British 0-4-0 Toy Locomotive: he said

[spuddevans]

How about that! A control line locomotive. The airplane guys are gonna be sooo jealous.

Re distilled water...

Around here they sell mostly de-ionized water and one really has to look for distilled water. Since most of the mineral impurities in water are going to be in the form of ions, I suppose that de-ionized water is an ok substitute for distilled in a boiler but I'm willing to be corrected on that point.

I would avoid using De-Ionised water in your boiler at all. The reason for this is that the De-ionised water will leach the ions out of what it is contained in, namely your boiler, gradually weakening it.

I am a Clear Wall Maintainence Engineer ( a window cleaner ) and I use the "Brush-on-a-Stick" method of window cleaning and that uses gallons of de-ionised water which I produce myself via various filters and, finally some de-ionising resin.

What some of my fellow window cleaners have found in their water purification and filtering setups is a problem that came to light sometime after their installations. They had a short length of copper pipe going thru a wall that joined the de-ionising resin stage to the filtered water-storage positioned outside. What happened was that they noticed that after a couple of years of use the copper pipe developed several pin-hole leaks.

This was caused by the de-ionised water leaching out from the copped pipe.

Now this is not water under pressure, just under gravity.

Ok it took a couple of years for the copper pipe to leak, but imagine the risk to your precious boiler.




Tim

 

[spuddevans]

I forgot to mention, If your windowcleaner uses the same sort of pure-water system, you could ask them if they could give you some RO (reverse osmoses) water ( obviously before it goes through the Deionising resin ) for filling your boiler. Basically it is tapwater that has had almost all minerals and chlorine ect removed from it, but it is not de-ionised.

I know I'd be glad to give anyone a few gallons of my RO water if they wanted it for steam purposes ;D

Another source of RO water is your local tropical fish shop, they use RO water to fill their tanks.


Tim

 

[zeeprogrammer]

shred...that's a great list of commandments. I am a sinner. Times 4.
Thanks Steve (swilliams)!
Dean...Tater Tot casserole sounds good! We can get veggies from the garden.
Thanks Steve (walnotr)!
Thanks SAM. Coal tender, freight car, and caboose...I'll save that for the 3.5" I hope to build some day.
Thanks Marv.
Thanks Gerald.
Thanks Tim.

Distilled water...I bought some at the pharmacy. 1 gallon for $1.29. All it says is 'Steam Distilled'. I figure that's good enough for this.

I have to use it soon though. It's stamped to expire May 13, 2012. Wow. Down to the day. :big:



distilled water

 

[deere_x475guy]

Jeez Carl, I don't check this thread for a couple of days and you have it completed and running on tracks...very cool :bow: :bow:..

Congratulations and thanks for taking the time to post such a great build thread.... :bow:

 

[tmuir]

Just snuck a look at your thread at work.
I'cent watch videos at work. Now I've got to wait 8 hours until I get home to watch the video.

Congrats on getting it going on a track

 

[zeeprogrammer]

Thanks Bob and tmuir.

.................................

Sorry to say...my attempt to steam failed. Well...I got steam...just no movement.
Giving it a bit of a push you could tell it wanted to...but no.
I'm thinking the problem is that it's still not 'loose' enough. Too much friction/binding to overcome. No leak from the safety valve or the steam dome. Got water dripping from the port block/cylinder.

Maybe I need to go to confession. ;D

Many of you will remember the discussion (a long time ago) regarding the hand rails. My little mistake that ended up with the handrails on the firebox side rather than the rear of the cab? Well...I now know the reason why they were mounted on the rear of the cab. If you mount them on the front of the cab...they get hot. ;D

By the way, (hack) lighting up with (cough) isopropyl alcohol does result in a (koff) bit of a smell (wheeze)...but it's not too bad. Should vent it though.

This may never go but it's a big success as far as I'm concerned. But I haven't given up yet.

Just a grumble. No phooey yet. No 'rats'. But maybe a 'darn'.

:big: I love this stuff.

 

[Kermit]

By the way, (hack) lighting up with (cough) isopropyl alcohol does result in a (koff) bit of a smell (wheeze)...but it's not too bad. Should vent it though.

Really? Who'd have guessed?


:big:

Congrats on the successes so far Carl. I'm hoping to get back to hobby-ing soon. Wife is again gainfully employed(she starts monday) and we'll have enough fund$ for daddy's "stuff" once again. I don't think I'll be a quick to master these things as you have proven to be. If you can't tell, I'm just a little bit jealous. In a good way.

:bow:
Kermit

 

[zeeprogrammer]

Really? Who'd have guessed?

Sorry about that. I'd meant to mention that I was warned about this earlier.

If you can't tell, I'm just a little bit jealous. In a good way.

That's a big compliment. Thanks.

But no need to be jealous...failing is pretty easy. :big:
And I'm not so fast...this project started last February...I just post a lot so it seems so. ;D

 

[ksouers]

Hey Zee! Congratulations!
Sorry to be a little late to the party, busy as heck and just catching up.

That's gotta be a blast watching that thing run around the track. I know you'll get the steam problems worked out. It'll just take a little time.

Maybe I need to go to confession. ;D

Uh, isn't that what HMEM is?? ;D

 

[bearcar1]

Way to go Zee!!!! That is WAY COOL! 8) Could it be the fire isn't hot enough to develop good pressure? Man that will be so neat to see when you can lose the tether. WAY COOL it is now.


BC1
Jim

 

[ariz]

congrats Zee, sorry for the delay, but yesterday I was hit by car and I spent all afternoon in the emergency room

a very exciting video, although it is running on air, I'm sure that you can solve the problems with steam
a great success anyway :bow:

 

[Artie]

obviuosly you are home.... any long term stuff? Are you ok? Hell Ariz, bad way to spend an afternoon! Recover well and quickly mate.

Rob T

 

[Artie]

Hey Carl (not hey you), you are doing an amazing job and looks like you have learnt heaps from it as well ( I know I have), the result looks damn fine! Im looking forward to it steaming its way around that track... that will be an achievement and a pat on the back headin your way, well done mate. :bow:

Rob T

 

[zeeprogrammer]

Maybe I need to go to confession.

Uh, isn't that what HMEM is??

Rof} Can't be. I've never received penance here. Although I have gotten the knuckles rapped a couple of times. Eh Marv? :big:

Thanks Jim. Hot enough fire? How would I tell?

Thanks Rob. You must have a long arm. ;D

Thanks ariz. I hope there was no serious injury and that recovery is quick. Take care.

 

[Deanofid]

Thanks Jim. Hot enough fire? How would I tell?

Assuming you've tested the safety valve to open when it should, when you put your burner under
the boiler, let it set for a few minutes and watch the safety valve. It will start to "sizzle" when
the fire has got you up to operating temp/pressure. If it never lets off steam, you need to change
the wick length, or use a fuel with more alcohol content.
(Get some denatured. Besides being hotter, it won't soot up the bottom of the boiler.)

Dean

 

[shred]

What Dean said. Make sure your burner can pop the safety in reasonable time. If it won't, you're not getting enough heat to the water.

Also try running it up on blocks-- not even the rollers but everything in the drive train hanging free. You can also judiciously apply a small torch to aid in heating.

...and, rig a pressure gauge ...

- Roy

 

[zeeprogrammer]

Thanks Dean and shred.

Safety valve was tested by means of setting it with the mountain shock pump. It has a pressure gauge. Adjusted it so it would go at about 30. Previous pressure test was at 50. I can probably lower the setting.

I was thinking earlier today that the wicks are too close to the boiler. I'm going to adjust them. If I still have trouble...I'll try the denatured alcohol.

I did think about helping the heat with the small butane pencil torch I was using to light the wicks. I may try that too.

I tried holding the loco and spinning the wheels...similar to being on blocks (but a bit warmer).

I also think more adjustment is in order. If I still have issues then I may be looking at shred's commandment #2...

"Thy Wobbler Faces Must Fit and Be Flat"

Still confident!

Thanks

 

[zeeprogrammer]

Looking for any modicum of redemption...

It's running on 5 psi air on blocks.

 

[zeeprogrammer]

But my sins must be near unforgivable.

2nd steam attempt has failed. Less apparent leakage...but it won't run on blocks and no pushing helps. No pressure behind it. I don't think it's the safety valve. I couldn't see or detect any leak around that.

Tomorrow I hope to try again. I'll recheck the safety valve and try the denatured alcohol.

Remember...this is not a failure in my mind. To have gotten this far is beyond what I'd hoped for a year ago. (Not that that will stop the phooeys, rats, and darns. I should really combine those. 'phoodrat' or 'dratphoo'...nah...each has it's own particular 'flavor'.)

Kind of curious though. When connected to air, the drive wheels spun more easily (without air on) than they do when filled with water and the safety valve in place. Or seemed to. Any thoughts?

 

[bearcar1]

Zeep, I know you are anxious, like the rest of us to see your loco run on steam. I still believe that the fire is not hot enough to generate enough steam at pressure to drive the wheels. Using a fuel that burns hotter (denatured alcohol etc.) and/or adding another burner to your arrangement I 'think' will solve your problem. That isopropyl stuff (the stuff used to disinfect paper cuts etc. contains quite a bit of water and although is combustible, does not have the BTU rating that some of the other liquid fuels have. Does the safety valve fizz when you steam your boiler? If not it isn't getting hot enough and is not producing steam of the quantity required to propel the engine. If the mechanicals run free of binding this is the only thing I can possibly think of that would prevent the engine from moving under its own power, unless there is a huge air leak at the valve faces and even then you should see the steam blowing out in those locations.

BC1
Jim