A quick word of advice about these excellent motors.
Usually extremely expensive, I recently purchased a 'new/old stock' RG4 for a Hall that I am currently building. At £35, it was at least half the usual price and I was pleased with the purchase. I took it out of its box to test it yesterday and found that the gear-box had seized completely. Dismantling the unit, I tested the motor, which worked perfectly: it would not drive the gear-box however.
I could see absolutely no flaw at all in the gear train. These units are lubricated for life and so should not fail. Applying a little oil, I added a half-wheeled axle to the final gear and turned the 'box over by hand: a phenomenal amount of torque was required to move the cogs at all.
A plea for help in the other place brought an immediate response. The problem was known, and it was caused by dried out lubrication which effectively binds the gears solid. Two hours in a bath of IPA [which turned the colour of dry sherry!] resolved the problem. A light oil and the gear-box, reunited with its motor, turned perfectly.
I've a number of these units and have not encountered this issue before. They are so well made and reliable, it never occurred to me that this could happen. If any of you use them too, its worth keeping this in mind.
Tony
Portescap motors
Portescap motors
Men with false teeth may yet speak the truth.......
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Railwayloft
- Posts: 2
- Joined: Sat Aug 23, 2025 6:23 pm
Re: Portescap motors
Tony,
Thank you so much for this post. I have had a similar problem...my Portescap gearbox looked clean, but it was running so stiffly and I was at a complete loss, as the motor itself wasn't pulling very high amps. I had thought the motor had failed somehow. After a few dunks of the gearbox in a jam jar of IPA alcohol, it runs like new! Thank you ever so much, you have saved me from scrapping the motor. I also had a very stiff open motor on a worm/gear drive that was running very tight. The whole lot, motor as well, went in the jam jar after the Portescap and it is now running fine!
Thank you so much for this post. I have had a similar problem...my Portescap gearbox looked clean, but it was running so stiffly and I was at a complete loss, as the motor itself wasn't pulling very high amps. I had thought the motor had failed somehow. After a few dunks of the gearbox in a jam jar of IPA alcohol, it runs like new! Thank you ever so much, you have saved me from scrapping the motor. I also had a very stiff open motor on a worm/gear drive that was running very tight. The whole lot, motor as well, went in the jam jar after the Portescap and it is now running fine!
Re: Portescap motors
On a general note, it's worth knowing that for any commercial product, this is a manufacturer's estimate; of the sort typically based on their perception of the 'normal' service life expected from the product, in whatever are the intended applications, with the item going into use fairly soon after manufacturing date...
(If that sounds like hedging, I have in my past systematically revised such open ended claims as 'for life' on manufactures, by setting limits based on accrued knowledge; taking into account such as baking in a container at an equatorial port, a possibility not thought of when there was no distribution outside the UK...)
Happily, the long recognised inherent qualities of the Portescap mechanism 'came through' for you.
