Originally Posted by
mwbridgwater
My employer has two Fadals which I'm running. One is a 1993 3016 that has a single lubrication reservoir, pneumatically operated. The other is a 1985 4020 which has a manually operated pump/reservoir for the way lube and above it, a Bijur (pneumatic) "Mist Lubricator" which I assume is for the spindle (Two clear canisters, left for air filter and right for oil). Prior to my arrival at the company, they always used way lube (Mobil Vactra #2) in all three reservoirs.
My question is, how is the 1993 model getting spindle lubrication (Or are the spindle bearings sealed)? The machine isn't drawing spindle lubrication from the single (Way lube) reservoir, is it?
I know that Way Oil and Spindle Oil are extremely different products. Without getting into specific chemistry, Way Oil is high viscosity for resisting the heavy loads between machine surfaces. Spindle Oil is very thin for operating in fine, precision bearings. They shouldn't have been putting the Vactra #2 in the 4020's "Mist Lubricator" (Assuming that's for the spindle), right? Some one told them it was okay to used the Vactra #2 in everything - don't see how that can be alright.
Other archived discussions I've looked through here seem to agree that Mobil Vactra #2 should be used for the Ways, and Mobil DTE 797 for the spindle. Mention is also made of the High/Low Speed mechanism using Mobil DTE Heavy Medium. I don't see any other reservoirs on these two machines - what about this spec for the High/Low?
In summary: 1) Does the 1993 machine not need spindle oil? (It's not using the Way lube for that, right?). 2) Shouldn't we be using a spindle oil in the 1985 machine instead of Way lube (This has to be bad, right?). Please verify that the Bijur Mist Lubricator IS for the spindle (The manual lubricator below is clearly for the ways - I can follow the tubes.). 3) What about the High/Low Speed lubrication - does that apply to these two machines?
Thanks for your help,
Mark