first seaming questions and tips

Hi all,
I am going to try to steam my 2" burrell this weekend for the first time.
can anyone give me some tips. I have read the steaming instructions sent with the last kit , but would like to know of any issues others have found.
a list of useful tips and ideas would be most useful for me, being a novice at these things!
thanks
Jon

Don't Panic

Hi,

If it was me i would fill the tender with water and run the engine on compressed air to ensure that the axle pump / bypass was working correctly. This will also fill the boiler up for you. Atleast then you are confident that you can get water into the boiler, especially as i believe that the injectors as supplied aren't particularly great and people have struggled to get them to pick up.

Also it is good to blow down new boilers regularly to get rid of any "rubbish" left in there from the construction process and i have always found that on smaller engines the gauge glass needs blowing down very frequently to ensure accurate water level readings.

For fuel, on 2" engines i have had much better results with anthracite than with any other coal, and when the engine is not working hard you will probably need to have the blower just cracked open to keep the fire lively.

Hope this helps and apologise if this was egg sucking for you.

regards

Andy

Thanks andy,
I have run the engine on air so i know the pump works, not too sure about the injector! will see how i get on. i have a plan to fill the boiler with water, having fitted a valve to one of the washout plugs. I hope to be able to gravity fill using a funnel with the water lifter valve open to let the air out as she fills...

i will update all on progress over the weekend as Saturday is now First steam day!