Leaking Oil Help

[mksj]

PM1236T has a Norton open gearbox, so by its nature it is a complete loss system and drips into the pan. An important reason to use an oil resistant sealant around the mounting bolt holes and pan when mounting your lathe into the stand. I have done a number of pump oilers for this gearbox that uses a manifold system. People put drip pans under the open gears. They rarely have issues of oil leaking from the headstock, I did have some carriage seepage through one of the shaft plugs. The 136T/1340GT are reliable well made lathes at the price point.

Regarding the closed gearbox reassembly, I would do it dry until you have it worked out as to an assembly procedure. PM may be able to give you some guidance. A bit challenging on reassembly but you may be able to map out the gear position for each knob and work backwards so start out with the S I for the right two knobs, then work on the A position, and then 1 position on the left two knobs. Always worthwhile to take lots of photos of everything when pulling things apart.

 

[wnchstrtnfldvlle]

QMT agreed to met me ship it back to them to see if they could get it back together.

I wouldn’t let this stop you from using your PM lathe. I went with a cheaper Chinese version for one. And to be fair the leak did get fixed pretty easily. And I can say they’ve been responsive, helpful, and even comped me some other tooling to make up for my troubles. Which can’t be said for other brands. It’s just one of those things when you’re dealing with import machines.

 

[wnchstrtnfldvlle]

PM1236T has a Norton open gearbox, so by its nature it is a complete loss system and drips into the pan. An important reason to use an oil resistant sealant around the mounting bolt holes and pan when mounting your lathe into the stand. I have done a number of pump oilers for this gearbox that uses a manifold system. People put drip pans under the open gears. They rarely have issues of oil leaking from the headstock, I did have some carriage seepage through one of the shaft plugs. The 136T/1340GT are reliable well made lathes at the price point.

Regarding the closed gearbox reassembly, I would do it dry until you have it worked out as to an assembly procedure. PM may be able to give you some guidance. A bit challenging on reassembly but you may be able to map out the gear position for each knob and work backwards so start out with the S I for the right two knobs, then work on the A position, and then 1 position on the left two knobs. Always worthwhile to take lots of photos of everything when pulling things apart.

View attachment 502667

Someone a few posts back mentioned the shift blocks were supposed to ride on a key way. There’s no alignment device on the shafts like that that the blocks ride on. So when you install the faceplate if the gears don’t mesh they rotate the blocks. I was able to get them to mesh but I had to rotate the blocks up, which allowed the brass shifting “forks” to fall out and bind. Of all 18-20 tries I haven’t been able to get all of them to align at the same time. I was even trying to stick a 4mm allen wrench through the drain hole to do it.
As far as the photos, I did take them. But even following them it didn’t work. Now I’ve tried all knobs in all positions. No luck.

Fingers crossed they can get it back together. Which, for a parts only warranty, I think shows a level of customer service you aren’t going to get from most other brands. I did have to pay the shipping costs though, lol. Which I think is fair.

 

[coolidge]

Someone a few posts back mentioned the shift blocks were supposed to ride on a key way. There’s no alignment device on the shafts like that that the blocks ride on. So when you install the faceplate if the gears don’t mesh they rotate the blocks. I was able to get them to mesh but I had to rotate the blocks up, which allowed the brass shifting “forks” to fall out and bind. Of all 18-20 tries I haven’t been able to get all of them to align at the same time. I was even trying to stick a 4mm allen wrench through the drain hole to do it.
As far as the photos, I did take them. But even following them it didn’t work. Now I’ve tried all knobs in all positions. No luck.

Fingers crossed they can get it back together. Which, for a parts only warranty, I think shows a level of customer service you aren’t going to get from most other brands. I did have to pay the shipping costs though, lol. Which I think is fair.

The raised shoulders on the cover obviously hold the shift blocks flush and in plane with the gears on the cover once assembled. The issue is the shoulders don't engage until AFTER the shift blocks and cover gears are already meshed together. So how to fake the raised shoulders during assembly to keep the shift blocks flush until things are meshed and the cover shoulders can take over.

One method, lay metal strips across the shift blocks to keep them flush and in plane with the gears on the cover during assembly. I'd stack 2 each on top of each other so I could lower the cover down in 2 steps. Removing the first strip would lower the cover just enough to get the gears and shift blocks engaged, but not enough that the shift blocks can rotate out of whack. Jiggle the handles around until everything is meshed then remove the 2nd metal strips to lower the cover fully in place.

Or some variation on the same to get control of the shift blocks during assembly, strong magnets etc.

 

[wnchstrtnfldvlle]

I appreciate the helpful advice. At this point the gearbox is on its way to QMT for them to see about getting it back together.