No, I use it as a winter coat for my motor cycle to prevent rusting. Does not harm crome, rubber or paint.

I've used it to loosen up the gears on locomotives that haven't been run in a long time. works great. generally I'll take the body shell off first so the oil residue won't collect dust on the shell, plus it gets to more of the gears.

I have and thouroughly recommend it for Märklin lok overhauls.

When I had the time, I did some work (100+ loks) for my dealer, digitising and repairing. Whenever they were well used, I dismantled them fully and dipped the parts in a WD-40 bath. After 1 - 2 hours the parts were beautiful, shiny and clean.

Be aware though, that it should be cleaned after the cleaning process and before reassembly.

I thoroughly unrecommend lubricating Märklin loks in anywhere other than the motor commutator axle journals (3 and 5-pole motors), despite what Märklin states in the manuals, regarding 40 hours lubrication in the wheel axles.

I think I this is it.

In 1953, a fledgling company called Rocket Chemical Company and its staff of three set out to create a line of rust-prevention solvents and degreasers for use in the aerospace industry, in a small lab in San Diego, California.

It took them 40 attempts to get the water displacing formula worked out. But they must have been really good, because the original secret formula for WD-40—which stands for Water Displacement perfected on the 40th try—is still in use today.

Convair, an aerospace contractor, first used WD-40 to protect the outer skin of the Atlas Missile from rust and corrosion. The product actually worked so well that several employees snuck some WD-40 cans out of the plant to use at home.

A few years following WD-40's first industrial use, Rocket Chemical Company founder Norm Larsen experimented with putting WD-40 into aerosol cans, reasoning that consumers might find a use for the product at home as some of the employees had. The product made its first appearance on store shelves in San Diego in 1958.

In 1960 the company nearly doubled in size, growing to seven people, who sold an average of 45 cases per day from the trunk of their cars to hardware and sporting goods stores in the San Diego area.

In 1961 the first full truckload order for WD-40 was filled when employees came in on a Saturday to produce additional concentrate to meet the disaster needs of the victims of Hurricane Carla along the U.S. Gulf coast. WD-40 was used to recondition flood and rain damaged vehicles and equipment.




In 1969 the company was renamed after its only product, WD-40.

WD-40 Company, Inc., went public in 1973 and was listed Over-The-Counter. The stock price increased by 61% on the first day of listing.

Since that time, WD-40 has grown by leaps and bounds, and is now virtually a household name, used in numerous consumer and industrial markets such as automotive, manufacturing, sporting goods, aviation, hardware and home improvement, construction, and farming.

In 1983, WD-40 Company sales reached $50.2 million. Many companies attempted to introduce imitation products, going so far as to copy the distinctive blue, yellow and red colors of the WD-40 can.

In 1993, WD-40 Company celebrated its 40th anniversary by breaking the $100 million sales mark. That year the company was also listed among the Top Ten Most Profitable companies on the NASDAQ exchange. Not bad for a company with only one product!

WD-40 was found to be in 4 out of 5 American households (it seems everyone has a can or two) and was used by 81 percent of professionals at work. Sales had grown to more than one million cans each week.

The most interesting piece of WD-40's history is the uses for the product, now numbering in the thousands. The uses include everything from silencing squeaky hinges and removing road tar from automobiles to protecting tools from rust and removing adhesive labels. But they get a lot crazier than that.

WD 40 is not great for traction tyres.

David

Thanks for the WD-40 story, Bob.

I have (some time ago) been using it for years, to loosen rusty bolts and nuts etc.

I agree with laalves. It is great for cleaning, but you have to wash it off afterwords.

Tony,

I agree with the CRC Electrical Cleaner. I work on cars quite a bit and am always in need of something to degrease all sorts of stuff with. I have been using Brake Cleaner (from a automotive supply store) to degrease and clean just about anything. On top of that it dries quickly and does not leave a residue. Caution though, do not get it on painted parts or rubber or plastic. Other than that it is an excellent cleaner / degreaser.

We use WD40 for a lot of things at work, we buy it in 5 liters containers.

Our mechanic says it is vaste of money, he says it is just Kerosene with a nice smell.

I dunno.

Per.

I use WD-40 on the forge-iron door/gate at the entry to my house ;-)

Actually, I used it just a few days ago for the FIRST time with the train, but I cant remember what for. I do seem to recall that it worked ok, and that particular problem was solved...

Well, I would bet that your axle didn't need lubrication, most likely it was simply dirty and it got stuck due to it. Carpet fibers, dog hairs, all sorts of crap go into the wheelsets. Then, people tend to think their loks require lubrication.

My experience tells me that you need to do is to clean things thouroughly and that's it.

Remember we're not talking high speed rotational movements, except at the motor shaft. That's why one should lubricate that spot. I use a single, tiny drop of Märklin oil, whenever I hear a very distinct squeak.

All oil one puts into the undercarriage of a lok will ALWAYS get into traction tires and track, creating lots of problems.

I would consider lubricating the wheels of an ICE running all day, though. The wheels spin quite fast, and after a couple of hours, the axle journals will heat up, attrition coefficient will rise, more heat will build up and abnormal wear comes up.

Loks that run 24 hours a day in dealer's layouts should also be CLEANED and lubricated.

Oiling a normally used Märklin lok in the wheels is unnecessary and damaging to the layout. It will also attract grime, dirt, dust, hairs and then you get into a spiral of oiling + crap buildup + oiling again and when you notice it, all your loks and track will be swimming in oil.