Like humans, pipe organs need air to breathe. There are many different designs of organs; some require air to control every single mechanical component, others require air only for the pipes. This organ is somewhere in between.
The Kinetic blower company of Lansdowne, PA, built unique organ blowers since the early 1900’s. Now long gone, their blowers are still used and refurbished. They were well built, and easy to identify because of the boxy shape and green paint!
The blower is run by a 220v Century motor, which spins three fans mounted on a shaft inside the large green box. Originally, on the other end of the shaft, there would have been a DC generator, but it has long since vanished, to be replaced by newer methods of DC generation. (The organ electronics run on DC!) This is a fairly small blower. The larger Kinetic blowers took up entire rooms!
This blower is capable of 5″ of wind pressure output (read more about “inches of wind/water” here). The organ itself uses 4.5″ of air pressure, which is tempered down by the use of various wind reservoirs.
The motor was cleaned and repaired by a motor shop, and the rest was cleaned, repainted, and reassembled by myself and volunteers. She works like a charm! Video to come soon.
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- Cleaning the steel frame – powerwash and degrease. Then off to painting!
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- Blower installed at St. Raphael’s – final checks before assembly.
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- Blower installed at St. Raphael’s – all clean and running!
