Hi Royce,
I'll answer as best I can. This being California, and me never having fit a pump into a steam loco, I guess I'm qualified to answer. Why, maybe some day I could be a famous actor. Or an elected government official! (My last tenure in office was as a Deputy Track Marshall in Sacto. But I was an appointee and not elected.)
Sure, duct the water from the ram to the check valves. Water is supposed to mostly incompressible so an inch should be okay.
Yes, put a check valve where the water enters the boiler. Otherwise you'll have full boiler pressure on your pump check valve and connecting tubing. One of our sage listees advised not to try to use a Goodall at the boiler connection, but to use a proper clack valve.
Probably makes no difference whether the water injection point is above or below the boiler water line. I've seen clack valves on the backhead, but I have read that it is better to inject the water into the front part of the boiler, where it will have the least effect on steam generation right near the steam pick up point. Maybe not a big issue with the boiler pressures that we typically run in small locos.
1/8" copper should be fine.
I always figured that the axle pump primed by gravity. In other words the pump was below the tender water tank level.
Steve
[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
I'm doing some design work on an axle pump for my Philly. A while back I asked whether the passages that hold the check valve balls need to be vertical. Now I have a related question. Can the check valves be located a distance from the actual pump ram ? Not far, just maybe 1" away. I could then "duct" the input and output water to a site more tolerant of vertical check valves.
Also, does there need to be an additional check valve at the point where the water enters the boiler ? And is there a preference for input location (ie can it enter into the steam volume or should it enter below the water line ?)
And further, is 1/8" od copper piping adequate ?
Give me some more time, I'll think of more questions.
tic toc tic toc tic toc . . .
Oh, and is it necessary to have a hand pump in the tender to "prime" the axle pump ? If not, how DO you prime it?
Thanks to all.
royce in SB
