firebird
Seasoned Member
Conway now up and running
Posts: 149
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Post by firebird on Nov 29, 2022 9:28:47 GMT
Hi
Our club has just issued its latest rules and regs one of which concerns spark arrestors
All coal-fired steam locomotives must be fitted with and have in use an effective “spark arrestor” device either within the smoke box or attached to the funnel top.
I have a 3 1/2'' gauge Conway which is a biggish loco and a 5'' gauge Chub nearing completion.
Any information on the making and fitting of spark arrestors would be appreciated
Cheers
Rich
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Tony K
Elder Statesman
Posts: 1,573
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Post by Tony K on Nov 29, 2022 10:04:46 GMT
Not sure where it came from but have loaded this to my webspace - could be a start point?Enjoy.
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gwr7800
Part of the e-furniture
Member of Portsmouth mes
Posts: 384
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Post by gwr7800 on Nov 29, 2022 16:45:11 GMT
I know my chimney on my Manor comes off easily all I did was cut some stainless sieve material to size and place inside the chimney , I cut several so I could take them out for cleaning when necessary May work for you? Regards Chris
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firebird
Seasoned Member
Conway now up and running
Posts: 149
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Post by firebird on Nov 29, 2022 19:49:26 GMT
Hi
Thats very helpful, just what I need
Cheers
Rich
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Post by andyhigham on Nov 29, 2022 20:35:36 GMT
A simple disc of metal clipped above chimney works well. The hot bits are deflected downwards and no risk of clogging
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Post by cplmickey on Nov 29, 2022 20:35:38 GMT
I prefer the type shown in the link from Tony K. There's no restriction to the exhaust blast so the engine tends to suffer less drop in performance as the mesh gets clogged up but it still catches sparks from the fire. The downside is that it's more fiddly to remove for cleaning. When I had a chimney spark arrester I found it didn't take long to restrict the engine. Ian
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jma1009
Elder Statesman
Posts: 5,901
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Post by jma1009 on Nov 29, 2022 23:03:04 GMT
I've used the sort of arrangement Tony has posted. I factor this into the smoke box draughting design, which I don't think Jos Koopmans has ever factored in.
I've always used aluminium mesh from Halfords but as per Tony's arrangement. This was what was inside the smokebox when I entered IMLEC in 1995.
Cheers, Julian
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SteveW
Elder Statesman
Posts: 1,398
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Post by SteveW on Nov 29, 2022 23:48:17 GMT
I got drawn in to this one years back as club Locomotive Superintendent and minder of the club's Sweetpea. Although the Sweetpea has quite a big smoke box it was a major fiddle to mount a bit of stainless gauze in there and in a way that didn't impede chuffing while also allowing easy removal for cleaning. While effective enough it was a major pain in the butt. This addition needs designing in not as a retro fit thing.
I tried to float the idea of an external American Wild West type spark catcher but the club purists vetoed it. It would have been better on many levels and for a Sweetpea would have looked OK enough.
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Post by Jim Woods on Nov 29, 2022 23:49:25 GMT
My Isle of Man loco has the cage type as shown in Tony's post. works well as long as you keep it out of the oily exhaust, which it will be, and the coal is not to sooty, no trouble with the Welsh stuff. Some NZ coals are rubbish. I used stainless expanded mesh, about 2 x 4 diamond hole shape. gets blown out every 3 or 4 running days. a sharpened up exhaust helps. I run at IMLEC 2000 and came 6th while others with very fine mesh arrestors failed to finish. make it as big as you can. the bigger the surface area the less chance of clogging up I believe
Jim
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Post by suctionhose on Nov 30, 2022 12:15:09 GMT
I did this for a while. It needed brushing with a toothbrush fairly often - you'd know when the draught dropped off. It was quite fine mesh - 200 micron (?) - with the thought that solids would bounce of rether than lodge in the screen. The important thing is the "open area" of the mesh. Even though fine, it wa 70% open so the breathing was there. Our fuel changed so abandoned the idea. Other problems to think about.
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Post by doubletop on Dec 6, 2022 9:42:21 GMT
A tea strainer from the $2/pound shop. A set of 3 of different sizes for about $4. The wire handle can be cut and formed around the chimney cap and a spring used to hold it in place Not a very good photo and the tea strainer has seen better days Pete
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firebird
Seasoned Member
Conway now up and running
Posts: 149
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Post by firebird on Dec 6, 2022 21:37:57 GMT
Hi
Thanks guys
Some great ideas
Cheers
Rich
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Midland
Elder Statesman
Posts: 1,870
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Post by Midland on Dec 10, 2022 11:12:30 GMT
A bit late arriving here. On the Princess I rolled up some fine mesh around a bit of broom handle. Got it fitting nicely with a couple of Jubilee clips. Took it off the broom and then shoved it down the chimney. Sits over the blast pipe just fine. Cheers David
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Post by andyhigham on Dec 10, 2022 13:05:35 GMT
A nesh type spark arrestor needs to be as big as possible to avoid restriction. If the mesh is after the blast pipe the mesh, ie at the chimney top it WILL clog with a mixture of oil and grit The deflector type I mentioned earlier adds no restriction and is impossible to clog. The sparks and grit hit it and are deflected downwards
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Post by Jock McFarlane on Dec 10, 2022 17:20:54 GMT
A nesh type spark arrestor needs to be as big as possible to avoid restriction. If the mesh is after the blast pipe the mesh, ie at the chimney top it WILL clog with a mixture of oil and grit The deflector type I mentioned earlier adds no restriction and is impossible to clog. The sparks and grit hit it and are deflected downwards The deflector type you mentioned is funtional and might look OK on a narrow gauge locomotive. On a scale loco it will detract greatly from the appearance.
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millman
Part of the e-furniture
Posts: 297
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Post by millman on Dec 10, 2022 20:12:24 GMT
Went shopping yesterday with her indoors and got myself a tea strainer for £2 so over the holidays I will have a go at making a spark arrestor. For £4 I could have got a sieve giving me a lot more mesh. Might treat myself to it next week.
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Post by andyhigham on Dec 10, 2022 20:24:27 GMT
A nesh type spark arrestor needs to be as big as possible to avoid restriction. If the mesh is after the blast pipe the mesh, ie at the chimney top it WILL clog with a mixture of oil and grit The deflector type I mentioned earlier adds no restriction and is impossible to clog. The sparks and grit hit it and are deflected downwards The deflector type you mentioned is funtional and might look OK on a narrow gauge locomotive. On a scale loco it will detract greatly from the appearance. I will go for function over form any day
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samc88
Active Member
Posts: 42
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Post by samc88 on Dec 21, 2022 0:55:50 GMT
EIM has had a couple of articles on spark arrestors lately, cant remember exactly which issues but it was the last few months
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