Lister SR2 air compressor?

[quinnbrian]

I while back ,I guy offer me a Lister SR2 that had been made into an air compressor....one cylinder worked as normal and the other pumped air. He told me it had come off a big ship and was used as an air supply of some type...air starter??? maybe... can't remember. Anyway, I've been thing of building one. Does anyone on here had any experience with one. I remember he told me it put out 7cfm @90 pounds and was rated for 145psi. 
Wish I had bought it!! Long gone!!
Was it a kit you could buy or a factory built piece...or??
Cheers
Brian

[dieselgman]

That arrangement is common off larger vessels that use compressed air to start main engines. We have several of the small Listers configured this way at our shop. Hamworthy is the OEM who provided the modification to standard Lister air-cooled units.

dieselgman

[quinnbrian]

Are the spec I quote right? I'm looking for a small air compressor for my off grid shop. And would you sell the parts I would need to convert my SR2.
Thanks for the reply
Brian

[guest23837]

So the 2 cylinder will run at the same RPM on 1 cylinder? Obviously half power?

[dieselgman]

Basically you have a 1-cylinder engine that will run at governed rpm with the variable load of the compressor taking up the second cylinder space. I do not have the Hamworthy manual but maybe can find one with their specs...

dieselgman

[quinnbrian]

dieselgman,
I sent you an email...did you get it?
Cheers
Brian

[guest23837]

I would love a close look at one of them. I recall a relative years ago had a hose you fitted into one of the plug holes that inflated tyres, probably not a very safe thing but it worked

[quinnbrian]

Ok guys thing are back to  normal... And I'm still looking for one of those SR2 with one cylinder made into an air compressor and the other one as the power supply. Any info.. Pics... Diagrams etc..I think it would be a great project . Sense my last posting, I've bought a 4 cylinder DV 445 air compressor pump. It had been used in a quarry....I think , compressor mounted on a trailer. With built in air tanks, under Neath making up most of the trailer frame. I put a  sr2 on it and it works well ... Well maybe too we'll .a little Big..lol. My original idea was to build a SR2 with one cylinder as an air compressor and also have a 3-5 KW gen head on it to, I'm only a one man shop. So when I'm using air... Not in need of the gen and Vice versa.. At least that was the plain. So any help work be great, the only thing I have on the above said air compressor is some pics for the net...and haven't been able to find info, other than most were used on large ships as air starter, for larger Diesel engines .
Cheers
Brian

[dieselgman]

We have some Hamworthy units built on ST2 blocks. I will try to get some pictures the next time I'm at our storage yard.

dieselgman

[quinnbrian]

We have some Hamworthy units built on ST2 blocks. I will try to get some pictures the next time I'm at our storage yard.

dieselgman

Thank you very much , that would be great :-)

[dieselgman]

haven't been able to find info, other than most were used on large ships as air starter, for larger Diesel engines .

To my knowledge, Hamworthy was a substantial sized outfit in Britain making all sorts of pneumatic equipment. We bought our units from ship breakers in India and they did indeed come off some good sized vessels that used them as the air starters for their main propulsion engines. After all the middlemen handling and shipment and import costs to the USA these became fairly expensive little units, but I have not seen them available from any other source.

dieselgman

[Combustor]

         Imagine any air conversion on a 4 stroke engine would need a somewhat smaller compressor cylinder, as it has a compressing stroke every revolution and the engine only has a power stroke every second revolution. The quoted 7 cfm sounds likely, and is not very much air when it comes to shop tools, most will need 2 or 3 times that to be useful. Presume the SR units from ships were only starting auxiliary power sets which then produced air to start main diesels. Big marine diesels need huge amounts of high pressure air to start them. Ships diesels are stopped and re-started in reverse when manouvering, and this happens in seconds, so you can imagine the air needed.
        Hamworthy, and I think Reavell produced compressors to fit Lister CS engines, and as I recall, they were mounted direct to the motor in place of the second flywheel, and I believe they came in marine versions also.
       I have a 3 stage compressor originally powered by a 25hp diesel to produce 350psi for starting 1500 or 2000hp generator diesels. My Ruston 6PS (6hp) gasoline engine/compressor needs 10 minutes or more from cold to raise 250psi of air to cold start an old 50hp diesel and have a reserve for a second start, so air requirement are fairly high. Sounds like your present machine has good capacity, so if it starts easily, probably one to keep. Regards,
Combustor.

[listard-jp2]

I while back ,I guy offer me a Lister SR2 that had been made into an air compressor....one cylinder worked as normal and the other pumped air. He told me it had come off a big ship and was used as an air supply of some type...air starter??? maybe... can't remember. Anyway, I've been thing of building one. Does anyone on here had any experience with one. I remember he told me it put out 7cfm @90 pounds and was rated for 145psi.

Here is a link to a dealer who has one for sale. This is a Hamworthy version that is based on a Lister SR2 engine.

http://drbmarineservices.co.uk/Generators/ListerAirCompressor.html

[dieselgman]

That is the exact same model we have. The engine series is actually ST. Looks like a very decent price for one in good working order.

dieselgman

[listard-jp2]

/\ Your quite correct, I should of looked at the rocker cover on the power cylinder more closely. How does the asking price compare to what you paid to get your engines landed into the USA?