Cleaning the bergeon 1a auto oiler tip.

[Birbdad]

So first off, i hate this thing, it's been nothing but problems. But i have a new needle coming and i'm gonna really try to find tune it and get it in a usable state. One of the early problems i had with it was the needle would stop protruding on it's own, oil had gummed up in the tube the needle sticks out of within the first week i had the damn thing. If i'm gonna get this thing working i gotta flush and clean that out and i'm wondering what's safe to use on it?

I found only a single post about it on the internet claiming bergeon says to use benzine but by benzine that's the word that region uses for naptha which would indeed dissolve any gummed up oil in there. What seems counter intuitive is that it would be safe for the plastic reservoir as naphtha eats most but not all plastics for breakfast. The guy who claimed this specifically said do not use any alcohols

Anybody ever cleaned this thing? What's the solvent to use? I got stuff to flush it, just need to know what's safe to flush it with.

[thor447]

I tried once and had little success.  I ended up replacing the reservoir.

[Birbdad]

23 hours ago, thor447 said:

I tried once and had little success.  I ended up replacing the reservoir.

that's absurd. What was the limited success? Did the plastic degrade? or did flushing it out jut not work?

[thor447]

56 minutes ago, Birbdad said:

that's absurd. What was the limited success? Did the plastic degrade? or did flushing it out jut not work?

Flushing it out didn't work.

[Birbdad]

21 hours ago, thor447 said:

Flushing it out didn't work.

So i wrote bergeon to just straight up ask them and i got no response. Lovely company. Price gouge you then offer zero support.

[tomh207]

7 hours ago, Birbdad said:

So i wrote bergeon to just straight up ask them and i got no response. Lovely company. Price gouge you then offer zero support.

You probably didn’t get the deluxe version with lifetime support Col, a bargain at only 300% extra

 

Tom

[HectorLooi]

I'm really confused by this discussion.

What kind of oil did you put inside the oiler in the first place?9010 does not gum up.

Did you use your oiler on an uncleaned jewel and got dirt into the tip?

Is the needle tip bent?

Naptha does not destroy plastic. Ronsonol now comes in plastic bottles. Just rinse out the reservoir with naptha and soak it for a few minutes. 

[Birbdad]

On 8/7/2024 at 5:58 PM, HectorLooi said:

I'm really confused by this discussion.

What kind of oil did you put inside the oiler in the first place?9010 does not gum up.

Did you use your oiler on an uncleaned jewel and got dirt into the tip?

Is the needle tip bent?

Naptha does not destroy plastic. Ronsonol now comes in plastic bottles. Just rinse out the reservoir with naptha and soak it for a few minutes. 

Never touched an unclean jewel with it and all i use is is 9010
Keep in mind i'm ASSUMING it's gummed up. Honestly this things been a mess from the start. It just pisses oil, no matter what i do to the needle depth and the oil metering screw it puts out way more oil than it should. I can still use it but i have to just do a dab and immediately pull away or i'll flood the jewel. The issue with it not retracting probably started only about a week after i got it, and no the needle wasn't bent when it started (The needles broken now but that's because it fell off a shelf. A new one arrives tomorrow.)
 

And naphtha! Brilliant. THank you so much! Just to clarify, have you tried this?

Edited August 12 by Birbdad

[rjenkinsgb]

My 1A (used, from ebay) has quite a strong spring which holds the needle in the extended position, and I assume the inner part of the needle assembly seals the tube while it is in the normal position. I've not dismantled it other than to clean and fill the reservoir when it arrived.

Does yours have the spring? I can imagine problems if that was missing.

[HectorLooi]

I use naptha (Ronsonol or Zippo) for cleaning plastics all the time. From removing label adhesives to even cleaning watch crystals and dials. Nothing has ever cracked, crazed, frosted up, dissolved, etc. 

Some brands of naptha or even the country of origin of the same brand can smell differently and have different properties.

For instance, the one I'm using now is from Korea. It really smells like petrol. I have another one from Malaysia and that smells like kerosene and has a very slow evaporation rate. 

Like @rjenkinsgb says, my 1A oiler has a very strong spring and has never gummed up. I've never needed to clean it out.