Service Section

Concerning Spare Parts

WHEN ordering spare parts for machinery, all possible marks, num bers and descriptions should be sup plied and, if feasible, the old, worn part should be sent as a sample. This applies to all machinery—or anything that needs a spare part—and it applies particularly to War Disposals goods, in which case a history of the machine and the part is also desirable.

The improvisations that were made in the stress of war have a way of rebound ing now upon the heads of those who pur chased engines and machinery from the disposals authorities. Here are two cases in point: THE first concerns a Cadillac V-8 engine used by the Navy in launches during the war. There are, of course, agents for this engine in Australia but they are interested in the engine only—they do not care if it is installed in a boat or used to drive a circular saw—therefore, when we were asked to get two rubber impellers for the salt-water pump they could not oblige nor were they very helpful. No, they said, they hadn’t the slightest idea where we could find out what sort of pump was installed in this boat; maybe the whole boat was Lend-Lease; maybe it had been assembled here. They didn’t know. Sorry.

After some cogitation we decided to try the Commonwealth Disposals Commission We told the tale to Mr. A; were passed on to Mr. B; then to Mr. C, who was out inspecting something or other and would n’t be back till Mondee. “i’ll have you put on to Mi'. D.”

Mr. D, with a flash of genius, told us the name of the Sydney agents for the engine (which we already knew) but otherwise he could not help either.

"Look,” he said, “We only sell these things—we don’t know anything about them—who made them or anything else.”

As he showed every sign of hanging up in our ear we said with some asperity, "What do you expect this chap to do?

Just go out and scuttle his boat for lack of two rubber gadgets for a water pump?”

“Well,” said Mr. D. reluctantly at the end of the phone, “just hang on and I’ll see if anyone else can suggest anything.”

We hung on for 10 minutes and at the end of that time were advised to try Garden Island, and ask for Mr. Jones, at Navy workshop number 6.

We duly rang Garden Island, asked for Ng- 6 workshop and then Mr. Jones.

What Mr. Jones,” said an irate voice which sounded as though its owner had had to leave off making a battleship to answer the phone. p "We don’t know what Mr. Jones. What we want is some information about a Dis posals boat with a ” We got to that stage when the battleship maker decided he had had enough and hung up We tried twice more and at the fourth at tempt, by some good fortune, we got on to a man who seemed to know what we were talking about, and was prepared to forget that the Navy is the silent service and do some talking himself. “Yes I the f job ’ The Navy is scrapping all those water pumps. Simply can’t get the parts for them. Just what parts would you be wanting?”

“Just two rubber impellers . ” ‘Wei! that might be done. Ring the Blank Rubber Company, ask for Mr X, mention my name and tell him what you want. They made us several hundred impellers for those pumps about six Sme th ovef ”’ Th6y might just have had

We are loud in our thanks and turn to the Blank Rubber Co. and Mr. X. Mr.

X listens patiently while we go over the whole story. Yes, he remembers the Navy job. But are there any left —that is the question. But hold on, he will find out.

We hang on for another ten minutes.

Mr. X returns. Yes, he has located two.

He can have them ready Monday. Will that do?

It will do fine. We retire thankfully, another job done —we think. Six weeks later we receive a letter from the owner of the boat. The impellers have arrived.

They won’t fit. They are too long; the spindle is of different diameter to the original. Will we try to get some that will fit?

We are back where we started.

THE second example concerns a large army-type refrigerator—about 118 cubic feet. Our client wants some gas for it.

Part of this outfit was made during the war by the Kelvinator Company, part by General-Motors Holden (Frigidaire). It was assembled by someone else, no one knows who. Both Kelvinator and Frigi daire disown their illegitimate war-time offspring, so off and on, over perhaps two days we shop around among the best part of Sydney’s refrigerator engineers trying to find out how much gas this out fit will need: how the client (in New Ireland) is going to get it into the com pressor.

The conversation (other end) usually goes like this: No—they can’t say they know the job, but they have heard of it.

What does anyone want with such a large refrigerator? Can’t the chap take it into Rabool? No? Well, into Port Moresby then? No? Well really, they couldn’t suggest what could be done—not having seen the job; and they couldn’t see how anyone but a trained refrigerator engineer was going to get the gas out of the cylin der into the compressor, etc., etc.

Finally, we find a young man who had been in Port Moresby during the war and who had heard of “Rab-awl” and other outposts. Apparently intrigued by the thought that this unknown man, some

where up at the back of nowhere, might be going to waste some very expensive re frigerator gas on the jungle air, he not only hazards a guess at a suitable quan tity to be sent, but suggests a book that might be suitable to the amateur engineer.

We will draw a veil over the search for the book, the permits to export gas, the fire permit (whatever that is) and the trouble entailed in getting the shipping company to carry it. The moral of this story, and the previous one, is that getting replacement parts for Disposals goods is likely to be an increasing headache, and that, as we said in the beginning, all pos sible marks, numbers, descriptions and case histories should be supplied when ordering anything of the sort.

Perhaps we should add, as a rider to the above, that as there is a certain amount of latent Sherlock Holmes in everyone, we get considerable satisfaction from unravelling the conundrums created by the confusion of war and post-war.

The foregoing should by no means be taken as a complaint at some of the prob lems set us, but merely as a guide to the unwary and an invitation to supply as many clues as possible.