himespau 

I have Silca Pista (or superpista, not sure the difference or whether or not it matters) floor pump that I keep in my basement with my repair stand and tools (more modern pump in the garage for day to day use). I love the looks and solid feel (wooden handles worn smooth and steel pumps are great) of the Silca pump, but every few pumps, there isn't resistance and no air comes out, so I figured I'd buy the parts to rebuild the valves and replace the leather washer (also putting a new washer in the chuck and new hose because the old one has gotten a bit short as I've trimmed it to get rid of cracks.

One thing I've noticed as I've looked around about doing this is that I see people talking about oiling or greasing the pump every so often. I haven't done anything to this pump as long as I've owned it (maybe 10 years, but I got it used as it's probably from the 70's/80's), but, after I get it rebuilt, I'd like to care for it properly. What am I supposed to be oiling/greasing, and where do I apply it? Also, what lubricant should I be using. Something light like trimmer cutting oil? Thicker like Chain-L? Chainsaw Bar Oil? 5W30?

Sorry if this is an obvious question and I'm just being stupid.

Bikerider007

I thought it was mainly the washer and light oil/grease but I don't have one of those. I do have a couple old NOS leather washers. Don't know if they fit that pump but think it would. If you would like one drop me a pm and I'll put in the mail as I don't know that I'll ever use one let alone both.

JohnDThompson 

When mine stops pushing air, all I've had to do to restore it is pull out the piston, massage some grease into leather washer, and put the piston back in the pump. I've had mine for almost 40 years now, and haven't had to replace anything except the hose and rubber gasket in the chuck.

himespau 

Thanks for the offer, I think I have a new leather gasket at home that should fit. If it turns out that I bought the wrong one, I might take you up on that.
I was figuring it was that gasket and not the check valve (though I wasn't sure because it's like every 3rd to 5th pump that it doesn't push, not every one), but I though that as long as I was taking it apart anyway I'd replace all the fittings so that the innards would be like new.

So you just lube the washer itself with the grease you use for bearings? Is there any way to do a preventative treatment without taking it apart?

When the gasket on my chuck stopped making a good seal, I swapped it out for a compressor fitting that I could flip to get presta or schrader, but I got a new gasket for my chuck (which apparently you can flip the gasket and use for either presta or shrader, I've only ever used it presta), so I'll put that back in again.

Classtime 

noglider 

I have one of these, and the internal valve seems to have failed. I assume there is one, but maybe I'm wrong. When I pull up on the handle, the pump sucks. What can I do?

unworthy1

I always used vasoline (white petroleum "jelly") on leather cup plungers on Silcas or any other pump that uses leather. I also have had nothing but good long-term satisfaction from my Silca pumps (and sounds like the OP's is a "super" since it has a wooden handle, but possibly just a handle upgrade on a "standard"). I like to swab out the inner barrels with a homemade "rifle bore cleaner" that's nothing but coat hanger wire and pieces of cotton rag, replace the rag until comes out clean. There tends to be dirt and rust that builds up inside a steel tube over time (surprised?) and doing this I know the clean vasoline goes into a clean tunnel...now get your minds outta the gutter, people!

himespau 

I'm not sure, but that sounds like a check valve issue. I think it's near the gauge (haven't pulled mine apart yet. Replacements are about $10 on amazon, ebay, silca's website, etc. Seems a lot for a little brass fitting and a spring.

When I do strip mine down, part of me is tempted to replace the hose with a longer hose from a cheaper pump (my other pump has a much longer lezyne hose), but I really like the thickness of the walls of the silca hose even if it is a bit short.
That cleaning with a rag sounds like a good idea, I might just have to steal it.

cdmurphy

That lack of resistance is caused by the leather cup piston not being quite big enough to seal, so air just wooshes by. Re-oiling or re-greasing will make it more flexible, and probably flare it out a bit more too. Another possible "fix" involves technique - start each stroke with a rapid flick - this will cause enough initial pressure to push the washer out again the cylinder walls, letting the pressure against the leather keep things sealed.

You'll likely find it pumps perfectly if you pump it rapidly, but maybe not at all if you pump slowly. :-)

SJX426 

I have experienced the same issue. I bought a new leather cup, there are two sizes, and lubed it up. After a couple of rapid pumps, it has gotten better with use. I thought it might be the check valve initially but since it was a new pump at a recycle cycle shop, I assumed it was good, just not broken in.

Initially, the orientation of the shaft makes a difference in sealing. Try to pump it with a minimum of side loading on the handle.

cdmurphy

I forgot to mention, there is almost certainly no need to replace the leather washer. It should last decades of heavy use. The only real way to ruin them is to oil them so heavily they start to fall apart, or let them get/stay wet, causing rot. If they're just hard, or undersized, a bit of grease, and massaging them open a bit should take care of it for another half dozen years.

SJX426 

Well there is one other way, Mine folded on one side and once deformed it would not retain the original shape needed to keep a seal, hence the replacement. I have two frame pumps from the early 70's with original leather.

JohnDThompson 

That's what I've used, although some people apparently prefer olive oil, and Silca sells what they call "pump blood" for this purpose:


https://silca.cc/collections/replace...aka-pump-blood

It's no big deal taking it apart: just unscrew the threaded fitting at the top of the pump and pull out the plunger:



It's what you'd have to do anyway, if you wanted to replace the leather washer.

Bikerider007

@himespau sounds good, if you want just pm. The ones I have are Silca from the 90s so I think it may fit if yours doesn't.

tiger1964 

Interesting, need to try this on my "Hite" pump I used to inflate my tubulars with -- unused for many decades. Hope it works, otherwise just a display item.

noglider 

@himespau, thank you. I ordered a check valve on Amazon. I've replaced the hose and head once or twice. I'm not one for period correctness.

blakcloud

My Silca is 32 years old and I have replaced the leather gasket once, for no other reason that I could. Last year I cleaned out the check valve when the pump wasn't working as per NoGliders description. It was full of crap and now works beautifully. I probably greased it twice or three times in its lifetime. I just wish the hose was longer so when my bike is in the stand I can pump the tires.

himespau 

Yeah, I'd definitely like a longer hose, but most of the longer hoses I have aren't as thick. Whether or not that means they can handle the pressure I want to put in the tires, don't know. Probably they'd be just fine. Seem to work ok with my other pump.

himespau 

You all appear to have diagnosed the problem and suggested the solution perfectly. The problem with air flow only happened when I was pumping slowly. There actually was a lot of grease on the leather gasket, but it was black and the gasket was pretty flexible, so I cleaned the shaft and chamber then replaced with a new (freshly greased) leather gasket and I seem to get engagement through the entire pumping (before it was only half to 2/3 stroke that I felt resistance. Didn't bother pulling and cleaning that check valve, but I may do that at some point (and replacing if needed as I have a spare now).

It was so easy that I may take the pista (plastic handle) that I have at work home and give it a good cleaning if not replace the gasket to revitalize it. I'd held off in the past because it seemed intimidating for some reason. I have to say that I prefer the wooden handle to the plastic (I've had to replace the gauges on both), but I do wish the ones I had were the ones with the more stable triangle base vs. the single foot pad that is directly across from the gauge.

gearbasher

My Silca is 35 years old. I never changed the leather gasket. I use Neatsfoot oil (baseball glove oil) on mine. The check value did gum up once. I cleaned it up and oiled it with chain oil. The one thing I did replace was the pressure gauge.

CO_Steve

Hate to admit it but mine is 41 years old. I serviced it once, still going.

unworthy1

I add a wooden extended base to the dinky metal bases on both regular and "super" pistas, it's a fun way to use up scrap plywood and makes the pumps 100% more stable, on one I even glued on some ribbed rubber to the bottom but that may be a pump-bump too far. Credit to my friend Martin who did it first and then I copied his and went farther...I have more pumps!

son_of_clyde

If anyone is looking for replacement hose, McMaster-Carr # 5304K42 is an excellent choice.

himespau 

Thank you, measuring inner and outer diameter and then hunting down properly rated hose was going to be one of my projects today.

himespau 

Thank you for this. I wasn't sure how shipping would work as McMaster-Carr never shows you this until it's shipped, so I ended up ordering a box of 25 feet and a pack of 50 of the clamps (with shipping it came to ~$33). I figure that if I do 5 foot lengths, I can get five new hose setups for less than the price of 2 new, much shorter, silca hoses. I redid my two silca pumps last night and the hose and clamps look just like those silca sells except McMaster-Carr's says Thermal Value-flex on it rather than the Continental branding on Silca's. I think the Valuflex is rated to 50 extra psi (not that it matters, both are higher than my tires/tubes require) and I've already appreciated the extra length while pumping up tires that were on a bike that's on the stand and also while pumping up an exercise ball.