Patrick,

I tightened the 9/16" brass compression nut on as far as I was able then backed the 3/4" nut up against it and tightened the two against each other as best I could. I used my large ratchet and 3/4" socket the hold the nut with the ratchet braced against my hip when I used the impact wrench. Even so the brass gear was moving back and forth 5 or 10 degrees.

Bo T, thanks that's very helpful. I'm going to go buy a 9/16" brass compression nut and some propane for my torch. I figure between the jam nut and endless heat, hit, oil cycles this nut will come loose eventually. Man this project is taking way longer than I anticipated.

One thing I was wondering was has anyone ever added an oil drain oil to the bottom of the case? It seems like the oil dripping out through the fan bearings washes out all the grease and contributes to bearing breakdown - if the oil could drain straight out of the case the grease might stay in the bearings and prolong their life. Maybe you could hook up a tube to a drain hole in the case and collect the used oil in a jar or something?

I used the grease for outboard motors lower unit for my blower although it use Bronze bushings.  Gears sling oil around and the bearing get lubed.

Greetings Bo,

What you will find is the bearings ride on a machined grove on the worm shaft and will most likely be gauled and pitted. Just replacing the bearings won't help much. I wish I had a simple answer for you.. Good luck

Forge on and make beautiful things

Jim

The oil sloshing around inside the housing is what keeps all the gears and bearings lubricated. Think of it this way, oil dripping from the front/fan bearing is keeping the balls lubricated and flushing all the soot and dust from them. This model does not need to be oil filled, and isn't sealed to be so. A small pool of oil laying in the bottom around the worm shaft is sufficient, with a few squirts being added every now and then while in use. I'm still not convinced that grease is required and tend to think the grease actually slows down the turning of the handle.

Also, just to clarify something Jim mentioned above, the bearings ride on cone nuts attached to the shafts, if the conical surface is excessively worn you may want to consider replacing the nut.

One other trick I've used to remove the fan nut is to use the blower handle to turn the shaft while holding the nut with a wrench. This maximizes the mechanical advantage of the machine itself. Caution: If you apply too much pressure, you could break something and replacement parts are hard to come by.

 

Caution: If you apply too much pressure, you could break something and replacement parts are hard to come by.

Tell me about it. I had a cone shatter on one end. That blower has sat for a long time till I can find another without buying the whole dang blower

Have you though about paying a machinist to make a replacement?

Bo, where on that brass compression nut is it measuring 9/16 inch? Because as far as I can tell that is not a standard available size for those fittings. When I measure the nut from the back of the fan shaft is is 3/4 inch OD, about 7/16 ID, and around 24 TPI. Still no luck here finding a workable jam nut.

The nut that I am using is a brass standard compression nut for 5/16" tubing with 1/2" x 24 tpi UNS threads. The 9/16" is the wrench or socket that fits the nut. The threads are not perfect so using brass is important to keep from dinging up the threads on the shaft. Good luck.