Beginning the de-gunking of the IBM 1130 console typewriter

REMOVING SOLIDIFIED OR THICK LUBRICANTS FROM THE 1053

Both oils and greases that IBM used with their equipment in the 1960s and 1970s age poorly. I suspect that lighter factions of petroleum are slowly evaporating, leaving only the thickest portions. Also, atmospheric dust gets trapped in the grease or oil over time which creates a kind of paste that increases the friction. 

Regardless of the precise set of processes that produce the effect, it eventually adds so much resistance that moving parts don't turn as they should. Springs pull levers back into position but when the oil stiffens so much, it either moves at a snails pace or won't fully return. Shafts with many parts that move on them, such as the main operational shaft of the typewriter, fail to turn at all due to the cumulative drag. 

In the old days, IBM technicians would submerge the entire mechanism in a bath of triclorethylene which dissolved all the greases and oils. The machine would be relubricated with new oils and grease after this cleaning. Alas, we now know that TCE is carcinogenic and it is no longer on hand for cleaning.

Most selectric mechanisms can be dunked in other cleaners such as acetone or lacquer thinner to remove the old lubricants, but only after the motor is removed. This is because those solvents also dissolve the enamel insulation on the windings of the motor. This would short out the coil and thus ruin the motor.

The special selectrics used with computers and terminals, such as the 1053, are the Input-Output or I-O Selectrics. They have various solenoid coils plus microswitches that allow a remote electrical circuit to fire off functions and character printing, with the switches reporting back on the progress of the cycles being triggered. All of the solenoids are constructed with enamel coated wire, thus would dissolve in a bath.

While it is theoretically possible to remove all the solenoids and the motor, then dunk the remainder in a solvent, the workload adjusting everything after reassembly makes this undesirable. The method I prefer is to selectively spray sections with a solvent, making sure that the solvent doesn't touch any coils or the motor either directly or as it drips from the point I am cleaning. 

This makes for a much slower cleaning process, but one that will allow me to clean this relatively rapidly. I can use my Nye clock oil to get into small spots where the solvent doesn't fully clean, wiggling parts to work the oil inside. The final step will be application of suitable new formulation oils and grease that should last longer than the originals. 

I picked up some lacquer thinner and large woodworking syringes. Placing the 1053 in a large container at the proper angle, I can squirt the solvent into all the spots as I rotate and twist the 1053. I began this process today, something I do outdoors due to the vapors thus requiring the right conditions such as light wind and of course no rain.