# PM1340GT Head Stock Oil Drain Plug



## bretthl (Oct 26, 2017)

I am attempting to remove the headstock drain plug for the PM recommended 10 running hour oil change.  This plug will not budge.  I am using a high quality 8mm T-handle allen wrench and have put about 40 ft-lbs of torque on the drain plug but hesitate to go further for fear of stripping out the key socket in plug.  Any ideas on what I can try?  Impact gun?  Has anyone experienced this problem?


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## aliva (Oct 26, 2017)

Don't use an impact you'll probably strip it. Try some heat from a heat gun. Once it's hot put the 90 degree Allen wrench in the socket and give it good hard rap with a hammer this should loosen it.


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## bretthl (Oct 26, 2017)

I got it, finally.  Used my pneumatic impact driver at 40 psi, no damage.  I tried the heat gun but I think the oil was soaking up much of the heat.

The oil from the headstock was black and there was considerable metal fines.  I hope that's normal for breakin.  Apron oil was pristine.


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## rherrell (Nov 17, 2017)

bretthl said:


> I got it, finally.  Used my pneumatic impact driver at 40 psi, no damage.  I tried the heat gun but I think the oil was soaking up much of the heat.
> 
> The oil from the headstock was black and there was considerable metal fines.  I hope that's normal for breakin.  Apron oil was pristine.



My oil was NOT discolored and there were NO metal fines in my first oil change, you might want to open it up and have a look.


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## Tozguy (Nov 17, 2017)

My lathe is not a PM but I don't think that the oil question just relates to PM lathes. Your observations of difficult to remove plug and dirty oil would lead me to removing the top cover and having a look down into the headstock. If there are problems there, now is the time to find out. If no problems there, you have at least gained some peace of mind. 

In my case, the oil was clear but I had a look into the headstock just out of curiosity. There was a layer of fines and gunk in the bottom that was cleaned out so I could sleep at night. My ,02 is that for 'hobby' level lathes it is a very good idea to check as much as you can as early as you can because we don't know what corners have been cut at the manufacturer in an effort to keep the price down.


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## bretthl (Nov 17, 2017)

I removed the headstock cover when I changed the oil and check all the teeth and they looked okay.  There were plenty of metal fines in the oil retained in the lip that is adjacent to the surface where the headstock seals.  I did not go after the last bit of oil in the bottom of the head.  I hope I can chalk in up to break in.  After adjusting the end gear backlash the lathe runs very quite.


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## mksj (Nov 17, 2017)

On my PM 1340GT, I had some slight evidence of fine metal filings with the first oil drainage which was after about 6 months of use. The oil was only slightly cloudy which suggests some particles in suspension. I run my machines a bit to warm up the oil before draining it. When I changed my gearhead oil on my last mill for the first time, it was full of metal particles and nasty looking. The stock gear oil put in these machines is often pretty poor quality. Based on my headstock oil site gauge my new oil is still very clear after a year of use. With my next oil change I plan to drill the center of the plug and epoxy in a cylindrical neodymium magnet, this will hold onto a magnetic filings. I often recycle the gear oil and using it for cutting oil or for quenching when  heat treating.


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## AirWolf (Nov 18, 2017)

I changed the headstock oil after 10 hours of initial break-in and use. Oil was very clean and had minimal metal flakes in the corners which is usual. Just to help keep future metal particles confined, I installed a few small rare earth magnets in the corners and the "dimple" areas under the top plate. An old machinist taught me this and he had some very old machines still running strong. He said when the "rare earth super magnets" came out in the 70's he replaced every magnet in every machine he had.


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## [X]Outlaw (Nov 19, 2017)

I opted to replace the stock oil before running the machine. 

I opened the headstock and pumped it out with a 12v "marine scavenging" pump. There was a fair amount of metal particles left at the bottom, their size ranging from fine grit to a few chips left from drilling. The stock oil was cloudy.

I cleaned up inside the headstock thoroughly and filled with new oil. Using the pump instead of the drain plug made changing the oil a mess free breeze.


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