Lubrication of an old motor

Mentioned in the "update on wire brushing" post, I have a 1/2 HP,

110v, Peerless motor that looks maybe 50 years old. It works fine. It has special ports for lubrication, with little doors that open upwards and where you just drip some lubricant. They are not grease gun fittings, they just open up and you can add oil.

My question is, what oil and how much.

i
Reply to
Ignoramus11967
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Go to the hardware and get a can of 3in1 electric motor oil. It will have a pic of an electric motor on the label. Put about 5 drops in each port for starts and repeat once a year.

Randal

Reply to
Randal O'Brian

Randal, thanks, I will buy just that.

i
Reply to
Ignoramus11967

I would use 20 weight non-detergent. 3-in-1 used to sell this in a blue can, called, drum roll "Motor Oil" ;-)

About 3-5 drops every 6 months or so depending on use.

Reply to
Leon Fisk

WD 40 and more than what fits into the oiler.

And don't forget: When you want to fart, call your doctor and ask how to do it.

Nick

Reply to
Nick Mueller

Nick is correct, for that specific motor, wd-40 is the best choice.

Reply to
Cydrome Leader

Are we serious here? WD-40 is a water-displacing rust protectant and cleaning solvent. It is the LAST thing you want to put into a motor bearing.

20-weight non-detergent, as others have said, is the right stuff.

Nick was being facetious.

-- Ed Huntress

Reply to
Ed Huntress

That would be the same as compressor oil, right?

i
Reply to
Ignoramus11967

I don't know. Look on the can of compressor oil and see.

Because you use so little of it in a lifetime, it's worth getting some

20-weight machine oil for your motors, and it will come in handy for other machinery lubricating jobs in a home shop. I'd tell you that the detergent business doesn't matter in the case of total-loss bearings, like motor bearings with oil caps but no cups or reservoir, but that would start an argument here and you might forget sometime and put it in an old machine with a reservoir, only to get crap into the wicks and choke off oil to *those* bearings. d8-)

So spring for some of the right stuff. It's worth a couple of bucks.

-- Ed Huntress

Reply to
Ed Huntress

WD 40 and more than what fits into the oiler.

And don't forget: When you want to fart, call your doctor and ask how to do it.

Nick

Reply to
Robert Swinney

Jeeeze, Nick. Give Iggy a break. He is so insecure that he needs to see his name in print on RCM 4 or 5 times a day.

Bob Swinney

WD 40 and more than what fits into the oiler.

And don't forget: When you want to fart, call your doctor and ask how to do it.

Nick

Reply to
Robert Swinney

OK, I just bought one for motors specifically (3-in-1). Thanks.

i;

Reply to
Ignoramus11967

Ed sez: "Nick was being facetious." Naw, Ed; you misspelled it ! Nick is "fallacious" where Iggy is concerned.

Bob Swinney

Are we serious here? WD-40 is a water-displacing rust protectant and cleaning solvent. It is the LAST thing you want to put into a motor bearing.

20-weight non-detergent, as others have said, is the right stuff.

-- Ed Huntress

Reply to
Robert Swinney

If it's really 50 years old, I'd consider cleaning the old oil and gunk out with kerosene first. WD-40 would work for that. But you do need real motor oil.

Joe Gwinn

Reply to
Joseph Gwinn

completely serious. wd-40 is what he should use in all his motors. You don't want water in in the bearing areas, now do you?

Reply to
Cydrome Leader

I'm going to assume you're pulling our legs. However, the fact is that while some of the ingredients of WD40 are secret, the ones that are known are Stoddard solvent and mineral oil: paint thinner and baby oil, in other words. Mineral oil has almost no lubricating properties that you'd consider for use in a machine. All in all, it's a good product to kill a machine for which you're looking for an excuse to trash.

-- Ed Huntress

Reply to
Ed Huntress

Baby oil? That's exactly what Iggiot needs.

Nick

Reply to
Nick Mueller

If I wanted to ruin a motor, I would take a 3450 RPM 3 phase motor and run it at 400 Hz from a VFD. Would be more fun that putting WD40 in bearings.

i
Reply to
Ignoramus11967

It might be harder to cover up when you took it back to the store. d8-)

Lamp oil is good. That will kill a bearing pretty quick, like the time a high school friend of mine decided to clean out the crap in the sump of a Chevy V8 that he bought by running kerosene in the crankcase for a couple of days. It made quite a smell when it fried.

-- Ed Huntress

Reply to
Ed Huntress

NOT. WD40 is NOT a lubricant. The instructions on several old motors I've had kicking around specify #20 and #30 oil. The 3in1 "motor" oil in the blue container is for motors over 1/4 HP. and is SAE #20. They also make an oil for small electric motors. Do NOT use this on larger motors.

Reply to
clare at snyder.on.ca

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