Repairing the unrepairable - # 08/167
"How do you repair the unrepairable?".....At Ham House we have to ensure that the conservation vacuum cleaners have the correct suction - not too strong, not too weak.
Tim and I puzzled and came up with this: a high precision medical syringe (which just happened to be in Tim's tool box), a manual "volume by weight" high precision scale, some tubing and a cork. 
Here is the rig. Hold the scale steady, switch on, and see how high the suction can pull up the syringe plunger. Bingo....a perfectly precise measurement of suction power. Checking the norm is easy. The Internet tells you what a you should expect from a properly performing vacuum cleaner.
Tim and I play like this day after day...........Heaven!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Sounds like a lot of fun. Do you also get paid for this?? :-)
ReplyDeleteVery narrow, long tubing here. Is this meant to vacuum nooks and crevices in furniture and ornamentation?
I would really like to understand what it was you just said - but alas ... I come from a long line of handy-fellers so I do appreciate the ideas you come up with - just don't understand how you think it all through.
ReplyDelete@Z...the thin tube is merely a means connection from the syringe to the black spout of the vacuum cleaner. It's connected to the cork which is rammed into the cleaner's spout.
ReplyDeleteBut can you come around and change the bag in my hoover?
ReplyDeleteHere’s what happens when you wait a couple of hours to see the pope pass by…
Sydney Daily Photo
I like the photos but ... what you are saying is man's talk...I go blank on machines, etc, even syringes. I'll pass. I use a broom.
ReplyDeleteI often watch and enjoy a series on television called National Trust: National Treasures. Has Ham House ever been featured in this series? I believe all these great houses survive thanks to the work of volunteers such as yourself. I commend you, Chuckeroon. Preserving the past for ever is fabulous.
ReplyDeleteI'm watching one right now on Calke Abbey. On Sky Arts. Fabulous in that they are preserving the place in the condition it was left over 100 yeas ago. Fascinating.
@Jilly...Yes. It has featured in this series. I believe it was featured in the Launch Programme of the Sky HD service.
ReplyDeleteIt looks like something I las saw in a hospital intensive care unit (except this one looks a little cleaner).
ReplyDelete... and you show and explain how it all works! You should have taken a patent!
ReplyDelete*lol* And no, I', not going to blog about vacuum cleaners. As a matter of fact: I hate them though I must admit: they are very useful ;-)
ReplyDeleteStrange: the hook with which you can hang it on the wall broke off. My husband already repaired the unrepairable. (Maybe he wants me to continue vacuum-cleaning *lol*)
How do you find the norm? Surely the diameter of the tube for the test and whatever is used for actual hoovering need to be the same - Bernoullli and all that..
ReplyDelete@Richard.....you just stick your B&W images and leave me to fix the vacuum cleaners in my own way.
ReplyDeleteBTW I am not aware of any Continental scientists whose names have 3 L's.
Intelligent, helpful and positive comments are always welcomed.
@Jilly: I know a few people who wouldn't agree that it's "man's talk".
ReplyDelete@Richard: Chuckeroon doesn't want to give away his calculations of the effect of the reduction of the tube bore on the pressure at the end of the thin tube as compared with the pump's ultimate pressure. Maybe he's applying for a patent on the set up process as Peter has suggested. :-)