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MMD > Archives > November 2022 > 2022.11.30 > 03Prev  Next


Replacement Parts for Kleernote Tracker Bar Pump
By John A. Tuttle

Hi All, Yes, Player-Care does stock rubber tips and filters for
regular trackerbar pumps [221124 MMDigest]. See

https://www.player-care.com/trackerbar-pump-inst.html 

Regarding the leather 'cup' or seal, after examining a few different
pumps from three different time periods I am convinced that the leather
that's used is something very similar, if not identical, to flap valve
leather. In the two accompanying pictures, the three pumps are
(A), a brand new pump; (B) a 100+ year old Ampico pump, and
(C) a 30- to 40-year old pump.

The leather in all three pumps measured 0.072"-0.078" thick and it
looked and felt like flap valve leather. As you can also see, only pump
C has a 'cup'; A and B just have washers. All three of the leather seals
feel like they had been saturated in some sort of an oil, and my fingers
didn't get dirty when handling the leather, so I concluded that graphite
had never been used on the leather.

The leather piece marked 'New' is one that I made today out of flap
valve leather. I saturated the leather with Vaseline and used the parts
from pump C (including the barrel 'D'). While the leather I picked was
only 0.009" thicker than the thickest pieces in the other pumps, it was
quite difficult to force into the barrel, and it was very difficult to
move. Upon removing it, I saw that it had not assumed the 'cup' shape,
so I conjectured that heat and pressure must have been used to 'form'
the leather.

So I forced it back into the barrel and heated the barrel with a low
flame blowtorch until the Vaseline sizzled. After it cooled I tried
moving it again, and it moved much more easily, but not as easily as the
rest of the pumps. So, I concluded that the leather I picked was just
too thick.

However, upon removing the plunger and taking things apart, I found that
the leather had taken the correct shape which, in my opinion, confirmed
my belief that heat and pressure were used to form the seal.

The check valve, shown in the third picture, was virtually identical
in all three pumps. The thin leather valve facing looked and felt like
regular suede calf skin that measured 0.032"-0.037" thick.

Musically,

John A Tuttle
Player-Care
Brick, New Jersey, USA
https://www.player-care.com/ 

 [ Three types of trackerbar pumps (first view)
 [ https://www.mmdigest.com/Attachments/22/11/30/221130_114609_three-types.jpg 

 [ Three types of trackerbar pumps (second view)
 [ https://www.mmdigest.com/Attachments/22/11/30/221130_114609_three-types-1.jpg 

 [ Trackerbar Pump Check Valve
 [ https://www.mmdigest.com/Attachments/22/11/30/221130_114609_check-valve-2.jpg 


(Message sent Wed 30 Nov 2022, 19:46:09 GMT, from time zone GMT-0800.)

Key Words in Subject:  Bar, Kleernote, Parts, Pump, Replacement, Tracker

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