Thetford Works (Cornwall)

mikero wrote:A 'performance chimney' has a Lempor ejector in it.

Mikero

Had to google that one, very interesting.

Steve Traill wrote:Hot rodding could have been written for steam engines as they are hot and use rods to function! Seriously, I just want my engine to run as good as it possibly can and up to now I felt it wasn't, if I wanted more power then increasing the pressure would do that.

I was only joking

Both engines out in the sun for their annual steam test with the agricultural have a hydraulic test for a starter.

Both passed with flying colours!

Here's a few pics from Trevithick Day, the town was packed, the sun shone and a good time was had by all.
Hercules ran faultlessly all day.
Getting ready for the off, we were leading the children dance through the town



Driving past Cap't Dick.



Up through Camborne main street.



How to make clouds,  it was blue sky until my safety valves blew!!

NICE

After finishing Trevithick Day well I did notice that each time I got back the mechanical oiler was empty.  When on a run it's not possible to check without stopping, then you think when did I last fill it up & usually when you check it's on the last knockings & needs a refill.  A lot of the full size oilers have a sight glass on them so I thought "how hard can it be"!!  Not very hard actually.  Rummaging around in my parts bin I found an LSM pipe elbow part no. 60/062, along with a bit of thin sight glass tube that came from an auction.  A bit of 30mm square brass sheet to make the top support & it was done.  The glass is araldited in the bottom and held secure with silicone at the top.  There is a 1/2mm pin hole in the top to let air in or out.  As you can see it works well & is very visible from the driving position even if the camera was focusing on a nearer object.  The spare nut from the elbow is silver soldered to the top of the bracket to hold the top of the glass tube.

Nice addition, although do you really get through that much oil I thought mine was set rather rich and I still only need to top it up may be three times a day and my chimney is still like an oil slick.

I guess it depends on how hard the engine is working as the oiler works off engine revs. Better too much than too little! My chimney isn't too bad, it does build up a bit over the season to a thickness of a couple of millimetres but thats all. I use a suitable length of inch & half plastic waste pipe cut at an angle & sharpened to peel away any soot onto a bit of paper in the smokebox. A length of sharp bamboo gets the last of it from around the blast pipe & blower.

May be its a compound thing ? I get that it depends on how hard your working the engine but if I dont clean my chimney after every other rally I end up with it totally caked certainly more than a couple of mm, think I posted on here that in my first 6mths or so it got so bad the chimney throat became almost blocked.
I think I hook the chimney off twice a year to clean the throat area out.

That does sound like the oiler is working too hard! I had that with the agricultural when I first set it up and managed to adjust the amount of oil going in with spacer washers in the pump. It wasn't the STW/Modelworks pump though it was a LSM one. The oil & soot would build up to about 10mm thick over a couple of rallies, stopped the chimney rusting though!

Update on the oiler sight glass, when the engine is running and the oiler is full or nearly full the oil around the edge forms a seal which the pump has to draw air in to replace the oil. Not a problem but the sight glass with a pin hole in the top means the oil in the sight glass gets pumped out first (less resistance) so it shows empty all the time! Lifting the lid instantly balances up the oil. Solution (I hope) is a pin hole in the oiler lid equalising the pressure. The next rally will show if it works.

Here's a few pics of Morwellham Quay event, lovely setting, took the Agricultural for a change.  Never missed a beat all weekend, 12 years old now!

Well after 12 years of rallying the cladding is off the agricultural engine boiler (ex Modelworks) for the first time in 10 years.  It came off two years after building to fit the nameplate.  Pleased to see the original boiler paintwork still looking pretty good, no rust anywhere.  The cork insulation was still ok but brittle from the heat so new is on order from STW.  The paintwork on the cladding, apart from being a bit stained is still good after 12 years so that is a plus!  A good going over with 'T'Cut should see it looking as good as new, might add some lining this time as well.  I took the fusible plug out for checking and replaced it with a tapered threaded one as they are less prone to getting stuck.

Steve Traill wrote:  The cork insulation was still ok but brittle from the heat so new is on order from STW.

Must admit I changed my original MW cork with new cork after my 10yr hydro a few years back as the original was well crispy and when I had the cladding off again 2yrs later it was back to its crispy original so changed for this new fangled ceramic stuff and found it way better, checked it after a years use and its still in good condition and it keeps the heat back very well in deed, even after an hours steaming you can still put your hand on the boiler, its hot but not skin sizzling.
Its not cheap but for about £25 you can buy enough to do the boiler and have some left over.

Thanks for that, I've not had much luck getting the cork anyway so have ordered the ceramic foil covered insulation from HSS. Like you said the cork was a bit crispy & soaked in oil.

Hi Steve,

Not sure why you've had no luck getting the cork, it was picked and sat in the despatch tray waiting to be sent and i'm pretty sure it left here last week.

Have you not received delivery?

Dean

Hi Dean
No, nothing has arrived so far, I thought perhaps you were out of stock at the moment.

Typical, just when you've almost given up it arrives! onward & upward.

First coat of lacquer on after a T cut, rub down and a few lines added.  The 12 year old paint holding up pretty well considering.
It's a bit stained behind the nameplate but that's going back on so not worried about that.

The cork insulation did turn up but not before I'd ordered some of the foil backed ceramic stuff.  It's a little bit thicker than the cork but should last longer as the cork does go brittle with the heat & gets cooked by the oil.  The overlap is just enough at the top however there is a slight gap at the bottom of about 2-3mm due to the increased thickness.
I used aluminium tape to seal the edges as the foil is not stuck to the ceramic insulation so it can all come apart if the edges are left open.  We'll see what it looks like in 10 years time!



And with the cladding back on it's all spick & span again.  The cylinder cover is next for some treatment & then the horn plates & tender.

Hercules is back in action, here's a few pics of the latest adventures.

We had our boiler testing day at Heartlands, a bit chilly again but there is a nice smooth path all around the site which when it's empty lets you open up the regulator to have  quick run.


Nice arial shot of us at Trevithick Day, the weather was much better than expected


Here's us leading the parade for the children dance whilst passing Cap't Dick.  Hercules running really sweetly, the resurfaced road back to the Lowenac Hotel was so smooth I opened up the regulator & reckon we were doing at least 15mph, great to stretch the engines 'legs' occasionally!

Hercules has had a busy year this year including winning best engine at St Buryan Rally and at Powderham Castle.  Just before its annual pilgrimage to GDSF I fitted a driver seat, pics below. Hercules has run faultlessly all season including a 11 mile hike to Lands End.

Where did u get the seat from??

It came from eBay America, they sell them as paperweights!

Annual steam test all passed again for the STW trio.  It's the 15th test for the agricultural engine & the 6th for the crane engine.  Both passed with flying colours, testamount to good design & build quality!  (The agricultural is a Modelworks engine but still built by the same guys at STW now)

Where did you get your steering wheel handle from?