Like I said above, I now have a 16/16 M5 Sterling of unknown age or operating condition. Over the next few months I'd like to fully restore this siren. Any advice/recommendations for this project would be greatly appreciated, I'll provide all the info, questions, and concerns I have on it to the best of my ability:
Apart from the dented shrouds, and the shroud end cap missing on one end, the siren appears to be in decent material shape. The rotors do spin freely, though I did notice that the left impeller occasionally scrapes the stator- this usually only happens on the first spin, then goes away. Additionally, I heard a clattering noise, like something coming in contact with the motor, almost like the sound of a playing card in bicycle spokes, when I first spun the impellers. However this noise has since gone away mostly. The only other suspect sound I can think of right now is a consistent squeaking from the motor for as long as the rotors are spinning.
Most of this would lead me to believe this is caused mostly worn or unseated bearings? I'm not sure what else could be causing these things myself.
The motor is a 110/220v Peerless Electric, my friend who is more electrically inclined than I am believes it is currently wired for single phase 110v based on the diagram. We are hoping to wire it up and fire it off somewhere just to see if it works.
As far as I know (and this is only speculative info provided to me by the town DPW clerk), this siren has been indoors for a majority of what was believed to be the last 40 years, and though it had not been in use for much of that time, was still wired into live power up until a few weeks ago.
As of recent, the only thing I've done to it is put some Marvel Mystery Oil into the bearings just to try and help loosen them up a little more.
My only concerns for disassembly are pulling the rotors (specifically, removal of the shaft key and motor bearings) I've read around this forum and seen a handful of different ways to approach it. I think I'm going to try for the gear puller/ blowtorch/PB blaster and mallet method, but any other advice would be great.
I apologize for the long post and amount of information.. Figured I'd get it all out there at once.
Again, any restoration advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
