Another “time capsule”, forgotten for decades in garage attics – in the retro test of “Koles”! Everything that ordinary car owners in the USSR dreamed of was a mini-car wash, a compressor and a vacuum cleaner. Let's see if auto gadgets, marked with a quality mark and made in accordance with GOST standards, can compete with similar modern accessories!
Three car accessories from the 80s, in boxes and in mint condition, came to us for testing. Three devices marked with a quality mark look curious today, but it was fashionable and prestigious to own them among Soviet car owners.
Let's see if the “guests from the past” have any advantages in terms of performance, design and configuration over numerous modern Asian-made analogues!
Portable Car Wash Pump - 1983
The most fun gadget of our “time capsules” today. The device, called the “Car Wash Pump,” has survived untouched to this day, having lain on a dusty shelf since 1983, when it cost 28 rubles.
Of course, this is not an analogue of a modern sink high pressure– the device does not know how to knock down dirt with a pressure of a hundred bars. This is a simple water supply pump for a bucket - the device is lowered into a container of soapy water and... floats on its surface, spitting out moisture through a five-meter thin hose. The pressure, of course, is weak - this is not a Karcher! Therefore, first, water and shampoo should be supplied through a spray brush, with which the driver manually washes away dirt from the body, and then the brush can be removed and a jet nozzle put on instead - to knock down soap suds clean water. To control water consumption, the kit comes with a funny device, like a clamp that pinches the hose. Of course, it would be more convenient to control the water supply with a valve in the form of a pistol grip, but what do we have...
“This is the USSR, baby!” (With)
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Actually, there are a great many of these “washes” sold in car dealerships today: a 20-liter canister to which is connected a 12-volt compact pump and a hose with a brush - the essence is exactly the same as that of our device from the Union. But the beauty of the Soviet gadget is in its design! Thanks to the hollow body in the shape of a “fungus”, the device floats in a bucket of water, and after washing, all the essentials (a five-meter hose, a brush, a jet nozzle and a three-meter power cord) are hidden in this very “fungus” under a lid with a carrying handle! The solution is truly elegant and neat (which is actually a rarity for old Soviet things) - we liked it!
We will not compare the Soviet pump with modern analogues - with technical point In general, such devices have not evolved: an “economy watering can” is just that: an “economy watering can.” Let's just try it out - the pump will hum for the first time 33 years after its release...
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The device worked well - the pump pumps almost silently, the stream is stable, compactness and mobility are excellent. However, to wash even a relatively clean car with this Soviet device, you need at least two buckets of water - and that’s if you save money. Yes, and using a round brush the size of a medium-sized apple over the entire area of the body, without leaving unwashed areas, is still a lot of work... Plus, this method of washing does not look advantageous against the background of budget high-pressure washers. The “brush method” is not held in high esteem today - the paint on modern cars is not the same as in the 80s - thin, delicate... The show rules here touchless car wash. Overall, 0:1 – first round against modern technologies The USSR is losing...
Mustang Electric Pump - 1989
In the 80s, an electric tire pump was a rarity, if not a luxury - most Soviet owners of Zhiguli and Muscovites, not to mention Zaporozhets, pumped the wheels (of the car) and the hernia (for themselves) with standard manual T-shaped “rockers”.
A pump like this “Mustang” could most likely be found in the trunk of a nomenclature Volga... The copy we tested was originally from 1989, in which they asked for 35 rubles 20 kopecks, although it was, like any shortage, not easy to find on the open market !
The pump is made incredibly solidly. You pick it up and feel proud of the bygone empire! Heavy metal body and filling, strong hammer paint, thick cord with solid cross-section wires, a quality mark and the personal signature of the quality control inspector in the passport... An interesting accessory comes with a pump - a spray bottle with a set of replaceable nozzles, which is screwed onto the Mustang instead of hose The instructions say that the sprayer is intended for touching up... damage to the body! However, painting a modern car in this way is barbaric, and the capacity for painting a fence or barn is too small, and the pump is not designed for long-term operation... In principle, it would be suitable for applying a number on a garage door using a stencil.
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We open the instructions, and not everything is so rosy in it - the characteristics of the pump from the USSR in 2016 make us think hard... According to the principle of operation, it is not a piston, like all modern electric pumps, but a membrane one: a motor, a crank on the shaft, a connecting rod - this is all similar to the current ones “rockers”, but the connecting rod is crowned not by a piston, but by a membrane. At the same time, according to the instructions, the current consumed by the Mustang is as much as 17 amperes, but maximum pressure– only 2 atmospheres, and the operating time before overheating is no more than 2.5 minutes! While many inexpensive modern piston pumps they pump 5 atmospheres, expensive ones - 8–10, and they work much longer before overheating... To be honest, with such parameters the pump does not look good... So, since the Soviet product does not promise outstanding results, we will not put it up against cool and expensive ones modern models. Let's try with the strength of the “USSR national team” to beat at least the cheap 300-ruble “Auchan-compressor”! So, let's go - we unscrew the nipple from the 15-inch wheel and turn on the compressors on a timer for 2 minutes: first an inexpensive Asian one, then measure the pressure, go back to zero, and finally harness the Soviet Mustang:
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“Mustang” kicks with might and main in his hand, justifying its name, and here is the result – 1:0 in favor of the USSR! In 120 seconds, a cheap Chinese pump “inhaled” only 1 bar, and “Mustang” during the same time “inhaled” 2.5 bar into the tire when the required two!
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Yes, the current consumption is high, and the maximum pressure is low (against the background of the 2 “points” promised in the instructions, we took 2.5 from the pump, but I think it could have handled three without damage), plus the fight was with a obviously frail opponent, but for overall iron, weight and vigor of work - victory is awarded! Although it’s a stretch – due to the lack of a pressure gauge. Of course, in order to get to home or a tire shop with a flat cylinder, it is absolutely not necessary to set the pressure to tens; I inflated it by eye - and okay... But pumping up all four wheels in a circle with such a pump is quite a task! On each wheel, you will have to remove the Mustang hose from the nipple at least a couple of times and check the pressure with a hand pressure gauge - not included in the kit, by the way. Such mouse fuss is clearly uncomfortable, although against the backdrop of radiculitis hand pumps in previous years, the Mustang was certainly a motorist's dream...
Vacuum cleaner “Shmel-auto” – 1982
Today, car vacuum cleaners are cheap, and there is a wide choice. Although these devices are highly controversial, a full-fledged home vacuum cleaner has a power of at least 800 watts, which is unattainable for a car device powered by 12 volts.
For this reason, the efficiency of the average car vacuum cleaner is extremely low, and many people use it after purchasing it or receiving it as a gift once - the first and last time, to make sure that it is impossible to clean a seriously dirty floor covering with its help - except to pick up light specks...
Today, compressor engineering is an independent branch of mechanical engineering in Russia. Compressor factories produce axial, centrifugal, piston, rotary and jet compressors for a wide range of applications. Modern compressor units – the most complex type technological equipment- one of the components of the constant growth of the construction, oil, gas, metallurgical, oil refining and petrochemical industries.
The first inventor of the centrifugal fan was the Russian engineer A.A. Sablukov. In 1832, its device marked the beginning of the use of centrifugal machines in the metallurgical and mining industries. Later, N.E. Zhukovsky and S.A. Chaplygin, based on the theory of centrifugal machines by L. Euler, created the theory of axial compressors. In 1905, Russian specialists created the first unit for supplying air under pressure, which marked the beginning of the domestic compressor industry. The Borzing piston compressor was used as a basis. But, nevertheless, in Tsarist Russia compressors and pumps were imported from abroad. But the first World War, then the revolution and the recovery period relegated the production of domestic compressors to the background.
And only with the beginning of the development of coal reserves in Kuzbass, Donbass and the construction of the first lines of the Moscow Metro, the USSR Government was forced to pay attention to the production of domestic industrial compressors. But only after the end of the Great Patriotic War compressor factories began mass production of mobile stations. Compressor plants emerged from weapons workshops and mechanical plants of general engineering based on available capacities. This explains the geography of the location of modern compressor plants throughout the country.
In the 21st century, this industry has entered the stage of global integration of production, in search of modern compressor machine designs that provide high level reliability and efficiency and providing the customer with a full range of service. Multifunctional monoblock machines have appeared that provide a complete technological cycle in a single compressor block. Almost all compressor plants have mastered systems approach in the design and manufacture of equipment based on standard elements, assemblies and parts using the latest computer technology.
Russian compressor plants provide their products to such giants as Gazprom, LUKOIL, Sibur, Yuganskneftegaz, Tatneft, RAO UES, Magnitogorsk, Novolipetsk, Nizhny Tagil and Norilsk metallurgical plants and are exported to 40 countries.
Recently, various construction equipment has rarely appeared in “Technohistories”, we will correct it. Today it’s the turn of machines that, unlike tall cranes and monstrous excavators, attract little attention (especially when not working), however, you cannot do without them when constructing buildings and repairing roads. These are mobile air compressor stations, or, more simply, compressors. Perhaps the most classic of Soviet compressors is the ZIF-55 family, produced from the 1960s to the 1990s at the Leningrad Arsenal plant. ZIF simply stands for “Frunze Plant”, and the number 55 indicates the productivity of the machine - 5.5 cubic meters compressed air in a minute. The main components of the compressor: the compressor unit itself, the drive engine (previously ZIL-120, later ZIL-157, there were also diesel versions), body and chassis. The characteristic compressed air cylinder at the rear of the compressor is called an air reservoir. Above it are visible fittings for connecting hoses of pneumatic tools or other consumers, and below it is a gas tank.
Initially, ZIF-55 were towed to the work site as ordinary trailers, a sprung trolley and swivel mechanism automobile type This was completely allowed. But later regulatory requirements towed vehicles became stricter, and in order not to change the proven design, the plant did a simple thing: it made changes to the instructions stating that from now on, towing a vehicle on roads is prohibited. A similar inscription appeared on the body. It was assumed that compressors would be towed only within construction sites or factory areas. However, the instructions are not always followed, and in practice ZIF-55 can often be found towed on roads, and sometimes lighting equipment is installed on them.
And they even get license plates. pay attention to wheel disks- they are the same as on . In the first photo you can see a different type of disk, different variants came from the factory to different years production.
The design of ZIF-55 is simple and reliable, especially in the compressor part, which is why such units can still be found in operation. Basically this is a modification of the ZIF-55V, where “B” means “screw compressor”, these went into production since 1970, before that piston ones were used. There are also ZIFs in my native St. Petersburg, in particular, I saw this example this summer on the territory of some municipal office.
And finally a few interesting facts about the manufacturer. Its history begins with cannon foundries founded in St. Petersburg in 1711 by decree of Peter I. The plant has retained its profile to this day: one of the main types of products are artillery and rocket launchers for the Navy. By the way, some types of ship weapons were also produced under the ZIF designation. The plant began producing compressors in 1931 and is still producing them, but it carries out major overhauls on those produced earlier.
Piston air compressors are the most common nowadays. The most preferable option when low performance is needed is a piston air compressor. Due to the simplicity of technical implementation this technology Air compression has been used for about two centuries. And that is why piston air compressors were the main type of compressors produced in our country.
Air piston compressors are equipped with electric drive, but there are models with diesel or gasoline drive. These compressors are available with receivers of different capacities. The receiver is designed to control air flow. When the air pressure in the receiver remains above a certain minimum value, special sensors are triggered that turn off the engine and turn it on if the pressure in the receiver is too low.
Piston air compressors have proven themselves to be cheap (compared to other types of compressors), easy to manufacture, highly maintainable and have a wide range of applications. Piston-type air compressors work well in harsh operating conditions and with high ambient air pollution. At correct operation and timely maintenance, air piston compressors can be used almost “forever”.
Compressor equipment is used in production and construction to provide compressed air to pneumatic tools and pneumatic systems that require a pressure of up to 0.7 MPa. and air flow up to 520 liters per minute (33 m3/hour).
Compressors of the brand SO-7B and SO-243 are single-stage, two-cylinder, conventional piston compressors with forced air cooled. Compressors of this type are used for the production of foam concrete, insulation such as Penoizol, Unipor, etc. By prior agreement, the compressor can be equipped with a pressure hose, a painting gun, a pneumatic jackhammer and other pneumatic tools.
The compressor unit is powered from the network alternating current with a voltage of 380 volts and a current frequency of 50 hertz. Three-phase asynchronous motor with a power of 4 kilowatts (kW), the compressor is driven through a clinometer transmission. All elements of the compressor are installed (mounted) on the receiver, which is equipped with wheels and a handrail for moving it. The compressor unit itself is easy to manufacture and easy to use.
The U-43102 compressor unit is used as a source of compressed air in mine roading machines, high-capacity excavators, pneumatic-wheeled cranes, and special road machines.
