WaterPump Feed

Wellllllllllll, had first proper steam up today, engine ticked over at around 10-20psi after a 15 minute run which was pretty pleasing, loosened up very nicely, the bad news was the feed pipe from the water pump to the boiler was pissing out from the soldered joint, the injector was more intent on spewing water out over the floor then into the boiler, end result, water level began to drop so I dropped the fire out sharpish and let it all cool down. Gonna grab a blow torch tomorrow n solder up the pipe joint, Monday will be ringing STW about the injector unless anyone here has an answer as to why it pissed water out over the floor? Any input would be appreciated..
Damn good to see her running though I have to say and, as negative as this post may appear to be, I'm "Chuffed" to bits at seeing her come to life..

Regards

LilyJack

LilyJack

Nice to hear you got going at last
I am still having problems with topping up the boiler. The pump seesm to work up to about 40 - 50 psi and then starts to struggle as can be seen as it rocks on its mount and the engine revs drop as it tries to overcome the pressure.
The injector I have not yet got that working, It needs a lot higher pressure to work effectively, I was told turn the water on first then open the injector , water will dribble out when you turn the tank supply on then come gushing out mixed with steam when you open the injector, the art is to get both flows right to get the injector to shoot it back in the boiler, All the time you are trying to get it right you're losing boiler pressure and steam/water. Bit of a catch 22 situation really. I still haven't sussed it therefore not confident in gettin boiler cert yet tilll I master it.
I know that the injector doesn't like getting too hot or it wont work and I'm not sure which way you balance the water supply/steam supply to get it to work, Do you give it full wellie on staem and adjust water or full water and adjust steam. hopefully someone will explain.

On the water level side I am having problem getting readings on water guage. I started with 3/4 full on guage and raging fire, safety valve blowing, all good and impressive! went for ride round on road and water appeared to be well full on guage, lost pressure so stoked fire as guage apperaed to show water still full, eventually, after about 1/4 hour frightening the neighbours by narrowly missing their parked vehicles, thought water must have dropped, the guage still showed full, but pressure dropping, after opening gauge valve the water level went up and down like a yo yo but only steam was comming out of guage drain. Opened blow down valve and only steam. Fire box dropped immediately!!
Bottom line was I couldn't judge correct water level and not too sure how to sort it, At one stage I turned pump on as I wasn't sure an forgot about it till water started coming out of chimney. Had such a good fire it compensated for the cold water going in.
Still on a learning curve!

Al

Hullo Al' nice to hear from you,

Righty, you say the pressure drops dramatically, are you at the time feeding water into the boiler? I'm not trying to tell you how to suck eggs here not one bit but you do obviously know that once you introduce cold water into the boiler, it "saps" the temperature quite considerably and obviously the more water you add, the more pressure you'll lose. I've had a convo with Steve this afternoon and inquired onto the injectors correct operation, I was told (roughly coz memory like a plank of wood) open water, open steam valve fully, then back off the water until you hear a "whooshing" then you should just get a trickle of water comin from the injectors waste port because the rest is going into the boiler. Had mine running again last night at full tilt 100 S**T myself pounds per square run like hell inches, all was good other than the water feed which I'm going to look at either this evening or tomorrow as for the soldered joint, I soon sorted that n stuck it all back on, all in all really, for soooooooooooooo many parts coming together, I've only had one or two hiccups which really isn't bad in the grand scheme of things huh. On a better note, she's (LilyJack) loosened up sweetly now after a good 6-8hrs running yesterday, ticks over with bugger all pressure on the gauge which I'm happy with, goes like bloody thunder at full tilt though haha. Anyway chap, hope this info is of some use to you, I know it's all good for me.

Regards

LilyJack

I am having the same injector problem, I was being helped in my first steaming by a guy from the local model engineering club with loads of experience. When he saw the injector problem he said take it off and soak it in Vinager!! I discussed the problem with steve and he said the same. Perhaps it's witch craft but I havn't re-steamed yet to test it.

JDA

Hi,

A dilute mix of citric acid is also very good. There is also a very good article on injector problems here ;

http://www.pollymodelengineering.co.uk/global/technical-notes/diagnosing-injector-problems.asp

regards

Andy