First steaming

Hi all
I lit the fire in my Dcc Road loco today.

A bit of a mixed bag really. lots of little leaks which were easily sorted, but the biggest problem was no control with the regulator.

I had this problem when running on air and it was the same with steam. The regulator handle movement made no difference and the engine ran with the regulator shut and got quicker as the pressure rose.
I then tried to dampen the pressure by adding more water to the boiler, and there seemed to be no water entering from the pump and the injector wasn't working either(only 40 psi). With lowering levels of water and rising pressure, it seemed wisest to drop the fire.

After things cooled, i took the safety off and the puck was pushed up under the regulator rod, so clearly all steam was just passing by. I removed the regulator puck and fixing and the spring was still in tact but had not pushed the puck back down. I have reset it all, but am not sure why its happened and if it will happen next time ( I'm not sure if running on air pushed to puck up and it stuck there) Any thoughts for anyone would be appreciated.

I think I've sorted the water pump, checking the output with pipe disconnected and turning over by hand. I also dissembled the clack and could see water entering the boiler. I'll look more at the injector when there's enough pressure in the engine and I can control it!

I also had to remove the cylinder drain cocks as they were leaking and couldn't work out why nothing was coming out when opened. It was because the valve holes weren't lined up properly with the tabs, so a quick heating with the blow torch and a nudge round so they now line up properly. I'll refit those tomorrow

Any help with the regulator problem would be appreciated.

Andy

Hi Andy,

do not despair, it takes some time to sort it all out.

Regulator: the regulator puck MUST be able to move freely on the regulator rod. i.e. the square fixing collar with the sping must be resting feely in the notch of the regulator puck. I needed to - very carefully - open up the slots just a tad, you are looking for a free movement but without any play. From what I take from your description this might not be the case.

in respect of running on air, mine did when I tried it, Lynn‘s on others did not. I would not make much out of it, a bit more tight at some places and it will not turn over under air. furthermore with water (steam) and higher temperatures it will change anyways.

Re injector: that gave me plenty of trouble and I needed the help and support from the forum due to a incorrect elbow (it was almost closed and acted as a orifice) but now it‘s sorted.
On mine I need about 100 psi to get it to work, coming down from higher pressures and letting the injector work it quits at about 80 psi. At 40psi it surely will not work.

One thing else to look for is the starter valve, on PIED PIPER it will not seal so currently I blocked the pipe on the LP side and live happily without the starter valve.  Might reconnect it later on, but at this moment I see no need to do so.

When I run the water pump on mine I feel the temperature at the clack valve, which gets cold as soon as the pump starts to feed cold water into the boiler. On the injector you will see the overflow stopping to leak water and as the water level rising, the pressure drops slowly.

Other than that, Lynn has posted several videos on checking for regulator and starter valve diagnosis, might help to have a look at them if you have not done so already.

Keep us updated on your progress

Cheers

Elwood

Thanks for the encouragement Elwood

I have just looked at the regulator puck and it does not move freely - thanks for the tip. i'll look at sorting that this week.

I'll hopefully post a video of next steaming.

thanks

Andy

Hi Andy

Yes the first few test steamings will seam challenging. Always remember if things are going “wrong” just drop the fire and everything else will take care of itself. No fire, no heat, no further “danger”

As a certain book and film states on the back cover. “DON’T PANIC”

As Elwood said the little square block on the regulator rod needs to have a free movement in the puck and make sure no burrs or sharp edges in the puck groove. The puck needs to be able to find its own flat on the valve face.

The mechanical water pump can be problematic. The non return valve requires a certain amount of flow and back pressure to work correctly. Also any slight leak past the ball will cause backflow. This back flow needs to be pushed back by the running pump to allow gain to the boiler on every stroke. On Crystal I sometimes have to Rev up to get the ball to seat correctly and seal. I built a bar with a very square and flat face, that fitted snug in to the clack valve body to polish up the face. I first reamed the hole from the underside to get a clean “square” hole. Then polished the seat with very fine wet and dry glued to the end of the bar. I then created a new fresh seat with a sacrificial stainless steel ball.

Do not expect the steam injector to work on anything less than 140psi.

Thanks for the advice Lynn, helpful as always

regards

Andy