oiler for Lucas dynamos N/S end

[Graham Barker]

The dynamo on my 1937 Ruby has a plug in the hole where some have an oiler. See photo.  It appears that this plug has not been removed for several hundred miles at least. Certainly not removed in the time of my ownership. Should I be removing the plug and oiling or does enough lubrication come through from the distributor drive. There is no noise coming from the bearing.

[Reckless Rat]

Graham, that's the same plug that I mentioned in an earlier post. I would prise it out and see what lies beneath. There probably will be a felt plug on top of the bearing. Give it a drop of oil just to be sure.

[squeak]

Is that "plug" not a gauze filter, usually painted over? I seem to recall similar on magnetos

[JonE]

well, whatever they are, see if you have holes in your bushes at the bottom of it! I'll clean this one off here and see if its gauze.

[Parazine]

So should those particular bushes definitely be drilled or not? 

If the bush is original, it will be sintered bronze ("Oilite"). Some will have been replaced with solid bronze or brass bearings (they're easy to turn up on a lathe) and these should be drilled with a small hole. The problem is that excess lubricant will find it's way into the brushes area and generally mess things up.

As to the efficacy of ninety year old Oilite, well I'd be rather dubious.....

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Is that "plug" not a gauze filter, usually painted over? I seem to recall similar on magnetos

No.

[David Stepney]

My car has a grease nipple at the end of the dynamo, to which I give a small squirt of grease occasionally in the belief ( possibly erroneous) that it greased the distributor drive gears.. Perhaps, given the contents of this thread, I should replace it with an oiler.

[Jeff Taylor]

Hi Jon,

I've just removed the top outer tin plate plug from my Lucas C35A dated 11 / 35. As Reckers says there does appear to be a small disc felt pad at the bottom - it's definitely not a gauze. 

Over the past almost fifty years I've messed around with a lot of 1930's Morris 8 Lucas C45 dynamos which are very similar to those fitted to the Big 7 and Austin 8. These Lucas C45's also have and have always had oilite bushes fitted at the commutator end and none that I've ever worked upon have had a hole drilled in the oilite bush - in fact I've a boxed N.O.S end plate and the bush in that isn't drilled. The oiling process on these C45's is by means of a screw-in hollow brass tube 30mm long x 13mm diameter and within the tube sits a spring with a felt pad attached to the end - the oiled felt pad simply bears upon the outer skin of the oilite bush. There's no need for a hole in the bush because the oilite material absorbs oil into its pore structure - all you need to do is keep the felt pad on the end of the spring charged with oil, don't let it run dry. For the C45's oiler Lucas recommend two drops of thin machine oil every 1000 miles - obviously the thin machine oil is absorbed into the oilite bush better than a thicker oil.

The brass oiler on C45's below:


  Screenshot 2022-01-02 at 14.01.44.png (Size: 520.59 KB / Downloads: 115)

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Jon,

If you're worried about the efficacy of your old oilite bush, A7C stock new ones part no. BG154r Lucas C35A / C35M rear bush 1932-39.

[Graham Barker]

I have prised off the plug and found no evidence of gauze or felt pads.  There was greasy metal at the bottom of the hole at about the depth of the shaft.  I am not sure whether my probe was touching a bush or the shaft.  I put in a couple of drops of oil and closed it up again, deciding to leave "well alone" because on a recent dismantle there was no significant play in that bearing.
Cheers
Graham.

[JonE]

So, thanks all, it seems that if the majority of spares are still oilite, we should leave well alone unless a few drops don't 'relieve' a noisy rebuilt dynamo!

I'm assuming that oilite can somehow be recharged/permit oily transfer from the other side of the bush surface.

Is this the same situation as at the rear brake lever? I have a feeling I've thus drilled there when I shouldn't have...

[Bob Culver]

The true oilite bushes are porous. Not supposed to be reamed but I have encountered undersize so presumably were available finished. Lucas dynamos on post war cars had these and many were very neglected but not a source of much trouble. The properties of oilite are remarkable. (On other makes the prepacked ball race at other end gives trouble after 60 and more years of no attention. Seven ones get doused in oil )