Joe,
Good job. If you're going to leave the page up permanently, I'd like
to include a pointer to it from my web site. Please let me know.
Harry pointed out that you have both butane and isobutane. I have
seen bottles labeled "isobutane" which were in fact 70/30
butane/propane mix. In any case, I have been using 70/30 off and
on with my Roundhouse engine and have had absolutely no bad
experiences with it. As noted in SitG, butane supplies are spotty
in most places, and sometimes the only thing you can get is
70/30.
In fact, not having done a careful study, I can't tell any difference
between pure butane and 70/30. The aversion to propane is based,
from waht I can tell, on some large-scale live steamer's bad
experience with a black-painted tender in the sun. Four gallons of
pure propane have a much, much higher vapor pressure than a few
grams of propane in butane, and our tanks are capable of
withstanding far higher pressures than they will ever experience.
While repeating the official warning is a prudent thing, in practice I
would not worry a bit.
Harry also recommends sewing machine oil or 3-in-1 for oiling the
motion. I concur -- I've never heard of using motor oil.
You might note that those disposable fire sticks are still quite
usable even after they've run out of gas. All you need is a spark
under the firebox to light up, and the sparkers on these things work
far longer than the gas lasts.
On the topic of smokebox fires: many beginners turn the gas up all
the way, on the theory that more is better. This almost guarantees
that the fire will blow into the smokebox. All you have to do is
barely open the gas valve to get enough to start the fire in the flue,
then open it up to raise steam faster.
On "blowing down" the lubricator: "draining" might be a better word,
since blowing down refers to blasting gunk out of the boiler with the
leftover steam after a run. It's easier to refill the lubricator when it's
hot, since the oil will thin and flow into the bottom much faster. I
always do this while the engine is still too hot to wipe down and
store. Emptying the boiler is not necessary on an engine with a
copper boiler (like the Roundhouse).
Nice idea, and well done!
regards,
-vance-
Vance Bass
Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA
Small-scale live steam resources: http://www.nmia.com/~vrbass
