Ratcheting Pump Oiler

[JonRiley56]

Hi All,

Can someone explain to me what these things are and how they work ? I have seen them mentioned in a few spots.

jon

[Lopez Mike]

If they are what I am familiar with, they are a simple reciprocating pump that is driven from a link to some reciprocating part of the engine. The design is such that you get one stroke of the pump for many strokes of the engine. The are not intended for internal lubrication of the engine, at least the ones I have worked with. Not designed to deliver against any significant back pressure. More for all of the nickle and dime places where a tiny dribble of lube oil is needed.

In some cases they are arranged in a bank of up to a dozen pumps driven by a single link to the engine. Most steam launch operators find that they are more trouble than they are worth. A simple drip or wick oiler does the job without all the moving parts. They are much more common in hard driven applications such as railroad locomotives.

[JonRiley56]

Hi Mike,

Here is a picture of what I am talking about. Does this match up to what you were thinking ?

jon

[johngriffiths]

Can't see image because too small.

On my boat the crosshead driven ratchet oil pump pushes cylinder oil into the steam line at about 150lbs. The pump lives in an oil box and picks up oil through a hole in the pump cylinder barrel and delivers via two non return valves in series and it is important these do their job properly. Many miniature locos use similar axle driven pumps to do the same job.

The feeds to the bearings are "controlled" by ten oil wicks also in an oil box and are far more reliable than the needle controlled gravity feeds they replaced.

John

[steamboatjack]

I have fitted a number of units on engines using commercial pumps designed for truck chassis lube systems and industrial lubricators, there are photos back in a post somewhere. I use two pump units, one for cylinder oil and the other to supply a manifold which supplies the bearings through proportional metering units. Details are in the new SBA site “directory of suppliers” On larger engines you can use one pump per line. They are very reliable, make your own tank (I just machine one up from a lump of aluminium), the drive units use roller clutches (a kind of one way needle roller bearing) instead of a ratchet.
Pics show a unit fitted to Graylings new engine. I am sure thy are available in the U.S.A.

Regards
Jack