Should I think about oiling the motor bearing ?

[jmurray01]

Last year I bought a 1977 HOOVER Senior Ranger U4014 which is in brand new condition, and works fantastically, but I was wondering if I should think about oiling the motor bearing as a preventative measure ? Or should I just wait until it gets a bit noisy ?

If I should oil it, could you please tell me exactly how ?

Thanks.

P.S. If this matters any - It is only used about once every fortnight.

 

[massagemiracle]

By oiling it you are diluting and disolving the grease in the bearing that will eventually destroy the bearing unless it gets greased. That is something I could never do to a vacuum motor.

 

[Jakesvacs]

He means grease...

 

[twocvbloke]

Oil (3-in-1) goes on Bronze Sleeve bearings, grease goes on Ball bearings...

 

[Jakesvacs]

Haha, arewell, suppose none of us know what we are talking about, my senior is trashed so not going to grease/oil it.
Still got plenty of juniors to do though

 

[hoover719]

You just need to wait until the motor is noisy and dry-sounding. Try running the motor without the belt on it and listen to see if it makes any strange noises. If it does, you should lubricate the bearings.

 

[jmurray01]

Well the belt snapped a month or so ago and it sounded just fine for the few seconds it took for me to react and turn it off.

I'll bide my time then! Thanks everybody who replied, even if it was a bit confusing...

 

[hoovermanmick]

can you grease bearings on a hoover freedom cyclinder vac it rumbles bad when you turn it off or is the motor nakard

 

[twocvbloke]

"You just need to wait until the motor is noisy and dry-

Personally I prefer the preventative maintenance method myself, cleaning out and re-lubricating bearings is something I try to do as standard when I get a new vac to play with, regardless if the bearings sound okay, keeping them wet is better than letting them dry, after all, you wouldn't let a car engine run with old, black, nasty oil just to save money... :&#92

 

[jmurray01]

You've got a point there David.

 

[chyvan]

My Hoover owners manual from 1986 says that the bearings are lubricated for the life of the motor.

Anyone know if you should still do it, or just leave them alone as the manual suggests?

 

[twocvbloke]

The "life" of the motor is actually a clever term, because when they say something like that, then they mean maybe two or three years at most, about the same length as the warranty, after that it's up to the owner to sort out repairs and maintenance, so, yes, you should lubricate your motors, otherwise you might end up with some seized up bearings and a knackered motor...