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Post by David on Dec 23, 2018 10:12:26 GMT
Delaplume, if only I'd thought of that... it would help solve the next problem. The thread sealant worked well, and at the other end I didn't see a hint of water leaking through into the coal space with a tank full of water. But I didn't ever see it do that before either and it did feel gritty under there. So I put the frame and wheels back on and find that I had drilled the holes in almost the worst possible place. I made it up as I went along with this tender and the location of the holes wasn't ideal with the old fittings but it is really bad with these longer ones. There is very little clearance for the wheels - in the photo the springs are pushing the wheels as far away as they'll go and there was probably less than 5mm clearance. So Delaplume's idea would help solve this. I'm not that smart so what I did was cut 6mm off both the threaded bottom of the filter stand and the top of the T-piece. This has the added benefit of making it harder to do all the nuts up. If this doesn't work out I'll try what Delaplume suggests. Or I could blank these holes off and drill news ones in a better place where the wheels are not trying to grind the fittings away. Given the leaks seemed to be fixed by the thread sealant I wiped the bottom of the tender off with white spirits and gave it a coat of black primer. Now I'm trying to figure out how I can make both pipes to the front of the tender with the 500mm of 3/16 copper tube I have. Moving the holes forward would help with that.
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mbrown
Elder Statesman
Posts: 1,719
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Post by mbrown on Dec 23, 2018 13:06:15 GMT
Do my eyes deceive me, or are those balance weights on the tender wheels?!
One of my driving trolleys has balance weights and cranks (no crank pins) on the wheels for, I imagine, the same reason - using the stuff you've got where you can!
Good luck with the pipework.
Malcolm
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Post by David on Dec 23, 2018 20:16:19 GMT
You're right Malcolm! A club member gave them to me because he was never going to build whatever they were meant for.
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Post by doubletop on Dec 24, 2018 20:39:12 GMT
They're irrigation filters from an agricultural supply shop. David Can you please provide more details? I had a quick look around at NZ suppliers and couldn't see anything similar. This country runs on its agriculture Pete
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Post by george on Dec 25, 2018 18:06:34 GMT
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Post by delaplume on Dec 26, 2018 2:02:59 GMT
Thanks for that info George----I have just bought 8 as listed..
Alan
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Post by David on Dec 26, 2018 8:33:41 GMT
Sorry I can't give more info on the filters. I bought them from a local shop called Silmac on the advice of other club members. I just described them and they pulled them out of a draw. The tender is back together with its new plumbing. I'll do another leak test tomorrow and give it a good flush out. There are many places in the new setup where air can leak in so who knows how it will go? 3 threaded, 2 soldered, and 1 push fit joints per side and that's just getting the water to the loco!
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Post by delaplume on Dec 26, 2018 9:23:49 GMT
I'd recommend that old British character}-- Sir Percy Vere !!
Seasons Greetings
Alan
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Post by David on Jan 12, 2019 8:20:43 GMT
I'm hoping I can draw a line under this topic. I tested the tender today and I left the water running through the injectors all afternoon because it's quite hot here. They worked well aside from one time where it looked for all the world like a blockage so I went into the steaming bay to muck about with it and after a short time it started working again without having to be taken off and cleaned. So I don't know if it was a temporary block or it was just too hot. The steam valve on that side leaks a bit so it probably does get hotter than the other side.
From mid afternoon on I had to fiddle a bit more than earlier but perhaps they were just too hot.
So a good run at last!
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Post by delaplume on Jan 12, 2019 11:00:31 GMT
Well done David---
Nil Desperadum and all that Greek stuff LoL !!
Leaky steam valve = hot injector !!.....Maybe fit a stop valve between the two ??
A bag of ice cubes into the tender water on a very hot day ??......
But at least you've now had a good run !!
Alan
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Post by David on Jan 12, 2019 23:08:57 GMT
Thanks Alan. We only had 4 steam locos running and they were running well enough we didn't bother with the ice trick. The bigger problem was clinker. I noticed the steaming was getting dull after about 2.5 - 3 hours and when I dropped the grate after about 4 hours running there was enough to have covered it completely. I'd been raking like mad all afternoon so it hadn't stuck but it wasn't letting much air through. Often I can pick a few sticky lumps out with rake and pliers during the afternoon but I hadn't seen any yesterday. Another guy had the same - completely covered grate but said it hadn't affected his steaming much. Not sure how that's possible but he used to drive real steam locos so maybe he knows what he's doing!
The loco needs a new steam turret and valves as the current one has leaky valves with soft-solder caulking and they're all too hot to touch. So the whole thing will be redone with new valves that aren't directly attached to the turret at some point. But this loco has had it's allocation of workshop time for now.
The todo list is:
1. Replace missing cylinder drain. This will require opening out the hole in the cylinder casting and inserting a sleeve with the correct thread in it. I have no idea why but years ago I stuck the wrong sized tap in there so the cylinder drain just falls out.
2. Make new linkage for the above back to the cab. The loco was knocked off its stand about 4 years ago and the cylinder drain linkage was ruined. The original system I had on there was no good so it needs a redesign and doing again.
3. New steam turret and valves. Current valves are too hot and they leak, and they're glued in with soft solder.
4. A whistle cord. I have to poke the operating lever that's buried behind the steam turret with the rake at present, so I never bother.
5. Redo the injector water feed plumbing on the loco. It's a bit twisty, a bit kinked, and needs a better connection between tender and loco. The water taps leak but that's ok. I just don't know if I can redo the piping on the taps without ruining their bodies by distortion while silver soldering.
6. Attach the side tanks to the running boards and cab more securely. They're sitting there pretty much by gravity alone at the moment.
7. A new displacement lubricator as the current one is too difficult to fill. It has a 1/4" filler hole so you can't see what's happening in there and in winter when the steam oil is thick it's extremely frustrating. A drain that isn't under the running board and directly over the cylinder would be good too because it's a bit hot in inconvenient as it is. I made most of the bits for a new one before my new workshop was finished so this project is about half-done already.
8. Make a proper holding down system for the board in the back of the car rather than using tie-down straps over the boiler like I've been doing for 8 years!
9. Make a tray for the coal space in the tender so I don't scratch all the bitumen paint off the seams and to try and keep grit out of the water tank.
10. There is a lot of clanking going on so some pins and bushes obviously need replacing. Low priority.
11. New paint. It was repainted 5 or 6 years ago before it was dropped off the stand, and I did the buffer beams which the paint never really stuck to. One of my sons tried to break up pieces of coal by hitting them with the shovel on the tender water tank top. It's looking pretty tatty.
Maintenance of this loco feels like a full time chore but building the B class comes first as long as this one runs. Which is why the to-do list just keeps getting longer.
Off now to get it out of the car and back into the workshop, clean out the smokebox, tubes, and chimney, and stick some oil down the blastpipe.
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mbrown
Elder Statesman
Posts: 1,719
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Post by mbrown on Jan 13, 2019 11:53:22 GMT
I am not sure if it applies in your case, but certainly with some sorts of coal, frequent use of the poker or rake can accelerate the build up of clinker.
This certainly happens on our narrow gauge Locomotives on the Talyllyn, especially when using soft Welsh coal. I am not sure of the physics, but I have heard it said that the clinker remains suspended in bits within the firebed but that raking causes it to settle out and fuse on the bars.
Maybe your ex-professional colleague just didn't use his rake during the run?
Of course, this may not apply to the coal you are using.
Malcolm
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Lisa
Statesman
Posts: 806
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Post by Lisa on Jan 13, 2019 12:54:05 GMT
A bag of ice cubes into the tender water on a very hot day ??...... Save your ice cubes, just hold one against the injector and count to 10, it'll pick up.
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Post by delaplume on Jan 13, 2019 15:57:54 GMT
A bag of ice cubes into the tender water on a very hot day ??...... Save your ice cubes, just hold one against the injector and count to 10, it'll pick up. Hi Lisa, Unfortunately when you are running a scheduled passenger service and there are 3 or more trains behind anxious for you to depart the Station you simply just don't have the time to wait for the injector to cool down..........Prevention is better than Cure so I leave the water taps open at all times when running and take water at every available oppertunity.... PS}--If I'm counting to 10 how am I going to hold the ice cube then ??----------LoL !! Cheers Alan
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Lisa
Statesman
Posts: 806
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Post by Lisa on Jan 13, 2019 16:37:13 GMT
Unfortunately when you are running a scheduled passenger service and there are 3 or more trains behind anxious for you to depart the Station you simply just don't have the time to wait for the injector to cool down. This is how we did it when running commercially; when delays mean less pay one looks for the most reliable method, which was this. Also similar to what the fullsize used to do in places; they'd pull up next to a windmill and dump buckets of cool bore water on the injector till it picked up.
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Post by David on Jan 13, 2019 22:49:07 GMT
Interesting idea with the ice cube on the injector. Our running days are relaxed enough we could easily handle that, but it also means getting down on my hands and knees at the station which probably isn't great for anyone.
Putting injectors next to the firebox does seem a bit of a suspect idea. Mine are about 30mm from the frames and last summer I considered the idea of sticking a bit of firebrick on the outside of the frame where the injectors are when I couldn't even get them to pick up in my garage while testing them. That would look terrible though.
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