[Help Thread] Lubrication Thread

2180161 · May 17, 2015

Idea for a type of lube.
Take Blue Juice Valve Oil (for a trumpet, or other brass instrument)
Put some of it in syringe,
Take cubicle lube weight 3
put some in the syringe
Take Maru Lube,
Put some in the syringe
MIX WELL
you now have your new lube

mafergut · May 18, 2015

I have a tricky question. I have discovered that same lubing technique gives different results on different cubes.

My main is a YJ Chilong. I lubed it with wt 5 thecubicle silicone oil in the core and wt 3 in the pieces and it worked great. At the beginning it was a bit too slow but after some hundreds of solves it became much better. Recently I had to add a tiny bit of lube to it and I added wt 2 and it still feels great for me. It is not super-fast but very controllable and stable.

On the other hand I lubed a Huanying exactly the same but it feels much faster. I think that it is because it has so little contact points due to its hollow design in the corners. I like the Huanying feel but it's not "up there" in my "great cubes list" so I recently bought a Yueying (it's younger "brother", after the Liying) and just lubed it. I put, again, wt 5 in the core but this time weight 2 in the pieces as it looked like it has more contact surface and I wanted it a bit faster than my Chilong. For the 1st 20 solves or so it felt just great (I was doing the same times as with my Chilong, averaging just under 20 seconds) but it immediately became too fast and very "loose". I don't know how to explain it other than the pieces move around a lot and you don't have the feeling of layers any more but loose pieces. I tightened it almost a full turn but it still feels the same. My solves are now more than 1 sec slower in average due to inaccuracies while turning.

Should I...:

- overlube it to make it slower and stickier so that layers stay together?
- put higher weight lube like wt 3 or even 4 or 5? (I don't have wt 4, only 1, 2, 3 and 5 as, after trying wt 3 in the Chilong I never thought I'd need anything stickier than that in the pieces)
- try any other thing?

Please advise. Thanks!

VISA006 · May 18, 2015

SpeedCuber Tin said:
In India lubes are not very avilable..... Pls. help me what can I use as substitute of core oil , my cube is (3x3x3) Moyu Aolong v2, Can I use livon, coconut oil, almond oil (hair-oils).....

You can get some good quality lube at pcubedpuzzles.in . You can buy the lube I use by clicking here and selecting "P3 Silicone : Medium Viscous 15ml". Its just Rs. 250. The lube comes in a Bottle, you have to transfer it into a syringe. Use Cubeologist's video tutorial to lube your AoLong.

2180161 · May 18, 2015

mafergut said:
I have a tricky question. I have discovered that same lubing technique gives different results on different cubes.

My main is a YJ Chilong. I lubed it with wt 5 thecubicle silicone oil in the core and wt 3 in the pieces and it worked great. At the beginning it was a bit too slow but after some hundreds of solves it became much better. Recently I had to add a tiny bit of lube to it and I added wt 2 and it still feels great for me. It is not super-fast but very controllable and stable.

On the other hand I lubed a Huanying exactly the same but it feels much faster. I think that it is because it has so little contact points due to its hollow design in the corners. I like the Huanying feel but it's not "up there" in my "great cubes list" so I recently bought a Yueying (it's younger "brother", after the Liying) and just lubed it. I put, again, wt 5 in the core but this time weight 2 in the pieces as it looked like it has more contact surface and I wanted it a bit faster than my Chilong. For the 1st 20 solves or so it felt just great (I was doing the same times as with my Chilong, averaging just under 20 seconds) but it immediately became too fast and very "loose". I don't know how to explain it other than the pieces move around a lot and you don't have the feeling of layers any more but loose pieces. I tightened it almost a full turn but it still feels the same. My solves are now more than 1 sec slower in average due to inaccuracies while turning.

Should I...:

- overlube it to make it slower and stickier so that layers stay together?
- put higher weight lube like wt 3 or even 4 or 5? (I don't have wt 4, only 1, 2, 3 and 5 as, after trying wt 3 in the Chilong I never thought I'd need anything stickier than that in the pieces)
- try any other thing?

Please advise. Thanks!

I would, if possible, clean out the cube, rinse the pieces if you can without ruining the stickers, or if you dont care about the stickers, and then relube it with a heavier lube like weight 4, as there is not a huge difference between weight 3 and 4.

mafergut · May 19, 2015

2180161 said:
I would, if possible, clean out the cube, rinse the pieces if you can without ruining the stickers, or if you dont care about the stickers, and then relube it with a heavier lube like weight 4, as there is not a huge difference between weight 3 and 4.

Wouldn't it work if I just simply add a bit of wt5 and let it mix with the already applied wt2? Cleaning the whole cube again is soo boring... I just restickered the cube before lubing it (the cube is new). Well, I guess I don't lose much if it doesn't work as I will end up having to clean it anyway.

MeJoho · May 20, 2015

I used the wrong Silicone spray. ooops

I used the wrong Silicone spray. ooops

I was doing some shopping and I randomly saw a cheap Silicone spray and bought it
without reading anything on it because it was so cheap.

I have heard that Zemdegs has used Silicone spray for his cubes, so I wanted to try too.
I used the spray on my DaYan V ZhanChi since it's not my main-cube.

But soon I found out that it only made it worse!

Now the cube was harder to move and then I read the text on the Silicone spray and I realised
I probably had bought something that was waaay wrong.

Here's the text (sorry for big picture):

Anyway, do you guys know what I have to look for next time if I want the correct spray?
It said the ingredient was Naphtha and hydrogen something 10-30%. (didn't say much about it I think)

Sorry for asking a question which is against the rules, but I just wanted to get some response, and my question
has probably been asked somewhere on the website before.

Phinagin · May 20, 2015

If you want to use silicon spray again, make sure on the label it says 100% silicon, if you do not want to mess up your cube. Also there are many other lubes out there better than silicon, and actually may be cheaper, I'd look into some traxxas diff oil if I were you. But silicon spray is still a good lube if you want to use it.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

MeJoho · May 20, 2015

Phinagin said:
If you want to use silicon spray again, make sure on the label it says 100% silicon, if you do not want to mess up your cube. Also there are many other lubes out there better than silicon, and actually may be cheaper, I'd look into some traxxas diff oil if I were you. But silicon spray is still a good lube if you want to use it.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

oh nice thanks

Minutes after I had applied the silicone it was really hard to move the pieces, but now it's smooth, ha.
It might actually work afterall even though it's kind of strange, ha.

Phinagin · May 20, 2015

MeJoho said:
oh nice thanks

Minutes after I had applied the silicone it was really hard to move the pieces, but now it's smooth, ha.
It might actually work afterall even though it's kind of strange, ha.

Ya that does happen a lot with silicon sprays when you first spray it acts like a glue for the first few minutes, then after a little working in, it works very well, but usually lasts a short while. If you look at the label of the silicon, and you use petroleum I would recommend removing the lube as petroleum will overtime ruin the cube. It is your decision though as some do like it.

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Dutch Cuber · May 22, 2015

Hi guys,
I'm pretty new to the speedsolving forum, but I've got a problem with my main, which is the Moyu Weilong: I've lubed it with Weigth 5 (from the cubicle.us) on the the screws and pieces, then solved it 200 times and applied Maru to speed it up, (just like crazybadcuber, cubeologist,...). But then I saw kind of dirty black oil on the screws and springs. What can I do to clean it off and why did that happen?
Thanks in advance.

Phinagin · May 24, 2015

Dutch Cuber said:
Hi guys,
I'm pretty new to the speedsolving forum, but I've got a problem with my main, which is the Moyu Weilong: I've lubed it with Weigth 5 (from the cubicle.us) on the the screws and pieces, then solved it 200 times and applied Maru to speed it up, (just like crazybadcuber, cubeologist,...). But then I saw kind of dirty black oil on the screws and springs. What can I do to clean it off and why did that happen?
Thanks in advance.

That dirty black oil is the lube you just lubricated with, you don't really want to remove it, or else lubing the cube was a waste of time, resources, money.

mafergut · May 25, 2015

Phinagin said:
That dirty black oil is the lube you just lubricated with, you don't really want to remove it, or else lubing the cube was a waste of time, resources, money.

Yeah most surely the transparent silicone oil mixed with black plastic powder from friction erosion where the screws and washers touch the center pieces and resulted in what you can see now

Dutch Cuber · May 31, 2015

Thanks for the advice, but I lubed my Aolong V2 the same way I did with my Weilong and there was no dirty black oil on the screws and springs. is that normal that it only happens on Weilong cubes?

mafergut · Jun 1, 2015

Dutch Cuber said:
Thanks for the advice, but I lubed my Aolong V2 the same way I did with my Weilong and there was no dirty black oil on the screws and springs. is that normal that it only happens on Weilong cubes
?

Had your Weilong already been used a lot? And was the Aolong more or less new? That would explain that you Weilong had some plastic "crumbs" from use and the Aolong didn't. I have lubed a Weilong with the same wt 5 from thecubicle and I didn't see any black grease anywhere. I had broken in the Weilong before lubing it but I had not used it intensively. I'm about to lube also an Aolong (v1) that I did use extensively a while ago. If I see anything like what you described with your Weilong I will tell you here. But, before lubing my cubes I clean them as much as I can to remove the black plastic residue that may be there (of course in the inside of the screw hole in the center pieces it is difficult to do any cleaning unless with an ear pipe or something.

Iggy · Jun 1, 2015

Sorry if this is a really nubby question, but what's the best way to lube a 3x3 with lubix? I normally do it the way everyone does it, that is by lubing the two rings (those platform things) inside the center pieces, lubing the top of the washer, then lubing the part where the screw touches the spring, but my cubes always end up slow even after a lot of solves. This happened to my Hualong recently. I tried cleaning out some of the lube but it didn't make a difference. Is there anything I'm doing wrong? I wanna get better at lubing cubes

mafergut · Jun 1, 2015

Iggy said:
Sorry if this is a really nubby question, but what's the best way to lube a 3x3 with lubix? I normally do it the way everyone does it, that is by lubing the two rings (those platform things) inside the center pieces, lubing the top of the washer, then lubing the part where the screw touches the spring, but my cubes always end up slow even after a lot of solves. This happened to my Hualong recently. I tried cleaning out some of the lube but it didn't make a difference. Is there anything I'm doing wrong? I wanna get better at lubing cubes

I do it more or less the same. I also lube the screw where it enters the core and make the core turn several times while I slowly let go of the two opposite center pieces. And some cubes end up slower than others. I have always assumed it is because I tend to put too much lube but it removing part of it does not work I don't really know what the issue can be. I am lucky that I don't particularly like my cubes too fast because I'm slow and inaccurate but it's annoying to not be able to get the feeling I really want. I really think it also depends on the lubing of the pieces, some cubes have more contact surface than others between pieces but, even in that case. I lubed my 57mm Weilong with wt5 (core) and wt2 (pieces) and it ended up quite fast and later I lubed my 54.5mm mini Weilong more or less the same way and it is now a bit slow.

Sorry I am not able to help much. My only advice is, if you don't mind the spring noise and lubing the core makes your cubes too slow... don't lube the core.

molarmanful · Jun 1, 2015

I recently tried using RZ-50 on my Moyu Aolong V2. Apparently, RZ-50 is a non-silicone dry spray-on lube that "acts like ball bearings." It's non-corrosive, doesn't cause rust, etc. I thought, "Why not?" and tried it. It's actually pretty good. I lubed the core and the tracks, so now the cube is less gummy and is smoother. Of course, it's only my first day using it.

Anyone else tried RZ-50? I feel that it has some advantages over conventional lube because dirt and other grime doesn't get stuck on the lube, and it doesn't wash out.

Ninja Storm · Jun 1, 2015

Iggy said:
Sorry if this is a really nubby question, but what's the best way to lube a 3x3 with lubix? I normally do it the way everyone does it, that is by lubing the two rings (those platform things) inside the center pieces, lubing the top of the washer, then lubing the part where the screw touches the spring, but my cubes always end up slow even after a lot of solves. This happened to my Hualong recently. I tried cleaning out some of the lube but it didn't make a difference. Is there anything I'm doing wrong? I wanna get better at lubing cubes

Please give me your cubes, mine always end up way too fast :/

mafergut · Jun 1, 2015

Ninja Storm said:
Please give me your cubes, mine always end up way too fast :/

Can you tell us how you lubed them? I only managed to make a Weilong v2 somewhat fast and I don't have the slightest idea what I did different. Well, my Huanying is also quite fast but that's because it has almost no contact surface that the lube can stick to

NewCuber000 · Jun 2, 2015

Ninja Storm said:
Please give me your cubes, mine always end up way too fast :/

I love fast and uncontrollable cubes

. I use traxxus 30k on my hualong, a crazy speed combination, and I find it a good speed for me. And to Iggy, I used to lube my core on my Aolong but when I got my hualong I stopped and only put a small amount on the pieces. It works well

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[Help Thread] Lubrication Thread

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