Advanced engine products fan

[Chuck 7]

I just got Advanced Engine Products Incorporated gas engine fire department fan it needs two cycle oil what kind of oil or should I use in what proportion to the gasoline. Can anyone help?

[CNew 404]

Welcome to the forum!

 

Very nice fan, I recently rebuilt one of these but it had the earlier O&R engine.  You can probably search for the thread on here, it was titled Ohlsson & Rice Manhole Fan. Do you know for certain the application as a firefighting fan?  I never could figure out exactly how it was used. I’d love to learn more about the application of you have any info.

 

I think the general consensus for oil is a 32:1 ratio. I’ve been using Stihl HP oil (mineral based and not the synthetic version) mixed with a high quality non ethanol fuel, and not the standard pump gas. You should be able to find a good high octane non ethanol fuel at a lawn equipment shop. I’ve stayed away from TruFuel stuff at the big home and garden centers. I’ve always been a little concerned it may be too “engineered” with all kinds of additives that may be harmful to these older engines with older seals and gaskets.

 

One other good piece of advice I got from the great folks on here when I was first getting into this is to clean out the old air filter foam before starting the engine. If you don’t and it crumbles it’ll get sucked into the engine through the carb.

[Chuck 7]

It came from the Los Angeles fire department and a guy gave it to me it needed a new fuel line and other than that I'm ready to go I'm going to start her up

It has a date on it of 1986 on a tag that shows it supposed to be returned to a certain place so I think it's pretty old

[CNew 404]

Very cool. Yes, the Advanced Engine Products would have been in the 1970s after taking over Ohlsson & Rice.  I’m sure Factory and Wallfish will be jumping on this thread soon. These guys are super knowledgeable and know all the history of these engines.

 

It’s not uncommon to need to rebuild the carb if the little rubber Diaphragm has dried out and turned hard. You’ll know pretty quickly once you try to run it.  Don’t forget to check the air filter to make sure there’s no old foam in there. You can replace it with the modern, green colored lawn mower filter foam.

 

Does your fan have a throttle handle on it?

[Chuck 7]

 Throttle seems To not be there

[CNew 404]

Is it just missing the handle?  It looks like I can see a black throttle cable in the photo. My fan had a throttle handle integrated into the main handle bar that you hold on to.

[Chuck 7]

That's the fuel line I think you're seeing on the carburetor it says choke half and open

[Wallfish 698]

Interesting to see another one of these pop up. Now I gotta find one!

@CNew gave some good advice for the air filter and most likely you will need a new diaphragm so the carb can pump fuel. That later carb probably uses the little rubber cup type check valve instead of the steel ball bearing type so hopefully that is still intact.

You can check the carb by connecting a clean piece of fuel line and try blowing through it. Air should only pass when the primer button is pushed and stop when it's released. You will need to open up the carb if doesn't.

[factory 487]

6 hours ago, Chuck said:

It came from the Los Angeles fire department and a guy gave it to me it needed a new fuel line and other than that I'm ready to go I'm going to start her up

It has a date on it of 1986 on a tag that shows it supposed to be returned to a certain place so I think it's pretty old

 

Nice to see a later one of these fans, I'm fairly certain it would have been used for ventilation purposes by the fire department not fighting as CNew said, they used large fans after a fire where I work to clear the smoke & fumes out of the building after the fire had been put out.

 

AEP closed down in 1978, if you want to know when the engine was made let us know the details on the cylinder plate, the first bit is the model number (starts with 13B) and the second is the serial number which has the date coded into it (only for engines made from June 1967 & later).

 

The decals are a bit fragile on the later engines (paper with plastic film), be very careful if you clean the decal, it would be nice to see a clear picture of the decal as it's one I've not seen before, AEP engines are quite hard to search for & find.

 

CNew has sorted you out with the fuel mix, 32:1 with non-ethanol (aka non-oxy) gas & good quality mineral 2-stroke oil.

 

And a reminder of why you should remove all traces of any original filter foam before attempting to start the engine.

 

David

[Wallfish 698]

Forgot to comment on that decal. Never saw one like that and the word "INDUSTRIAL" is quite comical. Those carbs are anything but industrial.

[CNew 404]

2 hours ago, factory said:

I'm fairly certain it would have been used for ventilation purposes by the fire department not fighting as CNew said, they used large fans after a fire where I work to clear the smoke & fumes out of the building after the fire had been put out.

 

David,

   Thanks, I didn’t actually mean fighting fire with a fan but your description For how it might be used makes a lot of sense and would be a great application for a portable, hand powered fan.  Should we change the title of the post for my fan?  I just indicated manhole fan because that’s what the seller claimed it was.  Maybe a more generic title like Ventilation fan would be more appropriate as I’m sure people probably used these in various ways for ventilation purposes.

[factory 487]

We could change it to something like "portable ventilation fan" if you want, I'm sure these portable fans could have been used for lots of things such as ventilation, cooling, etc.

 

David

[Chuck 7]

Well what I do is buy and sell antiques and I got this with some lighting etc . I'm a little handy so I've been trying to get it running. I shot a little starting fluid past the air cleaner and it puttered

[factory 487]

4 hours ago, Chuck said:

Well what I do is buy and sell antiques and I got this with some lighting etc

 

If your planing to sell the fan once you've got it running then I'm sure there will be plenty of interest from the collectors on here.

 

David

[Chuck 7]

Ok thank you!

[Wallfish 698]

I'm interested in it and you don't have to get it running! I know how to do that

Please don't squirt starting fluid in it. These are 2 strokes and need the oil in the fuel and ether will most certainly run the cylinder dry.

[Chuck 7]

$175 as is. It is marked L Los Angeles fire department LA FDI got it from a fireman

[Wallfish 698]

Sold. Just sent you a PM

Or you can reach me by email at uremailing@yahoo.com

[JUST O&R 237]

17 hours ago, Wallfish said:

I'm interested in it and you don't have to get it running! I know how to do that

and you called us vulture's

[Chuck 7]

I'm waiting to hear back Wallfish

I am waiting to hear back from Wallfish

[CNew 404]

That’s really cool it has the LAFD tag on it!

[factory 487]

Interesting, the label looks to say Controlled Airstreams, searching for that & fan gives the full name as "Controlled Airstreams Inc." a company that made fans, apparently taken over by Tempest Technology Corp. they still sell fans for many applications; https://www.tempest.us.com/

including fans for ventilation after fires.

 

David

[factory 487]

3 hours ago, JUST O&R said:

20 hours ago, Wallfish said:

I'm interested in it and you don't have to get it running! I know how to do that

and you called us vulture's

 

Well now we know they were used by fire departments and we know what to search for hopefully they will be easier to find. The Tempest website gives another possible use as a hot air balloon inflator (although the engine looks a bit bigger), they also mention the use of fans for helping control fires as well as clearing smoke afterwards.

 

David

[Wallfish 698]

6 hours ago, JUST O&R said:

and you called us vulture's

YUP! Had to be quick on the draw before you vultures got to it!

Just happened to be on here when Chuck posted that.

 

 

[Chuck 7]

Well the guy I got this from has more fire department stuff and I'll look for another one (but no promises)