# Displacement Lubricator



## mwilkes (Nov 16, 2012)

Hi folks, 

I'm building a 10V at the moment - almost finished (pics soon), and starting to think about the pipework. So I have a quick question on displacement lubricators...

If I put a displacement lubricator on one side of the steam chest, and the steam inlet on the other, would the lubricator work? I think the thing would look more balanced rather than having all the pipework on one side...but I'd be worried that all the lubricator would do is dribble oil into the steam chest and none of it would end up in the cylinder...but then, maybe that's what happens anyway?

thanks!


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## Philjoe5 (Nov 16, 2012)

Steam oil will follow the path of steam.  Put the displacer as close as possible to the inlet side of the steam chest.  As steam condenses in the lubricator, it will fall to the bottom.  The oil will flow out of it and be carried by the steam throughout the engine.  As simple as their design is, they are quite effective.

A symmetrical pipe arrangement is not important here.

Cheers,
Phil


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## rkepler (Nov 16, 2012)

mwilkes said:


> If I put a displacement lubricator on one side of the steam chest, and the steam inlet on the other, would the lubricator work? I think the thing would look more balanced rather than having all the pipework on one side...but I'd be worried that all the lubricator would do is dribble oil into the steam chest and none of it would end up in the cylinder...but then, maybe that's what happens anyway?



I think your arrangement would dribble oil into the steam chest where it'd flow to the bottom gland and make a mess.

If you put it inline with the steam inlet the steam flow will tend to break it up and get it (more) evenly distributed in the valve chest and into the cylinder. 

That's been my experience, anyway.


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## KBC (Nov 20, 2012)

I'm with  Phil on this one, oil will not dribble into the steam chest,.
Any oil that gets to the steam chest is very quickly dispersed into the cylinder due to the steam pressure and heat in the steam chest.

What you may have trouble with is if the Lubricator is screwed straight into the cast steam chest it will get too hot and the steam will not condense to force the oil out and into the steam chest.
If you fit it as has been done since Mr Stuart designed and produced these engines the TEE piece that the lubricator screws into is far enough away from the cast chest to allow some cooling.
I have seen some lubricators screwed into the steam chest cover and no oil was passing until a thick Ali washer was put on between the lubricator and the cover which cured it.

I would strongly recommend that you have a lubricator with an adjusting needle and open it 1/2 a turn with a new engine and when run in reduce it to 1/4 turn.
The straight thro" type are inclined to gulp ( can't say why but they do ) and you could be on a long run thinking that you have plenty of oil and you don't.

George.


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