suggested enhancement to new or existing Foden builders

Hi All
Having run a Foden for a year or more now I think it would be a good idea to incorporate a water hand pump into the system somehow. Having had a very leaky crankshaft pump which is nigh on impossible to fix on a rally field (or even a workshop come to that), several injectors that offer differeing rates of sucess i rather would like that warm cosy feeling of something mechanical to get water into the boiler.
How about an optional kit of parts to do this?

I may be wrong but I think a hand pump would be next to usless due to the forces needed to overcome the boiler pressure and the very small volume they can pump, unless you have arms like Arnold S.

I have seen one on another Foden not a STW or MW one though.

this is really Steve's department so i cant help you very much. if he hasn't found the topic by tomorrow i'll point him in the right direction

craig

I don't know what the Foden boiler pressure is but miniature locos have hand pumps which are easily operable at 100psi with rams of around 1/2" dia. Whether this would put a significant amount of water in to a larger boiler is open to question.

DavidH

A hand pump would not be particularly effective with a boiler the size of the Fodens. If the time and effort of fitting a hand pump, especially on a completed model, was put towards setting up an injector properly you would get a better return. You can't beat an injector that works.

KC
I quite agree an injector setup properly cant be beaten certainly on a 5" loco, presumably you have experience in setting them up on a Foden and i would welcome your input on how to set them up, quite what you can set up i dont know especially having tried 3 differing sorts to find a best of a bad bunch.

The best results i ever have had is to run the injector at no more than 80 on the guage, remove it, clean it and refit it after every steaming.....

It was only a thought to see if anyone had any experience with this model.

Hi
When you clean the injector every time, how dirty is it? Do you have very hard water where you are? The injector I've got on my Burrell I bought from Poly models and I haven't touched it in 4 years & it works 9 times out of 10. It likes the water turned on first and then the steam turned on slowly until it picks up then turn the steam on fully. Sometimes if I give it too much steam it objects & steam cleans the floor by the back wheel! Sometimes just getting the feel for your particlular set up is all that is needed, they all have there own little foibles.

I think the hand pump would be a pain due to the small amount of water it admits & the effort required to do it. Is the water pump leaking past the seals? The PTFE rope is best for this & doesn't show any signs of wear once it's run in.

All these little gremlins can seem interminable at first but eventually they can be mastered.

I always think of the saying I was told once,.............. If it was easy everyone would be doing it.

Steam Oil King,
I haven’t got that far on my Foden yet so have no experience on setting them up on this model. I am no expert but from what you have said if the injector you have works well at a lower pressure then it could be the internal set up of the injector is not right for the higher pressure use or the plumbing either on the water/steam feed or the output side of the injector is not sufficient to cope with the flow at the higher pressure use.
If you are getting a lot of fouling in your injector are you also checking the clack valve as this too will clog up if you are in a hard water area and effect injector performance.
From memory you also post Traction Talk, contact ‘Injectorman’ on there as Terry as his user name suggests knows quite a lot about setting up injectors and will be able to point you in the right direction.

Hope this helps
KC

Dear All
Thanks for the bits and bobs of advice, my idea was to stimulate some thought wether a pump might be possible and pass on experience gained having run a Foden for some time, trust me i can assure you that working on the water pump once fitted will involve a specially bent spanner, a flexible knuckle for a socket drive and thats just to nip up small leaks past the gland packing and an awful lot of patience...
Q Has anyone else got a Foden that they have been rallying with i would be interested to hear there experiences.