Tubing for drive shafts?

[djconway]

A friend has asked me to work on an old Life Like E unit that makes noise but will not move forward.
So I take the beast apart and lo and behold it has plastic tubing for drive shafts.  It looks like oil has gotten under tubing and the shafts just sit there and spin.
Does anyone have a favorite material that they go to for replacement?
I'm thinking a high rubber tubing that I can stretch over the shafts, model airplane fuel tubing?
Bull Frog snot didn't seem to grip, after cleaning the shafts with ethanol.

[nickelplate759]

I've used model airplane fuel tubing for flex-shafting with good results.  It will eventually fail, but not for a long time.
It works best when the shafts are closely aligned.

[wvgca]

i used to use model airplane fuel line ,,, the clear was okay, but the yellowish tinged line was quite a bit better .. in addition to being a little stiffer, it lasted quite a bit longer than the clear line ...
it's pretty low cost, so that you can get a variety of sizes and wall thicknesses to suit your needs ..

[djconway]

Thanks for the confirmation of my initial idea.
Looks like a road trip is in order.

[MK]

Just some additional info.  The "clear" tubing is silicone tubing, meant for nitro fuel.  The yellow tubing is Tygon tubing used for gasoline.  If your RC LHS doesn't have the yellow ones, try a place that sells gas powered lawn equipment.

The silicone tubing is best sourced at a RC LHS.

[wm3798]

To avoid a trip to the shops, I've deployed a short bit of wire insulation gleaned from some... don't quote me on this... 18 gauge flexible wire.  It works better when the alignment is in close proximity, and snugs onto the metal shaft pretty readily.  You could also try replacing the rubber hose with the u-joints and springs from a LL GP38-2 or F40.  I'm not sure how that would work with the flywheel though... I'll have to look under the hood to see how the connections work.
Lee

[peteski]

Just some additional info.  The "clear" tubing is silicone tubing, meant for nitro fuel.  The yellow tubing is Tygon tubing used for gasoline.  If your RC LHS doesn't have the yellow ones, try a place that sells gas powered lawn equipment.

The silicone tubing is best sourced at a RC LHS.

The tubing has to be small enough to tightly fit onto a typical N scale motor shaft (usually 1.5mm, but could also be 1.2mm or 1mm).

[djconway]

... You could also try replacing the rubber hose with the u-joints and springs from a LL GP38-2 or F40.  I'm not sure how that would work with the flywheel though... I'll have to look under the hood to see how the connections work.
Lee

Well digging into the odd parts (junk) box is a lot closer than the nearest RC hobby shop, actually may be cheaper than a trip to a shop, unless there is something that could be salvaged.

[mrp]

I have used the stuff from   https://www.tramfabriek.nl/    with good results.

Michael Pennie

[MK]

To avoid a trip to the shops, I've deployed a short bit of wire insulation gleaned from some... don't quote me on this... 18 gauge flexible wire.  It works better when the alignment is in close proximity, and snugs onto the metal shaft pretty readily.  You could also try replacing the rubber hose with the u-joints and springs from a LL GP38-2 or F40.  I'm not sure how that would work with the flywheel though... I'll have to look under the hood to see how the connections work.
Lee

Yes!  If you have some silicone wire or what we call in the RC world "wet noodle" or "wet spaghetti", strip it and use the silicone insulation.  I've seen them down to 22 gauge.

[peteski]

Yes!  If you have some silicone wire or what we call in the RC world "wet noodle" or "wet spaghetti", strip it and use the silicone insulation.  I've seen them down to 22 gauge.

Hmm, I didn't think of that.  I bought (on eBay) bunch of flexible silicone insulated wire, 20 down to 30 AWG.  I could send Lee short pieces of various gauges for the insulation.  But the  insulation is rather thin and not very strong. It will likely twist easily.  Fuel tubing (of appropriate diameter can be found) is sturdier.

[MK]

Unfortunately the thickness of the insulation depends on the manufacturer and the luck of the draw.  I have same gauge silicone wires that have widely different thickness insulation.

[woodone]

The tubing may be a bit to large on the I.D.    I use some small heat shrink that I shrink on to the shaft to increase the diameter.
Might take more that one piece, I just slip on another piece and shrink. Has worked many times for me.

[wvgca]

a bit larger on the id would actually be a bit of a benefit, as a larger diameter [same on other respects], would be a little stiffer  ...  wire insulation [even the silicone kind] , would possibly be of less benefit due to the reduced wall thickness ..

[peteski]

a bit larger on the id would actually be a bit of a benefit, as a larger diameter [same on other respects], would be a little stiffer  ...  wire insulation [even the silicone kind] , would possibly be of less benefit due to the reduced wall thickness ..

Larger ID beneficial?
Won't that make it loose on the metal shafts?  Or do you mean get come tubing with larger ID than the shafts, then somehow increase the shaft's diameter?