Posted by Sherman in Idaho [72.47.153.105] on Sunday, December 29, 2013 at 11:09:15 :
In Reply to: What kinda oil? posted by Sterling [99.98.76.231] on Sunday, December 29, 2013 at 09:24:32 :
Usually old manuals referring to oilite bearings say "light machine oil", "electric motor oil", "10W non-detergent oil", "sewing machine oil", or something along those lines. Any oil is a lot better than no oil. I usually use "3-in-1 Oil" or "Hoppe's Lubricating Oil", because that's what I have. Sometimes when the bearings are dry to the point where the motor is stuck, I can free them up using penetrating oil (Kroil, etc) and then once they're free, add light lubricating oil. Once they've seized, they are often loose and noisy, but it's worth a try.
I've also used the lightest crankcase oil (5W-20) that I have on hand, although I'm sure it's not the best. Air tool oil or way oil would probably be okay too. It's not a very demanding application for the oil. The key thing is that there BE oil.
I have a building with about 70 blower motors in the fan-coil units that have stickers on them that say "oil every 6 months". They were installed 40 years ago and you can guess how often anyone ever oiled them since. Many seized up and burned out. It's very hard to find replacements, so I've tried everything, with some success, to free up the ones that are stuck but not burned out. Now I keep them oiled.
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