Joined: Oct 2007
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old school sewing machine oil is pretty good on those , nice and light but still lasts ages and doesnt "seap" off or evaporated
"There's the way it ought to be and there's the way it is" (Sgt Barnes)
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So I took the gauge apart. Oiling did not fix it but spraying brake cleaner and carefully blowing with compressed air did
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1 member likes this:
Allan G |
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Nice work. Just need to get a rim back on it now.
Life is stressful enough without getting upset over the little things...
Now lets all have a beer!
68’ A65 Lightning “clubman”
71’ A65 823 Thunderbolt (now rebuilt)
67’ D10 sportsman (undergoing restoration)
68’ D14 trials (undergoing transformation)
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Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 1,998 Likes: 7
Moto-Amish
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When you curl the rim back on, be sure to compress the rubber gasket between the bezel and the body by pressing on the body. Small bites will take care of it and when it goes back in the rubber boot, no one will see the underside anyway!
Josh
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