Steaming Reports

Here is what Steve wrote:-

Have just finished my first steaming session (see pictures) All went well to start with, one or two small fizzy leaks which I can deal with when it's cold. Biggest problem was when trying to pump water into the boiler the pump started leaking from a soldered joint, very much like a pin hole in a hose pipe. This probably explained why it was a bit slow to put water in the boiler. Also the water lifter didn't work mainly due to bunging up with crud in the water every time I tried it. The injector did work for a few seconds but I had to stop the test due to the clack valve sticking open probably due again to crud floating about in the wrong place. The second two problems will sort themselves out once it's steamed a few times and there isn't so much crud to bung things up. Another problem I noticed is that when pumping water into the boiler the hornplates move relative to the boiler in a sort of throbbing motion. I'm going to have to tighten up the allen bolts tomorrow. I did think at the time that there is a lot of stress on 8 little bolts. It is very noticable by looking at the top of the sight glass and this rocks back & forth. This is due to the bottom being attached to the boiler and the top being attached to the axle case. 

I haven't fitted a seat yet but sat on the tender with a cushion, I notice that I had no steering due to 14 stone on the back making the front light, probably be ok on the road though. I'm hoping to mount the seat on the traction wagon eventually. 

On the good side was that it has a very nice chuff, it seems to have loads of power, there were only very minor leaks (on joints) and no knocks or rattles! It didn't prime even when I over filled it slightly ( sight glass full to the top) The whistle sounds good, the safety valves kick off with a very positive action, very much on & off, and loses the pressure straight away and then snaps shut. Mine kicked off at 110psi which was probably a discrepancy in the pressure gauge rather than the safety valve. I had a couple of friends around at the time who both own full size rollers and they agreed it did sound nice and the valve gear and motion work sound spot on when running. Hopefully MW will send me a new water pump fairly quickly and I can get on and steam it again. I don't want to untill I know everything is as good as it could be. I've now got a list of small jobs to do on it tomorrow.

18/2/06 Steve is becoming an "Old hand" this picture shows his 4th Steaming

19/2/06 Mike has successfully steamed his Burrell

20/2/06 I have just received a report from David Howells

Here is what David wrote:-

We got the Burrell out for its' first steaming on a fine morning. Unfortunately the brazed joint at the front of one of the steering chains fractured so the chain was taken off for a welded repair.

Using Zip firelighters and small wood, the Tower Colliery anthracite ignited well. Using natural draught with the chimney extension, steam was raised in about an hour. The engine turned over nicely, with a satisfying exhaust note. Sadly proceedings had to brought to an abrupt halt because the lubricator end of the oil pipe fractured resulting in no oil being delivered to the steam chest!

Debbie in Modelworks has promised a new one, so we should be back in action next weekend. I am looking forward to seeing the engine move under its' own steam at last!

Tuesday 18 April: Over the weekend I have received steaming reports from Colin Stott (Canada) and Arthur Westlake.  Colin included an informative written report and I include it below verbatim.

Thanks to the pioneering efforts of Julia, Steve, Mike and others, and with the excellent support of Modelworks I was able to incorporate all of the modifications to the globe valves, clacks etc. that had resulted from the group’s initial steamings, prior to steaming my own Burrell.

Given the complexity and temperamental nature of steam engines I set myself very limited objectives for the first steaming, namely to:

- establish a fire
- raise steam
- get water into the boiler

Having run the model on compressed air for many hours I was already happy with the ‘top end’. The largest issue was the consumption rate of oil for the eccentrics and big end which I was hoping to overcome by switching to an SAE80 grade gear oil.

The fire was established with little effort and I raised steam with a low heat over about a two hour period. As I had been led to expect, I was able to nip up the eight screws securing the horn plates to the boiler buy approximately one third of a turn.

With 60 PSI on the clock the ‘top end’ ran sweetly and I found the pressure to be easily controllable with a combination of damper, blower and fire hole door settings. I was particularly pleased to find that even with a thick fire and pressure building rapidly, closing the damper and opening the fire hole door on full blower held the pressure steady and really cooled off the fire.

On first attempt the eccentric pump worked effectively. A small amount of water leaked past the O-ring and a little between the pump body and the water pump gland. After about a minute there was a hiss and the pump burst a seam on the body and started to spray water everywhere.

Time to try the steam injector! No joy I am afraid, the water flow from the tender was good (with the filter removed) and with the steam on full it really flowed. However, it would just not catch. I had a two foot extension on the water handle to achieve fine adjustment but it would just not catch. I spent many happy years driving standard gauge railway engines and I am familiar with just how temperamental injectors can be but this guy would just not play ball.

I allowed the fire to die and discharged the pressure. The clack was opened up and checked, 2.53 mm lift. The boiler was re-filled through the tube plate, the fire re-established and steam raised. An hour was spent at all pressures trying to cajole the injector into life without success. End of play for the day.

For C$50, my friendly local welding expert use a brass TIG technique (which I had not seen before) to repair the pump body and the next afternoon I was ready to go again. Once in steam the pump was tried with great success! Upon re-assembly I used some jointing compound on the faces of the water pump gland and it was now water tight. A very small amount only defeated the O-ring. I tried the steam injector and eventually got it to partially engauge. Whilst a lot of water was dripping from the overflow, there was clearly water flowing into the boiler. I was unable to repeat this success that day and look forward to further assistance from Modelworks to fine tune the injector.

In terms of the distribution of responsibility, my nine year old had the privilege of lighting the first fire, my four year old was first to blow the whistle and my seven year old was scheduled to be the first to drive. He set off and did a five minute fault free run. I couldn’t resist myself and had a short run, just for fun. My nine year old then took over, and I was just explaining to ‘senior management’ that I was off to my pals house for a beer and a bucket of water when my nine year old clipped the kerb and snapped the right hand D-ring on the steering mechanism, thereby ending proceedings for the day. I spent another hour persisting with the injector without success.

During the course of the second steaming all sorts of things started to leak. I nipped up the check valves by about a full turn to re-seal those and also nipped up all of the M6 nuts on the cylinder block. However, there remained a persistent leak from both the front cylinder cover and the joint between the exhaust pipe flange and the cylinder casting. I have re-made both joints and included a gasket on the exhaust pipe for the next steaming. 

The EP80 gear oil worked on the crank lubricators running for about half an hour between refills.

I am as delighted with the model as I have been with Modelworks’ customer care. It has been a pleasure to build and I now have a model that looks authentic, smells like the real thing and when in steam becomes a living thing. Just a few small snags to iron out and we will be a completely happy couple.

Unlike the UK boilers with a heating surface of less than ten square feet do not require testing or certification in the province of Ontario. As the Burrell is 9.663 square feet I am free to steam away. However, the family is planning to return to the UK at the end of 2006 so I foresee a test in the not too distant future.

An update from the third steaming. - 19/04/06

Again, very successful with the water pump working well and all the leaks now cured. Overall we completed about a mile during the afternoon. A couple of issues arose:

- Despite tightening them during the first steaming, the eight horn plate to boiler screws worked loose. Most of the running was undertaken after re-tightening and all was well.

- The valve timing was way out. It was initially set when cold but when I opened up the valve chest under pressure (wearing suitable protective clothing) I found it to be about 3mm out. Differential expansion between the boiler and motion combined with movement of the horn plates on the boiler?

- Still no joy from the steam injector.

- The water gauge glass seemed temperamental and I was never confident that I new how much water was in the boiler. 

Colin

Arthur has sent me some pictures showing his engine doing proper work.  If the Burrell makes too many ruts the next project will have to be a roller!

Arthur performing agricultural work

It normally take Arthur 20min to mow the lawn with the mower but 3.5 hours with the engine as traffic kept stopping and taking photo's.

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I have split this page since, even on broadband, the download time was becoming excessive.  Further steaming reports from other Modelworks Burrell constructors continue here.