Original Motor Meter

[Fred]

In going thru some boxes of old "STUFF" that I got @ Hershey some 25-30 years ago I found two ORIGINAL Boyce Motor Meters that are in Excellent + condition.. Only one problem, Both have the red mercury all the way to the top.( Both are solid ) I do know that Doc. Kalinka a long time ago found a way to get it back down ?? any help here ?. I also think he did a write up on it in his "On The Road Again" .. Anyone know the Issue # of it, Year ?.

[msmaron]

have you tried the old tried and true method of shaking it like a oral thermometer...the old way we use to do it?

[1928ar]

mine were like that to from years of storage on the side all i did was tap it on the spare tire a bunch of times and that worked for me

[WTSHNN]

I've been told to tap it on a spare tire a lot.

The other thing, that someone posted like an original box or something said, tie a string to the end of it and spin it around in a wide circle.

I don't suggest doing that with originals though.

[A-Jay]

Just a thought, maybe try putting the temp probe part in some boiling water for a few minutes, then remove it and a little while later 3 - 5 minutes dip it in some cool water - not cold, just to get things moving again.

[Brad in Germany]

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Fred,

Hold the motometer in your hand like a pencil (the brass part, that goes in the radiator top, should be down). Rest/position your hand on a hard rubber surface, such as a tire, as if you were going to write with the brass end of the motometer. Then rapidly tap the end of the motometer (at the end of the part that goes in the radiator top) against the hard rubber surface while holding the motometer at approximately a 45 (or more) degree angle (from horizontal).

That tap-tap-tapping will cause the red fluid inside the thermometer tube to eventually drain down to the bottom of the thermometer. I have found if you hold the motometer at a vertical position while tapping it on a tire, the red fluid will eventually descend as well, but will stick to the sides of the thermometer tube and thus not flow down as fast.

My father has a NOS motometer with it's original instructions that indicates that the red fluid may separate in the tube while the motometer is in shipment. The tapping process that I describe above is what the original instructions say to do to fix the red fluid separation and to force the fluid back down the thermometer tube.

I have done this process many times and it works well.

Fordially,
Brad in Germany