Grease..... and not the movie....

[John C Cox]

Typically, motors under 10hp are permanently greased. Don't add more. They will run for many, many years with no additional lube.

Electric motors have a very specific greasing procedure. Do it wrong or add too much and you wreck the motor by filling the windings and stator with grease.

The first thing starts with the right specific grease. Each manufacturer will have a specification for the grease and amount. You have to use what they say, not whatever miscellaneous grease you have laying around.

Next is that the motor has to be hot.

Then, you add a specific weight of grease in grams to each bearing.

Then you pull the grease zerks out and run the motor to let the excess grease weep out under power. It generally takes an hour or two.

Last you reinstall zerks and clean off all the grease.

Do it wrong and you'll blow the seals and contaminate/wreck the bearings.

[Jerry Bruette]

Well here it is right from Baldor.
https://www.baldor.com/mvc/DownloadCenter/Files/LB5001

Karl's 213T frame motor should be greased every 3600 hours of run time. If my math is right and he runs the saw 4 hrs. a day for 365 days a year he should put 4 teaspoons of grease in the bearings every 2.46 years. Do it wrong and risk ruining the bearings.

I still don't think I'd bother getting the Polyrex EM to use 8 teaspoons of grease every two and a half years. I've seen 20 HP, 3600 RPM Baldor motors run under a heavy load on a Wheelabrator shot blaster for 18 hours a day never get greased and 5 years later they are running just fine.

[Karl Card]

Thanks for all the info. My motor was losing power. Ive had it for over 10 yrs so i figured it might need greased. However I also considered that I put new start and run caps about yrs ago. Start caps were the problem after testing so replacing them.

[Brian Runau]

https://www.pulsarlube.com/main

Automatic lubricators. Brian

[Bill Dufour]

If you were paying to use Kluber grease you would be using as little as possible. Probably cheaper to buy a used motor with good bearings then the grease.
A one kilogram can on Amazon is $429. Grease gun not included at that price.
BilL D.
https://www.amazon.com/Kluber-Isofle...BoCbKUQAvD_BwE

[Brian Runau]

If you were paying to use Kluber grease you would be using as little as possible. Probably cheaper to buy a used motor with good bearings then the grease.
A one kilogram can on Amazon is $429. Grease gun not included at that price.
BilL D.
https://www.amazon.com/Kluber-Isofle...BoCbKUQAvD_BwE

Bill, They will fill them with whatever grease the customer wants. Brian

[Karl Card]

Well after several thoughts and discussions with the local electric motor repair place, I decided to just get another motor. I found a brand new Leeson 7.5 hp tefc, 213tc frame, shaft is same as the baldor. about a 3rd of the price of a new baldor.
I feel baldor is dropping the ball on their motors. Many issues I read about while researching. Cant wait to try it out.

[Bill Dufour]

Cost for our information? Single or three phase.
Bill D

[Karl Card]

Cost for our information? Single or three phase.
Bill D

The new Leeson was $650 plus tax. free shipping. regular retail on this motor is $1200 on up. Single phase.

[Bill Dufour]

Great price! Now you can replace the bearings on the old motor at your speed. I am in the market for 3-5 hp. Was this something they had sitting on a shelf in the back needing to unload or a special price for good customers?
Bill D

[Ron Selzer]

Bill, I have to source motors for work. Had very good luck on eBay over the years. Helps if you can be patient, most of the time that is not the case.
Ron

[Pat Germain]

"Summer lovin', had me bla-ast!"

Great, thanks for the ear worm...

[Roger Feeley]

Can I jump in with a question? My father was a dentist. I inherited his buffer (he called it a lathe) that has self holding tapers in each side for various grinding and buffing wheels. He probably bought it in the late ‘40s. It still runs great and is virtually silent. It has a place for lubrication but they aren’t zeros. It looks like some kind of hole with a steel ball that can be pushed in.

what sort of lubricant would it need

[Bill Dufour]

Ball oiler. Push down the ball with the tip of the oil pump can spout. clean well before oiling so no gunk goes down the hole. If need make a pin hole in a nitrile glove to use as a gasket to seal the pressure so the ball unseats. New ones are cheap to buy. likely just a press fit.
The dentists call them "dental lathes" for some reason. Note the spiral tips are left and right handed.
Good habit to cover them with tape or magnetic sheet after oiling to keep out junk and make next use less messy. Also makes them easier to find. If stuck push down with a scribe to unseat stuck ball.
Bill D

[Roger Feeley]

So what oil should I use?