Do your machines leak oil?

samthedog

samthedog

Token Aussie
Registered
So... do your machines leak oil? I get a miniature stroke when looking at my machines since there is an occasional drip, but given the time required for a refurb and my busy work / family life... I just try to clean it up and keep the oil topped up. A friend once said that if you stop machines from leaking, you have likely run out of oil.

So is your machine a drip free miracle, a drop - or - two per day, or an Exxon Valdez?

Paul.
 
Mine are leak free, but I do check the oil levels frequently too. If it is a minor one or two drip leak I would do the same as you and just keep the reservoir filled. That insures that you always have good clean lube available too. So depending on your situation and what school you ascribe to it is either a needed repair or not. I personally would defer till I had to do some other repair and take care of it then. No sense in taking a working machine out of service for a minor drip, a gusher or fast leak is different, but an occasional drip even on a daily basis would not be a cause for alarm in my book. All depends on you aesthetics and how much it irritates you or not.

Bob
 
I will take the first bite Y E S. I dont think I own anything that does not drip. So I live with it. A little
gas and a mop, a gas wipe down with a rag. Although Im sure to get negatives on that, but what
do you do If you grew up with that, and thats going back to the 1940s, my father always mopped the
floor with gas, so when a little boy that suppose to be normal. So I still do it, & so does the my boy.
 
GK1918 said:
I will take the first bite Y E S. I dont think I own anything that does not drip. So I live with it. A little
gas and a mop, a gas wipe down with a rag. Although Im sure to get negatives on that, but what
do you do If you grew up with that, and thats going back to the 1940s, my father always mopped the
floor with gas, so when a little boy that suppose to be normal. So I still do it, & so does the my boy.
Click to expand...


I won't jump on the safety band wagon here... but I would think some pinsol type cleaner would be a lot cheaper than gas at todays prices.

And yes, My 12X36 leaks. I keep a smallish baking dish under the apron to catch the worst, and cheap folded paper towels in the corners of the chip pan to soak up the rest.
 
No major leaks- I always fill my GITS oilers to the tippy top and let oil drip out when it is too much- sort of like oil cycling. It only drips out of my apron of my 10 L when the GITS is filled to the very very top. The spindle reservoirs do not leak that I am aware of, but I don't think it would bug me- I would probably feel like "good, that oil is getting every where it has to go"- sort of like filling a crankcase or manual transmission.

I know a drip wouldn't bug me at all. But if you have pools, I would understand your concern if you believed your machine was not maintaining oil levels where they belonged.

Not many of my other machines have an oil reservoir, so oil is just added to ways and button oilers, etc. Hardinge TM has "lifetime" greased spindle, although I'm open to advice on updating the lube on that. Same on Rusnok 70. Atlas 618 is just GITS with wick directly to Timken Bearing.

So I feel like I have oil all over the place. I guess your issue is pools of oil on the floor?

Bernie
 
I would never know. My machines get covered with every fluid in the shop. I wipe the machines down and clean-up the swarf every day but am afraid to get them squeaky clean as they seem perfectly happy with their protective layer of oil. -Kinda like the way a cactus must enjoy having it's needles.


Ray
 
My Enco lathe and mill/drill both leak. The lathe apron has no sight glass so when I over fill it the excess runs out the hand wheel shaft. My mill/drill has been retofitted with a one-shot lube system so what oil doesn't stay where intended runs into the chip pan. IMO it's better to clean up the oil rather than not knowing whether you're lubing your machinery.
 
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