Advice on greasing my Duo-RX?

[SamIAm]

Preventative maintenance seems like a wise idea with these systems. My Duo-RX makes an awful lot of noise when the lens is seeking something, and I'm thinking that a drop or two of well-placed oil might extend its life significantly.

In addition to seeking any general advice you have, I have two main questions:

1. What kind of oil should I use? I'm in Japan, so particular American brands probably aren't available for me. I already have cheap general purpose oil that I use to grease up my hair clippers, but I suspect that I might need higher-grade stuff. I've heard sewing machine oil is good?

2. What is the least invasive way of applying it? If possible, I'd just as soon not take apart the system at all. Maybe that sounds stupid, but I don't really know. I suppose this is another way of asking "where should I apply it?" but for someone who's a bit nervous about taking anything apart.

Thank you for any help!   

[Samurai Ghost]

Maybe I'm wrong, but generally electronics with moving parts like CD players use white lithium grease. It's a lot more pasty and substantial than regular oil which will just run off with heat and possibly damage the rest of the device.

[SamIAm]

Yeah, I hear about that and silicon grease. I wonder what's cheap but effective? There's a big ol' Haus of Sewing not too far from me, and I'm sure they have the oil. However, I'm surprised to find that there exists very high-grade and very expensive sewing machine oil, along with other really cheap stuff.

[Samurai Ghost]

A tube of silicone grease or lithium grease will cost you somewhere between $1-$5. I don't know how cheap you mean, but if you really want to extend the life of your system I think it would be worth a couple bucks to get what the professionals use for the reasons they do. Mainly because that kind of grease will stick to the gears even with the heat generated by the system, will last a long time, won't deteriorate the parts, leak into the rest of your system, etc. If you just put any old oil in there who knows what havoc it could wreak inside your system.

Sewing machine oil is for sewing machines. Not electronics. Just like you wouldn't use vegetable oil in your car's engine. Different products for different needs. Just use Google to find a shop that will send you out some silicone or lithium grease for a few bucks!

[SamIAm]

Sewing machines use electric motors and other mechanical parts very similar to a CD-ROM sled/gear setup, and a number of sources (including old posts here by knowledgeable members) specifically recommend it for this purpose.

Searching around, it looks like you can spend 300 yen or you can spend 1500 yen on different stuff. If anyone has any caveats, I'd like very much to know.

That, and how I would do best applying it.

[Samurai Ghost]

Could be! To be honest I know nothing about sewing machine oil. Just that oil and grease are completely different things... What did Google come up with as far as lubing CD drives?

[SamIAm]

Update!

A little over a year after some generous application of sewing machine oil to the drive gears, I opened up the system, and what do I see?

The oil has turned yellow.

Google reveals that this is common with sewing machine oil. It also seems that petroleum based oils are potentially bad for plastic gears. Time to wipe that stuff off.

Further reading seems to indicate that white lithium grease is probably the only thing that should be used, however some say that plastic gears shouldn't be lubricated anyway. I'm still inclined to think that a little bit of lube is probably a good idea.

Any comments? Similar experiences? Surprises when opening your system long after oiling it up?

[Bernie]

Just use a hair dryer on it.  That works wonders. 

Seriously though, no oil, just white grease.  Its made for that kind of mess.

[SamIAm]

I ordered some of this:
http://www.tamiyausa.com/items/paints-finishes-60/tamiya-maintenance-material-62000/cera-grease-hg-87099

It's easy for me to get in Japan, and both Japanese and English websites talked about it as being highly safe and suitable for both plastic and metal, especially plastic gears. It's originally designed for remote-control cars and electric trains, I think.

My biggest fear is that the yellowing was a result of a chemical reaction with the gear plastic. I am suspicious because I had also put some of the same oil in my JVC X'EYE last year, but when I opened it up today, the oil was still clear. I didn't use as much as I did in my Duo, and the temperature might have been different, but it still doesn't make a lot of sense.

Anyway, what's the best way to clean oil off these gears? I did pretty well with (don't laugh) toothpicks and toilet paper, but I'd like to get them cleaner still. I separately tested dishwashing liquid with the oil I used, and sure enough, that cut right through it. I might try it if nobody else has any ideas.

Here's one thing I've learned: many lithium-based greases, including the white stuff, still contain petro-chemicals which can affect certain types of plastic. If you're doing this in the name of preventative maintenance, be sure you're not doing more harm than good.

I would recommend this to anyone, though. Even with that sewing machine oil, the rate of disc access failure plummeted for both my Duo and my X'EYE immediately after I applied it.

[SamIAm]

Final update: Dishwashing liquid did the job of getting off the old grease very well. After that, I applied the Tamiya grease that I posted above. It's early yet, but I think that it will do its job well for a long time to come.

If you ever put oil or grease on your CD system gears in the past, it definitely wouldn't hurt to check it. I'm really glad I caught the yellow oil now instead of in another couple of years when it would have caused who-knows-what.

Finally, this Chinese source is about the cheapest HOP-M3 laser I can find. I'm definitely going to snag one to keep as backup.
http://ja.aliexpress.com/item/HOP-M3-laser-head-for-CD-100-original-fast-delievery-good-package/323421552.html