43 Maltby

[Peter Laidler]

That's it Tiriaq. These vapour tanks are not really PC now ....... But you know how things are! We had one at the big tank workshop that would devour a Centurion engine block. So my MGB GT V8 engine, gearbox, front suspension crossmember.........., well everything, came out clean and as dry as...... ready to be rebuilt.

But the wooden butts did come out clean and dry. As I said, the finished axamples were as you see them and suprised me.

[tiriaq]

I expect that environmental and workplace safety issues would make these devices pretty uncommon these days, at least the ones with which I was familiar. Look down into the thing and the solvent would be boiling with this cloud hanging over boiling surface. The one I used at work was in the plating shop at Electric Autolite (Prestolite) back in the '60s. Manufactured automobile electrical parts - sparkplugs, alternators, starting motors, ignition sets and 2.75" folding fin rocket warheads for export to the US during the Vietnam war. Ran most of the machine tools on that line. Long time ago, but the contract was for either 30 or 50 thousand units a month, line ran 24 hours a day. The other degreaser was in an electric motor rewinding shop that a friend owned; same period. There are times when I would love to have access to one of these machines.

[Peter Laidler]

I really can't see what the problem was with the large vapour degreasing tanks was. It was a vapour that condensed back into liquid, turned to vapour again and............. At night it was switched down and covered so evaporation was at a minimum. The actual quantity of liquid tricho. in the tank was very small so cleaning the dirty sludge was done by an outside contractor - who also collected up the stuff that fell off the hooks or out of the big basket! VERY effective. I understand that a few small engineering places still have a small vapour system that they use as and when............

I took an old MGB crossmember in so that I could rebuild a complete unit and do a straight exchange/swop-over. After a few mins in the tank it came out hot and as dry as a bone and completely grease/oil free. But still covered in old dirt. Until the operator swung it over and hit it with a mallet - when every but of dirt just fell to the floor as dust! I took all the smaller parts to the Armourers shop and left them there to collect later. Lo and behold, when I came back a few days later they'd all been sent through 'the system.........'. bead blasted, phosphate and paint and............ Good days and noone died as a result of the vapour tank but it cost me a lot of the usual workshop currency................

Sorry to go off at a tangent.........