Repacking gearbox while on the rails

[vicheaton]

I’ve watched all the videos on how to repack the gearbox with grease, but they involve removing the head and flipping the machine upside down.  Unfortunately, I just upgraded to the Intelliquilter and with all the extra add-on electronics, I don’t think it would be possible for me to remove the head from the rails without a big IQ mess.  I’ve also read that repacking can be done from below, though this isn’t optimal.  

My problem is that the machine is over 10 years old and I live in Las Vegas (hot, hot, hot) and it developed an air bubble this week, one the size of a quarter. I opened it up from below and mushed the grease around but I’m sure that the gearbox isn’t as full as it should be.  And the grinding noise went away, but I need to insert more grease into the box while it is mounted on the frame.  Any ideas? My desperate thought was piping it in via a pastry bag, or tube of some sort, with one screw remaining in the cover plate so that I can just swivel/pivot the plate enough to insert the grease....then somehow mush it around without it all falling out to the floor...lol...help!

[RunningThreads]

Well if you can get grease in without turning the head upside down you will be my new hero.  Try it first and if it works let us know.  Just cut the corner on the bag the grease comes in and use it as the piping bag,  you won’t need much.  

Getting the IQ out of the way shouldn’t be too hard.  I would remove the motor from the head by removing the two Allen screws shown where I put the q-tips and unplug the grey wire from the motor (it pulls straight up) and unclip the wire from the side of the head.  Removing the motor this way means you can put it back on in exactly the same position without having to make adjustments.  There is another cable that you should unclip going to the mount for the tablet.  On mine it splits into one jack to recharge the tablet and a real small connector to the circuit board.  On my picture the green connector is actually two connections and you would only need to remove the one.  You IQ is new so it may be way different.

Nigel

[barbm]

If you pipe the grease in while the head is on the rails, how are you going to apply the silicone sealer? That's an important step in repacking the gearbox - it keeps grease from oozing out around the plate. You might want to call APQS Service and see if they have any suggestions for doing routine maintenance on a machine with IQ. Or contact your IQ dealer for suggestions. Yours cannot be the first IQ-equipped APQS machine that needs this service.

[jimerickson]

Vic:  Why worry?  I've read that the grease in the gear box is only there to control noise, not for lubrication.  If you're happy with how quiet/loud your machine is, why try and change it.  I added grease to my Ult 2 some years back without removing it from the table.  I think (I don't really remember for sure) I took off the gear box cover and used a putty knife to pack in some additional grease, then put the cover back on with new silicon sealer.  My guess is that I wasted my time doing it.  Jim

[cegates]

 I would be very interested in a solution to this.  Can it be done???  I have IQ and have put off re-packing the gear box for too long because I'm afraid I'll either spend a huge amount of time getting it put back together or just won't  be able to do it at all.  

 

Carol

[Mercedes]

I would also be interested in this as I am currently researching computerized systems and IQ is one of them.    Mercedes