In the last issue of 195, in "News from the 'ole" Dave Stott explained how the new engine set up on President requires two auxiliary pumps; one to circulate cooling water and one to extract the air and water from the condenser. David Powell located two suitable but "ripe for restoration" Weir vertical feed-pumps and delivered them to my garage so that the necessary refurbishment work could be carried out in-house. (David refers to this as "a dream of a workshop" but that is really only true when viewed through a haze of steam after listening to an rousing organ recital in nearby Lichfield Cathedral. In reality it is a good sized double garage with a bench drill, a small lathe and a fair selection of spanners and hammers!). Work on the refurbishment has now started and Simon Nuttall suggested an article or two explaining what was being done.

These particular pumps stand 4 feet tall and will be installed against the rear wall of the engine room, one on each side of the engine. The upper (steam) cylinder is 4½" diameter bore, the lower (water) cylinder 3" diameter bore and the stroke about 6½". The two pistons are rigidly connected by a 11/8" diameter bronze rod 32" long. The lower cylinder is provided with lugs for bolting to the floor and the upper cylinder is supported on two 1½" steel pillars 15" long.

The steam valve assembly is mounted on the side of the steam cylinder and operated by a rocking lever engaging with a grooved collar on the connecting rod. The rocking lever moves a small flat slide valve which admits steam to actuate the main bobbin valve. This in turn admits steam to the upper or power cylinder which causes the connecting rod to move up and down and drive the piston in the lower or pump cylinder. Spring loaded non-return valves are fitted in a valve box cast on the side of the water cylinder.

Thankfully the water cylinders are fitted with bronze linings which have prevented any serious internal corrosion despite water remaining in these cylinders since the last time the pumps were used.

Each pump weighs several hundredweight and the first task was to fix a robust hook to a roof beam, hang a chain hoist from it and raise the first pump in to a vertical position. Dave and I then started dismantling the pump from the top down. Thankfully, with liberal use of WD40, most of the nuts and bolts yielded when attacked with a suitable spanner and lump hammer and those that did try to resist were cut away using either a cold chisel and hammer or an angle grinder. The most difficult part was removing the support pillars from the cylinders. This was finally achieved by placing a bottle jack between the two cylinders and forcing them apart with a bit of additional encouragement from a lump hammer.

The second pump was treated similarly and the critical components were numbered so that parts from the two pumps are not mixed when the time comes for reassembly. All the components of one pump are shown laid out.

Our initial assessment was that the internal parts of the pumps are in reasonable condition and that although there is some severe rusting it should not prevent any the major components being reused. However some of the smaller components, such as parts of the valve gear, are rusted beyond redemption and will need replacing; as of course will all the gaskets and gland packing. In no time at all Dave had made contact with Beldam Lascar Seals Ltd and their Stephen Morris called round one afternoon, looked at the pumps and delivered all the necessary materials a few days later. He has also loaned us a set of punches for cutting the gasket material.

We decided to get the major parts sandblasted and primed as soon as possible; but not until I had masked all threads and machined surfaces. We are grateful to Robert Grew of W. W. Grew and Co. of Wednesbury who collected and delivered the castings and had this work carried out for us by a firm of sandblasters without charge. Now that these components are clean it will be possible to properly assess the internal condition and decide exactly what further work is required before they are put into service.

Lathe showing home made support

Meanwhile I have started restoring and manufacturing the smaller components. Dave and I decided to first concentrate on the more badly corroded pump on the principle that if we can get that working successfully the second should be easier. The most badly rusted components were the two supporting pillars, the collar on the connecting rod, the rocking arms, the valve rod and connecting linkage and the slide valve itself.

As an example of the sort of the work required to restore the pumps the following is a detailed account of the restoration of one of the support columns. The lower half of the column had corroded so that the main section was reduced in diameter by up to 3/8" and the reduced section within the cylinder casting by up to ¼". A simple calculation indicated that these reductions were not significant in terms of strength but did need treatment for cosmetic purposes and to maintain the true alignment of the two cylinders. 

Before and after, the top spindle is a completed one with one awaiting restoration.