[TowerTalk] Mobil 1 SHC 634 oil change?

K7LXC at aol.com K7LXC at aol.com
Fri Mar 3 12:10:48 EST 2017


>  I am going to do a gear oil change on a Hub City gear box  on my US Tower
HDX572 MDPL. The recommend oil is Mobil 1 SCH634. In reading  on the Mobil
website for this oil it says "*Filled for life gearboxes*,  especially high
ratio/ low-efficiency worm gears". Should I worry about  changing the oil? I
bought this tower used, 3 years ago, and it is in great  shape but I have
never changed the oil in it. As far as I can tell the tower  was built in
the late 1990's. I dont know if the oil has ever been changed.  The gear box
doesn't make a sound when working.
 
    Usually my LXC Prime Directive - "DO what the  manufacturer says" - 
answers these questions. Perhaps there's already Mobil 1 in  there. Maybe not. 
 
    Since the manufacturer, Mobil and not UST -  says Filled For Life, I 
might change it to the Mobil 1 to remove all  doubt and let it go another 20 
years before contemplating doing it again. 
 
    Heat kills the lubricating additives in oils  and your gearbox is 
probably run so infrequently that it probably doesn't heat  up much so the life 
saving additives are still active years later. Typical  gearboxes in 
commercial applications may run dozens or hundreds of times a day  so ham use would 
be considered very light duty.
 
    OTOH I'm always of the mind of "If it ain't  broke - don't fix it". 
Drain a little out and see how it looks and then make  your decision. 
 
Cheers,
Steve   K7LXC
TOWER TECH 



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