On Thu, 09 Jun 2016 19:00:21 +0100, David Billington
wrote:

On 09/06/16 18:19, Ed Huntress wrote:
On Thu, 9 Jun 2016 17:01:36 +0000 (UTC), Cydrome Leader
wrote:

wrote:
On Wed, 8 Jun 2016 21:19:35 +0000 (UTC), Cydrome Leader
wrote:

Tom Gardner wrote:
On 6/8/2016 12:13 PM, Cydrome Leader wrote:
The only thing that would make even a lick of sense is there were
unshielded bearings in there originally and that's why there were grease
ports. Why the thing was pumped full of grease later is a mystery.

Anybody seen anything like this before?


I've done it myself many times. I should have removed and plugged the
zerks but was too lazy.
So what used to be inside this motor? The same bearings, but with no
shield, and tons of grease? What the standard pratice for fractional HP
motors 50+ years ago?

No such thing as "standard practice" Cheap motors used plain bearings.
Many better motors used ball bearings. 50 years ago was only 1966
-ball bearings were pretty common - but usually not fully sealed or
double sheilded. Many would have been "oil lubricated"uising thick
Any reason for that, or why the shielded/sealed stuff took over? Was there
some incredible development in stamping out shields or lubricants?
There have been big improvements in ball and race materials; modest
improvements in their accuracy; and huge improvements in lubricants.
Regarding lubricants, a mate in the automotive engine development
industry mentioned that many car engine manufacturers don't harden the
crankshafts these days as with improvements in the lubricants it isn't
necessary to get the engine life.

That surprises me a bit, but I suppose it shouldn't. I've seen some
performance numbers and graphs on modern lubricants versus the old
ones, and it's a jolt. Thus, we have this enormous improvement in
engine life, despite engines that put out a lot more specific power.

I had a few cars with English Ford Kent engines, and they were ready
for a ring job at 80k or 90k miles. The Duratec in my Ford Focus is
just a little bit larger, and, at just under 100k, it's just hitting
its stride.

--
Ed Huntress





oil, rather than grease - with felt or synthetic rubber seals. I
remember some old repulsion start induction motors from the late
fifties with oiled ball bearings, as well as some with oiled plain
bearings - the big ball bearing motor was on the bale elevator. I
think the motor on the pump-jack was also ball bearing, and the one on
the cement mixer was plain bearing.- oiled, not greased

Some were even ball bearing on the drive end and plain bearing on the
bell end