oldnorton
Statesman
5" gauge LMS enthusiast
Posts: 693
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Post by oldnorton on Dec 17, 2022 17:26:51 GMT
Michael, your Modelworks boiler will be all copper and silver soldered. You can leave water in it for one hundred years and corrosion will not be an issue. But any brass parts bolted to it are likely to de-zincify. Freezing in winter is the biggest potential for damage. Yes, we will blow down after steaming for a few hours in order to remove the limescale that will come out of solution.
Glad you are back on the engine again!
Norm
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stevep
Elder Statesman
Posts: 1,070
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Post by stevep on Dec 17, 2022 19:11:51 GMT
I have a copper boiler on my Rob Roy, and for years, after steaming, I would close the bypass, blower and regulator, and as the boiler cooled, it would suck water in from the side tanks. The boiler was then left full of water, ready for the next steam-up.
Being a small loco, the extra weight was not an issue.
However, earlier this year, I decided to replace the water gauge, so cleaned the boiler out. I was quite surprised how blue the water was - presumably, due to a solution of various salts of copper.
Since then, I have blown the boiler down at the end of each steaming session.
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Post by mikessme on Dec 26, 2022 14:26:16 GMT
Hi Michael, good to see you are making progress, it looks good. After a fair bit of successful club running my B5 is about to come apart for some remedial work on motion linkages. I did like your self, replace some of the pins with silver steel, and bronze bushed the rods several years ago to take out excess play, but the remaining mild steel originals are now showing wear and will all need to be similarly updated. However the last time out the loco was down on power and showing a lot of valve leakage, this I suspect is due to the valve bobbin lock nuts having come loose, which has happened before, I am therefore interested in the mod you did with a sleeve inside the valve bobbin to allow adjustment from the front of the cylinder, and would appreciate a link to the forum details you mention.
Regards Mike
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