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L&S Model X 14" HD oil leak

Froneck

Titanium
Joined
Dec 4, 2010
Location
McClure, PA 17059
I have a 14" HD L&S Model X, the one that has the slide ruler type speed chart. Runs great but just developed an oil leak at the spindle just behind the D1-6 plate. Not too bad, 1 drip in 30 seconds. I've owned it for at least 10 years with no leaks. I have the parts manual and Slinger Rings are shown as seals. Anyone have information on why it started leaking?
 
I have been using the lathe for 10 years and not a drop. Could it be the oil is low and the pump is causing it to foam? I have not added oil, only thing I've done was remove the top cover and put on Permatex gasket sealant to stop it from leaking, I did run the motor to confirm oil was pumping. It has a sight glass on the front near the filter/strainer but it's dark and I can't see what I think is supposed to be an oil stream. Looks to be another sight glass on the reservoir but the electrical control panel is mounted in front of it. This lathe has no oil in the headstock (I think) oil is in the reservoir. Both sight glasses are the same, the push in type so I'm not sure how to remove them. I might remove the front one, if I damage it I'm sure I can make another.
 
Yes to low oil with pump sucking air. Figure out how to check oil level and add if needed . If pump is not submerged below the oil level supply pipe [or whatever] may be allowing air leakage on suction side.If these items check OK blocked oil return at the bearing most likely. Had a 18" ENCO lathe with splash lube and would leak at the front bearing if I ran it over 4-500 rpm. Partial cure was to put a restriction in the 3/8 or so oil feed drilling,1/8 " or so hole in restriction fitting.
 
May be the rear sump style? - pump has to pull the oil up and on to the distribution trays. Sump is low, bolted to bottom of rear head stock casting. Need to be able to SEE oil in its pair of sight glasses, one over the other
 
Yes it is the rear sum/reservoir style. I didn't see 2 sight glasses on the rear reservoir but will look again. However the one I did see was dark like the one up front so level could not be detected.
 
Yes it is the rear sum/reservoir style. I didn't see 2 sight glasses on the rear reservoir but will look again. However the one I did see was dark like the one up front so level could not be detected.

Here is how my 20 standard (a raised 16") sump looked
 

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Mine is very similar. The is a second sight glass, it's below the top one but slightly to the right just above what looks like a brass fitting on yours. Very difficult to see and harder yet to determine oil level because it's blackened but behind an LB electrical fitting for the switch conduit connected to a rather large electrical box containing the motor controls.
 
That's it for oil supply - there isn't any in head stock simply because the head stock has a hole in the rear bottom that matches the top of the sump.

The two sight glasses tell me the level should be somewhere between them vertically
 
I bought the L & S from John way back and finished reconditioning it. The times I ran the lathe, I did recall a little bit of seepage from the headstock bearing cover. I've seen this type of leakage before on older lathes in my past.
The first thing I would do is replace the sight glass on the front of the head stock. Real easy to do, bust the glass out, drill and tap a 1/4-20 or 28 hole thru the back. Take a large socket and bolt and washer and pull it out. That sight glass is a standard Bijur part that the last time I looked, it is still available. Replace it, while you are at it, pull the Cuno filter and clean it. Last drain the head stock oil sump as John is talking about and might not hurt to flush out with some mineral spirits or diesel. Then fill with a ISO 32 or 46 hydraulic oil. This oil should have additives that my help unclog some of the oil passages that may reduce some of the oil leakage that you are seeing. I wouldn't try to pull the spindle to clean out those passages. That's not an easy spindle to pull and put back end IMO. Ken
 
Thanks Ken, I did plan on removing the front sight glass. I checked McMaster and see they have a similar type in that the "glass" is not flat but projects out like a bubble. As to the ones in the rear on the reservoir I would like to replace them with the McMaster type but the electrical box makes that quite a project so I'll leave that to a when I have time. I plan to remove the top cover, drill and tap two holes for 1-1/2"round X 8" legs to mount a piece of 2" X 2" X 1/8" angle about the width of the head stock. I have found the CXA size tool holders hang well on that size angle. (CA will not)I made similar tool holder for my Hendey and love it! So with the cover removed I'll try to add something to clean out the oil passages and replace the oil with new.
 
Had some spare time so I removed the sight glass and intended to remove the filter. I'm wondering if I have to remove the cover on the Head stock to disconnect any oil lines. Though I have quite a few lathes the L&S is the only one with long centers so I don't want to start something I can finish quickly. The sight glass opening can be covered quickly with a clear plastic plug and the oil leak isn't that bad I can't get by if I need long centers. I primarily do maintenance work so if one of my customers need a log shaft made yesterday the lathe will be available. When I do decide to make the repairs I'll paint the Head Stock, I started by painting removable items but replaced them when paint dried. Having to remove that tail stock for a very long job and using 2 steady rests I removed it by disassembling it (makes it a lot lighter)but when reassembled I painted each item so now it looks almost new. Intend to eventually do the entire machine.
So please let me know what I must do to remove the oil strainer.
 
Up-Date

Having removed the sight glass and needing the lathe I made another with some acrylic rod I had. Counter-bored the back side to allow oil to pass from one hole to the other and polished both side until clear. Inserted it, turned on the lathe and no oil visible. Thinking oil level was low I ordered a few gallons of oil. Receiving the oil I removed the top cover and started the lathe in neutral not wanting an oil shower. Oil pumped great! 3" tube flowed into the oil distributing tray filling it to overflow it's entire perimeter. I then realized the reason I didn't see oil in the sight glass due to the fact the oil was very clean. I also found why the spindle leaked. There was quite a bit of oil in the head stock, Oil level did not change when pump was running or power off. Oil level was high enough to cover 1" of the large "back gear", turning the spindle by hand brought up teeth filled with oil. I'm thinking some maintenance man was trying to fill the oil after changing it by using the sight glass as a level indicator. I suspect the headstock was well over filled because when I removed the coolant pump and motor to make it easier to load, oil flowed out at the time I moved the lathe and thinking oils was used as coolant. Leak never happened when using that lathe because I never operated it in the high speed range until the last job that the leak started. So the problem simply was Too Much Oil!
I probably lucked out getting a great machine because the oil seals "failed" so machine was sold cheap!
 








 
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