Thetford Works (Cornwall)

just to try help a little finding the above:

with safari open, top left click on "safari", then preferences.

In the box that pops up go to advanced at the end, scroll to the bottom and tick "show develop menu in menu bar.

Now up at the top (where you clicked safari in the first instance) there is a new heading called Develop to the right. Click that menu and you will see "empty caches"

Hopefully that will sort it out.

Hi Ian

Thanks for the info, I did exactly as you said and it all panned out as you said however after turning off the Mac & then turning it on again Then logging in I have hundreds of question marks in little boxes instead of pictures and still no tool bar when posting something.

I think I'll give it up as a bad job now! Thanks anyway.

Have you tried using google Chrome or firefox instead of Safari?

I have used mac since 1990 and quickly stopped using safari as its crap.

Ive had many issues with it using web design so much so i vow never to use it again. Apple safari does not support all native scripts and could be the cause of your issues.

Latest little mod, when dismantling the stevenson valve gear the pin that goes through the brass block was quite worn on the sides which indicated that it was revolving in the two cheeks either side.  The wear should be on the brass block.



To remedy this I have cut a notch in the head of the pin and fitted a roll pin to one of the cheeks of the valve rod connecter.



I'm still having trouble with my computer in that it thinks that a certificate has run out on the 15th December 2016 and doesn't trust the forum.
At the moment I can post pictures but I can't see them!  all I get is a little question mark in a blue box.

Hi Steve,
Can you explain what the mod is, I can only see a worn pin.

Barry

Ah, I see now!!

Use. CTRL and F5 to force a page refresh or click on the padlock and refresh SSL certificate.

Thanks Lynn, I'll try that later.

Another little mod I've carried out to the crane engine,  although it passed it's steam ticket the injector was a bit dribbly.  i figured it needed a good clean, there is a sliding washer inside that diverts the water into the boiler and if that gets dirty it can dribble.  A friend suggested an ultrasonic cleaner, sounded expensive but only £20 on ebay so sent off for one.  As we all know taking the injector off means draining the tender & belly tank as one has to take the valve & filter out to remove the injector.  To overcome this I have silver soldered a short length of pipe & connector straight into the water valve body.  It pushes the injector forward 12mm but is still clear of the brake shaft.  The steam in pipe actually fits better this way as it's in the middle of the hole in the tender.  The water feed to the boiler needs reducing by 12mm.  Now to remove the injector for a clean it's just spin three nuts off & you keep a tender & belly tank full of water.



Here's the Ultrasonic cleaner, designed mainly for jewellery and very gentle on metal parts, just add soapy water and by the colour of the water after a couple of cleans it found a lot of grot somewhere!  It has an 8 minute timer and for a good clean it needs about 6 sessions.

Whilst we were testing some engines the other day I notice one had a rather nice brass sleeve on the water control lever for the injector.
Here's my interpretation of it and I know I should have built a Showmans!!

I was with Froistie the other day at the Bodmin & Wenford Heritage Day with our agricultural engines side by side on the platform boiling water for the day but giving the visitors something to look at when the trains weren't in.  Scorching couple of days & very pleasant they were too.  Something that Frostie pointed out was how hidden away my lever was for opening the firebox doors.  His much later STW version had a longer end on it whereas my early Modelworks one didn't.  To remedy that I have made  an extension which with some stainless steel panel pins I've riveted to the original handle.  Another bit of brass to polish or I might just let my hands keep it shiny, it's used often enough.

Thought I'd try fitting a ptfe seat to the regulator block.  First of all I machined a new puck only 1mm shorter, then machined away a recess about 1mm deep.  Then from a chunk of ptfe bar made the 2mm discs you see in the pic.  I did a couple of spares as I don't know how long they will last.  For some reason the pics have gone sideways, still you get the drift.



It's a pretty snug fit so don't see the point in trying to glue it yet, lets see what happens!



Update after the next steaming.

This will be an interesting experiment, must admit my PTFE mod on the globe valves are one the best things I've done on our MW Agri.

My only concern might be how well it will copes with the friction and especially once its been left stood a while and you get a little rust build up on the cast seat ??

I have seen PTFE used as piston rings, CNC machined from tube into a spiral spring. Not sure how long they lasted though.

Mike

I've heard that some of the full size engines are fitting ptfe plates on the regulator block so if it works for them it should work for a miniature. Years ago I pondered making a complete block out of ptfe but decided it probably wasn't strong enough. Just fitting a disc in under the regulator block means it is only under compression and is easily changed. I haven't even glued it in, it's just a snug fit. I wasn't sure if araldite would have coped with the temperature and I didn't think silicone would stick to ptfe.

I would worry that there would be erosion at the point where the puck first opens, especially if you have filied a vee in the delivery hole.

Mike

I've decided to go down the SS plate route, I've been milling a plate today 1.5mm thick to bolt on top of the cylinder block like the Road Loco's and I believe all new engines from the STW stable. The problem with cast iron is it rusts and that puts grooves in the brass which lets the steam leak. I hope that with a stainless steel base & a ptfe slide it should be leak free & last a long time. Boconnoc will be a good test!

Steve Traill wrote:........... The problem with cast iron is it rusts and that puts grooves in the brass which lets the steam leak.  

Yep my MW agri brass puck looks like the Himalayas and yep it does let by, I've wondered about polishing it out and getting it to seal fully but kinda like the fact it will tick over very very slowly, there's zero power in it as you can stop the flywheel with your little finger, I call it a design feature

In the building trade we turn a f**k up into a feature if we can! I just like things to be right and if it should stop with the regulator in the off position then that's what I aim for. Hopefully the mod will improve things, I just wonder if the ptfe is hard enough, only time will tell. If it works it's a simple mod for STW to incorporate and make their engines even better.

I was thinking the other day that my agricultural is the oldest 4" Burrell from the original Modelworks (Steve Baldock/LSM) design. It's been rallying since April 2006 and apart from the odd oil cap that has flown off into the long grass when thrashing around nothing has broken or worn out. No replacement parts have been added other than updating things like the bigger chimney, the water pump mod and that's about it really.

All the glands, bearings etc are original and since running in haven't been touched which I think is pretty good going, I'm still on the original cast iron grate although it does have a couple of cracks in it.
Having also been on Tim's Showmans for 85 miles to Brighton and the engine still running pretty good it just shows how durable and well designed they are if built well and that they have stood the test of time.
Big pat on the back to Steve & Dean at STW for a quality product.

Steve Traill wrote:

I was thinking the other day that my agricultural is the oldest 4" Burrell from the original Modelworks (Steve Baldock/LSM) design.....

My Agri is the original Control model which went on to be their demonstator although to be honest up until I bought it, just over 3yrs ago, the engine had spent majority of its life as an ornament at the factory. So its not really run in yet but like you I've not had any problems in the past 3yrs, the original cast grate is now getting very sad, theres a middle section of a couple of inches which is welded solid and has two cracks in it but she still fires and steams fine so cannot see any reason to change it just yet. Not managed to loose any oiler tops but did manage to lose the top cone out of the injector ......dont ask

They are cracking engines and I always enjoy telling folks that as long as you can handle a spanner or two and a paint brush anyone can build and run one

Just an update on the modification I did to the regulator puck, here's a pic!



As you can see it melted and was sucked down the hole leaving the regulator jammed wide open.  Fortunately it was stationery at the time and heavy pressure on the flywheel stopped it going into self destruct mode until we dropped the fire & blew down to release some of the pressure.  It was going so fast that putting the reversing lever into the middle notch meant that it still ran like the clappers just on momentum.  Bit scary for a few minutes, so ptfe disc on the regulator puck is a no no.  It was all going so well too, it was only two & a half hours in that this happened.  Back to the original brass puck no with no side effects.

Crumbs, that must have been a bit hairy. Lucky you were out of gear at the time !!!

It was lucky we weren't driving around at the time although it was still in the test/wait & see mode and it was raining at the time, somebody up there was looking after me!! Looking forward to Dorset with the crane engine, only driven it a couple of times this year as the aggi has been busy at the rallies.

All ready for the journey to GDSF



Here's with it's raincoat on!

It isn't currently well known that STW trailers are designed with Isofix mountings to take children safely around rally fields.  Here we see Charles Watson taking advantage of this development at GDSF.



Tim