Clearance on a compressor rod journal

[winr1]

Am rebuilding a Campbell Haus twin cylinder compressor

Have a 3" bore unit to replace the 2 3/4" bore unit, going to spin the 3" unit slower as well

Anyone have an idea how much clearance there should be ??

I find nothing on the web ..


https://www.ebay.com/p/1328565185?iid=281180472135



Ricky.

[blykins]

I'm not a compressor builder, but I think you would be safe with the old .001" of clearance per inch of rod journal rule of thumb. 

[RustyCrankshaft]

I've rebuild a LOT of Westinghouse 2 and 3 YC compressors and ran the rod clearance about .0018. They're a fairly low speed compressor and pressure oiled. Clearance was originally set with shims on the caps, but we had issues with the replacement rods being machined correctly so we started buying roughed out blanks and we machine them to fit with no shims. Seemed like they didn't care too much and anything .001 - .005 and they would live fine.

The manual listed .001-.002 as acceptable. However, I'm not sure the book was ever updated so that info is probably 40-50+ years old now.

Not sure what model compressor you have, but from the appearance of the rods I'd say closer to .002 as it appears they have dippers instead of a pump.

[winr1]

Thanks Brent an RC !

Will pull apart an see how the rod bores look then measure, see what I can see



Ricky.

[pbf777]

I've rebuild a LOT of Westinghouse 2 and 3 YC compressors

     One of my favorite, the Westinghouse (WABCO) YC series.  I have two still in use at our shop, a 3YC and a 5YC.  The 3YC still sits on its' original reservoir tank with the certification plate dated 1946, and still has the old huge "horse-shoe" frame motor powering it, .........and still running daily.      (And no, I'm not the original owner!  That reminds me, I need to go out and pump a little grease in the motor bearings again.    )

     I rebuild it in '79-'80, with 'hop-ups' of nitriting the crankshaft, swapped the cast iron L.P. piston for a later lighter weight aluminum piece and re-balanced, increased the pulley drive rate (kinda like a gear swap!)..............full race ya-know!     

However, I'm not sure the book was ever updated so that info is probably 40-50+ years old now.

    Or more even!     

    And it is true,..............They just don't make 'em like they (WE!) use to!    

    O.K. quick history test question: (1) What does the abbreviation "WABCO" stand for?  And (2) for bonus points, their major contribution/purpose in transportation (there, I gave you a hint!)?   Come-on, and this is a closed-book test question,........... and don't 'google' cheat either!           RustyCrankshaft, hold off on the answer a little and see if anyone else gets it.   

    Scott.

[Heo]

Westinghouse airbrake Company i believe

[68fecyclone]

Yep, Westinghouse air brake company, and they make a lot of railroad brake parts and systems. They also make disc brakes for semi trucks. Rob

[BattlestarGalactic]

I have a vintage 25 hp Curtis 2 stage pump at work as my main source.  It's somewhere in the 70/80 cfm range(at least when it was new).  I did a quick hone job on it about 5 yrs ago and put it back in service.  It would thump like an old steam engine when running! You could feel it anywhere in the shop when it ran.  It's getting a bit weak again and really eats oil pretty bad with the taper on the cylinders.  It uses a steel ring to transfer oil to the crank and feed the rods.  Very unique set up.

My back up is a 15 hp Worthington 3 cylinder.  It too runs well, but I bought it used and ran it for about 6 yrs before it starting using oil too much and clogging my drier.  It is pressurized oil and runs a Fl1A filter!

[pbf777]

Yep, Westinghouse air brake company, and they make a lot of railroad brake parts and systems. They also make disc brakes for semi trucks. Rob

     Not the first, that goes to "Heo", but the more complete answer (means you two have to share the 'ATTA-BOY'!      ),  Air-brakes, first in trains in the latter half of the 1800's and then later into other mostly commercial applications not only on-road & off-road trucks & equipment, but also anything where the fitment of an air-brake would be applicable.  Example here in Central Florida with Disney World such was (I'm out of date today so I'm not sure if it is currently so?) the monorail system and had mounted on a pull-out tray underneath a WABCO 2YC air compressor system for the air supply (which if I remember correctly also operated the sliding entry/exit doors) which we used to provide rebuilding service for, when the bell rang (hour meter schedule).     

     Scott.

[RustyCrankshaft]

They're cool compressors and really do work well.

I have a very early Westinghouse brake valve out of a steam locomotive that my great grandfather worked on taking out of service/scrapping. It's some pretty cool shelf art now, although it's tucked away at the moment. When the new shop is up I'll find a spot for it and polish up the brass.

3YC's were also used on some WWII marine stuff, which is where I got my original manual from. The 2YC's are the most common ones I've worked on because we had a fleet of about 100 trolley buses that ran them. Sadly we've taken all those out of service and now run plastic chinese compressors because apparently we can't figure out how to build a compressor here anymore.....

[pbf777]

They're cool compressors and really do work well.

    They are a little odd in the crankshaft main bearing positioning with the cantilevered out into the crankcase crankshaft with counter-weights, revolving and reciprocating masses, this being made up for with the quite massive muti-row roller bearings well spaced, and of course a not small in mass apposing flywheel.  But the really cute item is the brass plunger-type oil pump at the far end of the crank with it's own off-set journal in rotation mounting the plunger with the pump body mounted in the bottom of the crankcase on a pivot to accommodate the rocking motion.      As antiquated as it is in appearance, these old pumps are as like the 'Energizer Bunny' as they can be,..........they just keep running and running and..............  

Sadly we've taken all those out of service and now run plastic chinese compressors because apparently we can't figure out how to build a compressor here anymore.....

     At one quarter the material mass, and price, and not even close to any of that in service, but we Americans repetitively stand in line to buy more!  WHAT-THE-F#%K is wrong here!   

     Scott.

[pbf777]

I have a vintage 25 hp Curtis 2 stage pump ................... It would thump like an old steam engine when running! You could feel it anywhere in the shop when it ran.  It uses a steel ring to transfer oil to the crank and feed the rods.  Very unique set up.

     Curtis's are also good units (I have a 10hp vertical tank unit here also) and they are probably the most pronounced "thumpers" of all reasonably current production units; this to the point that you would never mount a Curtis on a cheap reservoir tank and favored the extra reinforcements at the attachment mountings units if possible.  The oil-feed ring, though functional, and rarely fails say like a true pump might, but though I realize once the oil is deposited in the ring groove and forced into the crankshaft oil passage drillings, and with centrifugal force to the rod journals, I've always question their definition of the "pressurized" oil delivery claim, just a little?  But it works!   

     But still, they are good heavy iron units, made in America (or at least they use to be?    ), just keep fixing it when needed, and keep her running!     

     Scott.

     

[RustyCrankshaft]

They're cool compressors and really do work well.

    They are a little odd in the crankshaft main bearing positioning with the cantilevered out into the crankcase crankshaft with counter-weights, revolving and reciprocating masses, this being made up for with the quite massive muti-row roller bearings well spaced, and of course a not small in mass apposing flywheel.  But the really cute item is the brass plunger-type oil pump at the far end of the crank with it's own off-set journal in rotation mounting the plunger with the pump body mounted in the bottom of the crankcase on a pivot to accommodate the rocking motion.      As antiquated as it is in appearance, these old pumps are as like the 'Energizer Bunny' as they can be,..........they just keep running and running and..............  

Sadly we've taken all those out of service and now run plastic chinese compressors because apparently we can't figure out how to build a compressor here anymore.....

     At one quarter the material mass, and price, and not even close to any of that in service, but we Americans repetitively stand in line to buy more!  WHAT-THE-F#%K is wrong here!   

     Scott.

The 2YC's we ran  were a little heavier, however, they ran an average of 4 times the mileage of the new scroll compressors. The 2YC's cost us about 1,200 bucks to rebuild, the scroll compressors are not rebuildable and are 8k plus shipping.

I think we could have run the WABCO's a lot longer if we did any kind of maintenance on them, but we didn't. We'd run them until they gave up and then swap them and rebuild the cores. I think they've been discontinued, but AirTek used to have a slightly revised oil pump for them that worked really well.