PlayStation Development Network

I oiled the mechanical plastic pieces of my PS1 with Hoppe's No. 9 gun oil. I know some types of oil are bad for ABS, but good look finding the chemical composition of name brand lubricants. What lubricants have you guys used on your PlayStations and what are the results? So far the No. 9 oil has adhered well and is doing it's job without discoloring the plastic over the course of 5 days, but I'll probably clean it off and use something that's better understood in regards to ABS compatibility.

White Lithium Grease.

Never use oil for the laser mecha
Use lithium grease like Shadow said or Tamiya grease (amazing grease!!!)
Use WD-40 for the mabuchi motor and sled motor, after that, remove the excess with some napkin ^^!
That's it, it's miraculous treatment and your PS will thank you from the bottom of his heart!

~PSXLoVeR95~ wrote:Use WD-40 for the mabuchi motor and sled motor, after that, remove the excess with some napkin ^^!

I believe WD-40 will destroy the ABS. You'd want to use a lighter oil like sewing machine oil in that case.

I have been using this White Lithium Grease for years with no issues at all.

Shadow wrote: I believe WD-40 will destroy the ABS. You'd want to use a lighter oil like sewing machine oil in that case.

You can use a lighter oil, but should be not conductive. It's a very important thing ^^
Well, i'm using the WD-40 only for the motor and it works pretty awesome (no motor gripping anymore).
Just, spray a little bit in this hole :


Be careful with excess, it can contaminated the disc
All the best with your PS!
Oh, i forgot, this video should be useful :
https://youtu.be/wCZ7DiFGuYM?t=43m1s

~PSXLoVeR95~ wrote:WD-40...

Ah, if you're using it on the motor stator/armature then that is okay

Personally I've been using very small amounts of WD-40 as needed on the sled rails of game consoles (as needed) for years without a hitch. You just want to use a tiny dab of it on each rail and converted it smoothly and even. There shouldn't be any excess that drips off. If so, you've way over done it, and you'll have serious issues lol. Better to use too little than too much...

Shadow wrote: Ah, if you're using it on the motor stator/armature then that is okay

The WD-40 is amazing, but maybe there must be a better oil ...!

What can be used to lubricate spindle and sled motor?

damiank94 wrote: ↑March 21st, 2019, 8:49 am What can be used to lubricate spindle and sled motor?

You don't lucubrate the spindle but the motor can be lubricated with WD-40 as mentioned in this topic (though I'd personally recommend a light clock oil instead since WD-40 had additives), but 'White Lithium Grease' can be used on all the plastic rubbing parts. I've heard also that 'Teflon Grease' can be used, but that's harder to find.

Shadow wrote: ↑March 22nd, 2019, 1:21 am You don't lucubrate the spindle

I know that. By "spindle and sled motor" I mean both motors. WD-40 is cleaner not lubricant, so I don't think that's good idea. But I'll check that clock oil.

I use plastic grease at work for plastic gears in office equipment, so I had to chime in here. The white lithium should work ok, or anything synthetic without solvents. Ideally the grease should be made for moving plastic parts. Also, if you can find the MSDS, it often has the key components of a lubricant.

Personally, I would use Molykote EM-30L, a Polyalphaolefin based greased, thickened with Lithium. It doesn't contain silicone, so it is not conductive. It might be a little less thick than the automotive stuff.

Shadow wrote: ↑March 22nd, 2019, 1:21 am I'd personally recommend a light clock oil instead

Can it be any light clock oil?
I found directions on how to clean and regrease the disc drive, which links to this thread as source, but they write to use a "synthetic light clock oil containing no preservatives". The one they use is pretty expensive for the use on a single PS1, but I'm not sure if the others I found are good enough to use (I'm not sure if it's allowed to link to it here, some forums are pretty strict).

I just want to fix my mums PS1, which had issues with the disc drive for as long as I can think, I don't want to ruin it with the wrong oil.

If you can't find clock oil, you can use sewing machine oil. Basically you want a very thin and light oil with no heavy detergents (IE: you wouldn't want to use WD-40 even if it's generally thin because it has detergents).

No, I did find some clock oil that seems to be fine to me, but it doesn't say synthetic and I didn't find anything about additives on the amazon page, so I wanted to ask if it will be fine anyway

you wouldn't want to use WD-40

The site I found says to use WD40 on both motors first and let it sit / work it in (~30 Minutes), and then after that go in with the oil and also work it in (~30 Minutes), is that okay? I'm not sure how WD40 works, I just know it's not intended for long term use as grease

The formula varies from each country: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WD-40

For the Australian formula, I find WD-40 tends to evaporate, dry out and leave a film of slime. Hence, it's not good for actual permanent lubrication of moving parts where you need the oil to remain the same viscosity. I find WD-40 is more suitable for use where you need to prevent rust on bolts, especially outdoors since it repels water (hence why I believe it was called WD which is a abbreviation for "Water Displacement formula number 40"). A perfect example of usage for WD-40 would be hinges on a door which is outside or hinges on a trailer which is towed behind a car. I think the idea is WD-40 dries out and leaves a protective film which stops water penetrating the metal component you wish to protect. In that sense, WD-40 is more of a 'keep on applying as it dries up' solution for commonly exposed parts to the elements.

I'm not a chemist but I personally wouldn't mix WD-40 and a light oil afterwards in a delicate motor. I'd just use the light oil (clock, sewing machine, etc) on the small CD-ROM spindle motor. The motors have a small hole specifically for that reason which is to drip in a few drops of light machine oil using a needle. Not blasting it with WD-40 with the little red straw it comes with on the can

These little motors are supposed to have very little oil in them as well. If you put too much oil, you'll drown out the brushes against the rotor and fill the void between the stator as well.

If you want go further down the rabbit hole with DC motor oiling, look at radio controlled (RC) car forums

Oh, I didn't know it's different in other countries. The only time I used WD40 was to losen some very rusty screws on my car.

The clock oil I found comes in a needle tip pen, so I'll just use that for the motors. I also want to clean the plastic parts and regrease with White Lithium Grease like you said at the top.

Thanks a lot for answering and helping

I wrote a guide that this thread inspired here if anyone is interested. I've had great results, I just revived a 5501 I didn't realize was chipped https://alex-free.github.io/unofficial- ... ce-manual/ . Some others have had success as well with these methods: https://gbatemp.net/threads/do-modern-b ... ps.628708/

My experiences are completely different: The surface of the lens needs to be cleaned once every 3-5 years, and that's all. Use a cotton swab with alcohol, or some spit on your fingertip. I have never had any problems with moving parts or lubrication.

My consoles are SCPH-7502 and newer PSones, used only once and then, and exposed to lots of tobacco smoke. So I might tend to have healthier mechanics and dirtier optics than other people.

Anyways, I really think it would help to list lens cleaning as first step in your guide (obviously also clean the disc, and use a retail disc, instead of CDRs of unclear quality for testing) and do the lubrication stuff only if needed.