Quote:
Originally Posted by Alan J.
Very interesting, the AB15's we had at Hauxley and Shilbottle took some beating. At Hauxley ,because of the water problems we had, us electricians had to open the cutters up weekly instead of monthly to ensure there wasn't water in them. At one stage BJD cutters were tried but didn't last long as the water got into them very easily.
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That's the problem with flame proof chambers. there has to be a path to the outside to vent the expanding gases if there is an ignition inside. Unfortunately that same path can let the water in!
Very similar issue at Whittle with the German Eickhoff shearers, we had a chamber (the infamous 'E Chamber') on the machine right against the coal when the machine was cutting. This was prone to picking up natural water and water from the machine sprays, and in the chamber itself there were solenoid operated hydraulic control valves also prone to the odd leak. Every weekend the mining side had to prepare the machine to allow an electrician in to check this chamber. Most of the time we got an 18 inch gap between the machine and the coal to work in. Job for skinny electricians.