Post by mbrown on Sept 11, 2024 13:53:01 GMT
The lubricators on the air pumps on the Talyllyn locos are very like the simple LBSC displacement lubricator.
After shutting down the pump at night, we drain and refill them in the morning. The amount of water drained out is very variable but never equal to the volume of oil added. My guess is that minute leakage (maybe through the filler cap or drain plug) allows a degree of evaporation plus, perhaps, a reduction in volume as it all cools down.
The amount drained also corresponds only vaguely with the length of time the pump has been working. The suspicion is that, when the pump is first started, the lubricator gives a big gulp of oil and thereafter gives an intermittent trickle.
Of course we can't see what happens inside! But if those guesses are accurate, it would explain both the disproportionate amount of water you drained out, and the diminishing ring of oil around the chimney of the "Maid".
Just a thought....
Malcolm.
After shutting down the pump at night, we drain and refill them in the morning. The amount of water drained out is very variable but never equal to the volume of oil added. My guess is that minute leakage (maybe through the filler cap or drain plug) allows a degree of evaporation plus, perhaps, a reduction in volume as it all cools down.
The amount drained also corresponds only vaguely with the length of time the pump has been working. The suspicion is that, when the pump is first started, the lubricator gives a big gulp of oil and thereafter gives an intermittent trickle.
Of course we can't see what happens inside! But if those guesses are accurate, it would explain both the disproportionate amount of water you drained out, and the diminishing ring of oil around the chimney of the "Maid".
Just a thought....
Malcolm.
