Need to remove push pull changer

[Abe Levy]

Thanks guys! I’ve never had any problems with it, but I haven’t waited around for fifty years to see the results either. Do you find that slick 50 stays around long enough? It’s not so viscous that it dissipates due to so much movement? That the main reason I always put an extremely thin layer of white lithium on as I load the axle, then lube the fingers with tri flow. This method has kept my guitars moving freely for years.

[Henry Matthews]

Lol, y’all can scrap and rub and even sand all you want but Berryman carburetor cleaner is just a matter of soaking couple days, then rinse off with hot water and wipe dry. Best stuff I’ve found.saves hours of work.

[Brian Spratt]

What I ended up doing was tearing it all down and soaking the changer parts in Berryman carb cleaner (suggested by Kelcey O'Neil and others) to remove any/all gunk. I went over most contact surfaces including the axle with 0000 steel wool with a pretty light touch on the fingers but more force on the axle. Then I reassembled with a very light coating of Valvoline "Moly-Fortified Gray Grease" just on the axle (tip from Lynn Stafford) and a very light amount of Slick 50 between the fingers (tip from Kelcey O'Neil). Having fully reassembled now I can say this has worked very well at least for my first few hours of playing.

For anyone interested, I took a lot of pictures and I'm in the process writing a step-by-step guide on how to do this remove-service-rebuild from start to finish for a push-pull changer. It was a TON of effort reading all the various (often conflicting) opinions about how one should go about this job and I held off on the job for so long wishing there was just a guide or a youtube video or something that would step a person though it. I decided to make a humble attempt to fix that by writing my own guide which I plan to make available soon.

[Brian Spratt]

Here's an update on the how-to guide I promised to provide. It's about half-way done currently. I've had several people asking me about it, so I wanted to provide a link to what I have so far:

https://briancspratt.wixsite.com/theped ... ll-changer

If you want to be notified when it's complete, you can sign up for free on the website or keep checking this post. There's no spam or shenanigans with the web sign-up, it's just a way for me to communicate to anyone who's interested in my site.

I welcome comments and feedback on my write-up. I've read just about every guide out there (Clem's book and videos... Bobbe Seymour's push-pull video... thousands of forum posts, etc.) and I still can't believe that nobody has ever just written up a detailed how-to document for this process which seems critical for any push-pull owner who wants to keep their steel in top shape.

[Mike Preuss]

Brian, that detailed guide on removing and cleaning the changer is a great resource. Thank you for creating and sharing it.

[Brian Spratt]

Thanks Mike. I made quite a few updates today. Still a work in progress.

[John Haspert]

Folks…there is a reason why the company that developed “Super Clean” sold off the formula. It is way too caustic, too aggressive, not human friendly and eats Aluminum like candy. Staining is a minor issue when compared to the pitting and other damage it will do to your beautiful Aluminum parts.

I know the subject of Changer Lubrication is a hotly debated topic here on the Forum. Some people love Tri-flo or Slick 50 or whatever. Just know that lubricants of which Slick 50 is just one example that have used PTFE (Teflon is a trademark of the DuPont Company) does have some benefits if it can stay in the interface of the components where the friction takes place. That’s the big “IF”! Trying to get and keep PTFE in that space is a real challenge. It DOES NOT enjoy the same attraction to metal substrates as does Molybdenbum Disulfide and a number of other Solid Film lubricants. What is likely to have a longer lasting effect is the other additives/ liquid chemicals that are often used in these “Top treat” products such that they could be compliant with API standards and classification and be sold in the larger automotive market space.

I agree that the generic grease called “White Lithium Grease” (WLG) should be avoided. Reason is that WLG’s are often “cost engineered” . Lithium-12 OH greases are still a high percentage of all greases sold. Due to cost constraints, often base oils used to manufacture are the most cost effective alternatives in the market and don’t have the best volatility or evaporation performance. Thus, the light ends volatiliize leaving the heavier ends to oxidize and thus harden up as many have noted. There is also typically a white pigment or filller used in White Lithium grease that assists in the hardening with age, while this ingedient’s primary function is to make the grease White for easier identification.. If one ever did decide to use a lubricating, grease you would need to relube and only use oil of a compatible chemistry with the original grease chosen. Essentially, one would be just be replacing the oil that was consumed from the original grease lubrication. I

For this particular application, I prefer to.use only a very high quality oil (no greases here) like a lower viscosity PAO with only some anti-oxidant and a bit of antiwear agent since it is really the oil film that is doing all of the work here. As some have noted, fine watch oils, some gun oils (avoid those with paraffin or wax content) and even some sewing machine oils are possible candidate.

[John Haspert]

Folks…there is a reason why the company that developed “Super Clean” sold off the formula. It is way too caustic, too aggressive, not human friendly and eats Aluminum like candy. Staining is a minor issue when compared to the pitting and other damage it will do to your beautiful Aluminum parts.

I know the subject of Changer Lubrication is a hotly debated topic here on the Forum. Some people love Tri-flo or Slick 50 or whatever. Just know that lubricants of which Slick 50 is just one example that have used PTFE (Teflon is a trademark of the DuPont Company) does have some benefits if it can stay in the interface of the components where the friction takes place. That’s the big “IF”! Trying to get and keep PTFE in that space is a real challenge. It DOES NOT enjoy the same attraction to metal substrates as does Molybdenbum Disulfide and a number of other Solid Film lubricants. What is likely to have a longer lasting effect is the other additives/ liquid chemicals that are often used in these “Top treat” products such that they could be compliant with API standards and classification and be sold in the larger automotive market space.

I agree that the generic grease called “White Lithium Grease” (WLG) should be avoided. Reason is that WLG’s are often “cost engineered” . Lithium-12 OH greases are still a high percentage of all greases sold. Due to cost constraints, often base oils used to manufacture are the most cost effective alternatives in the market and don’t have the best volatility or evaporation performance. Thus, the light ends volatiliize leaving the heavier ends to oxidize and thus harden up as many have noted. There is also typically a white pigment or filller used in WHite Lithium grease that assists in the hardening with age, while its primary function is to make the grease White for easier identification.. If one ever did decide to use a lubricating, you would need to relube and only use oil of a compatible chemistry with the original grease chosen. Essentially, one would be just be replacing the oil that was consumed from the original grease lubrication. I

For this particular application, prefer to.use only a very high quality oil (no greases here) like a lower viscosity PAO with only some anti-oxidant and a bit of antiwear agent since it is really the oil film that is doing all of the work here. As some have noted, fine watch oils, some gun oils (avoid those with paraffin or wax content) and even some sewing machine oils are possible candidate.