What's Missing From My Petter Acorn Top - Oil Seal????

Hi,

Hoping someone here can help me, I started up my Petter Acorn Top of the first time in a while and noticed that there was no oil in the oil well for the right hand main bearing.  I topped it up and noticed a puddle on the garage floor shortly afterwards!

Clearly something is wrong - if I fill it up it will be completely empty within 10 minutes and on my garage floor.  It's coming out between the bearing housing and the gear for the magneto/oil pump.  I've stripped it down tonight and here are the parts in the order I removed them from the shaft.



My engine is the white metal bearing type - the bearings are in good order and I would like to keep them that way with oil!  I suspect that this part should contain an oil seal, it has an internal face that looks like it could accommodate a o-ring or similar.  



Can anyone confirm if there should be a seal here and if so what type, what does it look like, can I fashion one myself or buy one from somewhere?  I'm tempted to carefully grind out the inside lip so I can fit a wiper seal if I can find one with dimensions that will fit....

For completeness here's some pictures of disassembly showing how it all fits together.



T


Thanks

Will

Hello,
Nothing is obviously missing and the ring-oiled engines neither had nor need an oil seal. The annular groove in the cover is intended to catch the small amount of oil that passes the thrower and drain it back to the bearing.
However the spacer on your crank is unusual. Has the governor been modified?
When you say "right side" is that looking from the front (carb side) and is it the starting or pulley side?
Please can you provide the serial and if possible a pic of the engine before disassembly.
The screwed well lid suggests a period when Petters experimented with several different oilers. What does your engine have and which main does it feed?
Sorry so many questions.

Hi Petternut!

The serial number is 9221, I think it's 1931 but you might be able to tell to me more. The previous custodian told me it was originally supplied to A. Tye ltd as a power unit for a Petterlight generating set.

I've solved the oil leak, the thrower that throws oil off the shaft before the covering plate had come loose and was a bit chewed up. I pressed it back on but it was still allowing oil through where it's a little out of shape so I've temporarily fixed it with some gasket seal between the thrower and the shaft.  I also cut a new gasket for the plate but I don't think there was any issue there, the oil was running along the shaft not through the gasket.

Here are some pictures of the fix and the complete engine today at Netley Marsh Steam Fair!





My engine has a calibrator oiler which feeds the left hand oiler (looking from the front).  The issue was with the right hand side so not the side with the governor weights.  The spacer goes between the gear for the magneto and the right hand flywheel to space it so it clears the magneto and oiler.

Thanks

Will

9221 was sold on 11/11/1931 to E Hudson but was not part of a P-L set.
That date is within the range for the various experiments before the design settled on the Calibrater mounted on the LH side. The records show 9221 being supplied with a Best & Lloyd lubricator whereas yours has a Calibrater. Do the flywheels show the same serial? It is stamped into the narrow rims rather than the face.

In that model the lubricator feeds the LH main and the oil is taken by a scrolls in the bearing and main journal to feed the big end.
The RH well feeds the main bearing only and there should be a drain hole at the inner end of the main bearing to return the oil to the well. It may not apply in your case but I've come across engines in the past where the bearing was the wrong hand or was missing the return hole.
I am away from tomorrow for a week.

Ah, sorry, just checked again, it's quite hard to read the serial as the plate is not that clear, it's 9223 not 9221.

I can't see any marks on the flywheels but I'll look again. tomorrow when the light is better.

9223 supplied to A Tye Ltd. on 01/12/1931 and fitted with a Calibrater. It was part of a No. 30 P-L set.
I can only suggest that you strip the RH main off and check the bearing for the return hole and excessive wear or end float.

Hi Peternut,

That's great, thanks for the research, it's good to have confirmation of the info the previous owner gave me with the engine.

On the oil containment front my fix ran fine for approx 8 or more hours over the weekend at Netley Marsh Steam and Craft show so I'm calling it fixed for now.

Will