Do not use anything except "genuine" Hammond oil, it can really mess things up. Hammond oil isn't expensive, and here's where you can buy it:
http://www.goffprof.com/index.jsp
Edited to add: Do not over oil either, it can cause problems with the tremolo phase shift contact rotor. NEVER! NEVER! NEVER! use WD40!!!
http://www.goffprof.com/index.jsp
Edited to add: Do not over oil either, it can cause problems with the tremolo phase shift contact rotor. NEVER! NEVER! NEVER! use WD40!!!
Good point, you don't "fill it up" or you have oil all over the floor. You dump the required dose in teh cup and walk away. It will drain down inside at its own pace and go where it needs to be If you keep running more oil into it, it will flow out of the various assemblies and onto the floor.
One of the organists from our church posted this link --
AN/TNP-1 Army Field Manual | Care and Maintainance
AN/TNP-1 Army Field Manual | Care and Maintainance
Note "hammond oil" on E-bay is using a trademark of a bankrupt corporation that is not being protected by the purchaser for this product. So, like other parts on E-bay, it might be anything. As problems with "hammond" oil show up after 10 years, the E-bay rating means only that their credit and shipping practices are good. Oil for hammonds should have no detergent (to not suck water out of the air), no metal compounds (to not make dendrites on the gear poles) no sludge or gum to dry up in the oiling threads. Certain suppliers, like tonewheel-general.com in the US and captain-foldback.com in Canada, have long reputations with organforum members. Certain old Hammond techs have opined that "turbine oil" or "singer sewing machine" oil are okay. Singer doesn't sell in my county except at Wall-Mart, and not the oil, so "oil for singers" is not something I would trust. A source of "turbine oil" is Mobil DTE machine oil available in gallons from mcmaster.com in the sus32 weight, which is about SAE10. The MSDS lists no metals or detergents.
Myself, I have been buying mineral oil laxative from the local grocery store. As this is controlled by the FDA for poisons, but not gum or sludge, I have been cooking a sample from the bottle in a metal measuring cup on low flame on the gas range for 12 hours. Some slight darkening I pass, but saw no gum or sludge or heavy oil remaining, in the sample I bought. The mineral oil I bought had tocopherol as a preservative, which is vitamin E oil. I don't see a problem. The Mobil DTE has some long name preservative.
Watch out for spindle oil, there are some machinists that reccommend it, and it is a very fine oil but contains metal as a preservative for machine tools, which are splashed by water coolant all day every day. Hammond rebuilders like Bobmann of U-tube report some organs have lots of dendrites (metal spikes) on the poles of the gears that sometimes touch the pickups and cause problems. Other organs of the same age have no such thing. It is my opinion that organs with dendrites might have been oiled with an automotive or other oil that has metal content.
Myself, I have been buying mineral oil laxative from the local grocery store. As this is controlled by the FDA for poisons, but not gum or sludge, I have been cooking a sample from the bottle in a metal measuring cup on low flame on the gas range for 12 hours. Some slight darkening I pass, but saw no gum or sludge or heavy oil remaining, in the sample I bought. The mineral oil I bought had tocopherol as a preservative, which is vitamin E oil. I don't see a problem. The Mobil DTE has some long name preservative.
Watch out for spindle oil, there are some machinists that reccommend it, and it is a very fine oil but contains metal as a preservative for machine tools, which are splashed by water coolant all day every day. Hammond rebuilders like Bobmann of U-tube report some organs have lots of dendrites (metal spikes) on the poles of the gears that sometimes touch the pickups and cause problems. Other organs of the same age have no such thing. It is my opinion that organs with dendrites might have been oiled with an automotive or other oil that has metal content.
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hammond oil
Go to a local sewing machine shop and purchase the high quality, non-gumming, etc.. oil, that is made in Sweden to maintain ($2k - $6k+ U.S. dollars) swedish sewing machines. It's not expensive, easily obtainable and you'll have an actual face to interact with. My hammond has been quite happy with this solution. Imagine the Swedish engineer suggesting to clients to use the manufacturers oil only as an alternative if the client ran out of or couldn't find "Hammond oil".
Go to a local sewing machine shop and purchase the high quality, non-gumming, etc.. oil, that is made in Sweden to maintain ($2k - $6k+ U.S. dollars) swedish sewing machines. It's not expensive, easily obtainable and you'll have an actual face to interact with. My hammond has been quite happy with this solution. Imagine the Swedish engineer suggesting to clients to use the manufacturers oil only as an alternative if the client ran out of or couldn't find "Hammond oil".
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