JDB Posted May 20, 2010 Share Posted May 20, 2010 I just purchased a Champion 400 Blower. It had had the oil drained from the gear case. I filled it with 75w-90w gear lube and it seemed to work just fine. I checked the internals and the gears appeared brand new. There wasn't any play in either the gears or the output shaft the impeller is mounted on. I tried it and it seemed pretty quiet. I came back about 2 hours later and most of the gear oil had drained out. Does anyone have any recommendations on sealing the case or the shafts? There do not appear to be any cracks in the case other than the seam in the top cover. Does anyone have any suggestions? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bsiler Posted May 20, 2010 Share Posted May 20, 2010 It's not suppoe to hold oil. Just afew dropswhile your using it. Do a search and you'll find quite a bit of information on the Champion 400 here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlackSmithBear Posted May 20, 2010 Share Posted May 20, 2010 (edited) When I cleaned and put new ball bearings in my 400, after installing the bearing retainer cone and nut, I cut a piece of inner tube to fit snug over the shaft, packed the bearings with grease, and it seems to not leak oil as quickly. The design is basically a "constant loss" one, and not meant to hold the oil in. It seems the bearings I used are a bit too small (rattles a bit), so I'll be taking it apart to put the right size in, and will post pics. To clarify a bit, the rubber "gasket" I made fits inside the screw in metal cover with hole for the fan shaft. Also, gear oil is a tad heavy for these. Most here use a mix of ATF, and light oil. Edited May 20, 2010 by BlackSmithBear Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dablacksmith Posted May 20, 2010 Share Posted May 20, 2010 ya i use 10-30 and only a squirt a day it never did seal ... wasnt meant to .this is a dezign from around 1900 at that time it was state of the art and its still a good dezign after all its still working after 100 years.. can you Imagine many modern tools lasting that long?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SReynolds Posted June 15, 2011 Share Posted June 15, 2011 That blower shaft is keyed and threaded. Pretty tough to seal that. The balls are .250 in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yance Posted August 10, 2011 Share Posted August 10, 2011 .250 dia is correct, and those can be found in abundance at your local supermarket. The castors on the front of shopping carts have (I think) 32 in each swivel section. Stores usually have wrecked carts sitting around back. Ask permission before robbing a wheel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Backwoods Blacksmith Posted August 10, 2011 Share Posted August 10, 2011 If you use chain saw bar oil it will stick to the gears and bearings and not drip off as badly as regular lubrecating oil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Borntoolate Posted August 29, 2011 Share Posted August 29, 2011 I put 1/4" bearings in mine. It still has a good bit of rattle. I used JB weld on the cones (they were grooved). Not sure if that has held up or not. The cups have wear to but I left them alone. A friend said I may need to wear in the Gear to the worm. I bought some lapping compounds and used it. This helped some. Probably did not lap long enough. I figure I will just let it wear in itself. I also found that one of the fan blades was just a tad bit loose. Just a very little. This was making about half of the rattle noise. I solderd it tight. You can buy bearings from Grainger and probably a bunch of other places. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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