Used air compressor oil- how much white metal is too much?

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Merlyn
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Re: Used air compressor oil- how much white metal is too much?

Post by Merlyn »

JK, see what's happened to Hamworthy Engineering? They are 27 miles from me and guess what, Mr Warsilla now Chinese bought them out about a year ago. 100 years they have been there and now I understand the rumour has it all instructions will be in Chinese so only the Chinese can operate the plant. Bye Bye, we're gone.
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Re: Used air compressor oil- how much white metal is too much?

Post by Big Pete »

Unfortunately, most machinery makers have a policy of selling new equipment at a loss, in order to supply overpriced spares for the next 25 years.
The owner buys the cheapest ship from the yard, and pays through the nose for the life of the ship.
It is quicker and cheaper to scrap most pumps, compressors and small engines, electric motors etc than to repair them.
It is always better to ask a stupid question than to do a stupid thing.
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Merlyn
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Re: Used air compressor oil- how much white metal is too much?

Post by Merlyn »

Sadly I would agree with that which is why a lot of fuel injection shops and machine shops are closing down in our area. Manufactures in a lot of cases don't even want your old injection pumps and the likes back any more. Used to be horrendous surcharges to ensure you returned the old unit but a lot of that has gone out of the window. I too am old school and will spend many hours fitting kits and overhauling engines / compressors only to find at the end of the day it would have been cheaper to buy new. Put a crank in a lawnmower years ago ( as you do ) only to find out months later would have been cheaper to have bought another complete engine. Can't get used to this throw away world, even some diesel injectors, supposed to be Bosch now come from China and its like, old unit? No mate, throw it away.
Remembering The Good Old days, when Chiefs stood watches and all Torque settings were F.T.
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JK
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Re: Used air compressor oil- how much white metal is too much?

Post by JK »

I didn't know that Hamworthy was sold.
Wartsila just keeps gobbling up other companies.
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D Winsor
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Re: Used air compressor oil- how much white metal is too much?

Post by D Winsor »

There is a company in the Niagara Region of Ontario (Marine and Offshore Canada) that still supplies parts and rebuilds Hamworthy compressors including the T2-5F.
Unfortunately many of the more common 2" - 4" Hamworthy Dolphin Pumps are becoming extinct. In many cases over the past couple of years more and more parts orders for these pumps have come back with a message stating the parts are no longer available because pump is 'obsolete' accompanied with an exorbitantly overpriced replacement pump. I don't remember where exactly the pump supplier is but the prices are usually quoted in Euros.
Like Big Pete and Merlyn, I too am of the vintage that was trained to rebuild or repair not replace a piece of equipment every 5 years. Gone are the days when there was someone on board who knew how to use the most neglected, abused or ignored machine in the workshop, the lathe, to make a set of wear rings or re-sleeve a shaft to get a little more life out of a pump. Admittedly with smaller crews on many ships there is precious little time to have someone standing in front of a lathe making or repairing parts but in many cases a machine shop can always make or repair parts for much less than replacing the pump. It is also a very rare occurrence when a 'Replacement Pump' will fit in the spot where the 'Obsolete' pump was located without sometimes major modifications to the pump supports or pipe work, of course a new motor must be supplied with the new pump and the old motor that no longer fits ends up rotting away in a storeroom taking up space turning into a piece of very expensive scrap.
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Merlyn
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Re: Used air compressor oil- how much white metal is too much?

Post by Merlyn »

I can remember when liners were pulled and we used to put Pistons up in a lathe, machine out the ring slots oversize and have " seasoned" close grain blank cast iron rings supplied which were machined out by us to fit the new piston ring slots ie oversize. Spare rings would be made up and put on the ship. Down to the ship, the rings would be gapped in the bore, sometimes for the smaller liners glaze busters would be used if it was deemed not necessary to fit new liners. ( which was virtually never ). Some of the Pistons were quite big in diameter and the trick you were taught was never to take too big a cut because if the piston took charge and leapt out of the chuck/ faceplate be the first out of the door. We used to make up and shrink wear rings on shafts etc, I remember being taught how to heat and press on ring gears and how one day an apprentice shrunk his on the wrong way round, had to be ground then split with a chisel off, scrap. I too never found a ( like for " like" ) situation ever work out, " oh don't worry, this one goes straight in " It never did for me. Loads of pipe work changes, different hand, special elbows to be made up etc. etc. etc. Ball Ache Jobs. " oh, what took you so long? Why can't we test run it ? What's gone wrong remarks were bandied around . Seeing this sort of job looming people would drag out other jobs or volunteer for some job they would not normally wish to undertake. Talking about jobs leaping out of chucks / machine vices etc the boy for that was without doubt the Shaper Machine. He really was a beast. Not too bad for keyways etc in brass but Monel metal, stainless and the like very small cuts indeed or the job could be found 40 feet away from the machine and any passers by stood a good chance of losing a leg or two. Scary boy he was. Lots of tools hardly used now, thread gauges, thread files, reamers, inside/ outside caliphers BSF BSW spanners fox wedges ( remember them anyone? ) special chisels for getting feather/woodruff and Gibkeys ( they were the worst ones to get out of a coupling on a shaft.) Scribing blocks, two start taps, left hand taps, used to be able to file flat but all you seem to do with a file now is deburring jobs. Just remembered another scary tool which I haven't used since 1970 's a knurling tool. All sorts of dodges used to go on here in the machine shops, keyways cut too big, peened over, making up liners/ sleeves etc, taking the final cut too big, out with the centre punch, in he went as an interference fit. I remember seeing my first spring loaded centre punch, he would do ten by the time your manual one had done two, ideal when the works foreman was around. Happy days indeed then methinks.
Remembering The Good Old days, when Chiefs stood watches and all Torque settings were F.T.
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