Date: Sat, 2 Jan 2016 13:56:32 -0500
Reply-To: David Beierl <dbeierl@ATTGLOBAL.NET>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: David Beierl <dbeierl@ATTGLOBAL.NET>
Subject: Re: Front Heater Motor: Lube Dries Out?
In-Reply-To: <CABToOY+Tre6st9rGBx+zYpK=A9Jju1shgiyE10Wj8G5u0z-SwA@mail.g
mail.com>
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Zoom oil is my go-to light oil for at least fifteen years, I have
three bottles of it around here. I have not had any problems with it
getting gummy, but it definitely does darken with age. The spout is
extraordinarily convenient. I don't lay any particular importance to
the "turbine" designation. I would probably use it on a sewing
machine if I didn't have any sewing machine oil.
The company makes a "rust buster" product in the same container. I
got some long ago but it evaporated out of the container before I
remembered to try it. I'm using the container to hold Wahl clipper
oil for better dispensing control. The Wahl oil is water clear, so
I'm interested to see how it handles the light exposure over a few years.
I'm interested in your experience vs TriFlow (sp?) on the fan
bearing, especially since I have once again punted taking the dash
off. My standard method with stiff fan bearings I can get to has
been to hit them over and over with Marvel Mystery Oil until junk
stops coming back. and then multiple changes of the Zoom oil.
The standard method to re-oil or use different oil in an Oilite-type
sintered bearing that you can remove is to soak it in hot (?175F?)
oil for half an hour.
Yrs,
d
At 11:23 AM 1/2/2016, Edward Maglott wrote:
>A bit late on the reply here but I have recently discovered a lubrication
>product that I am pretty impressed with. It is
>http://www.laco.com/lubricants/zoom-spout-oiler/ I got a tip from a
>Facebook group "vintage electric fans" which as you probably guessed deals
>with working on a lot of old and very old electric motors. I bought a
>container of it at my local ace hardware, which is an olde timey place with
>lots of varied product. It was less than $5. This lube is advertised as
>"turbine oil" which makes it sound very impressive. I have a few old and
>not so old fans laying around. One is a typical cheap 3 speed stand fan,
>probably 10-15 years old that was given to me because it stopped working.
>I've taken it apart and cleaned and re-lubed the bearings several times. I
>use it in my basement/shop and have been running it with the case off the
>motor so I can monitor how hot it gets. I've lubed it with tri-flow or
>sewing machine oil a couple times and it will run fine for about 10 hours
>before the bearings start getting so hot it slows down on the high speed
>and won't even start turning on the low speed. I have far surpassed that
>performance using zoom spout. Another totally worn out blower for a
>woodstove has showed the same results. that extendable spout may even
>reach the vanagon front blower motor bearings through a Mullendore port.
>Edward
>
>On Thu, Nov 26, 2015 at 10:38 PM, David Beierl <dbeierl@attglobal.net>
>wrote:
>
> > At 10:24 PM 11/26/2015, Neil N wrote:
> >
> >> Thanks Stuart.
> >> I'd read of that fix but haven't had courage to
> >> try it out.
> >>
> >> I guess the bottom line is that if the fan motor is "chirping", "groaning"
> >> or "tweeting" (the latter would be a true analogue to digital miracle. ha
> >> ha)
> >> it needs attention. Even if the noise is intermittent.
> >>
> >> Neil.
> >>
> >
> > The real fix of course is to pull the dash, split the heater box,
> > rejuvenate or replace the blower, and take care of the flap seals and
> > cleaning crud out of the core fins. But drilling a hole in the sheet
> > metal (and maybe another one to look through) per Mullendore will
> > allow you to squirt some Triflow onto the exposed rear bearing which
> > is the one that really needs it. It's not a lasting fix but you can
> > repeat as needed and put off the reckoning indefinitely by keeping
> > your ear tuned for little squeaks or failure to start on speed
> > one. It's an awful kluge, but a useful one.
> >
> > Yrs,
> > d
> >
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