lightweight lubricating oil in China?

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lightweight lubricating oil in China?
« on: September 22, 2018, 11:16:36 PM »
If I were looking for a solvent, I'd go to Walmart and buy WD40. But if I'm looking for a ubiquitous brand of lubricant... what's available in China?

The issue is a ticking ceiling fan. It has always ticked, but has grown louder this summer. Looking over the contraption, I have discovered in the top of the central motor housing a pimple-sized hole that appears to have been manufactured as an intentional access port. I have gone ahead and assumed it's for lubricant. Now I need lubricant.

A lightweight oil suitable for household machines. Or more exactly, for such household machines as existed before everything got a digital readout. What's a good, ubiquitous brand?
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old34

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Re: lightweight lubricating oil in China?
« Reply #1 on: September 23, 2018, 02:30:00 PM »
If I were looking for a solvent, I'd go to Walmart and buy WD40.


WD  40 has their own Chinese website:[size=78%]http://www.wd40.com.cn/index.aspx[/size]
[/size]
[/size][size=78%]Too, they have a WeChat account. Ss the previous website.[/size]
[/size]
[/size][size=78%]Finally, you can buy it  and have [/size][/size]it delivered to your door by JD.com[size=78%]
Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit; wisdom is knowing not to put it in a fruit salad. - B. O'Driscoll.
TIC is knowing that, in China, your fruit salad WILL come with cherry tomatoes AND all slathered in mayo. - old34.

Re: lightweight lubricating oil in China?
« Reply #2 on: September 23, 2018, 08:22:10 PM »
In this case I'm hoping for something like 3-in-One oil or what me old mum would call "sewing machine oil". More long-term lubrication, less dissolving of rust etc.

Went shopping for some such product today. Kept being directed to places selling motor oil.  bibibibibi
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Escaped Lunatic

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Re: lightweight lubricating oil in China?
« Reply #3 on: September 24, 2018, 03:46:02 PM »
Find either a tailor's shop or a microfactory with industrial-grade sewing machines.  Those places use "sewing machine oil", so should know where to buy it.
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Re: lightweight lubricating oil in China?
« Reply #4 on: September 25, 2018, 11:49:50 AM »
Reading about finding this lubricant made me think of something else. afafafafaf If a visitor to China was looking for a lubricant for a different purpose, I wonder how that would go? afafafafaf :wtf:

Re: lightweight lubricating oil in China?
« Reply #5 on: September 25, 2018, 02:21:06 PM »
In proximity to a college? Large vending machines. Just like for chips and chocolate but for condoms and "sewing machine oil" instead  aoaoaoaoao

Interestingly, large supermarket chains have condoms as checkout line items and local supermarkets don't.
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Re: lightweight lubricating oil in China?
« Reply #6 on: September 25, 2018, 09:12:45 PM »
Reading about finding this lubricant made me think of something else. afafafafaf If a visitor to China was looking for a lubricant for a different purpose, I wonder how that would go? afafafafaf :wtf:

Check out aisle at WalMart, right next to the condoms.  afafafafaf

Unfortunately, name brand personal lubes are a bit expensive here, so I keep those on my USA shopping list.

Not sure about the local supermarkets - don't shop at those too often.  I do see condoms up front at a lot of convenience stores, but personal lubes are rare in those places.
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Re: lightweight lubricating oil in China?
« Reply #7 on: September 25, 2018, 09:14:25 PM »
Calach - one more place to check for impersonal sewing machine oil - some hardware stores are also locksmiths - locks for sale and keys copied.  They usually have both lightweight oil and powdered graphite.
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Re: lightweight lubricating oil in China?
« Reply #8 on: September 26, 2018, 03:41:09 AM »
I wonder if I'm not asking the sellers the wrong thing. If I ask for "lubricating oil" (润滑油), they don't laugh or anything, but on Taobao that phrase does produce a lot of Durex products... And "engine/motor/machine oil" (机油) gets a lot of car engine products... "Sewing machine oil" (缝纫机油) seems to produce the right kind of thing. I'll ask the hardware/locksmiths that next time...
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Re: lightweight lubricating oil in China?
« Reply #9 on: September 26, 2018, 12:00:22 PM »
Calach, perhaps you should take a photo of the fan, so they don't get it mixed up with a fan*y! uuuuuuuuuu

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Re: lightweight lubricating oil in China?
« Reply #10 on: September 26, 2018, 05:33:07 PM »
Calach, perhaps you should take a photo of the fan, so they don't get it mixed up with a fan*y! uuuuuuuuuu

LMAO!!!!
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Re: lightweight lubricating oil in China?
« Reply #11 on: September 26, 2018, 09:32:35 PM »
Long story short, I found a place selling actual sewing machine oil. Don't know how replicable the process may be.

There is, you see, a remarkably seedy street in this burg that serves as a lengthy shortcut from the bright lights of Walmart to what used to be the premiere computer market and various bus stops back to the school. I'd searched the supermarket for various goods and even found the corner where they kept the motor oil and fuel injector cleaners, but didn't find lubricants of the right kind. I'd wandered through the many, many hard and soft ware places in the tradesman's market behind Walmart. I'd found locksmiths, safety goods, and a range and variety of motor oils and axle greases, but in the end I was tired and I wanted to go home. Rather than catch a taxi, I thought I'd walk this last shortcut and catch a bus, (a) to be cheap, but (b) to have a last look at storefronts.

Now, walking this street and asking people for "lubricating oil" would be a tricky because being so close to the train and bus station, it has long been a shifty-eyed combination of repair shops, pawn shops, and knocking shops. I could end up with a very different product entirely and possibly some too personal services.

Anyway, this one shop, I stopped in front and stared for a while. It has staffed by a man. No beds, no sofas, and it was relatively brightly lit. And it had shelves and shelves of... product. You know, cans and sprays and bottles. I thought what the hell, I'd better try, so I stepped inside and lo and behold, the fellow brought out a cardboard box of about twenty of these hard plastic rectangles with long thin spouts. They're even embossed with a sewing machine...

I have upended about a quarter of a rectangle into the putative oil hole on top of the ceiling fan and left it running. By now it would usually be ticking so loud I'd hear it in the other room. But I don't.

Mission Accomplished.  bfbfbfbfbf
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Re: lightweight lubricating oil in China?
« Reply #12 on: September 26, 2018, 09:46:11 PM »
Aw crap, and I knew when I wrote mission accomplished I'd be George Bushing it... I went to listen just now, and the fan still ticks. Once it gets warm it ticks louder. I'll add some more oil and let it run. I'm either blowing this thing up or fixing it goddammit.
when ur a roamin', do as the settled do o_0

Re: lightweight lubricating oil in China?
« Reply #13 on: September 27, 2018, 12:48:03 AM »
Hmm, well...

the "oil port" on top of the fan is not labelled, so... I wonder if I haven't just coated the inside of the fan cowling with oil. Because, I did squeeze probably a small coin worth of oil in there, and when I started the fan it was quiet, until it wasn't and it started ticking again and I started wondering where the oil had gone... but nothing was dripping out so...

I decided I'd better look inside. I turned off the fan. Got up on the table. Started working on the bolts on top of the fan housing. As it happened, the first bolt I worked on, with the seemingly natural direction of turn, was tightened rather than loosened. I kept tightening it to see how loose it had originally been. After some turns I thought this is screwy. And then I had a choice: loosen this one bolt I'd just been tightening (and then the others, and then pop the bottom off the fan) or just similarly tighten the others and see what happened.

I tightened the bolts. I turned on the fan. It spins as expected. An hour later it's still not making any ticking noise. The fucker is fixed.


So... was the oil even needed? Where did the oil go?!  aoaoaoaoao
when ur a roamin', do as the settled do o_0

Re: lightweight lubricating oil in China?
« Reply #14 on: September 27, 2018, 12:20:15 PM »
Calach, as long as the oil didn't go down into your pants, uuuuuuuuuu, it looks like all is well. bfbfbfbfbf