SAE 140 gear oil

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Batmanacw

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Is there a modern equivalent I can use in it's place? SAE 140 gear oil?
 
140 is available. You can use 75W or 85W - 140 just the same. The W number is the cold flow number, the rating when freezing. The regular weight, when warm, is 140.
 
Batmanacw said:
Is there a modern equivalent I can use in it's place? SAE 140 gear oil?
Click to expand...

You can still get that if you wanted to be right, and were it mine, I "probably" would, because I'm like that, but oil has come a LONG way over time. SAE rated (real rated, not "close enough but it's cheap" rated) gear oils specs (save for a BRIEF time when GL5 happened, but that's long since over) are backwards compatible as of yet (that may change soon) but when you say "modern equivalent", i suspect the machine is old. What most people think is important became obsolete eons ago...

How old is the machine? (which decade would be close enough) What is the application on the machine for it?. Plain bearings, roller bearings, flooded gearbox?
 
Jake M said:
You can still get that if you wanted to be right, and were it mine, I "probably" would, because I'm like that, but oil has come a LONG way over time. SAE rated (real rated, not "close enough but it's cheap" rated) gear oils specs (save for a BRIEF time when GL5 happened, but that's long since over) are backwards compatible as of yet (that may change soon) but when you say "modern equivalent", i suspect the machine is old. What most people think is important became obsolete eons ago...

How old is the machine? (which decade would be close enough) What is the application on the machine for it?. Plain bearings, roller bearings, flooded gearbox?
Click to expand...
Flooded gear box on a 1936-1937 lathe
 
Batmanacw said:
Flooded gear box on a 1936-1937 lathe
Click to expand...

You could put any gear oil you want in there that says "gear oil, so long as it's NOT suited for a limited slip differential. You might even do very well with automatic transmission fluid that was in the now dated Mercon/Dex2/Dex3 range, but that depends on the pumping/distribution system, which gets kinda sciency. That stuf at 10W (crankcase, not gearcase) keeps gears apart at 500 plus horsepowers and 1800 pounds...... It's crazy. You don't "need" the "thick" anymore.

If you wanted to be "right", the 140 is "probably" not "at" your favorite auto parts store, but I'd bet they could have it next day. And if there's any confusion in the ratings, GL1 is obsolete and probably off spec if it claims that, 2 is probably fine but most likely (no guarantee, most likely) has some "very short life" components that would need once a year changing if you never turned on the lathe, and three through five are very recommendable. And I fully assume that there's at least some yellow metal bits in there. The yellow metal issue is almost dead, (gambling is safeish, but not guaranteed) but if you're unsure, go to the website for a particilar oil you like, find the PDS (Product Data Sheet). This is an easy one. Either this sheet is on the website for the oil brand, or the oil brand is produced to be heavily discounted, and isn't necessarily the same from one batch to the next... Look for the copper strip test. 1A and 1B are what you want. Unlike most of this chemical soup that is modern lubricants, it's an easy one-liner. A does nothing to yellow bits and that's ideal. B might stain your yellow bits but it stops there, no corrosion, so no reall loss since you can't see 'em. But if it had gear oil from the 70s or 60s in it, don't worry, it's already stained, and it won't get worse. So 1A or 1B, same/same. Contrary to the internet's wistom, MT1 has NOTHING to do with yellow metals. I don't care how much "research" anybody did or how many people jumped on the bandwagon, the SAE papers that define the spec, are kinda what defines the spec, and it's clearly not that......

So, Recommendaton 1= Get the 140 just for the warm fuzzy feeling.
Recommendation 2- Get 85-90. It'll do everything the original did and ten times more.
 
Jake M said:
You could put any gear oil you want in there that says "gear oil, so long as it's NOT suited for a limited slip differential. You might even do very well with automatic transmission fluid that was in the now dated Mercon/Dex2/Dex3 range, but that depends on the pumping/distribution system, which gets kinda sciency. That stuf at 10W (crankcase, not gearcase) keeps gears apart at 500 plus horsepowers and 1800 pounds...... It's crazy. You don't "need" the "thick" anymore.

If you wanted to be "right", the 140 is "probably" not "at" your favorite auto parts store, but I'd bet they could have it next day. And if there's any confusion in the ratings, GL1 is obsolete and probably off spec if it claims that, 2 is probably fine but most likely (no guarantee, most likely) has some "very short life" components that would need once a year changing if you never turned on the lathe, and three through five are very recommendable. And I fully assume that there's at least some yellow metal bits in there. The yellow metal issue is almost dead, (gambling is safeish, but not guaranteed) but if you're unsure, go to the website for a particilar oil you like, find the PDS (Product Data Sheet). This is an easy one. Either this sheet is on the website for the oil brand, or the oil brand is produced to be heavily discounted, and isn't necessarily the same from one batch to the next... Look for the copper strip test. 1A and 1B are what you want. Unlike most of this chemical soup that is modern lubricants, it's an easy one-liner. A does nothing to yellow bits and that's ideal. B might stain your yellow bits but it stops there, no corrosion, so no reall loss since you can't see 'em. But if it had gear oil from the 70s or 60s in it, don't worry, it's already stained, and it won't get worse. So 1A or 1B, same/same. Contrary to the internet's wistom, MT1 has NOTHING to do with yellow metals. I don't care how much "research" anybody did or how many people jumped on the bandwagon, the SAE papers that define the spec, are kinda what defines the spec, and it's clearly not that......

So, Recommendaton 1= Get the 140 just for the warm fuzzy feeling.
Recommendation 2- Get 85-90. It'll do everything the original did and ten times more.
Click to expand...
Thank you.
 
Jake M said:
There's some smart people over there. Most of them are just parroting what they've heard. You can go there with any question you have, at any time of the day or night, and pick your favorite answer to it.

I would not consider that a resource.
Click to expand...

I love Bobistheoilguy. Those guys are no BS. Most of the prevailing thoughts come out of oil analysis reports, and/or industry insiders. Mind you, most of those guys are car/motorcycle guys, not machine tool people. The specific reference to some oils not getting along with yellow metal is very much pertinent, and the bob guys may not be up on those nuances.
 
Most EP additives these day require heat to be activated, but still something to consider if there are any yellow metals present. a GL-1 gear oil does not contain EP additives . Oils for cars, transmission and differentials have different properties then machines/drives. Newer oils do have additive packs to enhance the properties and life of the oil. There are charts for equivalent viscosity so and ISO 680 is equal to an a gear oil of 140. I am not sure on the use of multi-viscosity oils which operate over a much wider temperature range.
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