New to me Davey MC1A

[frogman62]

After you start the unit the first time and the engine is warm and running smooth -- when you engage the clutch - WATCH the compressor oil pressure. IF it doesn't come up to pressure in 15 to 18 seconds -DISENGAGE the clutch. The oil pump in these compressors is weak and you may have to prime the pump. Wait till you get the manual for the procedure.
The filter canisters heads can be removed with a good strap wrench and August industries has metal canisters to replace the military ones. Don't purchase non-metal canisters from LF because they deform and may not seal properly. Replace all O rings in the filter chambers every time you change filter canisters and use plenty of dow corning compound on all O rings.
I have fixed several of these in the past for individuals and it is sometimes cheaper to buy another one from Govliquidation and use it for spare parts
Frogman62

 

[Isaac-1]

IT LIVES (sort of), after a few ordeals (battery charger died, water in the fuel tank, etc), I was able to get the diesel primed and started today, I let it idle for about 5-10 minutes, the first minute or two were a bit rough, then it smoothed out. I walked through the valve turning procedure in the manual, engaged the clutch, and no oil pressure in the compressor after 5 seconds, pulled the clutch back out, let it sit of a minute, and tried again after about 5 seconds the oil pressure came up with a few odd squeeks along the way that went away after another 10-15 seconds. I closed off the valves and flipped the unloader switch to load, at this point the stages started building pressure as expected, except for the stage 3 guage which was reading near 0 (I assume this was a stuck guage as stage 4 was building pressure up to 2500 psi), a few seconds later the stage 3 guage popped up to the expected range. I was doing all this in a shop building with a roll up door, and by this time with no breeze today the air was getting fairly thick with diesel fumes, so I decided to shut everything down and roll the compressor outside, after getting it outside, I restarted the diesel, it fired right up, but after a minute started sputtering and died, and would not restart, I am not sure why, by this time it was starting to get dark, so I decided to put off trouble shooting until another day, may be some water in the system I missed, or something happend rolling the unit outside.

Ike

 

[buckybwhiplash]

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.

One thing that's worth checking is the fuel shutoff solenoid (L2) and make sure it's working. Every once in a while with the unit I'm working on, the oil pressure switch would stick and cause the system to shut the fuel off because it thought it didn't have any oil pressure, even though the gauge said I had plenty. I ran a jumper to the solenoid and it ran fine leaving me to trace down what was causing it to loose its voltage.

As for the servicing from Phenix Machine Work, it would be interesting to find out exactly what they had to do in order to get it back into "serviceable condition". It may go a long way to identify some preventative maintenance that could save some grief in the long run.

 

[cnavar06]

hi i am looking for a Davey MC 1A compressor, at what auction did u find it at or do you know where i can get one from for a good price.

 

[Isaac-1]

I found mine at govliquidation.com note a lot of these are poorly listed so it helps to check by location for events within reasonable driving distance of you. Mine came from Hooks Army Depot near Texarkana.

Ike

p.s. I don't know what your looking for, but there appears to be a somewhat stripped down electric powered trailer mounted version listed at Hooks now.

 

[vshearer]

Just realize when you buy one of these it is a real roll of the dice. Mine works fine.But what I found was it had been "jury-rigged" by disconnecting and bypassing the fuel shutoff solenoid. (See posts above) The reason is that the vibration these units experience tends to mess up the electrical control system. This can also affect the unloader operation . So if you get one, you need to be able to troubleshoot this aspect. It also leads to lots of minor leaks on the multitude of connections.

All that said. They are a great design. And bulletproof.

 

[vshearer]

Also, if you want the manuals go to 4shared, Online file sharing and storage T.he password is "davey".

 

[scubalovr]

I got mine for $4500 and I thought I had a heck of a deal! That's amazing that you got it for so cheap! Congrats!

 

[Sector57]

Hi this link did not work for me. Any other way I can get the manual.
thanks

 

[paxtang]

I realize this thread is old but is there anyone who can give some advise on these compressors.. or has the manual to download??