Foden running on air

After receiving the regulator and water pump kit last week, we spent a few hours last night putting it together.

We decided to have a go at running it on air once the start valve was installed and his was the result! A little wheezy at the moment but we will sort that with time.

We have now nipped the packing up and have had even better results. The noise in the video is from the two machined faces of the trunk guides and crossheads running together. This will go as the two parts wear into each other. Won't take long for these to settle in together nicely.

Jamie

brilliant cant wait to pull my finger out and get mine on air what did you have to blank off

hippy dave wrote:brilliant cant wait to pull my finger out and get mine on air what did you have to blank off

We blanked off the two holes on the curved face of the cylinder both were threaded so we stuck a bolt in them for the time being and there was another threaded hold on top where the safety valves will sit which was slightly smaller than the other holes and doesn't follow sequence

cheers for that back out in garage tonight fitting valve gear so nearly there, are the holes metric or bsp

Bit of both Dave the hole on the side of the block is the inlet for the mechanical lubricator so that is about 1/4 bsp. The hole on the top of the bloke is i think 6 mm

Just another note that you will also need quite a large volume of air to run the engine. Its not the psi thats the problem, It's keeping up with the demand as the engine is running and exhausting the air

hi just a quick question when you time the valves with the lever fully forward do you turn the flywheel backwards, cheers got a bit confussed

I suspect so but work it out via the gears so that its moving forward with the reverser forward :-)

good plan will put in gear tomorrow and roll her forward why didn't I think of that cheers

She is in theory a 2 shaft engine so pull the flywheel backwards with the reversing lever forwards. Insure you leave room for expansion when timing. As the engine grows you will be amazed at how far the cylinder will grow away from the crankshaft. One thing we have found is that make sure you polish all the motion pins on the expansion gear so they are a nice fit. If you dont they will wear the lifting arms and not the bushes.
Jamie

Sick of brasso wrote:One thing we have found is that make sure you polish all the motion pins on the expansion gear so they are a nice fit. If you dont they will wear the lifting arms and not the bushes.
Jamie

Jamie

Another way to do this, on Blackbeard's pins I actually centre popped them very lightly around the pin next to the head pushing up a tiny ridge. This way you have to lightly press them into the valve gear with a small G clamp, this ensures the pins do not rotate in the parts they are not supposed to do. And they are easy enough to push out again.

Cheers

Brian

Tried putting air down the regulator hole but just seems to come out the exhaust making no effort to turn engine over iv blocked 6mm hole on top and hole on side of block, any ideas greatly received

Have you fitted the double high onto the cyclinder yet Dave?

Does it do the same in all positions when you try and turn the flywheel?

Right dave by the sounds of it you have tightened the the valve blocks onto the valve shafts. Make sure the rear nut is tight onto the end of the thread on the shaft. You need to ensure that when the two 6mm nuts are locked together the valve can move ever so slightly so that when the pressure of the steam (air) enters the valve chest it pushes the valve onto its face to make the seal. You will then be able to turn the shaft to get the correct position of your valve. Also ensure when you are timing the engine that your reversing lever is the correct way

Big thanks for the replies, yep your right the hp valve was just catching, a tweek on the nut and all running, great feeling seeing her ticking over, cant believe got to take her all apart again to send sprocket back but at least she lives, well happy thanks again for the tips.