Vintage Windmill and Wind Generator Forum

Hello, should the oiling ring on a WC8 be moving constantly? Mine moves about half then hangs up on back of the arm WC7 when it moves in the upper position. The new ring assembly runs straight and true, but even with a bit of "tweeking" the ring stops when it hits the back of WC7 near the far back of the case. More tweeking involved or is it supposed to stop momentarily? Also, how far away should the oil trough be from the big gear? Windybob, this is that mill with that "rare" W205 upper turntable we talked about a while back.....

Thanks for all your help.... Leon in Mn.

The oiling ring should turn constantly. It is very close to a lot of things, and anything out of adjustment can cause it to hang up. There is a back groove, and a front groove, in the carrier, and I have needed to bend the carrier to have the ring ride a bit more forward sometimes. The center of the carrier has a loop that the ring also is guided by. everything is very close. The front and back of the slots in the carrier also scrape the oil off the ring so that it drips either onto the oil pan to feed the front bearing, or the rocker arm to feed the rocker arm shaft. So, all the being said, ( for those unfamiliar) the ring should be tweaked to turn constantly, being careful about the fit of the gasket as to not also interfere also. Any stopping of the ring will cause more wear each time it stops on that area of the ring.

As far as the oil pan goes, these are notorious for breaking off and falling to the bottom , or getting caught between the gears, and forming an interesting accordian shaped piece of metal. I believe what causes this is that the pan is too high, causing the rocker arm to push it down on every stroke, and causing fatigue where the slot is, in it. This pan runs barely above the gear teeth, and just below the rocker arm on the down stroke. Yes, there is just barely enough room for it without touching anything.

Good luck on adjusting and tweaking. I would not recommend any adjustments after starting the second six-pack.

Thanks Windybob.
That's kind of what I was thinking too. It looks like I may have to carefully bend or maybe even file the very back of the arm WC7. It is very close to the back of the case and I think maybe the casting of the WC7 arm may have been a bit off too. But FIRST, I will try carefully bending the guide arms up or down to make it work. It only does it on the up stroke and then the oil grooves in the back of the WC7 arm hit the ring and binds it.

I'm thinking on painting it this weekend. The last WC 8 I put up back in 1997 I remember painting it "Pittsburg Brilliance Red" I'm hoping they still have this color as it has held up very well over the years. I've painted other things over the years and some paints turn pink after a while. Good to know about that oiling trough too. I will check it out.. Thank you.