Large Scale Central

Nothing as foul as a Fowler

Electronics Live Steam
#1

I just finished doing the first test run of my Fowler that I built from a Roundhouse kit .

I now have no finger prints , the kitchen ceiling has oil stains on it , the sink smells of steam loco , my nurse carer ran off when I tested the safety valve , I got so excited I had to have a squirt of nitrolingual , and my son said I should stick with diesels or even electrics . I shall kill him later when he’s not looking . That will be after I have changed into clean , non-oil-stained clothes that do not have steam oil clinging to them .

The Fowler enjoyed it , steamed well , no adjustments necessary , one crank bolt came undone and fell off but was quickly refitted----I think I went from forward to reverse a bit too quickly----so I am quite pleased .

Actually I’m quite smug and insufferable . “Didya see that , Didya , didya ?”

So , a question to all those who also are not traceable by the FBI (fingerprints) . Do I empty the boiler ? The automatic steam oiler put quite a bit of oil in .

Ain’t it fun though , huh ? Huh ?

I didn’t think I’d get so excited , I have three other steamers , all kit built , but there is that little bit of WHEEEEHEEEEE!!! when the wheels start turning for the first time under steam .

I shall go and lie down now .

Mike

#2

This is the Mike I remember!!! Great post.

I know nothing of the Fowler, but shouldn’t the oiler be on the positive steam pressure side of the line to the engine? I never drain the boiler on my Accucraft Shay, but it never gets oil in it either.

#3

Hey , Jon ! I’m flattered that you remember .

The oiler is , as you say , on the feed to the superheater which then feeds steam to the cylinders .

Or in the case of my Fowler , also pees out of various slightly loose joints , so that when going along , little chuffs of steam pop out under the frame just like the real thing . (I actually drilled tiny holes in the appropriate places ; it looks quite good)

Now how I thought that the oil would migrate upstream like a randy salmon , heaven only knows .

I had to check just now to make sure I hadn’t fouled the Fowler’s pipework up , I was so muddled . Too much vino with my breakfast probably . Or lunch . Dinner?

Ah , well , at least you read the post and cottoned on to my error . I think that the boiler may have had oil in it ; when the safety valve blew there was oil left on the cloth that I held over the top of it .

When I have tidied the loco up I shall try posting a piccy or two . Then everyone can have a laugh .

Mike

#4

You drilled holes? so you make it leaky. Interesting.

#5

David Maynard said:

You drilled holes? so you make it leaky. Interesting

David , it 's not as daft as it sounds . The 1/64 holes are in the exhaust side of the cylinders , so when the loco is moving , a spurt of steam pushes out to the front from under the frame.

I must confess to getting the idea from the first loco I made when the exhaust pipes to the chimney worked a bit loose , or weren’t properly tightened (could have been either) and it looked quite realistic .

Mike

#6

Glad you had fun. I dont drain the water out of my steamers. The oil must have gotten into the boiler from the vacume. When the steamer is out of gas and the throttle is left open a vacume can occure causing the oil to get sucked into the boiler.

#7

Yup, Nothing like running live steam.:wink:

#8

Shawn (napkin builder) Viggiano said:

Glad you had fun. I dont drain the water out of my steamers. The oil must have gotten into the boiler from the vacume. When the steamer is out of gas and the throttle is left open a vacume can occure causing the oil to get sucked into the boiler.

Shawn got it . . At the end of a run, if you leave the throttle open, the steam/water cools down and shrinks, sucking oil into the boiler. Best to open the water fill or blow-down valve if you have one. (Careful - it will be hot and under pressure!!) Don’t close the throttle too hard - it may get stuck due to contraction as it cools.

I think white vinegar will clean the oil out of the boiler?

If you use distilled water, you can leave residual water in the boiler. I drain mine when I am leaving them for a long period of time.

#9

Now why did I not think of that ?

I did leave the engine in gear with the throttle open to relieve residual pressure , then satisfied that it was OK , closed the throttle .

The wonders of science , eh ?

And to make it worse , my Dad taught me how steam engines work , including Beam Engines which relied on the vaccuum left by condensed steam . I’ve lived with them since I was about 4 years old .

I must be getting old or something .

Mike , going for another lie down .

#10

Good advice Shawn. I’ve never really thought of that.

Part of my after-run procedure is to open the blow down (at the bottom of the oiler on an Accucraft Shay) and drain out the condensed water and left over oil. I’ll usually open the throttle a bit, while there is still pressure in the boiler, to help this along. Once pressure gets low I close the throttle and open the top of the oiler and continue to drain the water/oil.

I’ll also top of the gas and fill all but about 30ML of the boiler with distilled water. Finally, close the blow down and fill the oiler.

Next time I run I just need to light her up!

#11

Interesting , my Fowler has a similar blow-down valve ; the problem is , it is a removable screw , and I dismissed the idea of loosening it because I was afraid of losing more than fingerprints such as other still functioning parts of my person and the screw cap itself , which I pictured hurtling across the room making a noise like some wayward bullet in a western .

I did remove it after things cooled down , and noted that all the oil had gone . That made me wonder about refilling it during operation of the beast ; if I shut the throttle it would (presumably) not offer me a squirt of scalding steam .

If I have not burned more of my fingers away , I shall let you know after next firing (bad word to use in the circumstances) .

Mike (alias Mickey da Fingers)

#12

Mike. To stop the loco at the end of the run -

  1. Close throttle. Put loco in mid-gear.

  2. Shut off gas, unless, of course, it has actually run out, leading to 1.

  3. Open blow-down valve ASAP, and then open the throttle fully. It should blow out a kind of khaki-mixture of steam and unused steam oil that is, however, emulsified. Sounds like you’ll need the correct after-market blow-down valve assembly, rather than try and remove the teeny and useless Roundhouse threaded cap against 60psi steam pushing on the other side. That is DANGEROUS for sure, and can cause severe injuries to your person, unless, of course, you get Martin to do it. :slight_smile: Roundhouse fail dismally on a number of points, this is one of them. Ian Pearse AND Bing Cheng of AccuCraft advise me that they will be offering their up and coming models with the spiffy stop-cock blowdown valve that is currently a $25/eu pruchase from Cliff in Onion City STHNN or Lorenz Schug in Bratwurstburg. I have one on my 3-C Shay, and not only does it look good, and REAL, but it works, too. Ian says that £15 will separate him from one, and I’m going to make sure that John of ShackTrack is the to-go dealer here - he just doesn’t know that yet, is all.

Back to the clean-out…

Leaving the loco in gear while doing this WILL result in steam oil getting into the boiler. This is NOT a good thing, as Douglas Adams would have noted.

It CAN be cured, but quickly, please. Steam oil is NOT meant to be anywhere near the flame heat of a gasburner, even indirectly, else it cooks on the the surface and severely reduces the thermal conductive powers of the flame/boiler interface, eventually gumming up the works.

Reingungsmittel includes white vinegar, used 100% by volume in place of distilled water. Your home will smell like Betties Fish & Chip Restaurant for weeks, but hey, that’s not necessarily a bad thing. You can also use a suitable dilution of citric acid, too. Just pour in to the usual water level, and set the fire going until the safety lifts. Then de-ignite the fire, and blow the whole lot out as in step 3. It might take you three or four attempts to get it all out, as it did with my Aster BR01.

It WILL be worth the trouble, AND offer you several new ways to burn your long-suffering fingers, too. Scalds can easily be included if you are less than super-dextrous, too. All free of taxes and documentation.

tac
Ottawa Valley GRS

#13

tac , thanks for the comprehensive write-up .

The blow down valve you mention sounds essential as opposed to “that’d be nice” , I shall pursue the idea of refitting all four similarly Roundhouse equipped missile launchers .

The scouring of the boiler sounds worth doing , I was not aware of the drawbacks of not cleaning thoroughly . I wonder , if I did the same with the kitchen kettle , would my tea taste better ?

Mike

#14

You don’t clean tea kettles or Cast Iron skillets!
Don’t ask!

#15

Here in yUK they are called tea pots. A kettle is what you boil water in prior to pouring it into the teapot.

Mike, depending on where you live, depends the quality of the water and what is in it to make it potable. Where we live, we go through a Brita water filter cartridge per week. Where my brother-in-law lives, in Gogledd Cymru, the water needs nothing in it to soften it. Our water exits the faucet in lumps of calcarious gravel. Even the rain water contains as much sand and dust as it it had no water in it t all.

If you have a ‘furry kettle’ then you need to do something about it. You would probably find that you tea was actually a plesant shade of amber brown, rather than grey with crunchy lumps in it, as our would be here without extensive use of water filtration.

Needless to say, neither water from the faucet nor sky goes anywhere near MY steam locomotives. I have six-litre table-top distiller to prepare the boiler water.

tac
Ottawa Valley GRS

#16

Mike, Your Fowler has a blowdown, the oil drain has a drilled passage so all you have to do is unscrew by maybe 2 turns not removing the screw on the oiler and open the throttle. It will blowdown the oiler and the boiler for you.

Enjoy running, Roundhouse locos are a pleasure to run.

#17

I agree with Mr Kovacs about Roundhouse locos being a real pleasure, having watched my BIL running his last Sunday at his mumble-mumble birthday party.

But surely by now, and for the ever-increasing cost of models whose prices have been emeliorated by the sheer numbers sold, there should be something rather better than that, more like the proper scale-looking valve offered by AccuCraft and soon to be standard fit.

tac
Ottawa Valley GRS

#18

Jason , I did not notice that .

Another hole to squirt steam out of !!!

I must make a tool to slacken it without eviscerating myself with a steam knife .

Mike

#19

tac ,

you are right , and more to the point , who else makes a Fowler , one of the classic colonial style locos ?

Mike -------still typing very gently to avoid pressure on burned parts of fingers

#20

Mike don’t they make gloves to handle them kinda things with?