Lubemizer nozzle

woodsy · March 30, 2011, 08:22:23 PM

I have been having a little trouble with the brass nozzles on my lubemizer. They both clogged up pretty good today so I took them off and cleaned the whole area pretty well.

After reinstalling them, the bottom one works fine but the top one gets clogged instantly when sawing. Even when the lubemizer is on continuous operation the top nozzle will clog up within feet of cutting and stop working. The only remedy is to take it off and blast it out with the air compressor.

Anyone ever experience this?

beenthere · March 30, 2011, 08:34:03 PM

When you blast it out, what is in it?

bandmiller2 · March 30, 2011, 08:43:43 PM

Sounds like sawdust in the lube tank.Probibly a complete cleaning ,blow out the lines, and new lube. Frank C.

Peter Drouin · March 30, 2011, 08:52:01 PM

I had that happen and I drill out the hole a little bigger . works good now :D :D

Bibbyman · March 30, 2011, 08:55:52 PM

I find 99/100 times it's the top nozzle that clogs for some reason.

Some things that may help;

Clean the filter element with every tank refill.

If the water tank is near empty, just pitch out what's left and flush the tank if you can.

I've went back to using house water rather than rain water that we catch off the sawshed roof. Too much gunk floating around in the rain water.

At the beginning of the day and after every blade change I check to see if the top nozzle is "firing".

woodsy · March 30, 2011, 09:17:32 PM

Can't really say what comes out when I blast it out with compressed air. The mere act of rinsing it off and blowing through it is not enough to clear the passage for it to work even though air is traveling through. It just needs that aggressive shot of compressed air.

When the nozzles started clogging I did a total over haul of the whole system, head to toe. Cleaned everything, all the hoses, new water, etc. Didn't find any suspicious matter that raised my eyebrow.

Drilling the hole a little bigger occurred to me, I just ran out of time today. I think I'll try this tomorrow.

Magicman · March 30, 2011, 09:27:38 PM

It's frustrating at best and I do have to periodically remove a nozzle and punch it out. Let your LubeMizer run for a few seconds without a nozzle. That should flush the line. Be careful that there is no sawdust buildup on the threads that is pushed back in when you reinsert the nozzle.

I believe that the force of the sawdust following the blade around will sometimes hit the nozzle just ~~right~~ wrong to clog the nozzle. I always turn the nozzle jet away from the oncoming blade & sawdust a bit to try to prevent/minimize this. Those nozzles are pricey, so be careful drilling it out too much.

I leave the LubeMizer squirting and use a brush between logs to clean the accumulated sawdust from around the nozzles. I just broke my nozzle brush and have had to replace it with a substitute brush.

My old nozzle cleaning brush.

My new brush before modifying.

My new modified nozzle and sawdust chute cleaning brush.

terrifictimbersllc · March 30, 2011, 09:55:44 PM

I have the same thing and have been blaming it on my leaf blower, I blow that area out well about every hour or so when I blow off the battery & over the wiper. But this should get both nozzles the same and it is the upper one that clogs. I'm thinking maybe that if I leave the nozzles squirting while I run a stiff wire in the clogged one maybe it would clear it out better. But with the explanations offered so far, what explains the top one clogging more than the bottom one?

cypresskayaksllc · March 30, 2011, 09:59:32 PM

A clog happened to me for the first time last week when I was cutting some real nasty pine. At first I thought the blade was dull but it was just nasty buildup on the blade.

Magicman · March 30, 2011, 10:16:49 PM

Quote from: terrifictimbersllc on March 30, 2011, 09:55:44 PM
But with the explanations offered so far, what explains the top one clogging more than the bottom one?

There is considerably more sawdust following the inside of the blade and around the bandwheels. It can't sling off like on the bottom and has no where to go. You will always notice more sawdust buildup on the top nozzle than on the bottom one. The top nozzle just gets more exposure to flying sawdust. That is why I theorize that at least some of the clogging is from external rather than internal contaminates.

Bibbyman · March 30, 2011, 10:20:20 PM

I wonder if any LT70 owners have as much of a problem? I think the nozzle is on the down wind side on the 70s.

gmmills · March 30, 2011, 10:57:53 PM

I have the same issues with my top nozzle on my LT 70. It may be off the mill for cleaning 2 to 3 times a week. The bottom nozzle very seldom an issue. Both of my nozzles face inward toward the idle side blade roller just as the LT 40's. There is an upgraded roller guide system for the 70's that have the top nozzle facing the opposite direction, toward the idle side band wheel. I think this change was to try to improve the nozzle plugging up. I don't like the nozzle being reversed in this manner. It has no protection from damage when a blade breaks. The force of the broken blade can snap that nozzle right off.

backwoods sawyer · March 31, 2011, 01:08:09 AM

I changed over from brass to stainless after rounding a brass nozzle off and having to remove it in pieces. They cost about twice as much, but do not seem to plug up as much. I like a blast of air to, but keep a fine wire twisted on the mill so I can poke out any slivers that plug up a nozzle. My well water grows iron bacteria that plugs up a filter in no time, so I run with out a filter and dump and refill the water jugs before they run completely out, and any unused water gets dumped out at the end of the day so that I start with fresh water every day.

captain_crunch · March 31, 2011, 01:21:02 AM

B_W_S
dump a tee spoon of Muratic acid in a tank full it eats Bact Iron big time

Gilman · March 31, 2011, 02:00:19 AM

It's really easy to have bacteria, fungus growing in your lines. Keep your tank clean. I've gone through the same problem with a LT40 and LT70.

As stated earlier I rinse my tanks prior to filling. I use a welder's torch cleaner to unclog the nozzle. While I'm removing, cleaning and reinserting the nozzle I keep the lubmizer on slow pulse, making sure there are no back flow contaminates. I let the slow pulse rinse the nozzle prior to cleaning and before assembly. This cut my plugging way down. The torch clip cleaner and a 7/16" wrench will get the job done in 2 minutes.

Clean lines, clean filter, clean nozzle and don't contaminate any of these!

woodsy · March 31, 2011, 07:05:39 PM

First thing this morning I took the nozzle off and looked at it under a magnifying glass. The hole looked as if it was clogged with a metal burr that had peeled off from the inside wall just up from where the water exits. It was hard to tell if it was a burr but it just didn't look right. The so called burr seemed affixed in there. It wasn't loose and I couldn't free it.

As you know the hole is pretty small. I was worried about using a 1/32 drill bit to tap the hole out and having it break off so I used a 1/16th bit. No problem, super easy to do. After boring, the hole looked better, the burr was gone.

I sawed all day with it and the nozzle never clogged, never slowed down, or even had a hint of struggling.

Bill Gaiche · March 31, 2011, 07:15:56 PM

Isnt it nice to find the culpert and erase him. Makes you feel good knowing things do work right when they are fixed, bg

barbender · April 01, 2011, 12:09:07 AM

My mill doesn't have Lubemizer, just the drip style. But I notice that the spray nozzle tips on the lubemizer are the same as those used on various construction equipment, especially asphalt rollers. The spray systems on these machines have a fine mesh filter at each individual tip, yet they always get clogged by objects that are bigger than the mesh. So I figure the stuff is coming from outside the system, getting into the tip. They are usually clogged after you have been on gravel, which sticks to the drum and falls across the tips, plugging them. My theory, anyhow. Keep a set of torch cleaner tips like someone mentioned.

Dan_Shade · June 03, 2017, 10:08:59 PM

Do any of you guys have a source for the stainless nozzles?

derhntr · June 04, 2017, 08:33:00 AM

I just replaced the bottom nozzle as it some how went AWOL $9.25 each. The spray slot appears to be larger than the original. I have taken the upper out so many time that I have to use vise grips now to remove it as I have worn/stripped off the edges of the nozzle.

petefrom bearswamp · June 04, 2017, 09:20:49 AM

I used to have problems with plugging too.
I plugged the lower hole and left the upper nozzle off.
Just let the coolant/lube gush onto the top of the blade.
I only use it on pulse set on the lowest volume while sawing.
when changing blades i let it gush at full volume for a few seconds to clean the blade.
works for me.
I also noticed that a great deal of the spray didnt hit the blade at all which was another reason I changed my method

Percy · June 05, 2017, 12:09:13 AM

I use diesel in my lubemizer and run a filter. Still plugs mabey once or twice a year...

barbender · June 05, 2017, 12:16:20 AM

My experience with those type of nozzles is on asphalt rollers. I'm convinced they usually get plugged by foriegn particles falling into them when they're not spraying. I use to look at the little pieces of rock that would plug a nozzle, they were way too big to get past the filter, not to mention the little screen right on the nozzle. Do the nozzles on the Lubemizer have those?