For a long time the ability to get a good working safety has been a crap shoot. I have been working recently on a handful of Accucraft valves taking where they packaged them up and modifying them to have a good crisp lift and reset. I am able to get a good 60 psi lift and reset at 50. I can get a 55 reset but it lifts too often and 10psi differential is what is recommended. It also uses a larger bore opening so it will be good for coal fired locos in the dual safety setup. The other difficult part is the valve ends up getting tested between 3-4 times to get the proper adjustment as the change is machining on the lathe to adjust the reset pressure. Takes about 20-30mins per valve. But in the end I have a great working valve.
Nice Jay. I have the wee bee on the forney. They do make a difference compared to the stock ones.
Definitely better than factory. When mine lifts there is no noise and it stays open for a long while. Do you have an idea of cost yet ? I’ve thought of a Wee Bee but is over my budget at the moment.
Im working on a price for the modified ones. They are 26.00 as delivered from Accucraft. I have about 20-30mins in each one and are steam tested.
Jason Kovac said:
Im working on a price for the modified ones. They are 26.00 as delivered from Accucraft. I have about 20-30mins in each one and are steam tested.
Thanks Jason. Would you consider an exchange program, or a core credit for a stock unit coming back to you? I know most of the guys in this end of the hobby are not really budget restricted, but I am. Got my steamer just before the bubble burst for me ;]
I would welcome a new supplier of pop valves. I used the Sulphur Springs ones until their demise. They were good valves and were adjustable. I have a couple of the Wee Bee Loco ones from Jim Sanders and they work just fine, but are not adjustable.
Jason Kovac said:
Im working on a price for the modified ones. They are 26.00 as delivered from Accucraft. I have about 20-30mins in each one and are steam tested.
Jason - not sure that you mean that you add something for your work or what. Please explain for an old f4rt.
tac, ig, ken the GFT & The Hissanpop Boys
Tac - That is the main issue. I started this as I needed about 6 safeties to replace on various locos. The time invested per valve gets up there fast when you have to remachine little at a time and test between.
The valves sell from Accucraft at 26.00 in the stock form. I have received a bunch of private emails about if I would sell them and also if I can modify the existing valves. I know there is a demand as I have not found a good source yet for an adjustable valve.
I would think IF I made some they would be about 15-18.00 for the tuning service. Once again doing it for myself I never though about wanting to charge so much for a valve. Though I do know how hard it is to get something good these days.
Thanks for the response, Jason. Here in UK we are getting all kinds of grief from the health % safety people about pressure vessels and their use in public where the public are paying to see them.
Even the 16mm stuff has issues, it seems, and confunglement is rife. We now, it appears, for Gauge 1 models run under the auspices of the G1MRA, have to have our teeny boilers tested and witnessed with a signed certificate of safety, with the valves holding the pressure for a preiod of five minutes.
Suffice it to say that none of MY locos have safety valves that hold for five minutes - as soon as they pop off, the pressure drops, and does not go up until I deliberately and artificially allow them to do so, whereupon they pop off again…as advertised. In fact, every time I run my locos, the safety valves are tested. The safety valve popping is a sign of engine readiness at full working pressure, not a signal warning that it is about to level a block in a catastrophic and calamitous explosion - little boilers just do not do that. They hiss, parp and the pressure instantly drop via the escape ‘split’ in whatever has given up. BTW, a Regner brass boiler, deliberately plugged into a hydraulic test set, let go at around 1650 psi…the working pressure was 45psi.
Even so, the ability to have a safety valve[s] fitted that DOES go off at 60 psi, and not 63.5 or 48.2, would be useful.
tac, ig, ken the GFT & The Great Train Disaster Boys
Huh?
What’s happening here?
tac
gremlins…
tac Foley said:
Thanks for the response, Jason. Here in UK we are getting all kinds of grief from the health % safety people about pressure vessels and their use in public where the public are paying to see them.
Even the 16mm stuff has issues, it seems, and confunglement is rife. We now, it appears, for Gauge 1 models run under the auspices of the G1MRA, have to have our teeny boilers tested and witnessed with a signed certificate of safety, with the valves holding the pressure for a preiod of five minutes.
Suffice it to say that none of MY locos have safety valves that hold for five minutes - as soon as they pop off, the pressure drops, and does not go up until I deliberately and artificially allow them to do so, whereupon they pop off again…as advertised. In fact, every time I run my locos, the safety valves are tested. The safety valve popping is a sign of engine readiness at full working pressure, not a signal warning that it is about to level a block in a catastrophic and calamitous explosion - little boilers just do not do that. They hiss, parp and the pressure instantly drop via the escape ‘split’ in whatever has given up. BTW, a Regner brass boiler, deliberately plugged into a hydraulic test set, let go at around 1650 psi…the working pressure was 45psi.
Even so, the ability to have a safety valve[s] fitted that DOES go off at 60 psi, and not 63.5 or 48.2, would be useful.
tac, ig, ken the GFT & The Great Train Disaster Boys
I have always wondered why the extreme approach. How many people have been killed or severly injired from their live steam train boiler blowing up? I always picture this hudge explosion tearing through my cinder block wall in my garage. I think I get more of an explosion when my wife yells at me haha. In reality all you get is hissing etc… so why such extreme measures?
Dam gremlin again.
Hey Shawn, Check your msgs on LSC.
Ric Golding said:
Hey Shawn, Check your msgs on LSC.
Email sent
THIS POST INTENTIONALLY BLANK.
tac
With respect to boiler certification, we here in the Colonies, Michigan at least, have a much more realistic attitude. See below…
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