Lubrication of dial speed regulator 5H dial

[OldPete]

Hello,

I'm a long time lurker but this is my first post.

The inside of the regulator drum, the surface that the flyweights run against, seems to have a fairly heavy, black,
material on it. This material looks like graphite. Some of this material is worn off. The dial seems to run at the
correct speed. I would like to know what the correct lubrication material is for this surface. Oil seems wrong as
I think it would loose it's properties after years. None of the regulators I've seen, which isn't many, seem to have
been oiled there and go decades without service. This leaves me thinking that graphite would be appropriate.

Does anyone have any experience with this that they'd be willing to share?

Thanks,
Pete

[Phonesrfun]

The governor is not to be lubricated.  It is intended to use friction and the centrifugal force of the two-piece expandable flywheel inside the drum to regulate the speed.  The two flywheel segments have little black friction "tips" that achieve the friction.  I don't know what they are made of, but I do know they are black.  Perhaps over the years they have rubbed and rubbed and caused the black dust.

If the dial is running at a correct speed, then I would just leave it as is.  A dial is intended to run at 10 pulses per second.  It should, therefore take one full second for the dial to return to its stopping point when dialing a zero.  Believe it or not, a second is kind of hard to measure while looking at a dial.  Many have been able to check the dial speed using a sound card on their computer and an oscilloscope program.  Another way to check the speed is to put the phone next to one with a known calibrated dial and dial a zero on both and let go at the same time and just compare them.  Yet a third way is simply if it dials OK, then follow the old instructions that "if it ain't broke, don't fix it.