F.E. Myers Air Blast Orchard Sprayer Information

[Seven Gables]

My place is pretty flat. Maybe 2-3% grade tops. I’m betting the ratio is right around 4:1. There are a lot of belts, but they all do only one thing. The large banded belt, only drives the fan. The two individual belts really close to the tank, drive the agitator. The two individual belts that are in front of the large drive belt, they are the only ones that drive another jack shaft to drive the agitator. I assume that is done to slow it down a fair amount. The double belted belt all the way to the front, drives the pump. I feel that the bearings and the belts being a little tighter are going to take a little more umph to spin things until it gets broken in a little more.

One question: My gut feeling is that the pump crankcase oil was probably SAE 30 oil. The oil is still clean, but I want to get the old out and new in. Any thoughts on a good modern oil to put in?

Update: New control panel is halfway done. Selector switches for the different patterns and left or right sides. LEDs will light up based on the solenoids being used at the time. I left room for a pressure gauge if I find one.

Captain Kirk Edition .

You’re probably right on the 30wt oil.

 

[old and tired]

...I left room for a pressure gauge if I find one.

What size? Pretty sure I got a 1000 psi hanging around at the farm...

 

[r8f1k]

What size? Pretty sure I got a 1000 psi hanging around at the farm...

I really appreciate the offer! There are plenty of MECHANICAL pressure gauges, there are aren't very many ELECTRICAL pressure gauges. I would need a PSI gauge with a sending unit so that it can be plugged in and unplugged at will. I am tempted to buy a couple units that I have seen out there, but having installed a number of Chinese gauges over the years, I would want to install it and not worry about it. I am REALLY looking for a vintage Stewart Warner or Sun gauge. 2" - 2-1/16" gauge would be ideal.

 

[r8f1k]

Been under the weather the last 3 days, but I was able to get back to it today and test the pump. Long and short, it works. Here's what happened. Hooked up the PTO, poured about 25 gallons of water into the tank and gave it a whirl. Ran for about 30 seconds and the pressure bounced between 20-30 PSI and then shot up to 120-125 PSI. I assume it just needed time to prime. She sprung a leak at a union that I didn't tighten down enough, so I shut her down and let that be it for now.

The solenoid controls have taken me more time than I would like, but I want to as thorough as possible. Since this whole setup is custom, everything takes more time, but I am approaching the end of this journey. All the wiring is run back to the solenoid valves, wrapped, soldered, heat shrinked, zip tied and labeled. The relay box is done, all of the circuit protection is installed, wires labeled, connectors crimped and soldered. All the connections to and from the solenoids and the relay box have been tested and confirmed working.

The control box is giving me a little more trouble......What I am looking to do, is to have the controls mirror the manifold. When you turn the selector switch to the right, you will turn on more valves the farther down your turn the switch. The same for the left. HOWEVER, there aren't any right turn or left turn selector switches that I could find with multiple positions. I can find ON/OFF/ON or LEFT/OFF/RIGHT, etc...... SOOOOOOO......I am playing around with things to get the switch to turn the other direction and make the controls more intuitive. All the indicator lights are set up and everything seems to play nice with one another. I think I have about another 2-3 hours of fiddling left to get it right, but I will get it.

 

[r8f1k]

IMG_0034.MOV

drive.google.com

Here is a video of the control panel in operation. Took me about an hour to sort out the let side to get to work in the opposite direction, but it works! The lights light up in correspondence to which valves are on at anyone time.

 

[r8f1k]

Question: Are there any consequences for running the pump dry? I would like to drain things out when spraying is done and use the pump to blow everything out. Is there a time limit for doing this? Don’t do it for more than a minute? 2 minutes? Don’t do it? Doesn’t matter?

 

[r8f1k]

I did a test run without sprayer tips on the unit and everything works as it should!!! It was a lot of work, but I am confident that it will do its job this year. The only test that I really haven't been able to do, is a long term test. I want to run an entire tank of water through the sprayer cycling through each solenoid so that they can be tested for a long duration. Thank you for all of the guidance and support through this project!

 

[old and tired]

Question: Are there any consequences for running the pump dry?....

Did you figure this one out? (I only had the thought that this would be a bad idea... but no proof)

 

[Seven Gables]

Did you figure this one out? (I only had the thought that this would be a bad idea... but no proof)

My FMC sprayer had a 3 cylinder piston pump. Just watch your pressure guage as you’re tank gets low, when it starts to flutter shut the pump off . Running it dry after spraying a load for a few seconds shouldn’t hurt, just don’t drive all the way back to refill with it running.
The centrifugal pumps used in some sprayers are the type you’ve really got to be careful not to run dry.

 

[r8f1k]

Did you figure this one out? (I only had the thought that this would be a bad idea... but no proof)

I did run it with water only at this point. I am afraid to run it without at least water in it.