# Time to upgrade [FIX] my One-Shot oilier



## Boswell (Jan 14, 2018)

Well the onshot oil pump that came with the PM45M-CNC quit pumping oil this week. I was never really happy with it other than it seemed to work nothing seems to have failed due to poor lubrication. My two biggest concerns were that you had to manually turn it on and off. If you turned it on and then forgot to turn it off 30 seconds later then it would just merrily pump all the oil in the reservoir onto the ground. I have tested this process several times . Another issue is that the Z-Axis ways are not included in the system. Instead I have two cups that I fill up before each job.  It has a very simple manifold and no check valves so I have not idea how much oil is getting to the z-axis ball nuts (if they are ball nuts, I am not sure).






So, my project is to replace and upgrade.   The current pump is 220VAC and I can find several on ebay at affordable prices that have a configurable duty cycle to avoid the "Oil-on-the-Floor" syndrome.  Anyone with a recommendation or advice on how to pick the best pump?
Next I want to add a manifold with needle valves and Ball Check Valves so at least the oil going to the Z-Axis will not drain down between cycles.  All this seems straightforward but would love to see some pictures of what other people have done. Another area for improvement is that there is only one oil line going to the X&Y axis and Ball-Nuts. There must be a splitter or manifold up under the table.  How hard is it to remove the table and potentially bring all the lines out separately?  Last question (for now)  Is there any reason I can't route a couple of oil lines to replace the two oil cups on the Z-Axis ways?

Thanks in advance for any ideas or guidance on this.


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## TomS (Jan 14, 2018)

Here's a few pictures of my PM-932 one shot lube system.  Hope this is helpful information.

Z axis fittings and supply lines.



I didn't want to wait on delivery on Bijur restrictors for the ballnuts so I made my own.  They slip into the hose and the ballnut lube connection.  A bench test confirmed that enough oil was getting to the ballnuts.  Can't remember the orifice size.



I made a distribution manifold to feed all of the lube points.  Down the road I changed out the push-to-connect fittings for compression fittings.  No more leaks and hoses blowing off.



Originally I had one circuit feeding all of the lube points.  That didn't work so well with the Z axis being higher.  Almost all of the oil was going to the table and saddle.  So I broke the system into two circuits.  One circuit feeds the Z axis dovetails and ballnut (the three lines in the upper right).  The other circuit feeds the table and saddle lube points.  Instead of buying check valves I used a couple of 1/8" NPT ball valves I had on hand to keep the oil from flowing back.  The process is open one of the valves and pump the handle, close the valve, open the other valve and pump the handle again.



Here's how I plumbed the table and saddle.


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## Boswell (Jan 14, 2018)

Tom, thanks for the awesome pictures and nice looking solution. Tell me about the Resistors. Is this needed because you don't have other flow control like  needle valves or do they serve another purpose?


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## Silverbullet (Jan 14, 2018)

I think the bijur company have kits for mills made to push the oil and amounts to the different spots. They use limiters and valves and blocks.


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## Boswell (Jan 14, 2018)

Silverbullet said:


> I think the bijur company have kits for mills


 
Thanks, I'll take a look


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## TomS (Jan 14, 2018)

Boswell said:


> Tom, thanks for the awesome pictures and nice looking solution. Tell me about the Resistors. Is this needed because you don't have other flow control like  needle valves or do they serve another purpose?



Ballnuts have much less flow restriction than dovetail ways so I was pumping a lot of oil thru the ballnuts onto the floor before the dovetails were adequately lubed.  I could have used needle valves or bought restrictors from Bijur but I decided to make my own.  The OD is sized to slip into 1/4" OD Tygon tubing.  Did I answer your question?


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## TomS (Jan 14, 2018)

Silverbullet said:


> I think the bijur company have kits for mills made to push the oil and amounts to the different spots. They use limiters and valves and blocks.



You are correct.  They describe kits for knee mills, vertical machining centers, CNC lathes and a few other machine tools.  I would think that a kit for a Asian milling machine converted to CNC would be would be a custom application.


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## Boswell (Jan 14, 2018)

TomS said:


> Did I answer your question?



Yes, Tom  thanks.


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## cs900 (Jan 18, 2018)

Tom,
that looks nicely done!
I'm also redoing my oiler and will be switching to compression fittings. Nothing but problems with the push to connect fittings.

I'll be keeping an eye on this thread. I'm curious to see what you come up with.


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## Boswell (Jan 19, 2018)

I ordered a Chinese pump with a programmable duty cycle so hopefully that will be the minimum fix to replace the current non-functional pump. I have also been looking at needle valves and restrictions but have not decided yet on the plumbing.  Well, other than I don't think I will use the push-on connectors based on the feedback above.   

I have also looked over You-Tube and forum searches for a how-to on removing the table so I can run separate oil lines but not found anything from start to finish. It seems like it should be simple but I don't want to pull something apart that I can't get back together


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## Silverbullet (Jan 19, 2018)

I think HW machine rebuilders of Bridgeport mills has a set of videos that show conversions to pump oilers over the grease fitting type and ball oiler holes.
Kit 1099 Zerk to bijure oiler, title


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## cs900 (Jan 19, 2018)

Boswell said:


> I have also looked over You-Tube and forum searches for a how-to on removing the table so I can run separate oil lines but not found anything from start to finish. It seems like it should be simple but I don't want to pull something apart that I can't get back together



if your machine is anything like my PM45 it's pretty easy. Loosen the gib, and remove the 2 bolts that hold the bearing block to the table and it will slide right out. Be careful it's a heavy one!


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## Boswell (Jan 19, 2018)

cs900 said:


> if your machine is anything like my PM45



OK thanks. that sounds simple and it IS a PM45.  I would use a hoist to support/list the table.


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## Boswell (Jan 27, 2018)

I installed the replacement lubrication pump. I am still waiting on the manifold and flow control valves (Dester block?) so right now I just connected the original delivery tubes to the new pump so I am at least back to where I started. The new pump clearly has an greatly increased volume over the old pump. Before I would run the pump for about 20-30 seconds before I saw oil overflowing the ways and running down the side, Now it is only a few seconds. Installing the flow control valves when they arrive will help this. Before I manually turned the pump on and off. The one I replaced it with has a programmable duty cycle. Right now I have it set to run 3 seconds every 15 minutes. I will tune this in when I next get a chance to actually use the machine. Here are couple of pictures.


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## Paul Jr (Jan 16, 2019)

TomS said:


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How did you manage to drill and tap in that space? I want to do the same with my Enco Mill but I won't have room to thread them in let alone drill the hole properly.


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## TomS (Jan 16, 2019)

Paul Jr said:


> How did you manage to drill and tap in that space? I want to do the same with my Enco Mill but I won't have room to thread them in let alone drill the hole properly.



Drilling was easy.  I drilled from the outside thru to the inner cavity, then tapped the exterior of the hole for a pipe plug.  The interior holes were a bit of a challenge.  I had to mill pockets to gain some radial clearance for the hex on the fittings.  Tapping was done by hand using a wrench to turn the tap.  Patience was key.


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## Paul Jr (Jan 16, 2019)

This is what I'm working with. There isn't a lot of meat where the flat is, I would hate to drill such a large hole all the way through from the front. The 2nd set of fittings I ordered are smaller though, so it may not be as bad. Thanks for getting back to me, hopefully my drill press can make a straight enough hole.


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## TomS (Jan 17, 2019)

Paul Jr said:


> This is what I'm working with. There isn't a lot of meat where the flat is, I would hate to drill such a large hole all the way through from the front. The 2nd set of fittings I ordered are smaller though, so it may not be as bad. Thanks for getting back to me, hopefully my drill press can make a straight enough hole.



You could drill and tap from the outside instead of the inside.  It's not as neat and clean as running your feed lines inside but it will work.


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## Paul Jr (Jan 18, 2019)

The m6 banjo fittings I have will work, but I'm still considering placing. Them on the front or sides, just so I could monitor and fix any leaks easier. I couldn't care less how it looks. Hopefully I'll make up my mind after I finish the grooves.


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## TomS (Jan 18, 2019)

Paul Jr said:


> The m6 banjo fittings I have will work, but I'm still considering placing. Them on the front or sides, just so I could monitor and fix any leaks easier. I couldn't care less how it looks. Hopefully I'll make up my mind after I finish the grooves.



For info I replaced all of the push-to-connect fittings with compression style fittings (1/8" NPT x 1/4" hose).  I had issues with the PTC leaking and hoses blowing out of the fittings.  No leaks with the compression fittings.


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## Paul Jr (Jan 19, 2019)

TomS said:


> For info I replaced all of the push-to-connect fittings with compression style fittings (1/8" NPT x 1/4" hose).  I had issues with the PTC leaking and hoses blowing out of the fittings.  No leaks with the compression fittings.


Well Crap... everything I got was push to connect, couldn't get the right size fittings in compression anywhere online. Locally the male thread ends were far too large to go where I need them. I was concerned about the push fittings leaking under pressure... Thanks for the heads up.


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## Boswell (Jan 19, 2019)

I have a mix of compression  and push-to-connect fittings and have not yet had any issues with the push-to-connect connectors.


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## jbolt (Feb 2, 2019)

I use all push-to-connect fittings on mine and have had zero trouble. You need to use the hard plastic tubing.


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## TomS (Feb 2, 2019)

jbolt said:


> I use all push-to-connect fittings on mine and have had zero trouble. You need to use the hard plastic tubing.



Thanks Jay, I learned something new today.  I use clear Tygon tubing in my lube system.  Maybe that box of P to C fittings has a future.


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