Gerry Barbe on fri 19 jun 98
We've just purchased a used 4" Venco deairing pugmill and need a bit
of information. It hasn't been used in over a year and is full of
rock hard clay. There also are no manuals.
1. How to move it. How much does it weigh (other than a lot)? Can it
be dismantled into managable pieces?
2. Electrical. It looks to me like it's fused at 220V 15amps for both
the pugmill and the pump. Is that correct?
3. Cleaning out that old clay. There's clay in the vaccum chamber
too. What should and shouldn't we do?
4. Starting it up for the first time. Any advise?
5. Anyone willing to send a copy of the manual or tell me where I can
get one?
Thanks;
Gerry Barbe
jims@connect.ab.ca on mon 22 jun 98
Gerry,
Don't know what's been answered yet so hope I'm not repeating too much of
what others have said.
>1. How to move it. How much does it weigh (other than a lot)? Can it
>be dismantled into managable pieces?
Can't tell you what it weighs but can tell you that I've moved my own
Venco 4" (as a unit) a few times (up and down stairs) with the help of a
friend or two ...and have helped move three others (usually up and/or down
a flight of stairs for some odd reason ). A two wheel dolly
really helps the process (preferably one with pneumatic tires) ...if you do
use a two wheeler (much recommended), make sure the barrel tip of the
pugmill is the end down on the lifting blade and be sure to secure the
pugmill *well* to the wheeler.
The first overall thing I'd recommend is to get the old clay out of the
barrel, that'll knock off 100+ lbs. Normally I'd suggest turning it on to
remove as much clay as possible before pulling it appart.
BUT... if the clay is rock hard as you mentioned, *don't* turn it on.
Start the process by removing the screen halves. There should be a
separate handle unit that comes with the pugmill meant for removal of each
screen half. To attach the handle to a screen, remove the metal plates
covering the screen areas. There's one on each side of the mill immediately
upstream from the vacuum chamber. This is done by removing the nuts from
the top and bottom... the middle screw/nut combination is for adjusting the
screen in/out to center the screen so don't loosen it as it's probably
already properly adjusted. Careful not to rip or tear the gaskets and
regrease them later when putting back together.
There should be 2 bolts on the screen handle which screw into two holes
in the screen frame. Screw them into one of the screen frames and work that
screen out, repeat for the other screen ...this usually takes a bit of
effort depending on how dry the clay is around the screens.
[side note] Once out, you might have to soak the screens in water for a
while (overnight) to loosen any old dry clay that could be plugging them, a
wire brush helps.
Next, you'll have to split the barrel by removing the bolts on both sides
(front and back), from the tip of the barrel to just past the hopper. You
also will have to remove the two horizontal top bolts on the housing to the
right (looking from the working side) of the hopper.
NOTE: There is a gasket (foam or tape) that separates the two barrel
halves ...careful not to damage it when you separate the barrel halves. If
it's tape, it'll likely be adhered to the bottom barrel section where it
can stay.
Since you're going to be moving everything, remove the vaccuum hose at
the vacuum chamber nozzle, also remove the clay tamper assembly.
>2. Electrical. It looks to me like it's fused at 220V 15amps for both
>the pugmill and the pump. Is that correct?
Mine is wired separately (mill/vacuum) but that's not really necessary.
A 15amp 220 breaker should work but I'd be tempted to put both on a 20amp
220 breaker. Under normal use, the mill draws 8.6amps and the pump draws
4.8amps totalling 13.4amps. My understanding is that when electric motors
are first turned on, they can briefly (under the starting load) draw more
than their normal rated amperage, so a 15amp breaker might not be quite
enough to run both together efficiently. I could be wrong about this so
you might want to check it out to find out for sure. The blade
configuration on the plug/recepticle is an indication as to what it has
been run at already.
Should also mention that for convenience, I installed a 220v switch (near
the pugmill) to turn the vacuum pump on and off independantly.
>3. Cleaning out that old clay. There's clay in the vaccum chamber
>too. What should and shouldn't we do?
Every once in a while the vacuum chamber needs some clay removed as it
accumulates with normal use (I usually wait until it's about 1/2 full).
The plexiglas cover (with gauge) is easily lifted off to do this. There
should also be a gasket (probably foam type) between the plexiglas and the
chamber, this will need light regreasing on both sides when you return the
chamber cover later. Just make sure all surfaces are clean before greasing
or there could be leakage and the vacuum won't work as efficiently as it
should. BTW, my pugmill came with some spare gaskets (2 vacuum and 1
barrel) plus a spare plexiglas cover for the vacuum chamber, you might want
to ask the previous owner about yours.
The vacuum chamber requires several cleanouts throughout the year so I
decided to make my own gasket to speed up the procedure ...it's now much
quicker and less hassle, the gasket I made doesn't require greasing.
>4. Starting it up for the first time. Any advise?
-Make sure there aren't too many parts left over when everything's
finally put back together.
-You'll need a couple of hundred pounds of clay on hand to refill the
barrel and to get things going again.
-might check that the screens aren't rubbing or binding the auger shaft
....however, I don't think this will be a problem if it wasn't originally.
-all gaskets should by now be greased.
-try to apply similar pressure to all the bolts on the barrel when
tightening the two sections together. I now use a torque wrench at 37
ft./lbs. Close counts ...I've also used a regular wrench until
everything 'feels' quite snug. The object is to get even, adequate,
pressure on the gasket all around the barrel.
-check the oil level in the vacuum pump to make sure there's enough.
This has changed a bit with Venco over the years so you'll have to look to
figure this one out. There will likely be either a little round glass
"level" window on the pump oil chamber or a dipstick attached to the filler
lid.
>5. Anyone willing to send a copy of the manual or tell me where I can
>get one?
Didn't get a "manual" as such... don't think they ever made one. I did
get a small bit of printed infomation on a pamphlet, as I recall, it wasn't
overly helpful... I can look for it if you want. Vencos are fairly
straight forward and well made so you shouldn't have any problem that I can
think of. I know several potter's locally that have had their Vencos for
many trouble free years (including myself). Other than annually checking
the vacuum pump oil level and occasionally cleaning the screens, the Venco
is basically maintenance free.
Think I covered almost everything... hope it helps and good luck with it,
send an email if you folks hit a snag.
Cheers... Jim
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jims@connect.ab.ca Edmonton/Alberta/Canada
http://www.connect.ab.ca/~jims
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