Geevor Tin Mine Gallery 7: On this page are some more images of the dry area along with other buildings on the site. Once again Bob Orchard has supplied much of the information.
One of my favorite places is the Compressor House. These huge machines which supplied air to the living mine. When they were all running it would shake the glass windows in the offices. But all quiet now, it’s very sad.
Previously the mine store was in the building that has become the mine shop. Prior to that this building was an electrical sub station. Before that the Stores were held in the stone built building opposite side of the road. The head Storeman that I remember there was Jim Vincent.
This building was originally the mine stables, which when the store moved from there to the building that is now the shop, it became the lifting tackle store. During the last working of the mine the stores were in both the buildings that is now the shop and the “New” store.
The head Storeman being Johnny Johnson with Dick Trembath also a man known as Charlie Taw.
The remaining images on the page are all taken in the interior of the Geevor Mine Compressor House. This was where the compressed air to drive the underground rockdrills and machinery was produced. Without this mining operations would have ground to a halt. The building was constructed during the early 1950’s, the three compressors were installed soon afterwards.
The motors of the compressors are 3 phase, open frame “slip ring” motors, with wound rotors & starters. The starting arrangement used “liquid resistance” starters in series with the rotor windings. On start up the resistance is infinity (producing maximum motor torque at low revs) as the starter vanes are wound in the resistance slowly drops and the motor slowly speeds up.
When the starter vanes are fully immersed position (motor now up to full speed) a set of contacts short out the connection to the slip rings (effectively creating a “squirrel cage motor). In this state, each of the motors are protected for over-current and no-volt release by an oil filled circuit breaker. The small round cover on the end of each of the motors contain the copper slip rings & carbon brushes.
The inter-cooler is a heat-exchanger, the cooling process also produces condensation that is drained away. The air after leaving the second high pressure stage passes through an after-cooler. These are situated between the compressors and the large air receivers (air storage tanks) outside.