Boardwalk Hall organ- Echo and Swell Low Pressure blowers

A new video showing the Echo and Swell Low Pressure blowers, since they were left out of my last video on the subject.

[@Gjo1784]

Thank you for taking the time to show us the inner workings and "secrets" of this magnificent instrument. Keep the videos coming👍👍

[@Michael_VG]

I think it’s totally fair to say this organ has secrets. It’s surprisingly hard to find a lot is good info on this instrument.

[@LeeBlaske]

Really love these tours, and how you show us the trip involved to get to these places. Puts things in context.

[@nexgenhippy]

always cool to see these vids of the inner workings

[@MegaMobass]

Please do tell you have more videos in the pipeline during your visit? Haha thanks for not often seen sights. Crazy to think the echo blower is 75hp......

[@andrewhall2554]

I enjoy these videos. Please keep doing them. Thanks.

[@JIMD6370]

I shared this to the fans page Chris, absolutely stunning. More please, and I hope you don't mind.

[@hootinouts]

Another awesome tour Chris. I can't believe they originally had those blowers in that damp pit. What were they thinking?

[@jameshawthorne428]

I also enjoy your content but are there more than just the blowers you shown and mentioned. Is their a blower which supplies air to the string division and what of the other Gallery divisions? Keep those videos coming.

[@cnagorka]

Yes there are other videos that show those blowers as well. There is no one blower for one string division, there are three string divisions in the organ in various places, powered by the respective blowers.

[@joespeciale5875]

An unbelievable National treasure..thank you!

[@gregoryspring1303]

Chris, you ALWAYS do an excellent job showing and explaining the instrument! Thank You! Please do ALL the chambers! Some of the blowers didn't sound so healthy to me.

[@chrisnagorka5199]

I plan to work my way through all the chambers over the next couple visits.

[@andyt1424]

When was the last time the Echo and Fanfare blowers were ran? Looks like they have been recently updated with VFDs.

[@cnagorka]

Many years ago, I don't know exactly when.

[@LukasLobmann]

Where do the blowers get their wind from ? Fo they just pull it out of the room or is there a separate inlet ?

[@cnagorka]

They just get it from the room and the downstairs corridors.

[@craigbrown7929]

How does the 100” compressor work? Does it take wind from another blower and step it up? Is it still a centrifugal blower or something different?

[@cnagorka]

Yes it takes the output from the Great/Solo low pressure blower (yes, the low pressure, not the high pressure) and steps it up to 100" I think technically right now the pressure registers at 96". The 100" blower is an Allen "air compressor" but it's actually a turbine blower, not a piston operated air compressor like what we have in a garage.

[@craigbrown7929]

@@cnagorka interesting. Any idea how many stages it has?

[@cnagorka]

@@craigbrown7929 I think just one, but I'm not certain.

[@Ode2Pops]

Forgive me if this has been answered elsewhere, but from where do all these blowers draw their air to supply the organ? Is there ductwork that draws air from somewhere outside the various rooms where the blowers are located? It would seem to me that these large blowers would otherwise create a tremendous vacuum within the rooms in which they’re located.

[@cnagorka]

The air comes from all those downstairs hallways, which in turn comes in from the garage areas and various service entrances. The rooms themselves have furnace filters on the doors.

[@LeeBlaske]

Chris, do you know around what date those AC motors and control systems were installed? They look pretty modern. Maybe some time in the sixties? Is it possible that when that new blower motor equipment was installed, the Fanfare and Echo chambers were already no longer in use because they were in disrepair? I imagine that when DC was continued to the building, that was the time to get the new motors in the budget, no matter if the pipes were currently working. Are there any run-time meters on those blower installations? That would tell the story.

[@cnagorka]

I'm not certain but I think all those motors are from the 1980s or early '90s. Dennis McGurk told me that the DC motors were switched horsepower for horsepower at some point with AC motors and they tripped out constantly. They were replaced a second time with Mel Robinson from NYC being a consultant (this is what Dennis said) and the horsepower ratings were doubled, and that's what's there now. As I said this story is from 30 years ago and I may not have the details right, but that's what I remember. There are no run time meters on any blowers that I know of.

[@LeeBlaske]

@@cnagorka Very interesting. Thanks. So, I guess we'd have to assume that some of those motors and controls actually were installed when the chambers they served were already out of commission and not being used. Must have been a number of points along the line where there was optimism that restoration work would be done, but then it didn't get done.

[@theodorranebo2909]

How many blowers do the organ have and what power has each of them?

[@JIMD6370]

Hey Chris, great video!

[@cnagorka]

Thanks, there are more coming...

[@JIMD6370]

@@cnagorka welcome back, and I hope you don't mind that I shared these videos to the fans page, getting great responses btw.

[@augustberchelmann4946]

Thanks for more videos!!!!

[@cornwalldragon4617]

What blowers supply wind to the right forward and right and left center and ceiling chambers aside from the echo blower?

[@cnagorka]

My understanding is that all those side chambers are winded from the Echo blower, with the exception of the 100" reeds in the gallery, which have a windline coming all the way over from the right main chamber.

[@KingdaToro]

Echo blower: Right center (except for 100" reeds), right ceiling, right forward Fanfare blower: Left center, left ceiling The 100" reeds in the right center are supplied by the same 100" compressor that supplies the 100" reeds in the right stage chamber. The left forward was formerly supplied by a blower that shared a common shaft and motor with the Swell low-pressure blower. That blower is gone now, it was not restored and relocated along with the Swell low-pressure blower as its windline route was removed in the renovation of the building. The left forward will be supplied by a new Spencer blower that's already on site, to be (or perhaps already) installed in a new location.

[@kellyb0279]

Where are the actual blower intakes and do they have filters on them? Also is there some sort of relief outlet when the organ is not being played?

[@cnagorka]

The blower intakes are right where you see them, they draw air from the rooms they're in. Most of the rooms have furnace filters in the doors themselves, Echo/Fanfare/Swell Low Pressure don't have the furnace filters because the rooms have steel doors, as opposed to the wooden ones which can be fitted with filters.

[@cnagorka]

Also most of the organ now has the VFD system which keeps the blowers running slowly for humidity control, with small valves in all the chests which stay open all the time when the blowers are off or running slowly.

[@kellyb0279]

@@cnagorka oh I see. Explains why they are so noisy. Do you have to turn then on one by one or will there be a master switch/key on the console?

[@cnagorka]

@@kellyb0279 They are turned on individually by contactor switches in a box by the console.

[@KingdaToro]

Doesn't the Swell Low Pressure blower have the most powerful motor in the whole organ, since it used to wind the Choir as well?

[@JIMD6370]

He said the right stage low pressure blower is the same, so I'm presuming they're both 75hp.

[@cnagorka]

I don't think so, especially now that the Swell low pressure isn't working the Choir any more. I think Swell low is 50HP but I could be wrong.

[@accousticdecay]

Wow! Thanks for posting!

[@richardthacker]

Is there anything to remove moisture from the air? Some kind of desiccator?

[@cnagorka]

Not really, the problems the organ has stem more from dryness than humidity- and most of that has been taken care of with the VFD blower system.

[@adrilaraglez]

Is there a high pressure blowe? And what is its purpose?

[@cnagorka]

Yes it's in another video, I mistakenly left it out of that one so I covered it in this one. The high pressure blower is for, well...the higher pressure stops! The division is so big enough to require two blowers.

[@KingdaToro]

Each of the stage chambers is large enough, with enough stops of varying pressure, to require two blowers. They're in other rooms and covered by other videos. This is all of them, but only the first five are currently operational: Great Low-pressure Great High-pressure Compressor (for 100" ranks) Swell Low-pressure Swell High-pressure Echo Fanfare Choir

[@brandtfj]

I recognized a theater stage weight on floor in blower room

[@sigglass2183]

When was the last time the echo and fanfare blower ever ran?

[@cnagorka]

I would guess at least 40 years ago.

[@sigglass2183]

@@cnagorka I guess it was never tested since the existing motor was installed?

[@sigglass2183]

When do you think the echo blower will be functional again?

[@cnagorka]

@@sigglass2183 The blower could run tomorrow, as far as I know. It just wouldn't do anything since the windlines to the division are disconnected.

[@sigglass2183]

@@cnagorka If you were to start up the echo and fanfare blower, would it make a mess in the organ chambers as it blows dust around sitting for decades?

[@dhelton40]

Not only does the organ need some on going work, the building does too. How could all this trash just get left to mold and rot in that pit. The building staff needs to clean up and dry up this mess.

[@jmd1743]

Hey at 4:48 you can see a copy of this motor in Spencer Turbine | Newberry Memorial Organ | Woolsey Hall | Yale University kzbin.info/www/bejne/nKilZpSvmJV8mtE

[@gsten2116]

The tRump is gone. Big upgrade for AC!

[@cnagorka]

Absolutely! It's so nice having the north side windows of the organ shop able to open up and get some light in there. Now if they would demolish the old Atlantic Club further south they would have no abandoned towers on the boardwalk.