How Much Steam Oil

[Adam Gregory 1Participant @adamgregory1]

Hi all.

Is there a correct amount of steam oil and can you have to much?

On my steam plant the oil tank empties in about 35 to 45 minutes, the reason for asking is because i'm getting a lot of cream coloured sludge from the oil trap.

[Adam Gregory 1Participant @adamgregory1]

[MICHAEL WILLIAMSParticipant @michaelwilliams41215]

Hi AG! ,

There is no specific rule about how much oil to use but generally model engines are very much over oiled .

It's really down to finding a flow rate by trial and error that keeps a specific engine happy .

Generally if piston rod , valve rod and exit from exhaust are all just a little bit oily then all is well .

Full size Great Western big engines were supplied with just one small pea sized drop of oil per minute per cylinder . Scale that down and you get practically nothing for a model engine .

Very severe over oiling could cause hydraulic lock in full size engines but this is not likely to be a problem encoutered in a small engine .

You might like to follow GW practice and experimentally at least fit a sight glass in the oil supply line .

Regards ,

Michael Williams .

[Jens Eirik Skogstad 1Participant @jenseirikskogstad1]

As rule for the lubricator in modelsteam engine has 25-30 revolution for each pump stroke. If too much oil, increase revolution for each pump stroke.

[Adam Gregory 1Participant @adamgregory1]

Thanks for replies.

Yes i do get alot of oil on the valve and piston rod exits so i'll turn up some different cranks with a shorter throw and trial them for a couple of test runs. Are there any signs i should look out for of under oiling the engine or if it seizes i gone to far.

Adam

[Fred Graham 1Participant @fredgraham1]

Hi Folks,

Long time, no communicate!

I am interested to hear if someone using an oil pump, rather than a displacement lubricator, which seem most popular. Has anyone got any ideas about how much oil should be delivered to a steam engine. Although a respondent to the query suggested so many revs of the engine to one stroke of the pump, this must depend on the size of the pump and the swept volume of the engine. With a large swept volume and a small swept volume pump too little oil may be delivered and vice versa.

I have looked in vain for some technical data about steam engine lubrication but most times I find only displacement lubricator information. There must be some relationship between film thickness and internal engine surface area to be lubricated per revolution and the capacity of the oil pump to deliver this quantity continuously and reliably.

Perhaps I am being far to pedantic and most people would say, "as long as there is oil going in and the oil trap is filling up don't worry" but it does sound like an interesting subject to investigate, doesn't it?

I would be interested in any guidance on the subject especially if it is not a bundle of differential equations and lots of needless mathematical complexity'

All the best and happy steaming, Fred Graham

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