Re: [CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO] Bridgeport way wear,lubrication fix

R Rogers wrote:

>As I said before, drilling out the valves to get an unrestricted flow is probably not the thing to do. And it really isn't. However I've checked the machine that I did this to and it gets plenty of lube everywhere. I did this while installing the ball screws and I had the table off so it was easy to check. The I.D. of the tubing is very small and is a restrictor of flow itself thereby balancing the amount of oil dispensed on each tube. I wouldn't suggest anyone else doing this. Considering mine wasn't getting any lube, I had to do something with it. Mine were plugged completely. When I pull the handle now it takes about 5 seconds for it to go back down completely. If the tubing had a large I.D. this probably wouldn't work at all. Could be that someone changed oil on the company truck and figured that reservoir would be a good place for the used oil.
>Ron
>
>

On my machine (a Bridgeport with Bijur manual one-shot lube), the pump
takes several seconds to go down, regardless of whether I've attached
the oil distribution hoses or not. I saw this behavior when I
disassembled the lube system for cleaning, when I first got the mill.
Although your machine seems fine (and it probably is - you have it, so
you can tell better than anyone else around), you may find that there is
less oil getting to some places - like the ballnuts, for example. It's
a pain to check them with the table on, and the tubes that feed them are
among the longest in the system. As long as the table and saddle are
moving, oil will be distributed on the ways (it seems to flow better
when there's motion). It just might not get anywhere else, and that can
be hard to detect.

Since I upgraded from leadscrews to Ballscrews, I thought I'd need an
extra hose and fitting, so I bought replacement parts from
http://www.devco.com . Their prices were pretty reasonable for some
things, a little higher than MSC or McMaster on others (I think they had
inexpensive tubing and fittings, but the flow restrictors were a little
on the high side.)

- Steve