Deleval 73

[steamvalleyFarms]

I broke a vane on my Deleval 73 during the last week of the season. Anyone have any ideas where I might be able to get some new ones, I know they are pretty hard to get.

Thanks

[BreezyHill]

Rob, how did the vane break? Any pics? is the housing salvageable?

I rebuild these units and have a plasma cutter and can get the vanes made. I like to switch to the metal vanes for better heat reduction on flood oil.

I have never seen a broken vane from a running pump. These are very though pieces of metal...to break one is really hard to do.

Ben

[steamvalleyFarms]

Don't know exactly how/why it broke. I have been running about 20"of vac., I had a fan set up running on it never seemed to running that "extremely" hot. I can take some pictures of it and post them, though it might take a day or too. The housing seems salvageable, looks pretty good on the inside. I have been using this pump about the last four years for maple so maybe the one just developed a week spot? Unsure. I know about two weeks before it broke my electric motor also went on it, so I put a new electric motor on it, used the same size pulleys and then the pump went.

[BreezyHill]

Well sounds like Murphys law to me... Things will only break at the worst possible time.

Post the pics but I will pay the shipping if you would send the vane to me.

I will need a measurement on another vane. Vane wear of 1/4" less than original is the point of change. I had one I bought from a far that ran for over 30 years 3 hrs a day and it only had 1/8" wear and the original face. So to have worn done to a point that it could break is hard for me to rap around. That amount of time is like 45 maple seasons of the pump on 24-7.

Did the new motor run at 1725 rpm?

Did the vane have crystallization of the steel at the break point?

Do you have a water trap?

How far from the releaser is the pump?

It is a stretch but if there was cold sap hitting the hot vane then there is a slim chance that a weak spot in the vane was developed; but more likely the vane had a flaw and it just failed. The other vanes should be cleaned up and checked for squareness and easy of moving in and out of the rotor. If any are tight they to may fail. Let me know if there is another vane that is not perfect.

You can use a air grinder with a gasket remover disk to clean these metal vanes. You do have metal vanes in it...if somebody changed it to a carbon fiber or Kevlar or the old asbestos vanes then that would explain a broken vane. 73 & 75 came with metal vanes the next generation was the A., C.F., or K. vanes.

Metal is much better for sap as you can setup an oil dripper to cool the pump and increase vac to 28+ easily and usually not need a fan.

I run a fan on my stock 73.

Ben

[steamvalleyFarms]

Just sent you a message breezyhill.

[BreezyHill]

Rob, Sorry the in box was full, so you will need to resend the message. Thanks Ben

[PerryFamily]

I had a vane come unglued in my 76 towards the end of the season as well. It broke apart and the heat from the pump running turned it into a stuck siezed mess. A quick call to the local dairy equipment dealer for a rebuild kit ($119), and cleaned the drum and parts in a blast cabinet. Inside the housing I used a scotchbrite wheel on a cordless drill. Worked great. Couldn't take the heat at 25".

[BreezyHill]

The heat at 25" on a pump with a full reservoir at 80 degrees air temp as never gone over 268 in my shop. The melting of steel is 2300-2500 degrees depending on the blend.

The unit will create a lot of heat if there is a vane in the pump scrubbing around the rotor and housing with little or no oil. The oil level will drop fast if the housing gets over 350 as vacuum oil at this temp will vaporize quickly. Since the 73's reservoir is connected to the housing the heat you must have had would have boiled the oil. The rubber seal on the shaft would have melted and started to cool the unit to some extent.

If you are seeing temps above 220 on the housing then a fan is warranted and an oil change and cleaning the reservoir is likely needed. Debris can plug the oil system and cause spikes in temps.