P68 bent hopper lid and bypassed vacuum to test

[heitzman]

Hi all,

Just brought home a used Harman p68. The hopper lid is bent in one corner and I think its preventing the vacuum switch from working. I put a jumper between the leads and it fires right up and runs good. Is there a way I can bypass the hopper vacuum line instead of buying a new lid for 300 bucks?

I assume by bypassing the vacuum switch itself that bypasses safeguards for the hopper, main door, and ash door so its prolly not a good idea to keep it running like this.

Opinions on bypassing the hopper lid only?

 

[railfanron]

I would work on fixing the existing door. If you bypass the safety switch there's a possibility of a hopper fire. Explore the possibility of straightening the door and adding some thicker gasket material.
Ron

 

[bogieb]

If you can fix the lid, that would be great. However, I did find a lid on ebay (new) for half that price so it might be worth looking into. Also check on your local area CL.

 

[Ssyko]

Check with a local body shop im sure it could be worked back into a usable state for a case of beer or $$

 

[bags]

Metal has a memory so to speak. With a little love and hammer persuasion you should be able to get it back to good enough..... My hopper door is riveted on. You can drill out the rivets and then rivet said lid back on. Rivets, a hammer, and a rivet gun price beats the hell out of the insane new lid price. Good Luck

 

[Overfireinthehole]

What they said, but I will say that usually you won’t loose vacuum on one of those if the hopper has quite a few pellets. Is it one of the ones they ran the vacuum line to the hopper? Those were a pain, but you might try blowing out the vacuum line with some canned air either way. Just make sure to blow away from the switch and not into it.