Dual Splash Blowers.....

[R W]

When did dual splash blowers come into use? This used Genesis I picked up has a dual splash Roots 59 blower. The TM is a 2002, so I suspect it was replaced. I was searching for grease fittings to lube it up a bit, and found 2 sight glasses.....one on each end.

And what would a Roots 59 weigh??

 

[Larry Cobb]

Roots has had Dual Splash for several years.

I think they were the first of the "big two" manufacturers to have it available.

Now, Sutorbilt has the "MR" series with the gearbox separated from the airflow chamber.

It keeps the heat (Red below) in the HX, while cooling the gearbox for longer life.

http://www.gardnerdenverproducts.com/assets/0/180/140/186/ed0c4a0f-a529-42dc-b632-7af2c98f1d33.pdf

Larry

 

[Dale]

Hi guys:

Nothing new. I went to MD for rebuild training in 1997, and they had them then on BIG blowers. The only thing new is the marketing that is working to pursued people to buy them. Ask any blower mechanic which end caused the most problems on a single splash unit? It was the WET end. Except when some dummy was too lazy to grease the other end.

Thx,
Dale

 

[Shawn Forsythe]

Dale,

Exactly my thoughts. The introduction of dual oil bath solved a non-existent problem with a layer of complexity. I've seen many more lubrication failures on the shaft side of oil bath units than ever existed on blowers with grease lubrication on that same end. While the dual oil bath lubrication is superior on paper, in practice it falls way short. Not to mention, on belt drive units you have a greater potential for the seal failure leading to catastrophe.

If you had an ideal situation, where users actually check their fluid levels as instructed, yes then I would be much less likely feel as I do.

 

[AbsolutRestoration]

I know this may sound like a stupid question but how do you check the blower oil to see if you are running low?

 

[Shawn Forsythe]

It depends on the manufacturer of the TM.

Most units today are equipped with a sight glass placed in the level plug about 1"-2" from the bottom of each oil tank. The proper level is halfway up the sight glass when on level ground and unit stopped.

On some units (older ones), there is no sight glass. You actually remove the level plug and fill oil through the top fill opening until it (oil) exits/spills out the level plug hole. At that point, the level is set. Each time you recheck, the process is repeated (fill oil until it spills from the level hole)

 

[R W]

I know this may sound like a stupid question but how do you check the blower oil to see if you are running low?

As Shawn says......pull the plug to see if oil is coming out. Or, in the case of this blower I picked up, it has 2 sight glasses. Now, the sight glasses are easy to read when the machine is on the ground, but in a tight van install, it might be a bit harder to see.

 

[Greenie]

I honestly think it's the increased use of Blower Heat Exchangers that is making the dual splash so much more prevalent, the extreme high heat back pressure is boiling the grease on traditional configurations, thus requiring more frequent lubrication cycles, where the dual oil seem to take the higher temps better and at least don't lose their lubrication at high temps.

If you HAVE to gease your blower every week, something is happening to your grease in bad way.

 

[Shawn Forsythe]

I honestly think it's the increased use of Blower Heat Exchangers that is making the dual splash so much more prevalent, the extreme high heat back pressure is boiling the grease on traditional configurations, thus requiring more frequent lubrication cycles, where the dual oil seem to take the higher temps better and at least don't lose their lubrication at high temps.

If you HAVE to gease your blower every week, something is happening to your grease in bad way.

Interesting theory, and a wise answer when a salesperson (not you) is pressed to defend the selection. However, elevated blower case temps are going to cause a myriad of other problems before the grease or bearings are effected. Blower exchangers do not in-and-of themselves add one degree to operating temp. The vacuum level and speed are determinant factors, and not any different than in a non-exchange situation. Moreover, I've yet to see a blower case temp rise to the point where the solution is to lubricate via an oil bath. If the blower case/lobes are actually getting that hot, then you need to do a helluva lot more than just switch to oil to correct/compensate it.

 

[gasaxe]

I honestly think it's the increased use of Blower Heat Exchangers that is making the dual splash so much more prevalent, the extreme high heat back pressure is boiling the grease on traditional configurations, thus requiring more frequent lubrication cycles, where the dual oil seem to take the higher temps better and at least don't lose their lubrication at high temps.

If you HAVE to gease your blower every week, something is happening to your grease in bad way.

Interesting theory, and a wise answer when a salesperson (not you) is pressed to defend the selection. However, elevated blower case temps are going to cause a myriad of other problems before the grease or bearings are effected. Blower exchangers do not in-and-of themselves add one degree to operating temp. The vacuum level and speed are determinant factors, and not any different than in a non-exchange situation. Moreover, I've yet to see a blower case temp rise to the point where the solution is to lubricate via an oil bath. If the blower case/lobes are actually getting that hot, then you need to do a helluva lot more than just switch to oil to correct/compensate it.

if a heat exchanger on the exhaust side of the blower causes backpressure then it does contribute to the operating temp of the pump. Run a blower with 0 vaccum instead apply restriction on the exhaust side and let me know what happens to the case temp.

 

[Shawn Forsythe]

if a heat exchanger on the exhaust side of the blower causes backpressure then it does contribute to the operating temp of the pump.

One prime reason we test for back-pressure after a certain number of hours to diagnose an obstructed exchanger. A halfway competently designed machine has no more back-pressure than the engine (by far the more sensitive of the two) will tolerate. Remember, they don't call these things blowers for nothing. They are as well designed for vacuum loading as pressure loading, and almost never do we see blowers produce back-pressure anywhere close to their red-zone. The usual worry is the engine, whose exhaust airflow is often mixed upstream of the blower/engine exchanger.

 

[Jimmy L]

Greenie, high temp grease.