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PRACTICAL EQUIPMENT FOB WORKSHOP ORKSHOP AND GARAGE
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Recent Developments in Apparatus for Facilitating and Lowering the Cost of Maintenance of Com mercial Vehicles MANUFACTURERS of garage equipment are turning their attention, more and more, towards the provision of appliances for use in connection with the maintenance of commercial vehicles. Developments along these lines have, in consequence, been rapid, especially of late. In this article, a review is offered of some novel products of this kind, as well as of recent improvements in items of equipment which have been on the market for some little time. but have recently undergone modification.
The utility of such an article is two-fold. It serves to help those who already use such equipment, by enabling them to keep abreast of the times, and it emphasizes the importance of such equipment to those who do not yet appreciate its value as a means for improving fleet efficiency.
A particularly good example of the way in which this article affects its dual purpose is this first item; the V.L.C. Ten Minute Service Equipment, made by V. L. Churchill and Co., Ltd., 27-34, Walnut Tree Walk, Kennington, S.E.I1. This, we find, is regarded by most commercialvehicle operators as something which is of interest only to garage proprietors—those who are concerned with the valeting and upkeep of private cars for their customers. Its utility for that purpose cannot be gainsaid, but it is actually excelled in reference to the maintenance of fleets of commercial vehicles, both for goods and passengers.
If the operator will reflect, for one moment, upon the advantage of being able to dock a vehicle, grease and replenish it and carry out sundry routine-maintenance operations thoroughly and efficiently, utilizing the labour of only two men, and completing the work within the space of 10 minutes, he will readily appreciate how valuable this equipment can be.
A steel-walled underground chamber, 18 ft. by 22 ft., called a Servitoriurn, is part of the scheme. Openings are cut in the roof (which is, of course, the floor of the garage), each of these openings being the shape and dimensions of a pit. One of the two men works in this Servitorium, whilst the other attends to the vehicle above.
Another comparatively new piece of equipment is the Crypton Portable Tester (from Crypton Equipment, Ltd., 28 North Acton Road, London, N .W.10) , a self-contained machine for measuring engine efficiency and diagnosing faults including carburation and those of ignition and electric components. Engine testing is carried out by means of a precision vacuum gauge, which gives accurate indication of the power output, both of the complete engine and of individual cylinders. Faults of ignition and carburation are made apparent, and those relative to individual cylinders can be located.
Information as to the condition of valves, valve gear, valve timing, piston rings, cylinders, gaskets and exhaust systems can be obtained. The condition of every section of the ignition system can he analysed, also that of the complete electrical system, including battery, starter, dynamo, voltage regulator, cut-out, wiring, lamps, horn, windscreen wiper and traffic indicators.
Those operators who prefer to do their own cylinder-reboring will find the new Buma equipment for that purpose particularly useful. It is made by the Buma Engineering Co., Boyd Street, Newcastle on Tyne. The boring machine, which is designed so as to be capable of use with the engine in situ, if that be desired, can readily be clamped to the cylinder block. A feature is that any h.p. motor can be used as the source of power for operating this machine.
The complementary machine for polishing and burnishing has, also, the merit of ease of location. It does not need to be clamped into position at all, and it is not a honing machine. Its purposes is that of finishing the rebored cylinders. It is intended for the removal of only from 0.00025 to 0.0005 in. of material, at the same time producing a polished wear-resisting skin on the cylinder wall.
B.E.N. Patents, Ltd., Gorst Road, Chase Estate, Lon,
don, N.W.10,.puts forward a new automatic air-compressor, one of the merits of which is its compactness. It occupies only 3 sq. ft. of floor space, although the receiver which is included with the unit has a capacity of 30 gallons.
A new device for replenishing engine sumps is made by Precision Meters, Ltd., 104, High Holborn, London, W.C.I.
It avoids the necessity of the use of cans or other vessels, either for measuring the oil or for transferring it from container to sump. Oil is pumped from the container through the instrument, which records on a large dial the amount passing through. The lubricant is delivered through a hose directly into the sump.
An item of equipment having a similar end in view is the Hammond Electroil Meter (Hammond Pump and Equipment Co., Ltd., Kingsbury Works, Kingsbury, N.W.9). Two of the outstanding features of this are its rapidity of action—it delivers light oil at the rate of 18 pints to 20 pints per minute and the heaviest oil at 12 pints per minute— and the ease with which the meter can be read.
Another new measuring-device has been introduced by Tecalemit, Ltd., Great %Vest Road, Brentford, this being an entirely new fluid meter for the accurate measurement of liquids. It is styled the Tecalemeter, and is of the positivedisplacement type. The construction embodies thermostatic compensation, which ensures accuracy within a plus or minus 0.2 per cent.
Two departments of maintenance are facilitated by a new spray-gun, made by Ernest H. Hill, Ltd., 138, Fitzwilliam Street, Sheffield, which appears to be of particular interest to the small fleet operator. It can be used for spraying cellulose, oil or lead paints and, in addition, is fitted with a .special extension for spraying penetrating oil, paraffin and similar liquids. It can, therefore, be used either to assist in the paintshop or in the engine and chassis cleaning and repair shop. Mann Egerton and Co., Ltd., 5, Prince of Wales Road, Norwich, has added an improvement to the well-known M.E. cleansing tanks. This is a new removable filter which filters the sediment from the cleansing paraffin and stores it ready for disposal. When cleaning out the tank, the base of the inner bath, which forms the lid for the filter, is first removed by means of handles provided. The filter itself can then be taken out and emptied. It will be appreciated that, as this can be done without removing the inner bath, cleansing of the tank is correspondingly facilitated. It is of interest to note that this removable filter can be added to existing tanks.
The problem of oil economy in large or even moderate
sized fleets is an important one, A recent addition to the line of garage equipment marketed by the Equipment and • Engineering Co., Ltd., Hythe Road, Willesden, N.W.10, is the Streamline Oil Filter. In this apparatus, dirty oil is first heated, then passed through a number of filter packs. The cleansing process is particularly efficient and the oil emerges bright and clear.
Two features of this apparatus are of outstanding interest. First, the facility with which the filter packs can be cleaned merely by passing compressed air through them and, secondly, its economy. It is claimed that a medium-size filter, maintained in regular use, will renovate oil at a cost of Id. per gallon. This figure includes depreciation and maintenance charges, also labour and electric •power for driving and heating at Id. per unit. Better results, when grinding valve seats, are claimed by the use of the Vibro-Centric valve-seat grinding method, as made practicable by equipment marketed by Black and Decker, Ltd., Slough. An electric valve-seat grinding device is used, into the spindle of which vibrating mechanism is built. This lifts the grinding stone from the valve seat once each revolution, clearing the stone by cencentrifugal force. The machine operates at 12,000 r.p.m., and little metal need be removed, thus practically eliminating the narrowing operation.
In the same department of maintenance, as it were, is the improved wet and dry valve-facer introduced by S. Wolf and Co., Ltd., Pioneer Works, Hanger Lane, Ealing. Its principal feature is the wet grinding pump, which is a self-contained unit mounted within the main housing, and driven by a belt from the grinding-spindle motor. The pump gives a copious flow of coolant and by simple adjustment can be put out of action entirely, when the machine is to be used for dry grinding. Such a machine as this saves much valuable time and ensures accuracy where it is of great importance.
A transportable lubrication battery recently placed upon the market by C. C. Wakefield and Co., Ltd., certainly merits reference in this article. It comprises a triple tank mounted on a trolley and equipped with connection to a source of supply of compressed air. Each of the three tanks is brovided with suitable hose connections and either grease-gun or sprayer for conveying the grease, lubricating or penetrating oil to those parts of the chassis where it is needed. The hoses used for this purpose are mounted on either side of the cabinets for convenience of access, and the equipment includes Castrol Precision Meters for checking the quantities used.