Classic cars forum & vehicle restoration.

[Bitumen Boy]

The other week I went to take some old cooking oil to the tip, amongst some other stuff. The bank for old cooking oil is next to the one for old engine oil and, quite sensibly, they leave a wheelie bin handy for people to dump the old bottles and cans in, where I spotted something interesting, lifted it out and put it in the car - and forgot about it until just now.

It's one of the old tinplate cans (still sealed!) with a screw cap that used to be quite common containers for oils and other chemicals, no capacity listed but it'll be roughly a pint. Labelled as "Manometer fluid" from a firm named Airflow Developments in High Wycombe, it is apparently pretty flammable stuff with a flash point of 54 degrees C. I'd hazard a guess someone filched this from their work at the colliery/factory/wherever back in the day and it's sat on a shelf in their shed until one of their children or grandchildren has cleared the place out.

The question, then, is what is/was it used for, and is it likely to be of any use to me now - or should I quietly drop it off next time I go back to the tip..?

[Peter_L]

http://www.sensorsmag.com/components/manometer-basics

It;s only Tuesday and I have already learned something new. But I wonder why the low flash point ?

[D4B]

Yes Gas Engineers use Manometers......

The chap who came to work on our Boiler had one

[Penman]

Hi
The one who does mine uses water in his U tube type.
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Bristols should always come in pairs.

Any 2 from:-
Straight 6
V8 V10

[Rootes75]

I was chatting to a chap the other day who I haven't seen for 10-15 years. He said he now works at a local Viridor recycling centre and whilst we were chatting about our interests in old stuff he mentioned that in their 'keep' container they have a lot of vintage motoring pieces that have been put in the skips.

Lots of old metal petrol cans with brass tops and some nice oil cans too but most interesting was a Shell petrol pump globe brought in not long ago, he said the only damage is a crack in the rear base of it!!
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Various Rootes Vehicles.

[PAUL BEAUMONT]

Back to the low flash point - I can only guess that that is incidental and for whatever reason - probably accuracy - a low density liquid was needed. Most of these have a low flash point - but I guess it is the density that was the needed feature.

[Bitumen Boy]

It seems from having a look online that there are various manometer fluids that can be used for different jobs, from simple water at one end of the scale to pure mercury at the other. The one I have appears to be still current but is of little use to me - at least for its intended purpose. Of academic interest only (to me at least) is the possibility of balancing twin carbs using a manometer, similar to the way some will use a vacuum gauge - has anyone ever done this?

Unless someone knows of another use it may be put to I think I'll be dropping it off at the tip again the next time I go. Did think of fleabaying it but the low flash point means it's not strictly speaking postable and paying over the odds for a courier doesn't appeal when I'd be listing at 99p start to avoid the listing fees!