Primarily Petroliana Shop Talk Forums Shop Talk Petroliana Forums General Petroliana Discussion outside visable.to seal or not to seal?

as many of you know i am restoring a wayne 515.it;s going to be an outside pump.is it better to totally seal off the cylinder or let it breathe?some one told me it should be sealed as well as possible to prevent condensation.or does it really matter?thanks for your opinions.

Mick, I have completely sealed them and they still get condensation in them. I have found if you seal the top really well and let the bottom breathe a little it does pretty good. I hope someone else can tell us.

I do not know if this will help but some of the parking meter poles had a hole in the top and bottom of them. I am guessing this helped moisture (condensation) to escape. I would agree with Phil and let the bottom breathe.
Mike

I would think that theres no getting away from it,I think the inside of cylinder will warm quicker than outside.I'm thinking letting it breathe alittle has to help some.
Joe

Mick. I have one that has been outside through a couple of cold winters and have had no problems. The assembly diagram shows a vent valve installed in the top cylinder head plate when new, item #101 if yours still has it,that should let it breathe a little and it will be ok.

I suggest drilling a 1/8"-1/4" hole in casting so that any water that does get into cyl. has a way to drain. Any water that freezes in bottom will/can fracture cyl. [freeze crack].

I drill the small hole in the outlet pipe of the cylinder on the bottom.

I agree with everyone here. As long as there is some air flow in the cylinder the moisture will have a way to get out