WAYS AND MEANS.
Page 61
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Useful Contributions From Our Driver and Mechanic Readers.
Removing Obstinate Swivel Pins.
TN some cases the axle swivel pin
be found to have seized owing to lack of lubrication, the ingress of water and mud, or, possibly, a combination of both.
The fallowing hint will, " W.G.G.," of Covent Garden, assures us, enable the most obstinate pin to be taken out without damage. It is worthy of consideration as no special tools or appliances are necessary, and the axle need not be removed from the vehicle. . Extract the split pin and remove the nut at A (see sketch), procure a piece of brass and put this on the jack head at B, the idea being to protect the thread. Sack up, as that the weight is taken on the end of the pin, and give a few sharp knocks with a heavy hammer on the axle at C, interposing a piece of wood or lead to avoid damaging the axle. In most cases it makes matters easier to take off the wheel when the vehicle has been jacked up.
The writer has had unqualified success with this method on both heavy and light vehicles. Before trying to knock out the pin, make sure it is of the plain variety, as in the Morris and others, and not screwed into the axle at D as in the Ford.
The Maintenance of the Sentinel Feed Pump. USEFUL advice is sent by a reader, 9 W.C.," of Frampton-on-Severn, with regard to the management ot the feed-water pump of the Sentinel steam wagon, and we give this in his own words. The clearance between valves and their respective stoppers, to give the most efficient results, should be 13-6in. After the vehicle has been running for some time this clearance becomes considerably more than that which is caused partly by water hammer and partly through the grinding-in of the valves with the consequent inefficient working of this component.
To remedy this state of affairs and to avoid the e,xpense of fitting, new valves and stoppers a very effective remedy is to drill a hole through the centre of each valve and tap it out fin. Whitworth. Into, these holes screw fin, brass screws, which can be obtained from amongst those scrapped when securing a new brake lining to its band. After they are screwed well home they need cutting off and filing up, to give the correct clearance between the valves and their stoppers.
This method of repair is applicable to the suction valve on the pump, also to the feed-check valve.
The air vessel on the delivery side of the pump acts as the stopper for the de livery valve. Sometimes the clearance becomes excessive, and to rectify this tap the base of the air vessel fin. gas, screw the sleeve into it and file it up for the correct clearance. If these valves are given their correct clearance and the pump fails to keep the boiler fed, the return valve to the tank should he checked for water tightness. The si.mplest way of doing this is to disconnect the return pipe at the pump and, with
the pump handle in position to feed the boiler, drive the wagon gently forward, asking the assistant to watch for any water leaking where the pipe has been disconnected. If the spring on the top of the return valve be correct and the valve be seating properly there should be no water leaking at this point.
Sometimes the brass plunger on the pump is scored throughout its working length. This is usually caused by packing the gland with packing that has been negligently carried in the toolbox and become covered in coke dust, etc. If this has occurred, packing the gland will not stop it from leaking; the only thing to do is to take the plunger out and lightly skim it up in a lathe to take the scores out of it.
After some years of running, especially if very hard water has been used to feed the boiler, the feed-water heater will become choked up with sediment, with consequent inability of the pump to feed the boiler. If very bad, a sure sign of this is copious leaking of water past the gland on the pump, even if the Packing and pump ram are in gbod order. When this happens the driver naturally screws his gland up a little more to prevent this leaking, and *hat usually happens then is that the pump gland set-pins shear off through the excessive hack pressure set up.
The 'onlycure for this is thoroughly to clean out the coil by using one part of hydrochloric acid to four parts of water. The best method of doing this is to place the coil in a small tank, its ends facing upwards, pour in as much acid as will go from one end, and then push a cork in at this end. The reaction set up by the acid will make it impossible to fill the coil at once, but after this has stood for two or three minutes thecork should be taken out and more acid added, until it has found its way right through the coil and will have dissolved all the lime. Care should he taken when doing this that the acid does not splash' about.
A Broken Valve-gland Stud. A DRIVER of a 'Yorkshire steam. wagon, " W.H.W.," of Heckmondwike, appears to have had trouble on two separate occasions with broken sum's, which hold the gland of the valve spindle in place.
To extract the broken piece, and to fit a new stud is rather a long job, and en both occasions the wagon was wanted, so he had to improvise some means for overcoming the defect. In fairness to the designer of the wagon, we most say that the breaking of such a stud points, usually, to careless tightening-down, rather than to defective design.
To effect a temporary repair, our correspondent procured a piece of R-in. gas pipe 4 ins. long. Into this he inserted a long screwed stud, and by Passing the pipe over the head of one of the bolts which hold the hush to the crankcase, he was able to get a pressure against the gland. He fitted nuts on each sisle of the gland, as shown, and by turning a nut acting against the pipe he was able to make any adjustment he wished.
In another case he was not fortunate in findimg al bolt head oppositeagainst which he could get an abntment for his improvised stud, so he bent a piece of iron at an angle and bolted it to the inspection cover. In the end of this piece which came opposite the broken stud he drilled a fin. hole into which he screwed a long stud, and by means of a pair of nuts he obtained the necessary pressure to force the gland into its proper place.