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Posted by D Sherman [72.47.9.228] on Tuesday, September 28, 2010 at 01:40:14 :
I just went and looked at two old air compressors. One's a rope-drive machine, probably the last one in existence, still with the original rope on it. That one we plan to save. Right next to it is a 400 HP twin-cylinder Ingersol Rand direct-driven by a 150 RPM open-frame GE synchronous motor. Everything is perfect, like the day it was shut down. All the brass oilers and nameplates are still on it, all the parts that should be oily are still oily, there's not a spot of rust on any of the machined surfaces. All the electrical controls and the MG set for the field current are intact. They're tearing the building down and want it out of there within the next few weeks. The compressor can probably be taken apart into 4 sections, the largest of which (the motor and shaft) might weigh 15-20 tons. I wish I had a place to put it. I have seen a lot of old compressors and engines on static display in parks and museums, but invariably all that's left is the main castings and the flywheel, and all the machined parts are rusted together. I truly believe this would spin right up and start compressing air if you put 2200 volts at 160 amps to it.
I have to figure out how to save it. The guy who's demolishing the building may haul it to his yard in pieces and store it for a while outdoors with tarps over it. The hard part will be taking it apart so that it can be put back together, and arranging a place to put it back together. The overall footprint of this compressor is about 20 ft by 30 ft. As of today, they're prepared to scrap it. I'd be amazed if there's another 19th century 400 horse Ingersol anywhere in the world in operable condition like this one. You might be able to see pictures at my FTP site at 10.240.228.216. I can't test it from inside my network.
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