Re: [Utah-astronomy] Worm Gear lumbication

I''m not defending lubriplate; never used it to lube drive gears. Long-term degredation is a loosely-defined term. Lubricants will pick up contaminants from the atmosphere with time, as well as lose volatile components, rendering them thicker. I can't answer for each telescope user, but it's not unreasonable to expect a gear train to be cleaned with solvent and re-greased at least once a year, especially one in an observatory with little or no evnvironmental control. A gear lube should certainly last a season at least, but expecting something to last several years with no loss of lubricity is probably unrealistic. It would pick up grit and contamination, necessitating a cleaning and replacement anyway.