When I had the business we had a 5 lire capacity stainless steel tank with a heater that would take several carbs at a time. In retirement I have a three litre stainless, again with a heater and it does a good job.
It came with a bottle of Seaclean concentrate but I prefer Ultraclean SA plus just a drop of washing up liquid. It should be noted that the cleaning fluid should be matched to the metal being cleaned. Some cleaning solutions are too aggressive for the soft alloys used in carburettors. Some people use a 50/50 solution of white vinegar and water. Another tip that I picked up along the way is that the plastic parts baskets supplied with some cleaners absorb about 30% of the ultrasonic energy before it reaches the parts being cleaned, whereas a stainless mesh basket only absorbs around 8% - I found a suitable stainless one in a cookware shop and subsequently a better one from a jewellery supply company !
Remove jets etc from the carb body and clean them at the same time but loose in the float bowl or a separate container. Alter the orientation of the carb body during the cleaning process so that the "shaken loose" dirt can fall out. I usually clean in two 15min sessions at 50degrees C.
After posting the above I was browsing some US sites looking for home made cleaning solution recipes and stumbled across this - interesting,
"Do not clean ball or roller bearings in an ultrasonic cleaner. The vibration of the components of the bearing will cause surface damage on the raceways and rollers or balls. We ran tests on several groups of bearings and found that even after a short cycle in the cleaner there was enough damage to cause rough noisy operation when we tested the bearings in a noise test machine. This program was initiated when customers complained about noise after ultra sonic cleaning the rust inhibitor from new bearings, since it was not compatible with the lubricant they were using in the application."
angus if you go back over the post you will see we resolved the problem and theres picts to
Whoops, missed it ! May be "ours" had the same issue and we freed it off without realising what we'd done. Doubt if I will ever see one again but it's one for the "knowledge bank".
"If anyone has any ideas on the 3 point hydraulics it would be good to hear.. As Nigel mentioned above the lifting arm are stuck in the up position. You can move them a very little up and down but you can hear a "metal clonking" sort of sound..
A stuck valve somewhere perhaps?"
We had the same problem with a similar Kubota belonging to a National Trust property (possibly not far from you!) some years ago. Had it in for service, did all we should have and returned it in full working order only to receive a call that the lift arms were stuck in the up position.
Hauled it back in and took the top off the back end, found nothing, refitted the top and it worked! G
Assuming that we're talking 25 or 28 series Briggs there have been two if not three different throttle/choke/governor link set-ups so an image would be useful as would the Model, Type and Code numbers from the Briggs blower housing; usually to be found just above the spark plug.
Is your "large C shape" more of a U ? If so it sounds as though it is of the type that goes through a slot in the throttle box and is just pushed by a "paddle" on the throttle linkage to apply the choke - no positive connection.
Dixon also made some zero turn machines , the smaller ones featuring an interesting twin friction drive to the rear wheels. The Dixon name and manufacturing rights were. acquired by Husqvarna who have recently announced that they are dropping the name from their range.
If you dive behind the dashboard on current Coutaxes, Westwoods and quite possibly other machines you will find something fairly similar. In fact if you strip the plastic covering from a lot of "walk behind" mower throttle controls you are left with something similar. Just depends whether it is functionality or originality that you are after?
With the leak down test you position the piston just past top dead centre on the firing stroke so that both valves are shut, lock the crank and then pressurise the cylinder via the spark plug hole. The gauge on the tester then indicates the rate of leakage via the rings, valves and may be a blowing head gasket . Leakage is often easy to pin down by listening to escaping air from the carb , exhaust or oil filler/dip stick tube.
The problem with a compression test on a small single cylinder engine with Automatic Compression Release is not being able to spin the engine fast enough overcome the release and obtain any sort of meaningful reading. On some engines the ACR may be "by passed" by spinning the engine the opposite way to normal rotation but this has issues of its own!
Sounds as though you may have cracked it but with any unknown engine I believe that time spent making sure that the valve condition and clearance, is time well sent. Short of a worn bore and piston valve condition is fundamental to a sweet running engine ; if the valves are not right no amount of tinkering with ignition and carburettor will achieve a permanent cure.
Also don't rely on a compression test as an indication of valve condition on an engine with automatic decompression to aid starting. The only reliable non-invasive test is with a leak down tester - not usually found outside a professional workshop.
For the time spent doing a valve job and probably a head gasket you will have sound foundations on which to fine tune carburettor and ignition.
"It has got some good projects on etc maybe Kelsey publishing should bring a horticultural magazine out ! "
Realistically the size of the potential readership and advertising revenue does't warrant a stand alone publication and , if the truth be known, forums such as this one have played their part in reducing magazine readership and revenue.
Need to move on another to create some space ! Found a home for a relatively young Honda engined Marquis a week ago so there are still a few people out there who appreciate a quality cylinder mower. When we started the business in '81 we would buy in lots of ex local authority Ransomes and Atcos of all sizes throughout the year and then overhaul and prep for sale during the winter; not unusual to start the season with a couple of dozen in stock. Now in retirement it's just a hobby; no customer hassle, wage bill, business rates etc and as much time as is needed to do things properly.
Kohler used to do "service ring sets" to be used in worn but not re bored engines. Don't know whether this still applies but Mike Hitchins would be the man to ask. Those of a certain age will remember Cords piston rings for worn engines. Cords are still around but now concentrate on original equipment rings for engine manufacturers etc . However they do still have some stock for "our" type of engines and after a bit of preservence I recently managed to get a ring set fo a Kubota MAG.
Recently collected a mower from a boys' club in South East London that they had been given to play with or sell. While there they showed me a "a lathe" that they had been given to use or sell as they pleased. Apparently came from someone clearing out their shed due to advancing years. There is a motor with it and what looks like a box of change gears . I said that I would post it on this forum - the contact is Chas Barnes at the Archway Project London SE2 and he is open to honest and sensible offers. The buyer would need to collect it . Contact him . chas.barnes@archwayproject.org
Wonderful pic of the bike in the water. Reminiscent of pictures on the wall of the local motorbike shop run by an ex trials rider , Karl Pugh in the late 50s. Lots of pics of him, cloth cap on backwards on the Scottish Trials etc.
Long gone now but I can still hear his greeting of "Hello old chap" !
Very interesting.. I'm sure Nigel's mystery engine (I can't find the post about it) has a Brimotor sticker on it..
Not sure whether Brimotor still exist but they used to assemble gensets in s small factory tucked away behind a pub in central Tunbridge Wells - buying in engines and alternators .
They then moved to a unit on an industrial estate, still in Tun Wells and produced trailer mounted lighting towers for road works etc. Somewhere along the line they acquired the rights to produce Tarpen hedge cutters from whoever was making them in Nottingham - I think. Brain is a bit hazy on this.
We supplied and installed several of their Lister powered stand-by gensets and this one found its way home!
The cutting cylinder and bottom blade are de-rusted, painted, sharpened and reassembled with new reaction springs and felt seals. The old springs appear to have been attacked with an angle grinder; can't see why as the new ones are far from coil bound with the reground cylinder and refaced bottom blade.
The rear roller had spent the weekend in the diesel tank which had done its job and the roller didn't put up too much of a fight. The grooves on these roller sections are good so no tedious re-cutting required!
Chassis and grass box etc off to "blasters" for stripping and epoxy coating. Unfortunately they are busy with all sorts of interesting things so wont see them back till mid next week but there is the engine to strip and re-paint.
Interesting that you make the point about the ipad, I've given up trying to upload images to some forums and end up emailing them to myself on the PC and uploading from there! May just be an age thing - the user not the machine, that is ! Anyway, nothing special about the C30, just a bigger version of the Villiers family. Got a manual somewhere and will dig it out, scan and Dropbox it and post a link.
On edit
Apologies, memory playing tricks, it's a C25 manual not 30.
Often found that the Briggs are unhappy at low enough revs to disengage the centrifugal clutch and would "bog down" when the throttle is opened. Never managed to get to the bottom of whether or not stronger springs are available to allow 1700 rpm idle on the Briggs.
Machine is now a pile of bits but before stripping down I had the engine running - code '79 and points ignition and surprisingly it ticked over and accelerated with no hesitation so maybe it has the phantom stronger springs.
The whole machine had been treated to a thick coat of brush applied household gloss. I've cleaned up all the small bits with the rotary bush on the bench grinder and my rather "domestic" bead blaster but the chassis, chain case cover and deflector plate will go for professional blasting and epoxy priming next week. The cutting cylinder is in the rust tank and the seized rear roller is having a soak in the diesel tank.
Hopefully next week will be better paint spraying weather!
Ultrasonic cleaner
in What tool to use?
Posted · Edited by Wristpin
When I had the business we had a 5 lire capacity stainless steel tank with a heater that would take several carbs at a time. In retirement I have a three litre stainless, again with a heater and it does a good job.
It came with a bottle of Seaclean concentrate but I prefer Ultraclean SA plus just a drop of washing up liquid. It should be noted that the cleaning fluid should be matched to the metal being cleaned. Some cleaning solutions are too aggressive for the soft alloys used in carburettors. Some people use a 50/50 solution of white vinegar and water. Another tip that I picked up along the way is that the plastic parts baskets supplied with some cleaners absorb about 30% of the ultrasonic energy before it reaches the parts being cleaned, whereas a stainless mesh basket only absorbs around 8% - I found a suitable stainless one in a cookware shop and subsequently a better one from a jewellery supply company !
Remove jets etc from the carb body and clean them at the same time but loose in the float bowl or a separate container. Alter the orientation of the carb body during the cleaning process so that the "shaken loose" dirt can fall out. I usually clean in two 15min sessions at 50degrees C.
After posting the above I was browsing some US sites looking for home made cleaning solution recipes and stumbled across this - interesting,
"Do not clean ball or roller bearings in an ultrasonic cleaner. The vibration of the components of the bearing will cause surface damage on the raceways and rollers or balls. We ran tests on several groups of bearings and found that even after a short cycle in the cleaner there was enough damage to cause rough noisy operation when we tested the bearings in a noise test machine. This program was initiated when customers complained about noise after ultra sonic cleaning the rust inhibitor from new bearings, since it was not compatible with the lubricant they were using in the application."