CD/DVD rail and gear lubricant?

[17DaysOlderThanNES]

Does anyone know the exact lubricant used (generic or brand name is fine) to lubricate the laser rails/sled and the various gears in the CD/DVD drive assembly? Apparently oil-based lubricants can wear away the plastic, so that doesn't leave much. I've noticed most systems have sort of a white cream lubricant, it actually looks and feels alot like whipped cream. Anyone know what this stuff is? I really want to lube some of my systems to extend their life as well as get them working again if they start locking up from dried up lubricants.

[CRTGAMER]

It is probably Lithium Grease which in small quantities works fine.

[Hobie-wan]

Other people have posted that hobby shops probably carry the white grease for plastic gears in their RC sections.

[Ziggy]

I've used 3-In-One on plastic before with out any problems. I used it on the plastic gears on my one Wah pedal years ago, after it's original white grease wore away, and it's been fine ever since.

More recently, I used 3-In-One to lube a few N64 joysticks. I've been using one of them for at least a few hours almost every day for the past few weeks, seems fine.

3-In-One is what I have on hand, so if I was gonna lube the rails in one of my consoles it's what I would use. The only problem with using it on something like this is applying it (it runs a lot). You'd have to put the oil on a cotton swab (Q-Tip) and smear it on the rails otherwise it'd run and drip every where. But after you rub it on, it seems to stay for a long time. Like I said, it's been on the gears of my wah pedal for a few years now (maybe about 5 years or so) and it's still good.

[Scooter]

White lithium grease can be found at auto parts stores too and those are probably easier to find than hobby stores.

Another good lubricant is silicone spray. It's pretty thin and runs, but if applied with a swab works fine and a benefit of this stuff is that it doesn't evaporate over time like other oils can and will do. Just make sure to keep it away from the disc trays and laser lenses because it can be a bitch to get off shiny plastic surfaces (like lenses and disc surfaces) and can cause disc read problems.

[17DaysOlderThanNES]

hmm, so it must be white lithium grease after all. Cool, I'll look into it.

edit: does this look like the right stuff?



I want a cream vs. a spray, I want to be able to apply a small bit and then rub it around with my fingers to apply it fully. I also like the fact that it's non-toxic and non-staining, unlike anything silicon which is "known by the state of California to cause birth defects" or something oil-based that will stain and never go away.

[CRTGAMER]

hmm, so it must be white lithium grease after all. Cool, I'll look into it.

edit: does this look like the right stuff?



I want a cream vs. a spray, I want to be able to apply a small bit and then rub it around with my fingers to apply it fully. I also like the fact that it's non-toxic and non-staining, unlike anything silicon which is "known by the state of California to cause birth defects" or something oil-based that will stain and never go away.

Looks like the stuff! Agree spray is hard to control, I use a toothpick to apply lithium grease on small parts.

[17DaysOlderThanNES]

well, I looked into it further and it seems lithium grease has a petroleum base in most cases. Some talking doll website (creepy, I know, but it came up when I searched lithium grease) suggested that any lithium grease with a non-synthetic base could cause harm to some plastics. While I think the gears in most (or all) CD drives are nylon and pretty resilient, I don't want to make things worse when everything is working fine.