Lister CS fuel tank

[basewindow]

I have managed to get my hands on what I believe  is the original fuel tank for my CS.

But it doesnt look like most of the ones that mount on the side of the unit and is a vertical cylinder type with float etc.

Were these mounted seperately or on the unit itself with some sort of bracket?

It had the remnants of the old lister sticker on it and instructions. Ive since given it a cleanup.

[AdeV]

Yep, that's a standard original CS tank. It would have been mounted away from the engine, the height isn't too important, so long as the fuel tap is higher than the top of the filter.

Looks better than mine! The paint on mine has lost its shine, over the years.

[mikenash]

I have managed to get my hands on what I believe  is the original fuel tank for my CS.

But it doesnt look like most of the ones that mount on the side of the unit and is a vertical cylinder type with float etc.

Were these mounted seperately or on the unit itself with some sort of bracket?

It had the remnants of the old lister sticker on it and instructions. Ive since given it a cleanup.

Yep, both of mine came with those tanks.

they're quite smart as they have the sloping water-drain in them, see?

The Lister handbook tells you, if you are filling it out of containers, to not pour out the last inch or so in the container to help reduce water contamination - back in the days when fuel supplies weren't the bulk thing they are now

A good find

[AdeV]

I believe that tank is called a " Day tank". 
It was meant to be filled every day and provide some protection against contamination of the fuel supply amoungst other things.

You may be thinking of the small tank that mounts on the engine as being standard. I don't know what they are called but Obviousl are menat for more intermittent runs than all day endurance.

I could be wrong, but I don't believe any CS engines came with a fuel tank attached to the engine. Many other Listers (model D's, LT1s etc.) did, of course. Often they'd be for short duration stuff like cement mixers, I recall using a straw elevator once that had a little Lister engine on it with such a tank.

Agree about the "day tank". Not sure how long a fully loaded CS6/1 will run on one of those tanks, now there's an experiment for someone...

[millman56]

Ade,       you may well be wrong about the fuel tanks not being fitted to CS engines,  the rad cooled ones installed in the Liner self loading concrete mixers definately did,   the fuel tank was mounted on an extension of the rad mounting brackets.    It might sound crazy but LT1 engines fitted in a small concrete mixer will run for a week on a tankful of fuel.

Mark. 

[basewindow]

Thanks for all the replies and the history.

As I  said it looked like the genuine article, but I'd only seen the smaller rectangular tanks attached to the engine itself.
I guess they came in many configurations depending on what you wanted. I noticed the taper at the bottom of the tank. A good clean out and a respray and its come up pretty well,  tap and float are all complete and work perfectly.

Apparently the original water tank is there as well. I havent seen it yet and dont know what condition its in, but judging by the condition of the fuel tank I've got high hopes.

With a bit of luck I'll get my hands on it next week.

[Hugh Conway]

@Adev How long a run time can you get from a Lister 6/1day tank....I get about 25 hours of battery charging before needing to refill mine. It is supplying a Listeroid. I am using a modified beer keg for my Dursley.......the horror!
cheers,
Hugh

[AdeV]

Hugh - I've no idea, I'm afraid, I've never run mine flat out for more than a couple of hours at a time... our electricity is so reliable here, I've never needed it for backup power.

As glort says, dividing capacity by max load estimated consumption will give you a good idea...

Mark - I've never seen a CS on a cement mixer... that would surely be an interesting piece of kit! Were they belt/chain driven, or directly off the crank? Any pics of any?

[millman56]

Ade,

They were chain driven and rad cooled,  the first CS I owned was an ex Liner mixer engine and I was told the history of it by the elderly owner who had scrapped the mixer. 
Quite a machine,30s 40s 50s era and from (faulty) memory they had an approx 1/2 cubic yard mixer drum which was loaded by a hopper, this was filled by hand then raised up to tip into the mixer drum using a wire rope  system.  Graces guide has a line drawing of one.   I`ve seen one where a winch pulled a small manually guided dragline scoop through a pile of aggregate in order to fill the hopper.      Also there are  large hydraulically powered versions of this system with a dragline boom and operators cabin.

Mark.

[basewindow]

Well here is the water tank.
Not quite what i expected. Copper, was originally painted green by the flecks of paint on it.
Big hole at the bottom, not sure what fittings would go onto that?
Tap in the middle, and the big hole above that is blanked off?
Two small holes on either side at the top?
Has a lid for the top.
Comments?

[AdeV]

God only knows what that is! Lister water tanks were large steel drums, somewhat larger in diameter than a 45 gallon oil barrel and about the same height, with fittings top & bottom. No lids IIRC, but I could be wrong there. Again IIRC, the drain-off taps were fitted at the engine end, rather than the barrel (the engine being the lowest point of a thermosiphon system).

This looks original, although it may not be:



As you can see, the fuel tank is strapped to the water tank, I believe this was a fairly common setup, can't verify it though as the only Lister I've ever seen in its original location was an air-cooled VA...

[basewindow]

Yes thats what i thought. It didnt cost anything so i grabbed it. Might be able to use it for something...

Now to find the real tank.....

[basewindow]

Picked up a Bamford SD3 from the same guy i got the Lister.

Came with this water tank. Maybe he got them confused?

[AdeV]

I'd say that wasn't a Lister tank either - the Lister didn't have a partial lid like that, nor the bolted on whatever-it-is, and the swaging's the wrong way around (Lister tanks are swaged like oil drums, with the "bulge" on the outside.

It may well be a real Bamford tank though? Probably the best place to ask would be the Stationary Engine forum (https://www.stationary-engine.net/forum), there's more than one Bamford owner on there.

[AdeV]

PS: NICE engine. I am suitably jealous!