Older motors - oiling

[tcweb]

I have an old companion drill press that has this Legrand motor.
On the pulley side, it has a gits oiler. On the other side, it has a different kind of oil opening.
There is also a metal cap that presses on to cover the shaft. It seems to have some grease in there.

I had to take the back cover off the motor to tape up a piece of crumbling insulation, but the motor seems to run well, very quiet.

I want to know how one would typically oil a motor that is in the upright position, as on a drill press. Or is this motor just NOT supposed to be used in that orientation?

Should I put in some wheel bearing grease in that press-on grease cap? (best way to describe it). Should I just use a light oil (lathe spindle oil maybe)? in the GITS and other oiler?

Sorry, but even my old south bend lathe has a newer motor with sealed bearings. This is new to me.

-Tom

 

[Jim F]

Is there felts behind the oilers?
My h bandsaw motor has felts but just a hole for oiling. Label recommends once a month for continuous use.

 

[tcweb]

Honestly, I can't tell. I think the "screw" type oil cover just goes into a small chamber. I didn't see felts when I had the cover off, but honestly I wasn't looking very hard.

 

[Jim F]

I would look at making stand offs to get the gits vertical and putting a gits on the top,also.

 

[Dave Smith]

they do make L shaped gits oilers, which would work for your motor position. or you could just use a bent copper tube in L shape--
a drop of 30weight oil should last several months. don't over oil upper one
Dave

 

[tcweb]

OK, so it shouldn't hurt anything to run an older motor like this in the vertical orientation? I was worred about oil dripping down into the motor coils, etc. what oils are best? I have a south bend, so I have various oils on hand...

-Tom

 

[Jim F]

SB recommended "C" oil for the motor bearings on 9&10K's.

 

[tcweb]

I would have guessed "A", but I guess motor spindles/bearings don't need to have a tight of a tolerance.

 

[Dave Smith]

your old motor is a leland motor (legrand are switches)--it was designed for horizontal mounting but vertical will work ---just a drop of 30 weight oil will do. if it feels warm after heavy usage then add another drop--otherwise they seem to last forever(it may be older than you--or me)
Dave

 

[tcweb]

Ha, good catch on the name, I missed that. So the trick is to not fill up the oilers like I would if it were horizontally mounted.
-Tom