bridgeport power feed

I just got my Bridgeport mill running and noticed a small amount of oil dripping from the power feed. It is a Bridgeport with a Boehme motor on it and it slants toward the back of the machine. Is this much of a job to repair. I am not sure where the oil is coming from yet, the front or back. Thanks Paul

If your talking the old type power feed ......it is ment to leak out thru the filler pot..low down on the right side of the box.......this is because when you oil the two plugs on top (THE ONES FOR THE REVERSE LEVER AND LEAD SCREW PINION)..it ends up in the main box.....there is nowhere for the extra oil to go too....except leak out of the combined level filler pot.
the more you oil the two oilers on the top the more it will leak.......and if you go crazy and and oil the two top ones,too much then it can end up inside the drive motor and ruin it...be carefull!!..dont over oil!!.and make sure your combined oil leval pot has a loose enough cap to allow extra oil out from over oiling to drip out..
all the best...mark

Bets,

If its an 8F, it should not leak. Probably the front cover. Drain the oil from the left side of the power feed and remove the front cover. Use something like "form a gasket" blue or red to coat the machined surfaces. Put back together and fill with Mobilgear 639.

You might want to take the bottom off the control box and see if oil has run into it (common). Clean with electrical parts cleaner. I file a notch in the lower part of the control housing so that if any oil gets in, it has a place to get out.

JR

Typically what leaks on the power feeds is the rod where you engage forward and reverse. At the very bottom there are seals and they occasionally tend to leak.

I agree with JRIowa that the front panel is the likely culprit, and that gasket sealant will work.

Also, do not use too thin an oil. I now use gear oil, which I got from from the local auto supply store.

I previously ran into a problem when I had just purchased my old machine. The "oil" in the box was a tarry black sludge, evidently never having been changed by the previous owner. So, thinking I was clever, I decided that I would fill it with kerosene to clean out the sludge, and then drain and put the heavier weight oil in the box.

What happened is that kerosene leaked through the back gasket, and got into the motor, so I ended up causing more problems. I eventually turned down the armature and finally got it working OK. But not before the motor short caused the power supply to go kaput, and I had to replace that too.

Well, from the mistakes I made on that project, I learned more than I had intended. But I really appreciate my machine now.

-Jon