Adding oil to a Grizzly 453 planer?

[Wade Lippman]

I have a small leak. I tightened up the bolts and it is reduced, but it still leaks a bit; perhaps a couple drops a week.

When I changed the oil the first time I had trouble adding oil through the plug until it reached the plug. Someone (I don't recall who) suggested removing a cap screw from the top and adding oil there until it came out the plug. That was pretty easy.

Now I want to add some oil because of the leak. It would be an awful lot easier to add oil though the cap screw until it reaches the right level from the top instead of taking it apart to get at the fill plug. Foolishly I didn't measure the level.

If anyone has done this (or is willing to measure their level) how far from the top is the proper level?
I hope this makes sense!

[David Buchhauser]

Hi Wade,
I have the Grizzly 0453Z planer - the same as yours except for the spiral cutter head. I have not changed the oil yet, in fact I have run it very little since purchase. Mine does not leak. If you can provide a photo showing the cap screw you removed to fill yours, and it is easily accessible without removing the side cover, then I could check mine to see how far down the oil level is. I assume that it might be one of the 2 capscrews shown in my second photo.
David

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[glenn bradley]

I just lower the table and remove the fill plug with a long allen wrench. I have a plastic card with the date that I last checked the oil stock near the fill hole with a magnet. I use a squirt-top bottle similar to this. I put a short length of plastic hose on the bottle to feed the oil into the hole. Pulling other screws in order to avoid a little run of over-fill from the filler hole seems overly complicated to me.

I did change the oil after the first "X" amount of hours as per the manual. This gets rid of any metal residue that occurs from that final "liquid honing" break-in period. A lot of folks talk about this case leaking at the gasket. I imagine the gasket could be made of better material but, mine loses a drop or two a year. This appears as a sheen of oil on the base on the case side of the machine. One wipe with a paper towel per year hasn't driven me to tear it down and put in a new gasket. I've run the machine for 9 years and have yet to have to add any oil after the initial oil change. ;-)

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[Wade Lippman]

I took mine apart when I changed the oil; perhaps because I wanted to try to stop the leak, or maybe because I didn't think of lowering the table. But even in the later, it is easier to put the oil in through the cap screw opening than the fill port.

It is the hole on the left, next to the screw I took out. A 3/16 inch dowel will fit in.
Thanks much.

planer.jpg

[Mike Kees]

I have a Delta DC 380 that is pretty much just like the Grizzly. Mine leaked from new. Last summer I pulled it apart and the gasket was short on a corner of the cover. I just made a new gasket from gasket stock . I fill mine thru the filler plug on the side with a squirt top bottle and a straw from Mcdonalds. Grab a handful of plastic straws before they are gone for good.

[glenn bradley]

I took mine apart when I changed the oil; perhaps because I wanted to try to stop the leak, or maybe because I didn't think of lowering the table. But even in the later, it is easier to put the oil in through the cap screw opening than the fill port.

It is the hole on the left, next to the screw I took out. A 3/16 inch dowel will fit in.
Thanks much.

planer.jpg

I stand corrected. That looks easy :-)

[Bill Dufour]

For some reason I do not have permission to see the photos but, On my parks planer I put a street elbow and a short nipple on the drain port so the oil can drain stright down into a container. I did similar on my compressor. On my lathe the headstock has about 1.5 quarts so I added the extended nipple and put an ball valve on it since it is fairly tight to the wall.
Bill

[David Buchhauser]

I took mine apart when I changed the oil; perhaps because I wanted to try to stop the leak, or maybe because I didn't think of lowering the table. But even in the later, it is easier to put the oil in through the cap screw opening than the fill port.

It is the hole on the left, next to the screw I took out. A 3/16 inch dowel will fit in.
Thanks much.

planer.jpg

Hi Wade,
I will check the level in my planer later this evening and let you know.
Thanks,
David

[David Buchhauser]

Hi Wade,
I will check the level in my planer later this evening and let you know.
Thanks,
David

Hi Wade,
I just checked the oil level in the gearbox. It looks like about 4.5" from the top surface of the machine (where the cap screw was removed) to the oil level in the gearbox. I hope this helps.
David


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[Wade Lippman]

Hi Wade,
I just checked the oil level in the gearbox. It looks like about 4.5" from the top surface of the machine (where the cap screw was removed) to the oil level in the gearbox. I hope this helps.
David


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Is that from the very top surface of the machine, or something else? Mine measures 5.5"; I hope the leak isn't THAT bad. Thanks much. (sadly, I can't see your attachments)

[David Buchhauser]

Is that from the very top surface of the machine, or something else? Mine measures 5.5"; I hope the leak isn't THAT bad. Thanks much. (sadly, I can't see your attachments)

Hi Wade,
I have resized my photos to a smaller size. Please let me know if you can see them now. I am measuring from the location where the top of the counterbore for the cap screw meets the top surface of the machine (the surface where the blue and white sticker is attached).
David
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[Wade Lippman]

Hi Wade,
I have resized my photos to a smaller size. Please let me know if you can see them now. I am measuring from the location where the top of the counterbore for the cap screw meets the top surface of the machine (the surface where the blue and white sticker is attached).
David
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I am sure your photos are great; I just can't see attachments. Sorry for the inconvenience.
Attached is a photo of the hole with the screw removed.
Are you referring to what I call the "top surface" or to the "screw base"?
It was a lot of work to get the photo like this, but now I know how to do it!

[David Buchhauser]

I am sure your photos are great; I just can't see attachments. Sorry for the inconvenience.
Attached is a photo of the hole with the screw removed.
Are you referring to what I call the "top surface" or to the "screw base"?
It was a lot of work to get the photo like this, but now I know how to do it!

Hi Wade,
Yes - I am referring to the "top surface" as indicated in your photo. Why are you not able to see attached photos? Is it a limitation with your computer?
Thanks,
David

[Bill Dufour]

Hi Wade,
Yes - I am referring to the "top surface" as indicated in your photo. Why are you not able to see attached photos? Is it a limitation with your computer?
Thanks,
David

He can not see the photos or any links because he is not a paid member. I just found that out this weekend. It started 5/2/2019. I beleive it is retroactive?

[David Buchhauser]

He can not see the photos or any links because he is not a paid member. I just found that out this weekend. It started 5/2/2019. I beleive it is retroactive?

Hi Bill,
Thanks for the update! I was kind of wondering what was going on since there were several other posters who were having the same issue - on some other threads. I believe that the minimum cost to become a member is around $6 per year. It is certainly well worth it to have access the the photos and links.
David