[TheForge] Re: Air hammer valves

[Mike Spencer]

ralph> My guess would be the spring started to break or come apart
ralph> causing much more flow on one side until hammer stopped
ralph> running.......which then fits the rule of "it's broke - we need
ralph> to fix it now".

My guesses are:

   a.  What you said

   b. Took the piece out so that it would do something it wasn't doing
       --  run continuously, not lock down at full treadle, whatever.

ralph> Is the crack in the housing on the same port the missing spring
ralph> is on?  My guess is the hammer might have ate the spring (but
ralph> that would not explain bolts not being in the holes) and the
ralph> damaged spring valve may have led to the crack....

I think the missing part and the crack are unrelated.  I can vouch
for the fact that it's a temptation to stick a bar into the air port
when trying to remove the valve and that's exactly the kind of crack
it is.

ralph> We'd have to assume someone took the hammer apart and took the
ralph> bolts out if they were indeed missing...

Bolts and valve parts completely missing.  No evidence of loose
fragments around the valve body or in the tup bore.  Haven't opened
the compressor yet.  I think it was removed, didn't just fall off.

ralph> ...the valve could be in one of the air ports still and would
ralph> be a good idea to continue your spring airway search for it.

Yes.

steve> How about an ad seeking help on the BABA web site?

Yeah.  I've already had some excellent pointers for installation from
Alan Evans in the UK that I've used: Raise the anvil height and mount
it on heavy rubber, not wood, seal the anvil against water.

darrell> The bowed spring looks like a retainer to prevent the thin
darrell> piece from moving to far causing it to over flex and break in
darrell> a short time.

Yes, exactly.

darrell> Is either end of the thin piece free to move?

I think one end, held down loosely by the heavier spring.  I forget.
It's late, the shop is cold and the valve is heavy, greasy and back in
a corner . :-)

darrell> The bow looks easy to make and the thin piece is just a piece
darrell> of shim stock.

Right.  The plan is to make the parts that are missing on the
assumption that they were just like the parts that are there.  But as
yet I don't understand what the missing part does and what changes
when it's missing (or replaced).


- Mike

-- 
Michael Spencer                  Nova Scotia, Canada 
                                 
mspencer@tallships.ca            
http://home.tallships.ca/mspencer/
Ref: http://home.tallships.ca/mspencer/alldays.html