# Compressed Air Starts



## spongebob (Dec 11, 2007)

Compressed air engine starts

It’s a long haul from Third Mate to Ship’s Master and a wide range of learning to accomplish but in my memory the skill of ship handling, i.e. maneuvering a ship to or from its berth in a harbour was an art form on its own and some masters had it, some slightly less talented. 
All the Union steam ship Co’s masters held pilot exemptions for NZ ports and for many of the Australian and Pacific Islands ones also so ship handling by the master in the confinements of a port was a frequent happening. I am referring to the handling of relatively small ships here, say 2000 to 8000 tons gross. Of course, the Inter-Island ferry skippers were like poetry in motion as are most ferrymen always on a familiar course. 

I recall our ship MV NAVUA being berthed on the breastwork in Lyttelton in a tight space and at right angles to the main wharves. We were due to sail that afternoon and were all singled up ready to go when the skipper and the chief engineer arrived back from the company office. The skipper was a dab hand at berthing and sailing with a minimum of telegraph movements so the chief said “I bet you ten pounds that you can’t get out of here in one engine command movement”
Soon after standby was rung on the engine room telegraph followed by a very long pause then “full ahead” and we were away. The cunning blighter had let go forward and with the advantage of a light off shore breeze and the tensioning of the out board stern mooring line with the winch had managed to screw the ship through 90 degrees by rotating on the stern rubbing strake against the piling until we were pointed to the seaward channel. The full ahead engine movement to get out of the harbour was not foolhardy as we engineers took some time to ease the engine up to full rpm plus time was needed to gain way all of which the skipper well knew.

I can well remember the chief’s sad look as we got the full away signal.

Another time, another ship, the Collier MV Kaitangata, another skipper who was a seasoned sea dog who had commanded the square rigger ‘Pamir’ in his time and was a very experienced master but when it came to berthing a motor ship he was a bundle of nerves and was well known for his extravagant use of engine movements to the detriment of the compressed air supply for engine starts.
We were berthing a collier along side Auckland’s Western wharf against an outgoing tide and a slight head wind and our twin, well worn British Polar engines were repeatedly getting the telegraph message to go “dead slow ahead” –“stop” “dead slow ahead” – “ stop” as we crept and inched our way toward the berth.
We had four air receivers, two normally in service and two as standby but with the high number of engine movements we were well into the second two and the compressor was unable to keep up. 
The chief said “Ring the bridge and tell them we have only half a dozen engine starts left”
The third mate took the message to the skipper who promptly ordered the Mate on the bow to let go an anchor and that was the end of that for a few hours as we swung on the pick only 50 metres off the jetty. It was a Saturday afternoon and the only people on the quay were the Union Co shore staff waiting to take our lines and on seeing the anchor drop they packed up and went home. After a few ship to shore messages, a turn of the tide and full air receivers we finally got along side and home that evening.

Another incident aboard MV NAVUA involving maneuvering and engine starts comes to mind and, in this instance,, we were due to sail from Wellington. The main engine had been warmed through and we were all ready to go.
Stand by rang on the telegraph and we got ready to follow the practice of giving the engine a jag on air only with the indicator cocks open when the first movement was rung. It took the stand- by engineer about ten seconds total to witness a clean blow from the cocks and close them before signaling to the man on the throttle that all was well and bang, we were away.
This time I was the man on the tops and as the first movement of “slow astern” clanged the kick on air was done a spurt of water issued from one cock in a solid water blasting stream that showered both me and those on the plates below. I yelled and waved that we had water in the cylinder and the second took the conservative course of ringing “Finished with engines”. The bridge’s reaction was swift as they rang down to say that they had cast off and we had drifted into the middle of the basin. “What is wrong, do we drop the pick?” was the urgent question but we answered very quickly by slipping the turning gear into mesh and giving the engine a turn to prove that most of the water had gone and we were able to start on fuel in the nick of time and extricate the ship from an embarrassing moment. It was egg on the face of the engineers and a reminder to turn the engine over with the turning gear just prior to standby and not a few hours before.
The problem later turned out to be serious erosion on the cylinder liner water-side walls and in the area of a sealing ‘O’ ring that allowed water to leak through the cylinder ports but that is another story 

Bob


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## Wallace Slough (Mar 21, 2009)

Hello Bob
Your stories reminded me of a departure from the Port of Sacramento many years ago. An easy job (those are always the tough ones) from Berth #2 . One tug on the stem, push the bow in, one astern bell to back into the basin, then push the bow around with the tug and come ahead on the engine and depart down the channel. It was a cold winter day and we got the astern bell OK but then the engine slowly died. Back the tug on the bow full, make sure the boat is clear of the anchor, and then drop the pick at short stay. The Chief Engineer comes to the bridge and tells us that a starting air valve had stuck open with the cold and drained ALL his air. How long will it take to pump the air back up and the answer was 45 minutes. Problem was we’d then miss the tide and delay the departure. How long would it take to give us one start and the answer was 10 minutes. That would work I replied, we’ll push the bow around with the tug, give us one ahead start, and we’ll head down the channel. Ten minutes later we’re ready, Dead Slow Ahead, and the engine goes Half Astern. Stop Engines and we had to hit the emergency stop on the panel to stop the engine. Then get the tug clear and backing the boat full, drop the anchor at short stay, and fetch up closing on the pier but OK. Three times in succession the engine goes astern with a repeat of emergency stop and drop the anchor at short stay and fetch up closing on the pier but still clear. At this point I tell the Captain if she goes astern again, we’ll hit the pier. He responds, I know what the problem is and takes off to run below to the engine room. He came back up to the bridge wing all out of breath and said OK, we can proceed. I confirmed with him that the engine would come ahead this time and he said absolutely. We raised the anchor and rang up Dead Slow Ahead and the engine came ahead and we proceeded down the channel. The problem was the elderly Chief Engineer was deaf and when the Captain spoke to him on the telephone he’d answer, “yeah, yeah, yeah,” and then started the engine in the wrong direction! A true story!


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## david freeman (Jan 26, 2006)

Starts M/Engine Doxford, 350psi or a H&W opposed piston 600Psi and two Air Start recievers per engine, Each Air Start receiver without being recharge was I believed designed for 6 starts only. MAy BE THE WRONG WAY ROUND FOR AIR PRESSURE STARTS???


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## skilly57 (Mar 11, 2008)

Bob, you got my memory going again.
Way back when, in the corner of Aotea Quay in Wellington by the ferry terminal, the original Golden Bay was heading into her berth on a Friday afternoon. she too had 4-cylinder British Polar 2-strokes, and the skipper always tried to turn her around and go into the cement berth stern-first to make for an easier getaway on Sunday night.
This skipper was a bit accident-prone, and there was a decent southerly blowing into the corner when he tried to stop the ship & turn it around to port all in one manoeuvre, but he used up all the air whilst trying to stay off the end of the pier! Chiefy was standing between the engines juggling the little valve handles on each cylinder as he tried to get some air.
End result was the ship got blown onto the end of the square end of the pier for the Aramoana/ Aranui linkspan, and one was coming in! Urgent call to Harbour Radio for a tug (which thankfully had steam up) - they came around & pulled the ship off it's undignified position where it was being held by the strong southerly and got it into the corner, and the ferry wasn't really held up too much.
I think CP props may have been developed to avoid these situations A good invention!


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## henry1 (Mar 25, 2015)

Some time in the 80's we were sent a 5th engineer from hong Kong, a nice guy in his 30's who had been with Danish Maersk for 10 years. When we were doing routine jobs he would come and ask "how come" how come you open this valve or how come you start generator, in the end we called him how come.
Getting ready to leave port turned with turning gear and then had air blow and he comes in the control room and asks how come air blow and we said you must have seen it done in maersk and he said no in ten years he had never seen air blow on main engine, we could never work out if he was telling porkies or if danish maersk did not do an air blow.


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## Tony Morris (Oct 7, 2006)

I was with Maersk in the 80's and the M.E. was always blown over, even then they had checklists with this included.


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## Duncan112 (Dec 28, 2006)

henry1 said:


> Some time in the 80's we were sent a 5th engineer from hong Kong, a nice guy in his 30's who had been with Danish Maersk for 10 years. When we were doing routine jobs he would come and ask "how come" how come you open this valve or how come you start generator, in the end we called him how come.
> Getting ready to leave port turned with turning gear and then had air blow and he comes in the control room and asks how come air blow and we said you must have seen it done in maersk and he said no in ten years he had never seen air blow on main engine, we could never work out if he was telling porkies or if danish maersk did not do an air blow.


Sailed with a C/E in P&OCL that didn't blow over prior to departure on the Sulzer RTA, turned it and his argument was that there was so little water in the jackets that any leak would be noticed in the header tanks.

Conversely I sailed with a C/E in Bank Line who didn't turn the engine before blowing, until one of the lower piston crowns failed and filled the combustion space with oil - fortunately no engine damage but very messy in the middles.


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## Alistair Macnab (May 13, 2008)

*Compressed Air Starts...*

My story about the shortage of compressed air because of too many starts and stops and the request for endless microbursts of dead slows, and tug signals, concerns the "Inverbank" class of twin-screw H&W, B&W blast motorships of 1924 to 1926. Built in Glasgow they became the terror ships of USA pilots.

On at least one reported occasion, the Chief phoned the Bridge to say:
"Tell the frigging Pilot that he has one more toot on the whistle or one more engine start on one engine, his choice." (In a Glasgow accent)

And this was not a rare situation. We were often called in the Supers' office ashore from a pilot service, "This incoming Bank Boat is not one of the old 'Inverbank' Class is she?" There were 18 of them and the last one went in 1960!


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## makko (Jul 20, 2006)

henry1 said:


> we could never work out if he was telling porkies or if danish maersk did not do an air blow.


Or, like a Mexican Eng.Cadet we sailed with, he didn't want to get his hands and boiler suit dirty! 

One day, Sergio went missing. We feared that he had fallen overboard as he was nowhere to be found. After an extensive search, I decided to check the working alley. There, in the laundry, on top of a pile of dirty sheets, was Sergio, sound asleep. It seems that the "delights" of Bangkok had him burning the candle at both ends. He got a sound blloking from the Master and Chief. This did not however entice him to do any work!

Rgds.
Dave


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## makko (Jul 20, 2006)

Always, always, always, turn the engine on air with indicator cocks open prior to first orders! Also, on warm through, indicator cocks open, turning gear in (remember to get the chit from the mate, no divers down etc.), cyl. lubricators on full, etc.

Rgds.
Dave


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## dannic (Mar 10, 2013)

david freeman said:


> Starts M/Engine Doxford, 350psi or a H&W opposed piston 600Psi and two Air Start recievers per engine, Each Air Start receiver without being recharge was I believed designed for 6 starts only. MAy BE THE WRONG WAY ROUND FOR AIR PRESSURE STARTS???


Each air receiver has to have capacity for 12 ahead and 12 astern starts without compressors working. 
Normally 2 air receivers fitted. 
Dannic


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## ted harrison (Oct 16, 2009)

Doxford engines had to perform 24 stops and starts alternating ahead and astern with both receivers charged to 600psig and inlet valves locked off. This was a Lloyds requirement and overseen by the inspector as part of the overall performance tests during sea trials.
One or two very experienced guys could get several more than the 24.


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## G0SLP (Sep 4, 2007)

makko said:


> Always, always, always, turn the engine on air with indicator cocks open prior to first orders! Also, on warm through, indicator cocks open, turning gear in (remember to get the chit from the mate, no divers down etc.), cyl. lubricators on full, etc.
> 
> Rgds.
> Dave


Can't do that with modern dual fuel (ie LNG) engines - no indicator cocks. You do a slow turn on air before the start proper. Mind you, as an old-fashioned chap, I insist on 2 full turns on the turning gear (the engines are 4-strokes) before we take the turning gear out and commence the starting sequence. I usually only have to explain once why I insist on this being done, to any new members of my Engineering team...

Mark
(who is still stuck on his ship, on the Jamaican coast, unable to be relieved - 8 weeks overdue now and no sign as yet of any movement on the relieving front, due to lack of flights, local rules etc etc...)


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## dannic (Mar 10, 2013)

G0SLP said:


> Can't do that with modern dual fuel (ie LNG) engines - no indicator cocks. You do a slow turn on air before the start proper. Mind you, as an old-fashioned chap, I insist on 2 full turns on the turning gear (the engines are 4-strokes) before we take the turning gear out and commence the starting sequence. I usually only have to explain once why I insist on this being done, to any new members of my Engineering team...
> 
> Mark
> (who is still stuck on his ship, on the Jamaican coast, unable to be relieved - 8 weeks overdue now and no sign as yet of any movement on the relieving front, due to lack of flights, local rules etc etc...)


Rolls Royce V8 genys had no indicator cocks, nor a flywheel so had to turn them over with coupling between water pump and luboil pump - took ages before you were sure you had done full turn
Dannic


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## makko (Jul 20, 2006)

G0SLP said:


> Can't do that with modern dual fuel (ie LNG) engines - no indicator cocks. You do a slow turn on air before the start proper. Mind you, as an old-fashioned chap, I insist on 2 full turns on the turning gear (the engines are 4-strokes) before we take the turning gear out and commence the starting sequence. I usually only have to explain once why I insist on this being done, to any new members of my Engineering team...
> 
> Mark
> (who is still stuck on his ship, on the Jamaican coast, unable to be relieved - 8 weeks overdue now and no sign as yet of any movement on the relieving front, due to lack of flights, local rules etc etc...)


Thanks Mark. Showing my age!
Rgds.
Dave


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## Tim Gibbs (Apr 4, 2012)

ted harrison said:


> Doxford engines had to perform 24 stops and starts alternating ahead and astern with both receivers charged to 600psig and inlet valves locked off. This was a Lloyds requirement and overseen by the inspector as part of the overall performance tests during sea trials.
> One or two very experienced guys could get several more than the 24.


On the LBs with mechanical fuel values less air tended to mean more relief valves lifted(Cloud)


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## Tim Gibbs (Apr 4, 2012)

Mirrlees MB275 gudgeon pin core plugs had a habit of coming slack and could easily fill a unit with lub oil when warning through overnight. With the cocks left open you didn't need to turn the engine over to discover the problem


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## spongebob (Dec 11, 2007)

This is one compressed air start that I am glad that I did not make

Navua engine damage

The worst possible outcome from an air start of a marine diesel engine came in the mid fifties when the little banana boat Navua was in the Fijian Islands. She was built in 1955 by Henry Robb, of about 2000 tons gross and was equipped with a 5 cylinder trunk piston Sulzer 1500 HP engine.

She was on one of her earliest voyages, circa 1956, on the Pacific Islands trade and arriving off Lautoka Fiji (from memory) after dark she anchored to await a daylight berthing. The second engineer asked either the third or the fourth to change a defective main engine fuel injector during the night and this was done but apparently the engineer failed to shut off the main oil circulating pump or isolate the cooling oil circulation to the injector jacket before removing the faulty unit. During the time taken to take the valve down to the workshop, select a spare and re-install it a considerable volume of oil flowed in to sit on top of the piston that was parked above the ports in the cylinder liner so we had a disaster waiting to happen.
The second engineer was on watch when the first movement was rung on the telegraph and as he started the engine it must have fired in such an order to allow the oil logged unit to travel down and then make a full stroke up to hit the solid mass of oil against the cylinder head. There was enough momentum to wreak the ultimate damage to the extent that the connecting rod was bent like a banana, the liner cracked and, worst of all, the crankcase entablature each side of the damaged unit was a mass of hairline cracks.
She was towed into a berth and there she sat for several months for repairs. The Union Co flew in a couple of experts from the Metalock Company and they worked night and day stitching the crank case cracks until the area looked like a spider’s web. The end result was successful and she went back into service for some years before being sold off to another owner. 
When I joined her in 1958 the metalocked areas on the crank case external walls had to be left unpainted so that any sign of movement of the repair could be detected and it was then mandatory to inspect the internal stitching at the end of each voyage. The second engineer who pulled the lever was back on the ship when I joined and his collection of photos covering the damage made the blood run cold and was a lesson indeed. 
I have searched the net for any information regarding this incident but have not found any. Perhaps there are some old Union Co members that can confirm, correct or add to this story.

Bob


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## skilly57 (Mar 11, 2008)

Bob, if you post this on the USSC Facebook site you might get some more info. Or do you want me to post it for you?
TonyS


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## spongebob (Dec 11, 2007)

skilly57 said:


> Bob, if you post this on the USSC Facebook site you might get some more info. Or do you want me to post it for you?
> TonyS


Thanks for the suggestion Tony , I can do that but I posted the above as an extension to the warming though thread's dos and donts .
I talked about it enough long ago as the Second that pulled the air start lever , then middle aged Peter Hewer had all the photos of the bananaed con rod while the engineer , Jim Donn , that stood by the ship in Lautoka during the metalock repair became a work colleague and friend at Babcock for many years.
Jim came from the Hillside railway workshops in Dunedin just after the was and joined NZ shipping co until he obtained his BOT Motor Chiefs ticket then joined Ben line to get his steam time before getting a delivery ride home as chief on a new USSCo ship ex Stephens Yard in return for a two year contract with USSCo . 
He drew the short straw to be sent up to Fiji for many months while his bride to be languished back home.
Things that come to mind, it's a bottomless pit some times , a blank at other times .

Bob

Ps , Tony , I notice you suggested Facebook, not SN's USSCo thread, if you can do that , thanks but it was a long time ago , I was in my early twenties then now pushing 86 memories fade and people pass on

Bob


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## Tim Gibbs (Apr 4, 2012)

City of Cape Town (Sulzer 12RSAD76) had been stopped waiting for the Rotterdam pilot. On the attempted restart there was a huge crunch and the sound of cascading water. Reconstructing the event; No11 liner flame ring had broken and as the starting air went in, the ring decided it didn't like sitting at the top of the liner and fell onto the piston and then jammed in the scavenge ports. As the piston came up the liner fractured filling the unit with water. The engine hadn't fired but with 12 cylinders there were lots of units getting starting air and the resulting torque bent the cylinder head studs and put a small twist in the crank. 
Funny how after this it was decided that the flame rings were more trouble than they were worth and were removed.


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## dannic (Mar 10, 2013)

Which was the vessel that had the terrible explosion after lubricating start air valves, back in 20;s/30:s? Sure there was loss of life as well.

Dannic.


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## henry1 (Mar 25, 2015)

Capetown castle in 1960, she was twin 10 cyl H&W double acting built 1938, on standby when it happend, she had had problems with blocked drains on the air starts and had taken to clearing them with the hydraulic pump. Explosion killed all 7 in the ER including the C/E


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## G0SLP (Sep 4, 2007)

dannic said:


> Which was the vessel that had the terrible explosion after lubricating start air valves, back in 20;s/30:s? Sure there was loss of life as well.
> 
> Dannic.


Capetown Castle, 1960

http://www.marinediesels.info/Horror Stories/cape_town_castle.htm

I have sailed with one or two folk who were there...

Mark


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## Tim Gibbs (Apr 4, 2012)

G0SLP said:


> Capetown Castle, 1960
> 
> http://www.marinediesels.info/Horror Stories/cape_town_castle.htm
> 
> ...


I had my own minor version of an air start line explosion.
On the City of Poona I was starting a Mirrlees Nasty Gas generator in preparation for arrival in Tawau in Borneo and woke up some time later in the British Army medical centre there. The generator air start system was more or less destroyed and I was lucky not to lose my sight. These engines had a horrible arrangement where the staring air was controlled by ports in the fuel cam follower guide such that any fuel leaking from the fuel pump could easily enter the air start system. On this occasion an air start valve stuck open with an inevitable result but air start valves sticking open happened quite often so it was amazing that this had not happened in the previous 18 years of the ships life - or on the two sister vessels.


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## gordy (Apr 18, 2008)

ted harrison said:


> Doxford engines had to perform 24 stops and starts alternating ahead and astern with both receivers charged to 600psig and inlet valves locked off. This was a Lloyds requirement and overseen by the inspector as part of the overall performance tests during sea trials.
> One or two very experienced guys could get several more than the 24.


They'd be the type who could start the engine on a butterfly's fart.


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## ted harrison (Oct 16, 2009)

I must be a bit obtuse Gordy, but what does your comment mean?


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## garryNorton (Aug 6, 2018)

Quite a few ex Union Company Cadets became pilots in Australia and N.Z. and I myself piloted in the Solomon Islands, Orkney and the Middle East


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## aussiesparks (Nov 11, 2009)

I was on the Westbank in the 60's, only being the R/O I don't know the exact details, however we had stopped at the Pacific end of the Panama canal to let another group of ships coming the opposite way through. Stopped maybe an hour, when they went to start the engine (5 cyclinder Doxford) every relief valve blew, sounded as if the engine was going to come up through the deck. One cyclinder had filled with water during the stop, the start pushed the crankshaft something like 3 inches out. This gave us 5 weeks in Cristobel (happy memories) and we went home on 4 cyclinders.


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## Martyn Robinson (Nov 5, 2012)

Deck apprentices kept the movement book and answered the bridge phone.
Waimate was my first ship and Tich Bradshay the Master. Harry ? The chief engineer. Typical movements dead slow stop dead slow stop ..........etc.
Phone rings “ tell the *********** it’s one toot on the whistle or a start!”
(Alistair Macnab- Harry was also Glaswegian perhaps this is what they learnt to say in orals?)
The brotherly love between Tich and Harry was a major part of young Martyn’s education. Some examples:
Tich was vertically challenged and the chippy had a platform installed by the wheelhouse window. It disappeared; chiefy was the suspect.
Somewhere in the middle of the Tasman I was yarning with the Lecky and there was a commotion down the alleyway. Tich was sprawled on the deck having been thrown from Chiefys Cabin. Story was: Tich raised the bedding at the foot end of the bunk and was reputed to have been plucking the hairs from Harrys legs, saying“ More revs Chief, More revs!”
Ah! them was the days when curtains were swaying and doors were on the hook.


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## Ian860B (Dec 17, 2015)

*worst compressors*

I know its a little off topic but did anyone sail with Worthington Simpson rotary sliding vane compressors. I sailed with two ships built in the 70's that had these things for house air and sometimes instrument air, caused no end of work rebuilding them, the amount of days they ran without intervention could be counted on the fingers of one hand.
When we heard that W.S. had stopped making them we hoped that the compressors might be replaced then we then heard that some bright spark in head office had bought all the spares so we could carry on life as we knew it.
Jock (Cloud)


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