Leaks and issues!!

Dont know wether anyone else has got to a point where they are going to try and pressurise the boiler but today Andy and I tried to run on air but first filled the boiler almost to the top with water and stuck the air hose. Initially the idea was to take up most of the space to give the air a better chance of turning the motion. This presented a number of leaks, most of which were self induced ( not using PTFE tape!! ) and readily cured. There are though a few niggling ones that remain and despite our best efforts will not go away. The main one which is a real pain is the left hand clack ( water pump ) which even when turned to the off position still lets a lot of water through. We have tried disassembly and rebuilding with tape and gland packing but to no avail. The shaft lets by even when closed, not too worried about the ball seating, that will probably be OK under steam and the ball can be seated better or even changed for viton rubber so no worries there, but the tap itself letting by presents a headache. Also two of the cocks on the water gauge would not stop letting water past the outer fitting as well and the pressure we were using was well under 100 psi. The full pressure cold test will be quite a challenge at this point...

Anyone else come across this???

Needless to say this took up almost all of the afternoon and got practically nowhere and there is no hope of running on air!! It is barely possible to turn the crank by hand and the compressor is only a hobby type so cant give anything like what is needed to get the thing going. I would expect it to need at least 50 psi if not more. The combined resistance of the bearings, piston rings, gland packing just mean that it is too much to ask at the moment.

Still it was nice to see and smell smoke at the house again after nearly a years absence...