Never heard of such a thing. And I'd discount your pressure-rising theory.
I've had mine since the early '80s and it usually sits at 80 or so as well,
but the gauge on it goes to 150. Yeah, it might rise a bit in the sun, but
not THAT much! Certainly within design limits. Mine has sat in the sun all
day too -- and we've had a pretty hot summer here in Kansas -- and I have
never observed a noticeable pressure rise in the Accusump. However, if it is
*really* hot, I often drape my tonneau over the car -- not to shade the
Accusump but to shade the seat and steering wheel. Most of the time I am
shading only the left side of the car. The Accusump is on the passenger
floor and if it gets covered it is purely accidental.
Leave the valve open? Then why have one? the most important reason I have
one is to be able to put oil pressure in the engine before I start it. If
the valve is left open, no pressure, and you have to start/run the engine to
get pressure. Defeats the purpose. Yeah, they talk of how it can save your
motor if a bearing begins to go bad, but having that pre-start pressure up
is one of the things that helps prevent bearing failure in the first place.
I'd sooner the theory that something was misadjusted, misaligned,
mis-assembled.
"Blew open on one end" is a bit imprecise. Did it blow the whole end-cap
off, or just the fittings? Or was it a split in the body of the Accusump
tube itself? I'm guessing the oil-line end, as to have any kind of mess out
of the other end (which is compressed air) you would about have to blow the
whole end cap off and push the piston out. Even if the air valve or gauge
fitting failed at that end, all that would happen is you'd lose air. But
your description of "spray" also suggests a small leak and not the whole
thing emptying out (2-3 quarts of oil is a sizeable puddle!). Sounds more
like a failure in the fittings. Or maybe the end-cap was screwed in too
tightly and stressed the body.
--Rocky Entriken
----- Original Message -----
From: "Bob Kramer" <rgk@flash.net>
To: <fot@autox.team.net>
Sent: Monday, September 30, 2002 1:59 PM
Subject: Accusump explosion
> Anyone ever heard of an Accusump exploding? I brought my TR4 to the TX
ABCD
> yesterday, and it sat in the sun all day. The gauge showed 80psi when I
parked
> it. It is black annodised aluminum tubing and it blew open on one end.
What a
> mess! I'm no physicist, but pressure rises as temp goes up. The rest is
> history. Luckily it exploded during the awards and only 2 people were
nearby
> to get sprayed. Next time, I'll leave the valve open.
> Bob Kramer
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