Re: Berger hydraulic starters?

On Fri, 30 Sep 2005 10:45:34 +0100, Bob Holmes <bholmes@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:

>Tim Leech wrote:
>

>>
>> http://www.etna-industrie.com/FR/chrono.htm
>>
>> the second item (1947) shows the starter in question.

>
>Hello Tim ,
>I did some work on two sets of these Bryce Handraulic Starters- they are
>on a pair of 6cyl. Ford Marlins in an ex-RNLI lifeboat. One worked ok ,
>after plenty of hard work pumping up the pressure , the other didn't work
>at first. You are right, the clearance on the dog clutch is critical, in
>this case the positioning etc on the shaft was affected by an auxiliary
>crankshaft pulley that ran the cooling pump and dynamo, IIRC, the whole
>had become worn and it was necessary to put washers in various places to
>achieve the right clearances. Also the parts of the dog clutch ( teeth etc
>) need to be clean , not gunged up with the usual engine filth. I got
>this starter to work most of the time, luckily, these engines have
>electric starters as well :-)
>I found you could get about 3 or 4 starts from one good pumping up .
>Have you got a pressure indicator on the hydraulic system pump ?This
>would give some indication of when you need to pump it again.
>I think the idea of this system was that you could start the engines in an
>emergency , even with the engine room flooded ( the air intakes are high
>up and the hand pumps are remote in the cockpit/wheelhouse.
>Somewhere , I have a manual for this system. It might take a while to find
>it though!
>Robert

I've today had an offer of the loan of a manual for a later UK made
Bryce-Berger starter, I don't know how much they changed the motors if
at all. This is an early (1948) French-made Berger unit.
Hopefully that'll do the trick, if not I'll come knocking on your
door! <g>
He says, as you do, he gets 2 or 3 starts from one chargeing of the
accumulator, we've only ever had one start with this unit. There could
be various reasons for that, of course, maybe the accumulator capacity
is different or it may be to do with the very large flywheel inertia
on the Crossley, or it may just be that it's not working as it should
be.
Many thanks

Tim

Dutton Dry-Dock
Traditional & Modern canal craft repairs
Vintage diesel engine service
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