Royce, I agree with Catboat15. The firing of the boiler coould very well be limiting the steam production. My Climax/Dunkirk with the Jane pot boiler went from "would hardly turn over" as a single-cylinder engine to "whoa!" as a two-cylinder double-acting engine. The keys were firebox size, superheater routing disturbing the gas flow past the boiler, and fuel purity. Same experience with the 4-2-0 single-cylinder vertical. In that case the big ones were shielding the bottom of the vertical boiler firebox and sorting out the wick packing density. That loco went from indifferent steaming to having its hauling capacity adhesion limited. (Only two drivers - bad planning in the engineering department.)
Methinks you should do as Clark suggests. Then do it again with the axle pump disconnected to remove its load on the engine. Then start playing with firebox shielding, burner height, and maybe boiler/firebox insulation. Steve On 10/29/06, [EMAIL PROTECTED] <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Royce: There are several things that can cause you to not have enough > power > out of your boiler to drive the feed pump. One, are you sure that the > boiler > check valve is opening? If it is jammed or defective the pump is trying to > pump against a closed system and will stall the engine. Sometimes an axle > pump > can get "air bound", but that usually just stops water from entering the > boiler as you compress an air bubble that expands again as the pump ram > retreats. > Of course that would not stall the engine, just not putting feed water to > the > boiler. > > Increasing the bore of the power cylinder would be a losing proposition if > your steam generation is near its limit now. That would just require more > steam > which means more fire. > > Next are you sure the line from the pump to the boiler is working > properly, > not clogged and any check valves lifting and sealing properly? Is there a > by-pass on the pump that allows you to pump water back into the reservoir, > if so > an adjustable valve on that line would let you adjust how much work the > pump > must do, with that by pass open all the pump has to do is move water from > and > right back to the supply (tank or tender) Then you can use that valve to > relieve some of the work required, just allow enough flow to the boiler > to keep > up with the losses. That is what my 3-1/2 inch gauge loco uses and I try > to > set the by-pass valve to just keep up with the drop in the gauge glass. > So > some water is pumped back to the tender and some into the boiler which > reduces > the work on the pump. I don't know if an injector is available in your > small > size system, but the Brits make wide use of injectors to feed the boiler > (I > have never been able to make one that works on my size, but many have > done it > OK. > > No matter how you enlarge the bore or stroke it won't help any if > the fire > can not generate enough steam to power your complete system. > > Therefore eliminating any mechanical problems (Stuck check valve, > restriction in the pump discharge line etc.) I think your only solution > would be more > heat since we are working with a heat engine. Check this by putting the > locomotive on blocks and see if without driving the wheels you > can generate enough > steam to feed the boiler. Or raise the pressure in the boiler by safety > valve > adjustments this would give more heat to the boiler water and heat is > power. > > Good luck and let us know what you find. > -------------- next part -------------- > An HTML attachment was scrubbed... > URL: > http://postfix.45mm.com/pipermail/sslivesteam/attachments/20061029/5fc0f2f3/attachment.html > _______________________________________________ > SSLiveSteam mailing list > Send messages: [email protected] > Cancel subscription: http://postfix.45mm.com/mailman/listinfo/sslivesteam > Rules: http://www.45mm.com/sslivesteam_guide.html > > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://postfix.45mm.com/pipermail/sslivesteam/attachments/20061030/454b5eea/attachment.html _______________________________________________ SSLiveSteam mailing list Send messages: [email protected] Cancel subscription: http://postfix.45mm.com/mailman/listinfo/sslivesteam Rules: http://www.45mm.com/sslivesteam_guide.html
