Hydrovane compressor help

[Jim_gsxr1000]

In the process of overhauling my Hydrovane 502 has anyone ever changed the White metal bushes, if so what's the best way to go about it ?

 

[Gary900r]

Never changed one yet. Apart from when machines have been run with out enough oil in there isn't usually any significant wear.

 

[Jim_gsxr1000]

That's what I thought, my machine is pretty rough inside, cleaning up ok though ! What about the oil cooler worth pressure testing ?

 

[Gary900r]

I've serviced/rebuilt 100's of these over the last 25+years i think only a handful of coolers have ever leaked(apart from seals).
If you can test it easy it may be worth it but i wouldn't put much effort into it.
If it does leak i probably have a spare one.

 

[Jim_gsxr1000]

Good to know, it's my first time striping mine, i paid 230 delivered for a service kit, top up kit and a gallon of oil, sound about right ?

 

[Gary900r]

Can check prices for you tomorrow. a gallon of oil will last you years. they only hold about a liter.
If you can make a sleeve to go over the drive shaft to protect the shaft seal when refitting seal. The slightest damage to the seal and it will leak.

 

[Jim_gsxr1000]

Yeh, it's the reason I'm doing the overhaul, it was ******* out the shaft is lightly scored, if cleaned it up with scotch bright and oil, looks decent now, what the availability of new rotors like ? Also what the best material to make a sleeve from, hope you don't mind all the questions, if worked on quite a bit of machinery but never hydrovanes, it's nice to finally find someone that has first hand experience not, just what they think, it's greatly appreciated

 

[Gary900r]

its still a current production machine so all parts are available. I may have 2nd hand one at my workshop if yours is shot. I have made sleeves from nylon, ptfe, brass and aluminium.

 

[Jim_gsxr1000]

Ideal, il bear that in mind

 

[knighty]

hate to lurk here for years without posting and then when I finally post I'm asking for help but.... here it is

I have a hydrovane compressor I bought on ebay years ago, it's always worked trouble free, hardly gets used, mostly blowing up tyres etc..

it's developed a small leak, somewhere under the cover where the air feed comes out of the compressor head, so I figure it's time for a full service

can anyone tell me which compressor I have from the photos ? - the data plate that should show it is missing so I have no idea which service kit/oil to buy for it :-o

http://imgur.com/a/J9yHT

(I spent hours searching for hydrovane forums but this place still seams to have more hydrovane knowledge than they do!)

also... having read up on servicing a bit, it looks like I should have the compressor running for an hour straight at least once a week to get the oil up to temperature and to keep everything healthy... my plan is to add a solenoid valve to the drain port, and have it run on a timer so it opens for an hour once a week... 2 birds with one stone, it'll drain out any water and run the compressor too

it's connected up to a 2000litre air tank, so it takes a while to fill that, but then I never use much air so doesn't take long to re-fill what I use)

any ideas anyone?

(sorry to jump on this thread, figured it was better to post here than start a new thread?)

 

[Gary900r]

Its a Hydrovane 15PURS current version would be a hv02.
there are 2 kits required for a complete rebuild.one is the service kit which fits any version and a top up kit. there are 2 different top up kits. one for the early machines(which yours is) one for the later machines. The difference is the oil seal which are not interchangeable.
Your solenoid valve/timer idea will work but you need to restrict the flow to maintain about 7bar(100psi) in the pump unit while the machine is running.

 

[knighty]

hi

thanks for the help, I've emailed thorite to see about the service kit and top up kit - I can see links online to them as suppliers but can;t find any in there online shop

any idea for the best way to restrict the flow? - I thought pressure release valve would work well, but can't fine one that I can set for 100psi - I might be best just buying one and then trying to adjust it (I guess shortening a spring?)

thanks again for the help, you're a life saver

Alan

 

[knighty]

EDIT: posted a problem thinking my new oil separator was the wrong one and wanting to check, but it was the right one, just me being dumb
(fell 20ft and landed on my head 8 months ago, keep making mistakes now so I'm checking everything 5 times)

all stripped down and cleaned up, old oil was a bit thick but not too bad, no gunk etc..

putting it back together now, face plate is still off, looking into the compressor tube bit, right above the oil drain and a little further back on the end plate there's a pin hole with oil oozing out of it... do I need to strip the compressor down further and get the rest of that oil out / clean something up ?

I'm happy it was in decent condition so was going to start putting it back together now and not separate the compressor from the motor

 

[knighty]

also, I took the fan cover off the motor, so I could turn it by hand while tightening the allen bolts holding it all together... when I toghten them up the motor locks.... am I just doing them too tight? (they're not that tight yet)

when I took them out they were pretty tight, but maybe they were just a bit seized?