"Bob Engelhardt" wrote in message
...
Our whole-house fan is mounted in a gable wall near the roof peak. I.e.,
not readily accessible and irregularly maintained. So, 50 years after its
installation and maybe 30-40 years after its last lube, one of its
bearings seized. It was one of the pillow block bearings holding the fan
shaft. It's a brass or bronze sleeve bearing with oil grooves in it. The
oil in there had been baked solid and immune to various solvents and to a
lye soak. It had to be chipped out with a pick.

Once cleaned out and reassembled, my first choice for its oil refill was
10W. It ran right through! OK - I tried 30W: it, to, ran out. So, the
bearings are either so worn that they aren't going to hold any oil, or I'm
using the wrong oil. They definitely do not seem worn - they slide on
readily, but without any noticeable play.

I'm inclined to try gear oil, but I thought I'd collect RCM thoughts on it
first.

Thanks,
Bob


(A) Immerse in ketone and place under a pressure of several atmospheres, or
as high of a pressure as you can practically attain.

(B) Remove from ketone and pull a vacuum.

(C) Repeat the above until no more oily residue is drawn out, or at least
several times if at all possible.

(D) Immerse in oil and again pull a vacuum; when it is released, fresh oil
will be drawn in to fill the pores.