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I learned a valuable lesson filling a gearbox last week: make sure you have proper ventilation when filling with a pump with quick-disconnects attached. We installed quick-disconnects on top of gearboxes, then installed a 3/4-inch T. The desiccant went on top, and we installed a female disconnect on the T with the purpose of filling from there.

On the bottom of the gearbox we installed a disconnect to drain the oil. After two minutes of filling the gearbox from the top disconnect, the desiccant blew off. Oil squirted up out of the gearbox and went everywhere.

We were lucky, because the seals could have blown out of the gearbox instead. The gearbox becomes pressurized when filling. We filled from the bottom of the gearbox (intended for drain purposes) and air escaped up through the desiccant.

Blown seals would have caused considerable downtime for repair. We were certainly lucky! You can see a photo of this gearbox here: (Submitted by Scotty Lippert, Planned Maintenance Tech., Clopay Corp. Thanks Scotty!)