infill Mixer maintenance

“Luckily a stall at a local car boot sale was selling off some endof-life bottles of Gorilla glue at a very reasonable price...”

Mixer Maintenance

Our canal society was given an electric mixer several years ago; it was in excellent condition apart from a twisted frame, a fractured gearbox mounting foot and a tendency to give electric shocks to the operator in wet weather. Before it could be used, a steel strap had to be fitted around the gearbox to take the strain off the remaining three feet. The operator invested in a pair of rubber gloves.

After lying around unused during a wet autumn, the motor filled with rainwater and the bearings rusted solid; so we dismantled the motor, dried it and fitted new bearings. Parts of the starter switch were also rusted away, so we devised a different starting system based on some old fruit machine relays and also took the opportunity to rewire the motor for 110v operation.

The new ‘waterproof’ Stop and Start buttons were found to be letting water into the control box, so we replaced them with some sturdy waterproof military switches, which had probably become surplus at the end of the Korean War, and drilled drainage holes in the bottom of the box. Everything now appeared to be electrically and mechanically safe.

At this point we noticed a strange white spiral pattern appearing around the tub when it was used for lime mortar. Looking from the inside outwards, there appeared to be a constellation of pinpoints of light shining through the tub wall. Luckily a stall at a local car boot sale was selling off some end-of-life bottles of Gorilla glue at a very reasonable price, so the holes were patched with offcuts of old PVC floor covering which, with the aid of a hot air gun, could be moulded nicely around the curvature of the tub.

Until recently the refurbished machine has served us well. Now it has developed a minor fault, which came to light when scouring the tub with a large brick at the end of a working day [ See photograph]. Perhaps one of your readers could suggest the appropriate action to take, as I feel this machine still has a lot of life left in it and could go on working for many more years if it were treated sympathetically.

Ivor Hope

Perhaps Ivor could draw some inspiration from the letter to Deirdre and her reply (opposite page). Or perhaps not. ...Ed