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To lube or Not To lube ... That is the question --- 1974 Franklin motor

snwcmpr

Plastic
Joined
Apr 8, 2012
Location
USA
Good morning all,
First, Thank You all for the posts I have read.
I usually have been just reading. I don't use photobucket, so I can't post pictures, but I have a question.
After finishing my rebuild of a 1941 SB 9A I am perplexed with any need for lube of the motor.
I do not see any place to lube it.

It is a Franklin Electric Inst-O-Verse Motor model 1101452701
Mfg 1974.
From the new owner:
... the 1974 vintage motor went obsolete with Franklin Electric before we split off as a separate company

We don't have a maintenance manual for this motor, but the link below will get you to our web site's Technical Support page.
Bluffton Motor Works
That's no help unless I wanted to know about motors in general.

The motor's 275087115 ball bearing is a 17-mm, double-shield bearing with Exxon Polyrex EM lube.

I don't have enough information to determine if I lube it, or if it has that lube in a sealed bearing.

Internet search yielded this:

NSN Search NSN Formated PartNumber Search PartNumber
Formated Description
3110012379411 3110-01-237-9411 275087115 275087-115 BEARING,BALL,ANNULAR
************
And this:
275087-115
275087115
3110-00-341-6621Bearing, Ball, AnnularMaterial: Steel overall
Style Designator: 10A non-loading groove, non-separable
Bore Diameter: 17.00 millimeters nominal
Franklin Electric Co. Inc. (23452)
*************


It sounds good now, but I want to be sure as I go ahead and start using it.


Thanks so much to any one taking the time to reply,
Ken in NC
 
Welcome aboard, Ken!

If it was me, I would remove one of the motor's end bells and have a good lookie at the bearing to see what you have. If the bearing has metal "shields" there isn't much that you can do but wait for it to wear out and replace the bearing when it's shot.

But................If the bearing has the black rubber end shields, you can work with them. Very gently pick the shields off, wash the bearing out in your favorite solvent and dry them out. Do the same with the with the shields. Repack the bearing with grease just like you would a car's wheel bearing and gently squeeze the shields back into place by hand and you're good to go. Wipe them clean and reassemble the motor and give 'er hell. A tiny bit of grease will ooze out the ends of the bearing when you first run it, but this is normal. I've been doing this for many years.

I also do this to the bearings on the serpentine belt idler pulleys on my cars and trucks every time I change a belt. It's a cheap insurance policy. I always get at least 250K miles out of the pulley bearings.

Frank
 
That's a "modern" motor and if there are no obvious oil cups or ports or plastic plugs evident then it is highly likely it has ball bearings and your research seems to confirm this. Typical ball bearing installations were either a bearing shielded or sealed on both sides and you can't really lube the bearing. There have been installations in which the bearings could be greased but those motors would have a grease fitting at each end and it sounds like yours does not.

If the motor runs quietly I'd just go ahead and use it. If it sounds like the bearings are noisy then you'll have to replace them. A 6203 bearing has a 17 mm ID and those bearings are almost universally used in 56 frame motors......and many others. They're not expensive and they're not really hard to replace if you think that yours are bad.
 
I have a 1968 lathe that I'm working on. When i dug into the motor, one bearing was no good, and the grease was all dried up. They used shields on one side of the bearings, so it was possible to clean/regrease them. However, I opted to replace them. As people have already mentioned, there is a number stamped on the side of the bearing, and that's what you use to identify it. I got my replacement bearings from ebay for $6 each, and they were made in Japan. Now the motor runs like new, whisper quiet.

Here is the website for the deep groove bearings I found on ebay. The manufacturer's name is Nachi.

NACHI-FUJIKOSHI CORP. / Product Info. / Bearings

Here is the PDF file with a table listing all their deep groove bearings. Once you know the size, which might be 6203 as pointed out by vandis, you can use this table to figure out the style: open, shielded, or sealed.

http://www.nachi-fujikoshi.co.jp/eng/jik/pdf/147-158.pdf

Open bearings run cool, but get dirt in them. Shielded run hotter and provide decent protection from dirt because they use a metal shield on each side. Sealed bearings run the hottest, but have best protection from dirt because they use a rubber seal on each side.

For an electric motor, double shielded bearing is probably the way to go.
 
Wow!! Thank you. That answers all my questions.
Awesome. I will post a reply when I look 'much' closer.

Ken in NC
 








 
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