I recently obtained an original, German Red Welte Vorsetzer, and it has a pneumatic that baffles me.  It is under the left door (the center door is the spool box and the right door covers the wind motor).  It would seem from looking at it that there is a handle in the front, and the handle is going through an elongated hole in a second piece of metal that limits how far up the hand lever can move.

The pneumatic does not connect to anything mechanically, but there is a 3/16" rubber hose leading into the pneumatic -- where the other end went is a mystery.  There is a small flap valve on the top of the pneumatic, and a second flap valve inside.

When I blow through the small rubber hose leading in to the pneumatic, I see the internal flap valve moving up.  The only thing I can possibly imagine this thing doing is being used as a tracker bar pump!  I believe there is not a single piece of rubber tubing in this Vorsetzer with the exception of this tube, and this is because a stiff brass tube, like everything else in the Vorsetzer, cannot be used like a rubber tube to cover over an individual hole in the tracker bar prior to sucking out the lint.  Also, the ultra-heavy-duty construction of the metal parts surrounding the pneumatic suggest that they didn't want any overly enthusiastic pumping to rip the cloth, or to rip the handle off that is used to raise the pneumatic.

If anyone out there knows what this is, or even if you want to make a guess, please write back to MMD.  Thanks in advance.

Randolph Herr
8 Jan 2004 22:53:53 -0500