Turbair tot 2s

[Planty 0]

Hello,

 

I have just acquired a turbair tot 2s (1 HP) machine that has been sitting dormant in a shed for many many years. I was hoping there might be someone who could advise or help me to get my machine going again as I would like to use it. The machine is original and has not been modified. The engine turns over ok but I am unable to get a spark from the old plug. I have tried attaching slightly different plugs to the HT lead with a longer thread but still no success in getting a spark. Does anyone know if I could still get a spark plug the same size as the original that fits into this machine ? I am wondering if the lack of a spark is with the plug, the HT lead or other problem. Any suggestions ? Also, I was hoping to try and find a bottle and a copy of an instruction manual and an exploded diagram/view of this machine. Any help would be useful and appreciated.

 

Mark

[nigel 1,877]

Contact Paul mackellow he’s one of the admins on here, he has a few of them 

[Webhead 95]

Lack of spark is 95% dirty points.

[factory 487]

Hi Mark

 

I scanned & uploaded a pdf of the instruction manual for the Turbair Tot 2S last year to the thread linked below;

There is no exploded diagram for the sprayer in the manual, but it does have the general maintenance instructions which mention checking the contact breaker points, other things to check if the points are clean & set correctly include; the switch is on & not shorting out, the condenser, the magneto leads & coil.

 

If your Turbair has the 14mm thread in the cylinder head, the spark-plug that was originally fitted would have been the Champion CJ8, these are still available at a reasonable price. The most commonly fitted alternate spark-plug I've found for the CJ8 is the NGK BM6A, the site linked below also has useful cross referencing information for the spark-plugs, check the length of the thread is short reach if buying an alternate.

http://www.gsparkplug.com/1x-champion-standard-spark-plug-cj8.html?___SID=U

If the spark-plug thread is 10mm the Champion UY6 would have been fitted, these are also still available but are more expensive, but I haven't seen a Turbair with an early enough O&R engine for this spark-plug.

 

Exploded diagrams are available for the engine if needed (I don't have the exact one for the type 186 engines that are fitted to mine but have many similar), as well as the sticky threads with pictures for rebuilding the carb and engine.

Usually the carb diaphragm needs changing to get the engine to run well, also don't forget to change/remove the filter foam in the air filter as the old stuff crumbles to dust and will cause damage if it gets sucked into the engine.

 

I don't know of any source for suitable bottles to fit these sprayers, it seems most people don't want to sell them with the sprayer due to the hazardous chemicals they contain or once contained. I sent the only spare I had to Wallfish to complete his Turbair.

 

David

[factory 487]

It seems Edward Bals (Sprayers) Limited of Bromyard, Herefordshire, one of the companies that originally sold the Turbair sprayers are still going, they are now known as Micron and they still sell the battery & mains electric powered versions of this sprayer (now known as the Electrafan).

The bottle supplied with the new sprayers looks a little different to the originals, but they should be able to advise if it would fit the older sprayers and if they are available as a spare part.

Check the website linked below for the modern instructions (which have some exploded diagrams that may help, even though they are for the electric versions) if you are intending to use your Turbair, obviously a lot more PPE is recommended these days.

 

http://www.microngroup.com/electrafan

 

David

 

[Planty 0]

Hello David,

 

Thankyou for all the information and advice. It will be a big help. I am looking forward to getting it running again. Fingers crossed.

 

Mark

[factory 487]

I found an interesting document last night from 1974 that features the Turbair sprayers archived on the UK Forestry Commission website;

 

https://www.forestry.gov.uk/pdf/FCBU048.pdf/$FILE/FCBU048.pdf

 

The Turbair Tot 2S cost £59.50 in 1974, see page 92 for the range they offered then & the prices, page 182 for a picture of someone without any suitable PPE for using it and page 215 for a similar picture with a wheeled version (not sure if it's a O&R powered one).

 

The article seems to imply that Micron Sprayers (Edward Bals) of Bromyard and Turbair Ltd (Pan Britannica Industries Ltd) of Waltham Cross are separate companies, both companies of course sold the O&R powered Turbair.

 

David

[Planty 0]

It was quite an expensive machine considering the size of it and at the time it was being sold. My machine has a sticker on the painted red pull cord housing with a serial number and the address it was manufactured at. Turbair Ltd, Britannica Works, Waltham Abbey, Essex, England. I recall reading last week that a machine this size could treat an area of commercial glasshouse/polythene tunnel of upto 3000 square metres which is almost one acre (one acre is 4000 square metres in area). It is quite a large area considering how small this little turbair machine is. I have seen modern commercial fogging machines used for pest and disease control in glasshouses. Some of them are much bigger with much larger fans that are pulled along like a trailer. 

 

I don't think people were aware of the dangers of spraying without proper PPE years ago, particularly when you consider what was being sprayed 30-40 years ago. Some of the insecticides and fungicides being used were really toxic and hazardous to health !

 

I will take a look at the forestry commission article.

 

Mark

[Planty 0]

I have been reading various scientific research articles about the use of the Turbair tot 2s machine. It sounds as though it started to be sold in the U.K in 1973/74. I have read one article mentioning it being at an agricultural/horticultural trade fair in 1974. It was used in forestry situations for herbicide application as a hand held applicator and also in scientific trials in aerial spraying for control of coniferous tree pests. I did find an article that reported it being trialled in forestry in Austria in 1968/9 before it arrived in the U.K. So it seems it was designed and made prior to 1974 before it arrived in the U.K.

 

Mark

[factory 487]

Yes there is an Austrian connection, its the designer of the Micronair rotary atomiser Edward Julius Bals who was born in Austria, he moved to England in the 1930's then China, Asia and Ski Lanka before returning to England.
http://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2000/po/b006350i#!divAbstract
http://www.fwi.co.uk/machinery/best-of-british-micron-sprayers.htm

 

The earliest Turbair with an O&R engine is the Turbair 21, the leaflet isn't dated but given the fact the engine is described as being under 1HP it will date from around the mid 1960's (the 1HP engine became available in 1965). The price then was £45 for the sprayer & £8 extra for a wheel fitting, the address given is Edward Bals (Sprayers) Ltd of Turbair Works, Bromyard, Herefordshire. Thanks to Paul (pmackellow) for the pictures from the leaflet.

 

 

I have also found a patent from Edwards Bals of Turbair Works, Bromyard that was applied for in June 1964 for a sprayer that looks similar to the Turbair 21;
https://worldwide.espacenet.com/publicationDetails/originalDocument?CC=GB&NR=1105652A&KC=A&FT=D&ND=3&date=19680313&DB=&locale=en_EP#

 

I suspect that this crop sprayer maybe a Turbair 21, it appeared on an Italian small ads website a few years ago.

 

There is also an earlier engine powered sprayer patented by Edward Bals (applied for in 1961) this was made by Birfield Engineering/Micron Sprayers and known as the Micronette 26 & 75;
https://worldwide.espacenet.com/publicationDetails/originalDocument?CC=US&NR=3221993A&KC=A&FT=D&ND=3&date=19651207&DB=&locale=en_EP#

 

The later O&R powered Turbair was sold by Edward Bals (Sprayers) Ltd of Bromyard, Herefordshire as the Turbair Tot and by Turbair Ltd (PBI) of Britannica Works, Waltham Abbey, Essex as the Turbair Tot 2S, PBI also made a lot of the chemicals for crop spraying & pesticides for killing flies, some of the chemicals available then are still in use today, but banned chemicals vary for different countries. It's worth finding out the PPE requirements for using these chemicals, they can also be harmful/fatal to animals & pets as well as us.

 

 

The O&R engines made after June 1967 are easy to date using the engine serial number code, the engines on mine date from 1968 I also have the engine dating from 1974 that was from a Turbair.

 

The Turbair TOT eventually became the Turbair Fox (powered by the Italian Fox Engine) when O&R/AEP engines were discontinued, the last 2 stroke version offered by Micron was the Turbair Motafan (still using the Fox engine), the newest one I've seen dates from 1998.

 

Only the electric versions are still made by the Micron Group, they were re-branded in Jan 2013 from the Turbair Electrafan to the Micron Electrafan;
http://www.microngroup.com/micron_group_has_rebranded

 

The battery powered Micron Electrafan is currently being sold for £365, which doesn't included a battery pack (another £100).

http://www.daltonengineering.co.uk/consumables/fly-spray-prevent-auto/electrafan-sprayer-12v-excl-battery-pack.html

 

David

[Wallfish 698]

On 2/4/2018 at 12:01 AM, Planty said:

I don't think people were aware of the dangers of spraying without proper PPE years ago, particularly when you consider what was being sprayed 30-40 years ago. Some of the insecticides and fungicides being used were really toxic and hazardous to health !

None of the ads or pictures ever show anyone wearing protection

Edited February 12, 2018 by Wallfish

[Webhead 95]

48 minutes ago, Wallfish said:

None of the ads or pictures ever show anyone wearing protection

I wear a very similar outfit when I am doing yard work. Where do you find this stuff, David?

[Wallfish 698]

16 hours ago, Webhead said:

I wear a very similar outfit when I am doing yard work.

Ha, how about posting your selfie while you're out weeding around the petunias?

[factory 487]

17 hours ago, Wallfish said:

None of the ads or pictures ever show anyone wearing protection

 

I forgot the token wear "chemical proof gloves" mention in the instructions, also don't forget to secure that tie! They also advised against spraying towards the wind.

 

 

16 hours ago, Webhead said:

I wear a very similar outfit when I am doing yard work. Where do you find this stuff, David?

 

Some of it is in the literature I have, the Turbair 21 pictures came from Paul, the rest from occasion research on the web (any interesting document or picture usually gets saved to my PC as anything can disappear at any time on the web).

 

David

[factory 487]

On 2/5/2018 at 7:14 PM, factory said:

There is also an earlier engine powered sprayer patented by Edward Bals (applied for in 1961) this was made by Birfield Engineering/Micron Sprayers and known as the Micronette 26 & 75;

https://worldwide.espacenet.com/publicationDetails/originalDocument?CC=US&NR=3221993A&KC=A&FT=D&ND=3&date=19651207&DB=&locale=en_EP#

 

I was curious to find out more about this sprayer, below is a picture showing the two versions of it together with the usual non-existent PPE from a NIAE test report I bought.

They had a total of 7 faults with the machine & it's engine during the 18½ hours they used it for. The engine fitted to this sprayer is the German made JLO 2-stroke engine rated at 0.86HP with a 26 cc capacity and the machine tested dated from 1962.

 

For comparison the O&R engines used on the Turbair sprayers are approx 20 to 22 cc at ¾ to 1HP depending on how old they are.

 

 

David

[Wallfish 698]

Maybe Joe uses his sweater vest to secure his tie while doing yard work.

 

Thanks for posting and sharing those pics. Interesting stuff

[Webhead 95]

2 hours ago, Wallfish said:

Maybe Joe uses his sweater vest to secure his tie while doing yard work.

 

Thanks for posting and sharing those pics. Interesting stuff

No, but I do tie my sweater around my neck when I am cutting firewood, along with smoking a pipe. (Sorry David, I have not heard from John in a while). Cool literature,

though.

[factory 487]

21 hours ago, Webhead said:

No, but I do tie my sweater around my neck when I am cutting firewood, along with smoking a pipe. (Sorry David, I have not heard from John in a while). Cool literature,

though.

It has been a while & it's good to hear from him too.

 

Also there are still a couple more Turbair items waiting to be scanned here, a spraying guide and a PBI chemicals guide.

 

David