Dominion DAA P/T help please.

[T.H.]

Hello all,

I have recently purchased a Dominion DAA planer/thicknesser which is undergoing maintenance & small refurb jobs before being put to work. Can anyone on here confirm if the 2 x shafts in the gearbox have oil seals? The box was almost empty when I bought it which pointed towards an oil leak or poor maintenance, although I couldn’t see oil staining etc or evidence of a leak. Upon cleaning & fresh gear oil up to shaft level (no fill indicator in gearbox) oil leaks on the shafts showed up. It’d be handy to know if the seals are actually there before stripping it all down. My guess is that they are & need replacement or maybe I’ve overfilled with oil? I estimate the machine to be an early eighties model. Pics show oil leaks plus before & after gearbox oil fill.

Any help or advice is appreciated.

Thanks,

Tony

 

[deema]

It’s been a whiles since I stripped one of those gearbox’s. I honestly can’t remember if they have seals, and I don’t have any photos of the bits. The more recent ones I’ve done have just had an oil change. However, I fill them like you have up to the shafts, and they don’t leak, so by inference, there are seals in it.
The last two I’ve played with went to Africa.

 

[T.H.]

Thanks Deema. I’ll investigate further then & I’m hoping it’s possible to change the seals without a full strip down job.

This one’s travelled a little too. Recently imported to Polska from Jersey UK.

Thanks

 

[T.H.]

Hello again all,

Removed the pulley & sprocket etc today to investigate this Dominion DAA oil-seal issue. Looks like the two bearing covers which the 2 x gearbox shafts pass through are grooved for a type of O-ring seal? No evidence of any worn-out existing seals though. The opposite end of the shafts also have a screw-on cover. Very slight oil leak on these but that could probably be sorted by making & fitting some circular gaskets or a good clean & silicone sealant? The oil fill level is below these shafts & there’s no pressure involved so it’s just a case of containing any lubricant that’s thrown up while the gearbox is running.

Question for anyone ‘in the know’: If new seals x 2 are required are O-rings suitable for this dynamic/rotary situation? One of the shafts is also lightly splined where the seal would be, seems odd?

Any help & advice appreciated.

Cheers.

 

[baldkev]

What kind of speed will they turn at?
Unfortunately I dont really know, bit looks like once fixed, you'll have one **** of a nice machine!

 

[T.H.]

What kind of speed will they turn at?
Unfortunately I dont really know, bit looks like once fixed, you'll have one **** of a nice machine!

Hi,

Not sure of the speed but I think the motor runs @ 2800 rpm? It’s geared down so the primary/main shaft may run at half of that? When it’s running the gear-oil is thrown no higher than the selector shaft at the top of the gearbox.

I’ll probably be posting further on this so I’ll upload a vid of it running maybe?

Cheers.

 

[T.H.]

UPDATE:

Hi all,

After some research it looks like the 2 x gearbox shaft covers don’t require seals & if some type of ‘O’ ring was fitted I can’t see them lasting long against the rotating shafts. Therefore I dropped the oil level to approximately 6mm below the bearings. This seems to have stopped any shaft leaks & all the gears are still bathed in oil while running. I fitted paper gaskets to all four caps as well. Seems all good.

Knocked up two separate extraction chutes for thicknessing & planing. A 45 degree one for thicknessing seems to extract well & I managed to fit two vertical parts to the planing one to catch any stray shavings getting past the infeed & outfeed rollers. Also reduced the height of vertical part on the infeed side to allow planer bed to rise & fall.

Replaced the 2 x drive-chains with new 083 chain. The existing
‘Renold’ ones were seriously worn/stretched. Approximately 30mm stretch on the longest chain which was around 1200mm long! Fresh HSS knives fitted, plenty of cleaning & lubrication & she was all good to go.

Seems a good machine, plenty of power & a nice solid feel to it

 

[baldkev]

UPDATE:

Hi all,

After some research it looks like the 2 x gearbox shaft covers don’t require seals & if some type of ‘O’ ring was fitted I can’t see them lasting long against the rotating shafts. Therefore I dropped the oil level to approximately 6mm below the bearings. This seems to have stopped any shaft leaks & all the gears are still bathed in oil while running. I fitted paper gaskets to all four caps as well. Seems all good.

Knocked up two separate extraction chutes for thicknessing & planing. A 45 degree one for thicknessing seems to extract well & I managed to fit two vertical parts to the planing one to catch any stray shavings getting past the infeed & outfeed rollers. Also reduced the height of vertical part on the infeed side to allow planer bed to rise & fall.

Replaced the 2 x drive-chains with new 083 chain. The existing
‘Renold’ ones were seriously worn/stretched. Approximately 30mm stretch on the longest chain which was around 1200mm long! Fresh HSS knives fitted, plenty of cleaning & lubrication & she was all good to go.

Seems a good machine, plenty of power & a nice solid feel to it

Great stuff, well done. To improve extraction..... you need airflow into your hood. It needs to come from the infeed side so the air being sucked through catches the chips and takes them away. If you dont, your extractor will be throttled and chips can block the ports. I found out the hard way so you don't have to

 

[T.H.]

Great stuff, well done. To improve extraction..... you need airflow into your hood. It needs to come from the infeed side so the air being sucked through catches the chips and takes them away. If you dont, your extractor will be throttled and chips can block the ports. I found out the hard way so you don't have to

Hi there,

Ok, both hoods would benefit from a ‘through-flow’ of air I reckon.

I’ll look into it.

Thanks

 

[Housey210]

the bearing caps have a grease groove, seen in photo, just fill that with grease as too the bearings. Oil, not too much only to cover tooth of cog as designed spray up and around.

 

[T.H.]

the bearing caps have a grease groove, seen in photo, just fill that with grease as too the bearings. Oil, not too much only to cover tooth of cog as designed spray up and around.

Hi there,

Thanks for reply.

Advice noted,

Cheers