Watering a loco

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Watering a loco

This topic has 5 replies, 5 voices, and was last updated 29 October 2010 at 21:12 by John Olsen.

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29 October 2010 at 10:43 #57736
Eric Cox
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@ericcox50497
When you fire a loco for the first time, how do you fill the boiler with water.

Also, if you wish to store the loco, how do you drain the boiler
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29 October 2010 at 10:43 #5261
Eric Cox
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@ericcox50497
29 October 2010 at 17:23 #57764
wheeltapper
Participant
@wheeltapper
seeing as no one else has answered yet I’ll give it a go.

from what I’ve read you fill up by unscrewing the safety valve as a unit and you are supposed to have a blow down valve near the bottom of the boiler so you can ‘blow down ‘ at the end of the day once the pressure has dropped a safe level. (don’t ask me to define a safe level tho)

some people put a hose on the valve so they can use the hot water to clean the engine.

hope this is some help and I’m sure now I’ve said this someone will shoot me down in flames.

Roy
29 October 2010 at 17:24 #57765
Axel Bentell
Participant
@axelbentell
I´m no expert, but I saw a film clip on buiding a steam launch, and it seems you have to hand pump it!? Experts will soon come to our rescue!
29 October 2010 at 18:11 #57769
Chris Kelland
Participant
@chriskelland71558
Hi,

As a beginner I was told not to keep removing the safety valve to fill the boiler as it possible to cause wear to the threads, not sure about that but I don’t as a rule fill the boiler that way, just in case. What I do is to use an adapter hose and fill through the blow down valve, either from a water mains tap or use a 12 v caravan pump. The hose is just a bit of pipe with a washer tap and a bit of plastic tube to fit over the blow down valve.

After I have dropped the fire I blow down straight away with a fair pressure all the rubbish in the boiler will tend to be blown out with the steam / water. I also use both blow down valves, I read somewhere that it stops a buildup of deposits on the opposite side of the foundation ring. I also drain the boiler completely after each use and leave all the valves and regulator just cracked open – it stops them from locking up dead tight as the engine cools.

I am assuming here that you are talking about a copper boiler?

Regards,

Chris.
29 October 2010 at 21:12 #57790
John Olsen
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@johnolsen79199
Yes, part of the point of the blow down valves is to remove any accumulation of insoluble material from the boiler. If you are using boiler treatment, this will precipitate any dissolved salts in the boiler as fine particles, and these will tend to accumulate in the bottom of the boiler. By blowing down every so often, these are carried out of the boiler. This is better than having scale build up on the tubes. If you are not using treatment, as is reasonable in a small copper boiler, then the concentration of dissolved salts in the water builds up as you steam. Blowing down at the end gets rid of the more concentrated material, so if you are leaving the boiler full then you will start with a low concentration next time.

regards

John
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