Attention all Dairy and X-dairy men

farmer101IL · Jul 27, 2009

Hey all i have this vacuum pump. Can"t seem to get the oiler to work. The pump it"s self works fine. The vanes are good not stuck. I pulled the side off and pulled the vanes. Lubed it up good, made sure the oil holes were open. Everything is good. Lot"s of vacuum.
I pulled the oiler apart cleaned it. The diaphram is aluminum, kind of neat, thought it would be rubber. Springs and such all look good . Holes are clean and open.
So how does the oiler work? Vacuum? I also see that the two oiling lines to each side of the pump, if i remove the lines there is a little pressure not vacuum at the connection to the pump.
So i have a little pressure out of the pump at the lines, and then vacuum to the oiler.?
Also is the cap screw on top of the oiler supposed to be open or closed? Is there pressure or vacuum in the oiler glass container?
Hope my discription isn"t to vague.
Anyways how the heck does this thing work.
One other thing how much oil should be dripping into the outlet jar?

Thanks all

Farmer

vj · Jul 27, 2009

Most oilers I've seen like this operate by gravity. The thumb screw at the top is the adjustment screw. Adjust by looking through the sight hole below the oiler. I'd set it to drop about a drop every 30 - 45 seconds and then adjust accordingly after you run it for a while.

NCWayne · Jul 27, 2009

Not a dairy nor ex dairy man but I do know a little about vacuum pumps. The oiler is designed to lube the bearings of the pump and, depending on the material, probably to lube the vanes to reduce friction/heat and help them seal also. As for the diaphram it looks like it"s designed to cut off the flow of oil when the pump isn"t in operation. Depending on whether it"s on the suction or discharge side of the pump as to whether it"s working off of pressure or vacuum. Either way it senses the pressure/vacuum that occurs when the unit is in operation and opens allowing the oil to flow from the container into the bearings. Given the setup the oil will gravity feed, hense the need for the diaphram valve, but in operation there is probably a slight vacuum at work also helping draw it into the bearings. As for the optimal flow rate your guess is as good as mine. If the container is the origional size OEM"s typically sized them to run either a half (fil at lunch break) or a full day (fill at the end of the shift) before it needed a refill. That said I"d venture a guess that a few (4 to 6) drops a minute would be sufficent as as long at it"s turning less than 1000RPM, but if over that I"d increase the flow to say 8 to 10 drops per minute to allow for the increased heat load on the bearings from the higher speed.

Like I said I"m just guessing on the oil flow rate but you might do a little online research and call a few OEM"s and ask and get a general consensus of what they suggest.

farmer101IL · Jul 27, 2009

(quoted from post at 13:42:29 07/27/09) Not a dairy nor ex dairy man but I do know a little about vacuum pumps. The oiler is designed to lube the bearings of the pump and, depending on the material, probably to lube the vanes to reduce friction/heat and help them seal also. As for the diaphram it looks like it"s designed to cut off the flow of oil when the pump isn"t in operation. Depending on whether it"s on the suction or discharge side of the pump as to whether it"s working off of pressure or vacuum. Either way it senses the pressure/vacuum that occurs when the unit is in operation and opens allowing the oil to flow from the container into the bearings. Given the setup the oil will gravity feed, hense the need for the diaphram valve, but in operation there is probably a slight vacuum at work also helping draw it into the bearings. As for the optimal flow rate your guess is as good as mine. If the container is the origional size OEM"s typically sized them to run either a half (fil at lunch break) or a full day (fill at the end of the shift) before it needed a refill. That said I"d venture a guess that a few (4 to 6) drops a minute would be sufficent as as long at it"s turning less than 1000RPM, but if over that I"d increase the flow to say 8 to 10 drops per minute to allow for the increased heat load on the bearings from the higher speed.

Like I said I"m just guessing on the oil flow rate but you might do a little online research and call a few OEM"s and ask and get a general consensus of what they suggest.

Now that makes sense. That's why the diaphram is aluminum. And makes sense with the valving inside of diaphram. The cap on top doesn't have any friction adjusting nut. It just either screw or unscrews to add oil it feels like. HMMMMMM Just thinking is their a special oil to use. I put 5w 30 in it maybe that is why it isn't flowing. I pulled the bearing cap off one side and blew air through it and i get air bubbles. So i'm thinking the oil is to heavy.
Do ya think it needs a real light oil,? my best guess

Thanks guys think i will try some lighter oil

Farmer

Don-Wi · Jul 27, 2009

They make a vacume pump oil. Not sure what the difference is, but I'm pretty sure it's quite a bit lighter than engine oil.

We buy it in gallon jugs for our milker pump. Might come in quarts too.

Donovan from Wisconsin

charles lendman · Jul 27, 2009

Be sure ALL the vanes are in correctly or it won't work either!! FYI..Charles

farmer101IL · Jul 27, 2009

Hey all after looking it all over again, i have come to some conclusions. I have definitely found that the diaphram works good, when you get some vacuum. I can blow oil through the lines then. When it is off, no vacuum, can't get a drop through. So that's solved.
The veins are in the correct way. I checked that and in good shape.
I think it has the wrong oiler on it. Here's why my dear watson's.
When i was cleaning and taking everything apart i found , Ready for this?
Pipe cleaners in the passages!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Now what the heck, this can't be factory!!!!!!!!!
There is no way to regulate the gravity feed that's for sure. My deduction is someone broke the original oiler. They put this on and it has no needle valve for the oil or possibly just to cut the air off. Hey let's stuff a pipe cleaner in it, that will slow the oil down!!!!! Ah hhaaa i say!!!
Just like the old days farming with dad!!!!!! LOL
I will pick some oil up in the morning and see what happens if it flows then i will figure out how to regulate it. Shouldn't be to hard.
Thanks all for you help. Will let ya all know how it turns out.

Farmer

J.C.in AZ. · Jul 27, 2009

You need a regulating valve in each down line, The oil is not used up so there must be a catch container which is Vacumn tight at the muffler end.Drain often. A sight glass installed in the oil line will help in regulating the oil flo.The system appears to be gravity but vacumn will pull the oil to the pump any way.I use 5W45 Delo year around in mine. I have a 4 galllon Storage Tank which also is Vacumn tight.The pump sits on top of the storage tank and oil is drawn up to the bearing housings.My Pump system is entirely vacumn operated and the pump is connected to a Honda 9HP motor via lovejoy couplings.

blinwmiaol.com · Jul 27, 2009

I don't know all the technical differnces in vacuum pump oil but I do know it is a non foaming oil.
I have worked on several old pump like the one shown, infact I milk my one cow everyday with a very similiar DeLaval pump. The old ones have steel vanes, with a bearing only on the drive end, the opposite end just rides in a bushing.

olddog · Jul 28, 2009

Are you sure that the "pipe cleaners" were not actually capillary tubes?
Surge used to use capillary tubes to restrict the oil when the pump was shut off but vacuum would pull the oil thru a tiny capillary tube when running. So tiny that only way I could tell they were tubes was to blow thru them in a puddle of oil and watch for bubbles.

farmer101IL · Jul 28, 2009

(quoted from post at 04:32:21 07/28/09) Are you sure that the "pipe cleaners" were not actually capillary tubes?
Surge used to use capillary tubes to restrict the oil when the pump was shut off but vacuum would pull the oil thru a tiny capillary tube when running. So tiny that only way I could tell they were tubes was to blow thru them in a puddle of oil and watch for bubbles.

Never heard of that either. These were pipe cleaners for sure!! Thanks for the tip though.

Farmer

Attention all Dairy and X-dairy men

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vj

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NCWayne

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Don-Wi

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