Oiler non return valve blockage

Dear All,

Today I have been trying to sort out a few of the smaller bits that I still have to fit to get steam tight. One was the oiler non return valve. I checked as suggested in the instructions that I had it the right way round by blowing through it. Put some PTFE tape on the thread and screwed it in to the cylinder. I decided I would try to blow through it now it was fitted just to convince myself I had it right way. I could not blow through! Took it out and checked yes it was correct so what was the problem. I got a torch and shone it down the cylinder hole and could see the bottom was blocked. I tried to poke through with a small drill bit but no go. So fitted a 2mm bit in the electric drill and tried running that through the bottom of the cylinder hole. A huge amount of hard white material came out, I was then able to push a 3 mm bit through. After refitting the non return valve I was now able to blow through.

So my suggestion is that if you have not done the above check when fitting it may be worth doing otherwise you may run without lubrication.

Building the lubricator was another story, thank goodness for long nosed pliers as my sausage fingers would not fit!
Ian