Quote Originally Posted by Josip View Post
Hello Tycho,

what to say ... thanks for your time and effort to share all this with us.

My guys and me did it on XRV 204 (back in 2014.) with home made tools
still in my possession, but today relaxing on the shelf and probably will be
never ever used again (original Howden tools were and are too expensive).

Usually working within engine room with compressor on base frame
(electric motor shifted to be able to remove rotors) with other compressors
running, wearing ear protection, but that was in my time what is now behind me ....

Agree with you ... job must be done by the book.


Best regards, Josip
Josip, truer words have never been spoken than when you said "original howden tools are to expensive"!

I have to add that the original Howden tools are not very durable! especially for the WRV range.

some time between 2010 and 2016, not sure when, because I weren't consulted, the company I work for purchased special tools for the WRV range from someone, and they were EXPENSIVE!

The tools that arrived were all hand made and looked like something that had been made in someones garage.

Like the larger Keys for the SKF nuts on the older WRV Compressors, and they had replaceable teeth.

The key was made out of soft steel and the four teeth were from hard steel and were attached to the soft steel with m5 countersunk bolts inside a groove, and the tool came with 4 hardened steel teeth fitted and with 8 more in a Ziploc bag.

but the hard steel teeth looked like someone had ground them by hand on a grinding wheel, and did not look like a precision tool... and probably when they were grinding them they had overheated them, so they snapped like a candy cane before we were nowhere near the torque required.

So for those older compressors I am still using a key that were Cut out by hand by some guy in 1960-70 by hand, using an acetylene/oxygen cutting torch and then filing the teeth in by hand

The XRV204 tools I have is from Howden, and it does it's job.

For the XRV163, the company had all the original tools, but it was lost when they disbanded a satellite office, as in someone has it in his garage, or took it with him to his new place of work.

But when I came back to MMC, we had a wrecked XRV163, and all you need to make the special tools is 2 thrust bearing covers, a thrust bearing casing, a welding machine and a lathe.

So for the XRV163 all the tools are home made.


The only crucial tool for any XRV 163 - 204 really is the spring compression tool, and you don't really need a "tool" for it, you can use the thrust bearing cover and a piece of pipe that has the same OD as the thrust bearings really.


I mean, it's nice to have all the tools lined up, but the only "special tool" you need to service an XRV or WRV is a dial gauge