britannia smokebox doors

[David Bothwell 1Participant @davidbothwell1]

Having trouble with my smokebox doors, the mechanism which is the "lever" operated type is not working as well as it should any tips would be gratefully accepted, followed drawings as close as possible

[David Bothwell 1Participant @davidbothwell1]

not working

[Boiler BriParticipant @boilerbri]

Smoke box door are held with the dart type of fixing.
Do you mean that

[Paul KempParticipant @paulkemp46892]

Try firebox doors, reckon you might have a little more luck!

Paul.

[David Bothwell 1Participant @davidbothwell1]

sorry for the delay in reply, not sure what dart fixing is, Mine are held with rivets , lever and spacer drilled through each door , Main lever on left hand door opens and closes both. Mine are sluggish, but are good fits in the guides?

Tried "firebox doors" no results

[BufferParticipant @buffer]

You are getting the doors at either end of a loco muddled up. The smokebox door is the big round one on the front and it's normally held closed by a dart. The firebox doors you are talking about are where the coal gets slung in. That's why there is some confusion for you.

[WearyParticipant @weary]

Hello David,

Here are the firebox doors.

Here is picture showing the smokebox door.

The (detached) smokebox door is central to this picture and has the 'dart', or device for securing it closed lying on it.

Hopefully those pics will assist you in identifying at which end of the boiler your problem lies.

From your description I suspect that your issue is with the firebox doors, which will often be 'stiff' until they become a little worn. If this is so a moderator may be able to amend your thread title on your behalf. Is your loco from a kit? If, so there may be some 'fixes' if this is a common issue. (Note: from what I have seen all the kits need additional works of various types to 'sort' them). The slides that the doors run-in may need some (very gentle) fettling or adjustment if they are simply 'sticky' or too stiff to use easily, and/or the slot in the operating lever that allows coordinated opening may need smoothing. The doors themselves may benefit from smoothing where they run on or on the sliders. Maybe the bottom door slider needs a slot adding behind it so coal-dust can fall-through and not 'clog' the runner if your issue arises when running.

There are owners of both kit-built and 'scratch-built' Britannias on Model Engineering Clearing House who may be able to assist. The author of the recent Britannia kit rebuild series in Model Engineer Magazine is an active member there and also drops in on this site occasionally so he may spot your posting.

Regards,

Phil

 

 

Edited By Weary on 13/11/2022 12:28:48

[David Bothwell 1Participant @davidbothwell1]

Hello al, So sorry for the confusion, that is what happens when the post was done in a big rush. It is the firebox doors to which my problem refers. My Brittania is a scratch build which I purchased in February last (from a dealer) I made the doors and mechanism. Weary may have hit the nail squarely on the head i.e. if there are supposed to slots on the doors? then that is where I am wrong?

Thanks for all assistance

[David Bothwell 1Participant @davidbothwell1]

The firebox doors are bit nicer than mine! I will have a re-jig in the morning

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