Repairing a small screw compressor

[macona]

The also keep dust down by oiling the ground.

[I make chips]

^ That's amazing as Detroit's are America's way of turning diesel fuel directly into noise.

[Guido]

Thanks for the update. Sullair portables include a screw machine which we would rent for three or four days of continuous, 'round the clock water well proving. Super design on sound shielding, baffling, absorption, won a bet one day. Fellow thought the machine was gasoline powered then found out it was powered by a Detroit V8 diesel (green grenade) at full tilt.

[macona]

Got the seal, made the part. Installed and removed it three times to make adjustments, Its a shrink fit on the shaft because there is no room for an o-ring.



Put it all together and it works great. Once the panels on this thing is so quiet. My friend had a server on a cart next to it and you could clearly hear the server over the sound of the compressor. Which is good as this compressor is designed to run all the time and does not shut off on a pressure switch.

Oh, this is 5HP, not 3HP like I mentioned at the beginning.

[macona]

What is your laser and how many watts? I believe your sequence of cuts backwards. Even milling I’d do all the bolt holes first, then the inside and finally the outside, otherwise things could move.

This one: https://bbs.homeshopmachinist.net/fo...r-laser-cutter

With paper there is usually enough vacuum to hold it down tight but this paper had some creases that would not let it sit flat. And I was too lazy to go and re-post it so I just cut and it came out fine. And the air jet is coaxial with the beam unlike some other lasers so it just tends to push the material down.

[garyhlucas]

What is your laser and how many watts? I believe your sequence of cuts backwards. Even milling I’d do all the bolt holes first, then the inside and finally the outside, otherwise things could move.

[JRouche]

Very cool tech Mr! As always. I am impressed... Yeah... Like I wasnt with the ESM... Nice work also. JR

[macona]

This compressor specifies Dextron 2 ATF. Easy.

[Black Forest]

Thickness of those end gaskets may figure in to rotor end clearances. Sullair screw machines adjust end clearances via gasket thickness, too thick and a small machine hurts in efficiency, too thin and interference causes heat, bigtime. Sullair sells especially formulated lube oil (24KT lube) for screw type compressors, about a thousand bucks per five gallon pail, contains glycol. At one time the lube was required along with scheduled maintenance to allow a 24 month warranty on the air end. Wrong lube oil, too much heat and the oil/air separator would combust to ash.

YMMV

That is why I was asking about the oil separator. I know how expensive the oil in the screw compressors can get. Also the tolerances are very strict or you get blow by and the air is unuasble as it overloads the separator.

[Guido]

Thickness of those end gaskets may figure in to rotor end clearances. Sullair screw machines adjust end clearances via gasket thickness, too thick and a small machine hurts in efficiency, too thin and interference causes heat, bigtime. Sullair sells especially formulated lube oil (24KT lube) for screw type compressors, about a thousand bucks per five gallon pail, contains glycol. At one time the lube was required along with scheduled maintenance to allow a 24 month warranty on the air end. Wrong lube oil, too much heat and the oil/air separator would combust to ash.

YMMV

[macona]

If I had needed to make that gasket I would have had to use the "dirty" finger method. You place your paper on the housing and then with a dirty, greasy finger you rub around all the edges. It leaves a mark you can then cut out. As long as you make sure your paper doesn't move it works quite good. It also works for other uses as well.

Yeah, there is that and also using something like paint, dye, or even grease to transfer the shape to the gasket material.

I am mostly still amazed that everything matched up, I really didnt expect the scan to be that accurate. Printing I have found to be accurate to thousandths very often with laser printers and use that a lot for verification. When I worked at the diabetes research place we did some measurements to verify the accuracy of laser printers because we were using them to make shadow masks for etching.

[Black Forest]

If I had needed to make that gasket I would have had to use the "dirty" finger method. You place your paper on the housing and then with a dirty, greasy finger you rub around all the edges. It leaves a mark you can then cut out. As long as you make sure your paper doesn't move it works quite good. It also works for other uses as well.

[mattthemuppet]

also gives you more options if the mating surface doesn't have a suitable edge nearby to use to cut the gasket.

[macona]

super neat work, must have been very satisfying to have the laser cut those out so cleanly and accurately.

Sure beats the hammer method Jerry mentioned which is how I would have done it. Mechanical seal should be here tomorrow so I should be able to get this thing running this weekend, sooner deepening on what else happens this week.

[mattthemuppet]

super neat work, must have been very satisfying to have the laser cut those out so cleanly and accurately.