wrote in message ...
Diesel folks,
I took apart the apron on a used lathe I bought and the sump had gobs
and gobs of gobs of gelled oil. Even though the sump in the apron is
not supposed to get any water in it I'm sure some gets in from
condensdation and maybe coolant leaking in somewhere. So this tiny
amount of water must be enough for the type of bacteria that eats oils
to live fairly well. I have washed out the sump with solvent but I'm
thinking that any bacteria that can eat way lube will probably like
stoddard solvent too. Will the bacteriocide used in diesel burning
machines and oil burning furnaces kill the bacteria in my machine
sump? I'd like to just rinse the sump with bacteriocide laden diesel
oil, drain, dry, and then fill with way lube. Anybody think this would
prevent the rapid regrowth of the gel?

Yes, although my guess is the gel is likely due to the petroleum molecules reverting back into longer chains over a long peiod of time, and or evaporation of the lighter fractions. If the problem is indeed bacterial, I would soak overnight, bacteriocides generally need to be in contact with the target organism for some period of time to be fully effective.

Thanks,
Eric
P.S.
Why is it called way lube? Is it just because it is so good? I mean
it's not just lube, it's WAY lube. Just askin'

It's a throwback to early ship building, ships are still commonly launched under gravty, down wooden "ways". Early machine tools were of similar construction, greased wood beams. Oftentimes the matinging wooden blocks were lined with thin metallic strips in order to reduce friction.