2008 Week 13 in Review
March 23 to March 29, 2008
An Update from the Maris Pearl
This week, Old Tacoma Marine Inc continued organizing the Maris Pearl's storage container and tool room. We also replaced the bilge pumps and some plumbing, and started to install pipes for the oil cooler.
Atlas-Powered Crane Barges Still Survive
I got a call from a mechanic in Pago Pago, Samoa, who works on an Atlas-Imperial 668 that powers a crane barge. He's been having some problems with water in the oil and found me through the internet. I told him that it could just be rainwater, since the engine sat outside unused for a while, but he should look in the crank pit as well. There's also a chance of rainwater coming down the stack, so he's going to check that out, too.
There are a few other Atlas-Imperial crane barges around that we know of, including ones in Honolulu, Bellingham, Virginia, and Amsterdam, as well as the one in Pago Pago. The ones in the Pacific Rim area are probably ones that were surplused from the Navy shipyards in Honolulu during the 1980s, since they had a bunch of them at that time.
I think that they're really neat, though, especially since they're such a different application of heavy-duty power than I'm used to. With boats, the engine will be at idle for an hour or two while pulling up anchor or untying, then the engineer will ramp them up to full as the boat gets under way. With a crane, though, the engine will suddenly race and all the pyrometers will jump up to 700 and the heat sinks will get really hot and the crane will make booming and whining sounds, then it will all stop just as suddenly. It's a sort of surreal display of horsepower.
An update from Big Swan Drainage
The engineer at Big Swan Drainage in Illinois, called me again (last conversation here). He said that he pulled out the exhaust cage from the cylinder that was giving him trouble, cleaned it out, replaced the gaskets and the sealing ring, and put it back together and back into the engine. This fixed the leak, and the engine seems to be running fine now.
The real test will be when the next big rain sweeps through the Winchester area and the pumps run fast, which will put a heavy load on the engine. If it still doesn't leak, then the problem may well be solved. A heavy load will also allow the engineer to get the temperature readings I asked about last time, so if there is a problem we can keep trouble-shooting it.
We need help to grow
OTM Inc applied for a business development grant from the National Association of the Self-Employed for the second year. We applied late in the granting cycle last year and didn't receive it, but we'll keep trying. We need this grant to help boost the company's involvement in the museum field. We believe that OTM Inc can become an invaluable resource for museums around the world that have antique diesels in their collections. To become that resource, we need to do lots more research and publishing, create more public programs, and keep finding new old engines - plus whatever other cool things I dream up.
OTM Inc also needs to provide these services if we want to continue as a viable corporation. As I've said before, a lot of these old engines are ending up in museum collections and if we don't have the expertise to work with the museums then we won't be able to increase our customer base. Plus, it's fun to work with museums, since they have a huge interest in creating public programs.
Old Tacoma Marine Inc Stickers!
OTM Inc just ordered a bunch of stickers from the Sticker Guy. Here's the design:
We ordered a lot of them and we're going to make them available to any of you who want them. Just send us your address and we'll mail a bunch out to you. More on that later.
More scanning
We are still scanning engine manuals like crazy, so keep checking for your engine manual or email us an engine model to scan next.
