Machine shop job $1,000

Monroeville PA

Description

I have a worn out air-lock from a mulch blowing machine that needs rebuilt. I had a guy that had a machine shop in his garage that was going to do it this winter but I just found out that he passed away. The way the air lock works is there is a pipe and a veined turbine like thing that spins around slowly and each space between 2 viens trap the air at the bottom and blows the mulch out a hole in the bottom when its that air spaces turn to be in the air flow. As the tolerance between the outside pipe and the spinning turbine gets sanded down from the mulch over time the gap gets wider and the air escapes which causes a low pressure problem when trying to blow the mulch through the hose. To fix it, the outer pipe will need material added to it by welding (i have a mig welder if you dont' have one), then it will need put on a lathe to get it back into a circle again. The rotor turbine will need metal added to the outer surface of the veins and then machined down a tiny bit smaller that the diameter of the pipe. There are also 2 end pieces that will need machined but those are just 2 round plates at each side which shouldn't be too difficult. A new air lock should produce 10 psi of pressure. This one is putting out 2-3 psi. The better job you do the closer the pressure will be to 10 psi when its done. I'm willing to negotiate on the price for you to do it. I will have to be involved somewhat if you have questions on how it should be. Perhaps I can pay you more money if you get it close to 10 psi and less if its only 5 or 6. The dealer says that the minimum pressure before they recommend replacing the air lock is 5 psi. Here's a picture of what we are dealing with. ( this is not the one from the machine) If you think you are a problem solver and can tackle this then email me so we can talk about it. I know this isn't a $100 dollar job.