rescued from the skip

[Shedendman]

A little project for me over xmas instead of watching repeats.
It was just about to go into a skip when i stepped in and guided it to the back of the van.
looks to me like a home built jobby god know how old it is,weighs a ton,pump turns and theres compression(anyone seen a pump like that before,any details,guesses etc?) Dont know if i'll connect the motor up till i get a sparky guy to check it out first,best photo i could get from the plate(cleaned up) but it is single phase.
Its come at a good time to,her sister is round for xmas with her boring hubby,guess where i'll be
More photos and questions to follow when its striped down and cleaned up

 

[Mikey D]

Its an old un , thats for sure !
should keep you busy over christmas tho
good luck

cheers mike

 

[chunkolini]

3rd picture down makes it look a WWII ride on torpedo.

Chunko'.

 

[Shedendman]

Couldn't resist but have a play with a few spanners did a basic strip down found a plate on the pump under the layers of dirt grease an crap,something to go on anyway

 

[eddie49]

Wonderful...! From the care taken with some of the details - like the slotted mounting holes for the motor, the pump bolted to channel, the way the wheels are fitted, I don't think it was home-made.
There seems to be a cover plate missing from over the motor terminals, and the belt and pulleys are missing... The circular black pot, with a drain tap, could be an unloader - maybe controlled centrifugally from the crankshaft?
If you are going to use it, the air tank needs to be hydraulically tested - I wouldn't want whatever is sealing the neck of that bottle to come off and hit me in the ankle ....

 

[eil]

I think the circular black pot with the drain tap is a discharge oil separator.

 

[Shedendman]

Forgive my daft question,in pic 1 would the motor be turning clockwise or anticlockwise?

 

[Pete.]

I doubt it matters, since it's just a crank & piston pump. Unless there's some kind of oil pump built in for lubrication.

 

[pedrobedro]

The tank looks like an old medical oxygen cylinder with the neck welded up, it definitely looks home made to me.

 

[the snooper]

The tank looks like an old medical oxygen cylinder with the neck welded up, it definitely looks home made to me.

i would agree with the tank being a diy job but i think the rest is original you wouldnt need a tank for inflating tyres

 

[Dr pepper]

I thought the pump was old refridgeration or maybe a truck airbrake pump, but looking at that its deffo a compressor.
One thing is that the motor allthough maybe single phase doesnt have a capacitor so will not have loads of starting torque, which means the preesure will have to drop to a low level before you can kick the pump in, or turn the pump at a slower speed, another possibility is if the pump has an auto blow off and the motor runs all the time.
I'd undo one of the pipes or bosses on that tank and have a look inside for any major rust, condensation sat in there for 30 years may have attacked the bottom of that bottle.
Nice find and well worth dragging out the skip.
I have a pub beer compressor in my shop, but before that mine was a aircon pump off a rover charging up an old fire extinguisher powered by a spin dryer motor, good to make use of stuff.
That pump and motor will still be running in another 50 years.

 

[rosinante]

Tyre inflator

Hi I have an old forecourt tyre inflator,it doesnt have a tank but it runs continuously with an unloading vv set at about 50 psi, the outlet is thru the handle,it is seriously heavy,on wheels,I was given it as part of an ebay purchase, as stated earlier the motor on yours could also run continously,good luck with resto ,will be watching to get some inspiration to start mine,
Cheers
chris

 

[Shedendman]

Just an update to how its going,i was meant to save doing all this till next week but when i go into my little workshop its there looking at me feeling very sorry for itself
Ok i've done a little looking around for some specs and history esp on the pump,not much out there just a bit of history on the makers s smith & sons
Here
http://www.competition-commission.org.uk/rep_pub/reports/1960_1969/fulltext/025c06.pdf

Other places didnt tell me much, but from what i got these pumps were fitted to some vechicals(vans trucks) back in the 1920-30's as, to what it says, "a tyre pump" which ran from the crank via a pulley,this tells me the setup i have must be something that was put together(home built jobby),so i'll come back to that another time, meanwhile i attacked the motor.

The worst thing about taken this apart today was getting the pulley off, the tiny grub screw which holds it on to the shaft was a allen key fit but totally shot ended up drilling it out,then reliseing that all the screws bolts nuts are impeiral(my spanners etc are mostly metric).
As you can see from the photos its really bunged up with cack,water and a few spiders walk out to.
Dont like the look of those wires to that terminal either,of course any advice and opinons on how to clean it all up,or say sod it bin the lot will be accepted,(be nice to see it going though)
The tank well thats the best pics i can get a few drops of water/oil mix did come out but as far as i can see inside dosen't look to bad,oh that tiny grub screw you see must be the water drain off,that dosent want to move,i'll think about the tank later on.
Any comments by all means feel free
I wont be going anywhere near it tomorrow its me birthday hic hic

 

[eddie49]

The motor wires on the terminal block could be cotton-covered; they look OK to me. So it's not an induction motor - it is a Universal motor, with a wound armature and 4 brushes on a pancake commutator. I'm not sure why the brushes are linked in pairs. There does seem to be link between the inner pair of screws on the terminal block ( joining field coils to brushes ? ), so I'd put mains on the outer pair of terminals and give it a go.

 

[Dr pepper]

I dont think the motor is so old that is has cotton coated wires, looks like rubber and enamel to me, and it is a universal motor with a radial com, not seen one of those for a while, there should be enough starting torque on that to pull the pump under pressure.
If your concerned about it borrow a megger insulation tester and check if the windings are down to earth.
Might be worth doing a swap for that old tank, maybe a resurected gas bottle or summat.
Does the pump make pressure?

 

[Shedendman]

Not an update as much just a couple of questions,not had chance to do anymore.
1. Would petrol be ok to clean the oil grease muck off from the inside?
2.That commutator plate those small grooves they ok or will i need to score them out a little then slight rub with wire wool?
3.Eddie49 you say stick a mains on,i take it + to the green and - to the black would it need to be earthed?
4."check if the windings are down to earth",how does one do that(sorry not up on sparks)?
I'll be back on it again tomorrow,now the weathers cancelled other things
Many thanks chaps

 

[Ratty]

3.Eddie49 you say stick a mains on,i take it + to the green and - to the black would it need to be earthed?

If it's old wiring then red is live, black neutral and green earth.

 

[Shedendman]

If you look at pic 4 ratty,red and yellow have been bridged eddie49 spotted it

 

[Ratty]

Didn't look...didn't read eddie's post I'll get me coat

 

[eddie49]

1. Petrol will be O.K. .. I generally start with a scraper, stiff brush, and rag, to wipe as much of the heavy deposits off first. Then petrol with a soft brush and paper towel; try not to soak the motor windings too much and don't run it until everything is dry.
2. There is a lot of carbon dust on the commutator - the carbon brushes must be quite soft ones. I don't think the segments need to be undercut, just solvent and a toothbrush should do. If the segments are scored or show signs of burning, then fine wire wool or 240 grit emery cloth can be used.
3. On a Universal motor mains goes in to the field coils, out via the link to one brush, through the armature coils, then from the other brush to the other side of the mains. So yes, that would be power on Green and Black. Because it's AC, it doesn't matter which is live or neutral. Putting an Earth on the motor frame would make it safe, and if there's any insulation problems with the windings, that will trip the RCD if your mains socket uses one.
4. Before step 3, you could check if the motor windings are shorted or leaky to ground, due to broken-down old insulation. With an ohmmeter on a high range, none of the 4 wires on the motor terminal strip should have any continuity to the motor frame. Dr Pepper suggested that you do this test, and use a Megger - an ohmmeter that uses a high voltage ( e.g. 500 v ) rather than just the 9v battery in an normal DVM- so you can be more confident that the insulation is not leaky. But Step 3 using an RCD-equipped mains socket would be a fairly good indication that it was safe.