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Hi Folks, does anyone have any info/manual on this old compressor by BEN Patents Ltd? I picked it up for £20 to restore as a project but I’m having a hard job finding any info on it at all? The guy I got it off said it did start a few years ago but had been sitting in his garden under piles of wood since then so I was expecting much out of it. You can imagine my surprise when the motor turned after plugging it in, so I quickly super-glued the shot belt together to test if the rest of it worked, and it did! (there is a small leak somewhere though). This thing is a beast though! Talk about heavy! The bell shaped air intake weighs a kilo on it own so you can imagine how heavy the rest of it is!
Anyway, I haven’t a clue what all the taps etc on it are for nor anything else! It’s my 1st ever compressor and I’m 52! So any help at all will be gratefully received….thanks ? says, Chris Savill.
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Welcome to “Compressorville”, Chris!
At least it has wheels… I have not seen one of these, but if you can get some pix of whatever tags are on it, I may be able to help get you going in the right direction. No promises, but I’ll try. Is there some sort of tank on it somewhere? Doug from s.d.ca.
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Hi Doug and thank you for the reply. I have taken some photo’s of the only two tags I can find on it so any info you can find would be a great help.
You asked about a tank? well it does have a tank, two of them in fact ? though they are a bit small in size and are housed underneath the trolley platform. Was there any reason for this question or something I should know? Any and all help is gratefully received.
Many thanks again
Chris
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1936 Acquired by Broom and Wade – and they by CompAir, perhaps with intervening buy-outs. Maybe you already looked at this, but if not have a look at this link.
Your machine could be either the paint sprayer (December 1934, upper right) or the “Pnu-Flator” (March 1939) either one considerably modified to keep it running, I imagine. Or something else…
Air tank: I asked because there are a couple or three ways to control the pump:
there’s start-stop,
load/unload
disable valves (hold them open).
Yours is probably start-stop. The tank keeps the air flowing while the motor is stopped and starting up.
HTH, let us know if you come up with anything more, please.
I have one acquired handed down from grandfather. It runs perfectly but the oil level is low . How do I top it up
can anyone help with dating and usage info on a BEN patents ltd
This is a constant run setup. The large brass pilot valve that has the copper line going to it, then another copper line going to the head controls the operation of the intake valves. Once up to pressure a signal from the pilot is sent to the unloader to hold the inlet valves open so the compressor can run but not pump air. When the pressure drops to the cut in setting, the unloader retracts and the compressor runs normally. With such small tanks, the compressor would experience excessive starts and stops, leading to increased wear and tear and high… Read more »
Hi Roger Thanks for the info on my compressor, the work is continuing though at a very slow pace. Everything on this thing is heavy! The motor is off and apart and It looks as if it has taken a tumble at some point too as the motor casing and feet have cracked so am in the process of having it welded up. The rotor bearings also need replacing. I was a little worried when I first tested the tanks but they seemed t be ok, well they didn’t blow up at any rate and as the compressor will be… Read more »