Vance,
You wrote:
-- the safety is completely inaccessible as far as I can tell! This >is not
a good thing, since you can't check your safety when you're >raising steam.
I was alarmed to see that mine finally blew at 70
>psig, though the manual says it's set for 55 psi and that I should >keep my
>hands off it. Well, I have to, but I don't like it. I'm a >bit concerned
>by a loco with a safety that can't be tested and may be >set 20% off
>target, and a clock that may be 20% off.
My steam dome was very tight, screwed off like the sand dome. I have a
3x5x1/8" sheet of Viton that I used to get a no mar grip. The pop is down in
a sockit, could not get to it to adjust. The cap comes off the pop, but will
need a 'tool' to remove to adjust. BTW, mine blew at 65 psig.
> This is NOT an optional tool -- you MUST have one or you can't get >any
>oil into the @!#% tiny filler tube. Steam oil is so thick that >the first
>drop hits the neck and the surface tension keeps it there >longer than the
>half-life of Strontium 90.
>Meanwhile, the little syringe they give you to suck water out of the
> >lubricator is totally useless, since you can only get it about 2mm >into
>the neck.
This syringe is for filling only, put it into the tank and wipe off after
filling. I have a 'LUER-LOCK' needle that I put on it to suck out the water.
It's about 1/16". The tank holds about 20cc of oil.
>Bob mentioned a loose exhaust tube. Mine was loose, too, but I was >able
>to tighten it from the top of the smokebox, since the top is >flattened. I
>would like to hear your reaction to the chuff with and >without the
>resonator tube. The smokebox arrangement on this engine >seems very
>effective, acoustically, so I think it possible that a >secondary tube
>might actually diminish the chuff. Try it both ways, >and let us know,
>please.
This smokebox is fully insulated, even the door. My tube is installed
into the bottom as best I could. This maybe causing the burner
roughness, might need to enlarge the birds mouth for more flow. when the
door is open it's not so bad. Last night after the sunset I was able to make
the flame shoot out the door three inches. Must be careful not to set the
gas too high. When the replacement tube arrives I will do some more testing.
>Another thing to look out for is the sander pipes. One of mine was so
> >long that I think it must have been dragging the track. I was blaming
> >the derailments at track joints (esp. when backing) on the hasty
> >tracklaying and the lack of leading wheels in reverse, but it didn't
> >make sense to me that the lead truck would have much effect, since it
> >just swings loose on its pivot. After putting it up on blocks again, >I
>noticed the absurdly long sander pipe, and cut it off. Haven't >tried
>running it again on the track to see if that cleared up the >derailment
>problem, but it would certainly have caused trouble at some >point.
>It would be a good thing to devise a centering mechanism for the lead
> >truck so that it actually did some leading, rather than simply >dangling
>in the breeze.
My lead truck was picking one frog, going to go over that one with a
Dremmel. A stiffer spring pressing the truck down might also help. It will
be Sunday before I get to run next. Will start out on blocks this time.
>Since I'm running on my workbench, I put a piece of thin cotton cloth >over
>the stack to keep the oil from getting all over my other >projects. This
>produced a much more visible steam plume, even through >the cloth! I am
>going to experiment some with a turbulator for the >spark arrestor in an
>effort to replicate this effect.
While running I stopped her several times and restarted. When she
started the first few chuff's were very pronounced and the steam was blown
three feet in the air. VERY COOL!!!
Bob Wescott
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