Ferret Posted March 21, 2010 Report Share Posted March 21, 2010 I finally had time to repack my gearbox (OK I was putting off a complex quilt I don't fancy working on today). I've been wanting to do it since I heard the difference it could make at the maintenance day. I opened up my gearbox and everything looked as expected, it looked to be full of light beige grease. As soon as I started to give it a poke it became clear I really should have done this a while ago. My grease was nearly all a very dark grey and grainy. Grainy grease isn't good for any machines so out it came. I was quite surprised by how dark it had got. It was also clear as I removed it there had been air bubbles around the shaft as it was completely free of grease in several places. Having filled it with fresh grease my machine is sounding a lot better. Much less like it is filled with loose metal work I also discovered that the pipe off a can of compressed air is really good for packing the grease in and clearing air bubbles. A handy piece of recycling. Oh, and one last thing, don't eat the grease it tastes really bad, or so I am told. Sigh, people really should wash their hands before eating. Ferret Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrazyAboutQuilting Posted March 21, 2010 Report Share Posted March 21, 2010 Hi Ferret, I just took the Maintenance Class on Thursday and Friday so I can relate to exactly what you're saying since we packed grease in a gear box at our class. Amy used a plastic picnic knife to get the air pockets out and it worked really good too. Do you use a pounce pad very often? This was one of the things that Amy mentioned that could add to the "lumpiness" in the grease. I use mine occassionally for marking stencils or border designs so I'll have to be sure to listen closely to my Lenni. :cool: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JustSewSimple Posted March 21, 2010 Report Share Posted March 21, 2010 Ferret, how old is your machine and had the greese been replaced before? I have had Lenni for 19 months so I was just wondering when my time will come. I also don't use her every day like most folks on this forum. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrazyAboutQuilting Posted March 21, 2010 Report Share Posted March 21, 2010 Sylvia, Amy told us at Maintenance class on Friday that a person doesn't need to do anything with the grease in the gear box unless your machine starts making a grinding noise. She said that it can happen anytime, that it will start because of an air pocket forming around the gears and preventing any grease from getting to them. So she told us to just stay tuned in to our machines and we would know when it's time to check it out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ferret Posted March 21, 2010 Author Report Share Posted March 21, 2010 I've had my machine over 3 years and I have never touched the grease before. I think I've used the pounce pad on two quilts in that time. I don't mark very often at all. I think my machine started sounding like a bucket of bolts after about 6 months, I was told not to worry about it at the time and that machines sometimes did that. I've just lived with the noise ever since. My machine now sounds much like it did when I first had it if I remember correctly. Ferret Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quiltermidwife Posted March 21, 2010 Report Share Posted March 21, 2010 Hey Ferret Good job well done. Isn't it great when something works well. My machine is still purring since Mark 'topped it up' in November. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ferret Posted March 21, 2010 Author Report Share Posted March 21, 2010 Oh my goodness was it really that long ago! Gosh. I knew I had been busy a while but..... Well it was overdue. Ferret Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quiltermidwife Posted March 21, 2010 Report Share Posted March 21, 2010 Originally posted by JustSewSimple how old is your machine Sylvia My machine was only a little over 18mths old when it started to sound noisy. Probably not anywhere near as bad as Ferret's and no 'grainy grease, but obviously had developed air pockets. Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
love2qlt4u Posted March 21, 2010 Report Share Posted March 21, 2010 What type of grease do you use? I will soon be moving my machine to my new studio and thought it would be the perfect time to repack the gear box. I've been sounding noisy for several months now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bonnie Posted March 21, 2010 Report Share Posted March 21, 2010 Originally posted by love2qlt4u What type of grease do you use? Its a white grease made specially for gears, that you can get from APQS...they send it in a little plastic baggy... you need to supply the plastic knife. Amy sends along instructions on how to do it. You don't always have to remove grease, but just push more in and get the air pockets out. The grainy grease needs to be removed, but not always does that happen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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