Lubricating bearings in motor in Beseler 45M-series enlargers

albada · Nov 13, 2022

In my enlarger, the motor speeds up substantially after being run a few seconds. I attribute this speed-up to old lube on the motor's bearings that's too thick and thins when warmed.
The rear bearing is visible from the rear and can easily be oiled.
But how does one gain access to oil the front bearing?

albada · Nov 14, 2022

I figured out the answer to my own question after some tinkering. Here's how to oil the front bearing. First, you must remove the three screws shown below that secure the cover.

After removing these screws, the cover can be removed by pulling it toward you. It will hang down, supported by the three wires going to the motor. Then you'll see this:

The upper green arrow points to the inlet of the motor's front oil-tube. Drop a few drops of oil in it. I used conventional automobile engine oil, 10W-30 or something similar.
The lower green arrow points to the small visible segment of shaft between the motor and pulley. I put a drop of oil on the shaft by the bearing to ensure that the front of the bearing is well oiled.

The motor runs considerably faster than before, so clearly there was too much friction. I encourage you to oil this motor in your enlarger.

BTW, my belt has cracks in it. But the cracks appear to be only in the top layer of belt-material, and the belt is under no tension -- it's rather loose -- so I doubt it'll break.

AgX · Nov 14, 2022

Interesting, as I never found a oiling tube at an electric motor.

ic-racer · Nov 14, 2022

AgX said:
Interesting, as I never found a oiling tube at an electric motor.

In the days before ball bearings, many motors had such things.

john_s · Nov 15, 2022

AgX said:
Interesting, as I never found a oiling tube at an electric motor.

Some machinery is known as "lubricated for life, so you can't lubricate it" which can be interpreted as "life limited by lubrication." I will lubricate my Beseler motor. Thanks to the OP.

It's important for us users of old photo gear as parts can be problematic decades after manufacture. If lubrication keeps them in good condition for an extra decade, that's good.

AgX · Nov 15, 2022

Yes, for instance sintered brass bearings are able contain to some amount of oil invisibly. But of course one can add some if seemingly necessary.
And I see lubrication nipples directly at bearings. Just thuse ducts I have not come across.

albada · Nov 15, 2022

Last night I discovered that the Beseler 45M motor has an oil-hole in the back, at about the 2:00 position when looking at the back of the motor. Looking down this hole, I could see the texture of a cloth oil-pad, and it soaked up all the oil I applied last night. Thus, this motor uses oil-pads (my name for them), so I doubt the bearings are sintered (made from compressed and bonded powder) because sintering is another way to store oil, as @AgX pointed out. Oil-pads eventually dry out, so this motor should be oiled occasionally.

I'm wondering whether sewing-machine oil would be a better choice than the car motor oil I used.

Jay Schrotenboer · Nov 15, 2022

albada said:
Last night I discovered that the Beseler 45M motor has an oil-hole in the back, at about the 2:00 position when looking at the back of the motor. Looking down this hole, I could see the texture of a cloth oil-pad, and it soaked up all the oil I applied last night. Thus, this motor uses oil-pads (my name for them), so I doubt the bearings are sintered (made from compressed and bonded powder) because sintering is another way to store oil, as @AgX pointed out. Oil-pads eventually dry out, so this motor should be oiled occasionally.

I'm wondering whether sewing-machine oil would be a better choice than the car motor oil I used.

I would imagine that sewing machine oil would probably be best as it is a lighter oil than engine oil. I will have to check my beseler has that oil port, and probably add oil myself.

btaylor · Nov 16, 2022

albada said:
I'm wondering whether sewing-machine oil would be a better choice than the car motor oil I used.

I’m guessing car motor oil is a lot better than a dry bearing!
Thanks for the tip, I need to check my Beseler 45’s and be sure the motor bearings are lubed.
People aren’t used to the days when bearings weren’t sealed and required periodic oiling. The strangest set up I ever saw was on an old Hammond organ. The tone wheel apparatus had so many lube points there were strings leading from the central oiling point to each lube point, the special oil would migrate down the strings to each destination.

ic-racer · Nov 16, 2022

I have been using Singer sewing machine oil in my Bolex projecter for the last 15 years (post #4) and would recommend it.

4season · Nov 16, 2022

Since someone has mentioned sewing machine oil, I thought I'd share this advice that I was given by someone who repairs the things. He said that if I had an old green-and-white metal can of Singer sewing machine oil, I should discard it. I don't recall the reason, but the recommended replacement was colorless, whereas my mom's Singer oil was light amber in color and likely decades old.

mshchem · Nov 16, 2022

SAE 10, aka 3 in 1 oil,

albada · Nov 16, 2022

mshchem said:
SAE 10, aka 3 in 1 oil,

@mshchem , from your name and a prior posting, I think you're a chemist.
Is 3-in-1 good enough to use in motor bearings?
Also, I have some Nyoil, which is "more refined than any other oil" and "100% white mineral oil" (and expensive).
Which do you think is more suitable for motor bearings?

mshchem · Nov 17, 2022

albada said:
@mshchem , from your name and a prior posting, I think you're a chemist.
Is 3-in-1 good enough to use in motor bearings?
Also, I have some Nyoil, which is "more refined than any other oil" and "100% white mineral oil" (and expensive).
Which do you think is more suitable for motor bearings?

I got a degree in chemistry a long time ago. Mineral oil was used (and still is) in hermetically sealed compressors for refrigerators. Viscosity has been lowered to attain better energy efficiency.
SAE 10 should be fine for an electric motor / sintered bronze bushing,. Ball bearings need grease.

Fujicaman1957 · Nov 17, 2022

I've had good luck with "Rem-oil" that's sold in the gun section of Walmart. Either that or "Reel Butter" that they sell in the fishing supplies area of sporting goods.

choiliefan · Nov 18, 2022

Many years ago I borrowed an expensive Vortex diatom aquarium filter from an engineer. When I returned it, I bragged about lubricating his motor with 3 in 1 oil. He pitched a fit, saying that 3-in-1 contained an acid which will etch metal. He was very pissed.

albada · Dec 14, 2022

Even with engine motor oil, the motor still seemed to struggle some, so I took it apart and cleaned and relubed the bearings with Nye oil, which is a good lightweight oil. FWIW, here's the motor:

Based on this motor, does anyone care to guess what year it was made? After disassembly:

Note the metal removed from the rotor in two spots. Howard Industries took the expense of balancing their rotors. The brass/bronze bearings have felt oil-pads around them, making me suspect these bearings are not sintered. But I have too little experience with these to know for sure. I saturated both pads with Nye oil.

To my disappointment, the stator coil-assembly has no key to position it correctly, and the holes in it are not for the long screws you see in the photo. I aligned the stator by carefully matching tiny marks left over from manufacturing. Thinking about how these things work, I believe accurate alignment is not critical, but I still think an alignment key/pin/tab would be helpful.

Important:
After reassembly, the motor will be stiff. Here's why, and how to fix it. Each bearing is a sphere with a hole in the middle, so they rotate for alignment, in the same axis as the ball in a ball-valve. As a result, after reassembly, the bearings have been rotated into alignment, but that alignment-rotation has high friction, so there will be residual friction exerting force on the shaft, making the shaft stiff. You can remove this friction by forcing complete and accurate alignment of the bearings by placing a flat-blade screwdriver on the shaft, by the bearing, and tapping it with a hammer to rotate the bearing into perfect alignment. Do this again at 90 degrees to rotate the bearing in the other axis. Do this at both ends of the shaft. Now the motor will spin with lower friction. I hope this description made sense; it's much easier to show with pictures, but I didn't think to photograph that step.

The motor now raises and lowers the enlarger head without struggling.

Mark

BobUK · Dec 15, 2022

I think the sintered bearings you are talking about are what I know in the UK as "Oilite Bearings."
According to the Wiki article https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oilite SAE 30 oil is used on them.

Regarding motor oils on small machinery, my own small lathe uses a thin hydraulic oil for all the bearings, apart from a few grease spots. The same model lathe used in a repair workshop I worked in had been lubricate with car engine oil and had several oilways clogged with a thick gunk that did nothing to lubricate it.
I think a motor oil designed for use at high temperatures has no place in light machinery.
My thoughts only, perhaps someone wearing a white dustcoat in an industrial laboratory would know better.

albada · Dec 15, 2022

BobUK said:
I think the sintered bearings you are talking about are what I know in the UK as "Oilite Bearings."

Bob, thanks for posting this. Searching for "Oilite bearings" led me to this web page: Servicing the Motor
Here's the picture at the top of that page:

This design is identical to the Beseler motor's bushing, so it appears that it uses sintered brass (Oilite) bushings. That site recommends soaking the felt oil-pads with "light machine oil", and Nyoil qualifies as such (whew!).

AgX · Dec 17, 2022

albada said:
After reassembly, the motor will be stiff. Here's why, and how to fix it. Each bearing is a sphere with a hole in the middle, so they rotate for alignment, in the same axis as the ball in a ball-valve. As a result, after reassembly, the bearings have been rotated into alignment, but that alignment-rotation has high friction, so there will be residual friction exerting force on the shaft, making the shaft stiff. You can remove this friction by forcing complete and accurate alignment of the bearings by placing a flat-blade screwdriver on the shaft, by the bearing, and tapping it with a hammer to rotate the bearing into perfect alignment. Do this again at 90 degrees to rotate the bearing in the other axis. Do this at both ends of the shaft. Now the motor will spin with lower friction. I hope this description made sense; it's much easier to show with pictures, but I didn't think to photograph that step.
The motor now raises and lowers the enlarger head without struggling.

Interesting advise. More so as it was effective.
I never though of such as I considered these bearings selfadjusting at mounting the rotor.

albada · Dec 17, 2022

AgX said:
Interesting advise. More so as it was effective.
I never though of such as I considered these bearings selfadjusting at mounting the rotor.

You are correct; the bearings are self-adjusting, but the residual rotational force on them adds friction. The tapping rotates the bearings a microscopic amount, removing the friction.

Lubricating bearings in motor in Beseler 45M-series enlargers

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