Final stages of “Jinty”

[JonL]

I don't wish to clog up your thread with trivia, but this question seems relevant. How do you ensure that the ends of the superheaters do not vibrate against the inside of the superheater boiler tubes? Is it just by making sure they are correctly aligned and rigid? I'm just installing mine and it seems almost to be centre-it-up-and-hope unless I'm doing something wrong.

[ilvaporista]

Feb 20, 2020 10:56:25 GMT JonL said:

I don't wish to clog up your thread with trivia, but this question seems relevant. How do you ensure that the ends of the superheaters do not vibrate against the inside of the superheater boiler tubes? Is it just by making sure they are correctly aligned and rigid? I'm just installing mine and it seems almost to be centre-it-up-and-hope unless I'm doing something wrong.

Don't believe everything you read or see on a drawing. Lovely straight superheaters which stay perfectly aligned in the centre of the bore for the life of the loco are very rarely seen, especially in 3 1/2" boilers.

[JonL]

So it won't cause damage? I'm worried about it vibrating against the tube.

[don9f]

Feb 20, 2020 10:56:25 GMT JonL said:

I don't wish to clog up your thread with trivia, but this question seems relevant. How do you ensure that the ends of the superheaters do not vibrate against the inside of the superheater boiler tubes? Is it just by making sure they are correctly aligned and rigid? I'm just installing mine and it seems almost to be centre-it-up-and-hope unless I'm doing something wrong.

Hi, personally I have never encountered any such problem, nor has any boiler that I know of, so I wouldn’t be concerned about that.

Mine are simply aligned properly where they enter the flues at the smokebox end, after that they can go where they want!

Cheers   Don

[stevep]

The superheaters may be in the middle of the flue at the smokebox end, but I am betting they vibrate up and down and hit the inside of the flues at the firebox end. I have never heard of any problem resulting.

[JonL]

Thank you, apologies for the drift on this very interesting thread.

[don9f]

Hi, well as planned, today was the official tests of 3F 47447.....the 1.5 x hydraulic test, followed by the steam test. I'm very pleased to report that all went well and as the weather turned rather nice during the morning, I couldn't resist a bit of a chuff round the track. Although various bits are not fitted yet, like the cab roof, steps and so on, the working parts are "Fit to Run".

I'm still unable to load videos direct to Imgur, so below are the links to three short videos on YouTube that show a bit of the first runs today.

There's nothing to do now except partly dismantle it and make a good job of the paintwork!

Cheers   Don

First proper run

First lap completed

Driver's eye view

[ianmcgoo22]

Congratulations Don, she goes very well!

[dhamblin]

Congratulations as well Don - sounds good on the videos

Regards,

Dan

[Deleted]

fantastic Don, she runs superb.. well done sir...

Pete

[jma1009]

Yes, I agree Don; very well done and I enjoyed the youtube clips.

Cheers,
Julian

[coniston]

That looks and sounds great Don, you must be well 'chuffed' with that!

Chris D

[dscott]

Just enjoyed your Videos... OOPS you find my altered ego.
We gave up TV and now watch what we want.
Better time spent in the workshop.

Regards David and Lily. AKA Steamsearcher.

[David]

It runs very smoothly and more steam than you can use - congratulations! You must be pleased.

[Roger]

A great end to an interesting and worthwhile project. I'll miss your updates.

[delaplume]

Hi Don,

That looks really good----- the exhaust beats sound crisp and even ( Please--no Christmas jokes ) and she's making steam on the move = Excellent BUT quote}---"There's nothing to do now except partly dismantle it and make a good job of the paintwork!"....Sorry to be a harbinger of doom etc however there is one more proving test to do ie}---- put a significant load on behind, say 4 adults ---- do another few laps at a slower line speed and see how she responds to use of the reverser....

OK, OK, I'm playing Devils advocate but now's the time to do it and not later when your pride and joy Paintwork might take a few knocks...( Something I think I'm about to get ??...LoL !! )..

Best regards

Alan

[don9f]

Thanks to everyone for your comments, the project obviously isn’t quite complete yet, but I really wanted to get to this stage now, as I’m having a knee replacement soon and have a few appointments to keep....with my Consultant, another Pre-op (the 3rd to date for this knee), a scan on my shoulders, then the op itself in just over 2 weeks, also got to MOT the car, fit 2 new radiators in the house, two new windowsills as well....as you can see, there won’t be much time for modelling right now, so “load testing” etc. will definitely have to wait!

Cheers for now Don

[Gary L]

Feb 20, 2020 17:07:13 GMT stevep said:

The superheaters may be in the middle of the flue at the smokebox end, but I am betting they vibrate up and down and hit the inside of the flues at the firebox end. I have never heard of any problem resulting.

It is a matter of size and mass. In 3.5" gauge all the components are going to be relatively strong and rigid, so probably not a big problem. In 7.25" everything is bigger- about 4x the mass. Paddington's superheaters are drawn with supports at the throatplate, to make sure they stay central and don't flop about. Any vibration is more likely to damage the superheater header, because the elements are long, quite heavy, and only supporting them at the header end is not mechanically sound (IMO). It becomes even worse if the elements are 'radiant' type, protruding into the firebox.

Ken Swan did not draw these supports in Bridget's superheater (it is a very small boiler for 7.25" gauge) but then again he did say in his original ME construction series that he had two superheater failures and was on his third...

I suspect that if these little supports (they are only copper pegs, at 4.30 and 7.30 o'clock) are not fitted, the elements will often sag until they get a bit of support from the flue, which is why there are not a lot more superheater failures in practice. Unlikely to improve efficiency of course.

That's my take on it anyway

Gary

[dscott]

Don this sounds like my list but without the operations!!!
I had planned a greenhouse at the end of the workshop but have decided upon a Lathe room extension instead.
Useful at the moment to store everything and 2 Raglans plus Progress Drill.
All under restorations.

Just got Jessie's superheaters stainless, and pondering a union nut approach for easy replacement if needed
or even a swap over if the bottoms get worn from heat and coal abrasion.

David and Lily.

[don9f]

Hi all, well over the last few weeks, DIY, gardening and lockdown factors permitting, I have finally finished (well 99.99%) "Jinty", or as now preferred "the 3F"!

Recalling the debacle over the modern day Halfords Satin Black paint, well during the first trial runs back in late Feb/early March, yes the paint on the boiler/firebox did soften when hot and was obviously not good. So recently I took the boiler off again and stripped all the aforementioned acrylic paint off back to bare metal (brass) and started again. This time I used synthetic Satin Black enamel from a nearby Motor Factors....for which I had to buy a small spray gun etc. As stated before, I don't really like painting and I can't profess to have done a particularly good job, but it looks alright to me, although there's no doubt the paint will be getting knocked off here and there....the major problem with painting brass!

If I had the skills, I would love to "weather" the engine like the real 47447 in this photo, but I haven't:-



Anyway, as well as the repainting, I have now reassembled the engine finally, including all the detail parts, most of which have been covered previously in this thread. I think it all started by making the dummy vacuum ejector, which on those engines so fitted, was very prominent on the driver's side of the smokebox, as seen above.

I'll post a number of photos, showing where I'm up to....all that's outstanding is to finish attaching two of the cab window frames, for which some 16ba nuts arrived today, plus locate the front screw coupling which I know I've got but have put in a safe place somewhere!

Then as soon as poss, I want to run it again and see if it can be driven ok with the upper part of the cab in place....might be a bit tight, but not sure until I try.















Cheers   Don