New to me Davey MC1A

[vshearer]

The flathead screws on the two filter stacks are just to hold on the "dust cover". They are supposed to unscrew (the large diameter part at the top is the cap) using a strap wrench like you would an oil filter. But if yours are like mine then get a big 24" pipe wrench to hold the cannister as I had to put at least 130# torque on it to crack them loose. The center coalescer is easier as you just disconnect the line and use the two hex screws as leverage to unscrew that cap.

 

[Isaac-1]

Ok, so the dust covers must be removed before uncrewing the knurled canister tops?

Ike

 

[pescador775]

Ok, so the dust covers must be removed before uncrewing the knurled canister tops?

Ike

Yeah.
Be careful with the pipe wrench. You might try putting something else on the body of the canister. I don't know what exactly, another strap wrench or chain wrench. Whatever, you do, try to avoid scratching the shell. Use some kind of material as a cushion if necessary.

 

[Isaac-1]

Yeah.
Be careful with the pipe wrench. You might try putting something else on the body of the canister. I don't know what exactly, another strap wrench or chain wrench. Whatever, you do, try to avoid scratching the shell. Use some kind of material as a cushion if necessary.

That was my thought already.

thanks
Ike

 

[buckybwhiplash]

Known problems so far:
one cover corner bent (looks like someone clipped a corner while towing), sliding door slightly bent, HP hose spool dented and will not pull out much (hose itself appears near perfect, no cracking), fill cap to diesel tank somewhat rusted, filler gasket dryrotted, and someone appears to have tried to caulk the hole, rubber diesel filler hose loose from tank.


Now for a few questions, since I am still waiting on the manuals:

What type and quantitiy of oil should I use for the compressor and the diesel (how is SL 500 sold by August Industries?)

Does the compressor dip stick lock in place? I see it has an o-ring seal, but I could not get it to screw down (the was in the dark with a flashlight)?

Also any suggestion on how to open the filter canisters (what are the flat head screws on the tops for, the screws look worn/gouged)?

As for the oil that’s to be used, I can’t really speak for how well it works yet. The gentleman who owns the unit I’m working on picked up a 5-gallon bucket of Summit DSL-100 synthetic oil for the compressor and I haven’t changed the oil in the Diesel engine yet. We are almost ready to fill a sample cylinder of air and send it off to get tested so hopefully that will work. I do plan to change the oil in the engine here pretty quick so if anyone has a suggestion on what will work and is readily available, that would be great.

Hopefully your machine has seen regular use and the fuel in it is still good, it sounds like it probably is. If you do have to remove the old fuel, the drain plug can be found conveniently located between the front axle and the bottom of the unit; crowded just enough so you can’t get a socket on it for the square head drain plug until the axle is out of the way.

The dipstick on the compressor I’m working on has that same o-ring seal you described and drops in place and held there by gravity. It seems to stay put when running since it’s pretty heavy for a dipstick.

Those dust covers on top of the filter canisters don’t need to be removed. The only thing beneath them is a retaining ring for the device that interfaces with the top end of the filter canister. You will need a good strap or chain strap wrench to service the filters. I tried the cheap strap wrench from Harbor Freight and it snapped its belt instantly. I found a heavier duty aluminum handled version at Sears and that was able to remove it. If that didn’t work, the next thing I would have done was get two chain strap wrenches and a couple thin strips of aluminum to wrap around the canister protect the large and small diameter. Thankfully I didn’t have to go there.

 

[pescador775]

Some people use Summit oil in breathing air compressors but I haven't been able to pull up any data. The MSDS is kind of a joke. If used in the Davey, it might behoove the owner to fill up with 125 or 150 which are higher viscosity than the 30W DSL-100. If operating in colder temps, the 100 would be better from a mechanical point of view. Alternate brands of oil would be Chemlube 751 or Anderol 755. Nuvair sells the Chemlube in one gallon size. For Nitrox blending, some people believe it is best to fill the sump with Omnilube 455 or equivalent. This is an advanced "food grade" synthetic oil which has very high resistance to oxidation which is considered important for use in high O2 environments. This oil is SAE 30 but includes advanced additives for friction and wear, eg, high pressure additive. As such, I suspect that this oil is superior to competitors like CF-2000 and the like.

 

[vshearer]

We really ought to start a Yahoo groups or something for these things. Looks like I will have plenty of time to get mine in order as I just had a Level 3 disectomy on my cervical spine. (Three discs out and titanium plate in). I know it is kinda late but if anyone needs a copy of the manual to download PM me and I will send you a link. One thing I noticed is the constant bleed system on these, which is pretty cool, dumps into the exhaust. You will notice the exhaust give a little puff of white "smoke" each time it cycles, which is a good check on it's operation. I have a lot of small pressure leaks to tighten up. Soapy water works good for those.
Pesky, I have a question you can probably answer. One thing that I don't quite understand is what he "Low" in the "High-Low" regulator/pressure is indicating. Once the reciever comes up to pressure you set output pressure with the HL Regulator Valve, increase clockwise, decrease CCW. But what is the "Low" pressure actually indicating? What is it's purpose? Maybe a dumb question but I had to ask

 

[Isaac-1]

The yahoo group is a nice idea, but I have never had good luck with them, no way to post pictures with messages in the archive is a big problem, I much prefer message boards like Scubaboard.

Now for a couple of updates, I spent a couple of hours working on my compressor tonight, both knurled top canisters opened easily with a strap wrench, however the "dust cover" screws on one are damaged to the point where they will likely need drilling out, cartridges were bright no sign of corrosion. Things on the diesel side were not as nice, the fuel filter canister was full of water and the filter element looked like it has been sitting in water for a long time, there was also about a quart of water in the diesel tank. After draining the water and bleeding the injectors, changing oil and filter, I could get it to almost fire up, by this time the spare battery I was using was drained, and is now charging for the next try tomorrow. Hopefully the compressor oil I ordered will show up with UPS in the morning, so I will be able to test both sides.

Ike

 

[vshearer]

My fuel system was in about the same shape. I ran it off a jerry can until I could ospho out the tank and really clean it. I was also missing some fuel fittings and line so I put a new fuel separator on it. There is a fuel solenoid inline with the supply that is supposed to close on faults (low oil, temp) and open when power is first applied. Mine had been disconnected and I finally realized it is because of a bad ground going to the panel. I was lucky. I hooked it all up, pumped the primer and it fired up immediately The Hatz air-cooled diesel is pretty neat. (I used to work on marine diesels) and sounds kinda like an old Harley. But the diesel is not what is loud when that sucker gets going, the compressor itself sounds like a jackhammer.. Good luck..

EDIT: One thing I found useful is printing out the diagrams from the pdf manual for quick reference.
The ones you should look for (the manual can be a little daunting at first) are figures 4-1, 4-2, and 6-1 thru 6-4. Having them handy while tracing pipes helped me a lot with understanding how most of it works.

 

[Isaac-1]

Just a couple of notes on last nights work, I am still trying to get the diesel running, I changed the out the fuel filter and then the hand primer pump died on me (worked for a couple of minutes, then gave out, feels like a bad internal seal, plus the stem o-ring is shot), of course it is a sealed overpriced part, I ordered a new one this morning online, and hopefully it will get here in a few days (I may be able to get around it, but with as little as I have paid so far I can splurge a bit on parts). In other news I found a label on the compressor that said it had been "returned to serviceable condition" by a company called Phenix Machine Works in SC in 2002, I am not sure if this means it was rebuilt, or simply repaired, but this does fit in with the 2007/2012 cryptic hydro date timeline. Googling on Phenix Machine Works, I can only find one reference in a list of federal contracts, it looks like the USAF spent about $1.7 million with them for pumps and compressors between 2000-2007 also in the same time spent about $43,000 with them for repairs of pumps and compressors, so I hope they knew what they were doing.