While waiting for a serial interface (DB9 to RJ11) so I can use the Deramp interface board (Model 15 Interface) I have been chasing down some occasional screeching noises. These noises were loudest when cold, then smoothed out, returning on occasion. There are a handful of ball bearings in the typing unit and I used silicon grease in each. The grease turned orange after some use, so I cycled grease until it stayed clean looking. This and plenty of oil in all the places the manual calls for did not silence the squeals. I finally found the source, the motor.
There are ball bearings in the motor, but they aren’t very easy to reach. The motor manual (Bulletin 295B) does show that there are oilers for these bearings
You press down on the 4 (2 on each side) ball seals and drop oil in there to lubricate the bearings, but if the old grease is polymerized (like old cosmoline) it wont help a bit, shown in the picture below.
Getting the motor apart was not too bad, there are two long bolts holding the motor together, I marked how everything was oriented so I wouldn’t put it back together incorrectly. The old grease was stiff like a tough wax and I had to pick it all out with a tough plastic pick. I used a Rothco gun cleaning pick set I found at the Fort Riley Post Exchange. There are two bearings and I cleaned both, then repacked with modern grease. The bearings seemed fine, no play when moving them and they spin much better now. This service quieted the squealing sounds and hopefully this machine will keep on clacking away.