Contributions from Drivers and Mechanics.
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TEN SHILLINGS WEEKLY for the Best Communication Received, and One Penny a Line of ten words for any
thing else published.
Drivers of conmercial-motor vehic,es and tractors, and mechanics and foremen tf garages or shops, are invited to send short contributions on any subject touch is likely to prove y interest to our readers. Work. shop lips and smart repairs ; long and successful runs ; interesting photographs : all are suitable subjects. Send a post-card, or a letter, or a sketch to us—no matter how short, or how written, or how worded. We will " knock,it into shape" and prepare sketches, where necessary, before puidication. The absence of a sketch does not disqualify for a prize. When writing use one side of the paper only and mention your employer's name as a guarantee of bona fides. Neither your own nor your employer's name will be disclosed. Payment will be made immediately after publication. Address your letters to The Editor, THE COMMERCIAL M0i0R, 7-15, kosebery Avenue, London, E.C.
G.G." (Linton).—The arrangement of poles on the front of a tractor, as suggested by you, is in common use. Aveling and Porter, Ltd., frequently fits such a device to large and small road engines.
A Level Gauge for Carburetter Jets.
The sender of the following communication has been awarded the 10s. prize this week.
[668) " G.S.C." (Slough) writes :—" I send you a description, and a rough sketch, of a gauge which I have found very useful in my work of testing engines. As it is very easily made, I think, perhaps, it might be useful to publish it in the D. and M.' columns of the CM.' I have found by experience that, during both bench and road tests, the level of the petrol in the carburetter has a very considerable bearing upon the size of the jet which should be used for any particular engine, as well as upon its pulling powers and its general efficiency. Unless the level be adjusted very accurately, subsequent bad carburation often leads the fitter to resort to endless alters, tions of the size of the hole in the jet, whereas the fault often lies in the fact that the level is not actually what it appears to be. In order to determine this level with ease and certainty, I made a gauge as shown in the rough sketch attached. [We have had this redrawn.—En.] I took an old-pattern lubricator sight-feed fitting, such as used to be fitted (a dozen or more of them) on old MilnesDaimler chassis, and I removed all the superfluous parts, as shown by the thin lines in the sketch. I next cut off the bottom part of an ordinary jet and sweated it into the remaining portion of the sight-feed fitting. This completed the gauge. To make a test, it was only necessary to remove the jet and to substitute the gauge. The level could then be seen and adjustments could he made by shifting the counterweight collar in the usual manner." [It is invariably a difficult matter to ascertain, solely by the aid of the eye, the exact height at which petrol is standing in the ordinary jet. By a curious coincidence, a description of a similar scheme, although not so ingeniously contrived, reached us from a contributor in Malvern, a few posts after that by which the one from " G.S.C." had arrived.—ED.] A Good Boiler Record.
[669] " OPEN Coerressmx " (Manchester) writes:—" I have been an interested reader of the C.M.' for several years—especially of the pages which are devoted to hints and tips. In recent issues I have been very glad to read the series of able articles on steam boilers, which should prove most instructive to drivers of steam vehicles. amongst others. In this connection, I think I ought to say a few words, with your permission, with regard to the boiler of my 5-ton wagon ; this is one of the original fire-tube pattern. The wagon was built by the Hercules Motor Wagon Co., Ltd., of Levenshulme, Manchester. had considerable difficulty in keeping steam with the first boiler, and I also had some trouble with leaky tubes. Eventually, my employers decided to try another pattern boiler, and a Leyland was fitted. Five years have elapsed since that change was effected, and I can truthfully say that I have had no trouble with the present boiler during the whole of that time. The first lot of tubes %%ere of solid-drawn steel, and these lasted nearly three years. We then fitted steel tubes with copper sleeves drawn over them; that was nearly two years ago. Upon opening up the boiler this week, for waling and cleaning, I made a careful examination, and I found that the tubes were practically as good as new. I feel confident that I shall get another 18 months or twe years of further service out of them. I have actually not had a leaky tube yet. As proof of this, I have a new tube-expander, which was given to me when these tubes were fitted, and I have never had occasion to use it yet! "The method which I adopt for cleaning my boiler may be of interest to some of my fellow readers. I finish work for the week on Friday always; Saturdays I have for cleaning and adjustments. I fill up the boiler to the top, by means of the injector, on Friday night and let it stand until the Saturday. I then remove the wash-out plugs, drain out all the water, and pour in a weak solution of common washing soda, which I allow to stand for an hour or more—while the zest of the machine is being groomed,' in fact. A final swilling with plenty of clean water, and the boiler is in good fettle again. .1 am convinced that this is a better method than the use of so many patent boiler fluids, which, in my opinion, are as bad for a boiler as patent medicines are for the human body."
A Budget of Boiler Tips.
[670] " E.B." (Dartford) writes :—" I am sending you herewith a few hints and tips with regard to the care of boilers for steam wagons and tractors. Some while ago, I experienced a good deal of trouble with leakage at the firehole and the adjoining rivets on a boiler which was in my charge. This particular firehole was rather low down, and, as I had to keep the fire well up to the door in order to make enough steam, the reason for the leakage was apparent. I had a pattern made and an iron casting taken from it. This was of such a shape that it could be placed, as a sort of apron, over the boiler plate where it was subject to such bad conditions. The casting had a flange on it which fitted inside the firehole, to which it was attached by two stout setscrews. The metal was 1 in. thick, and I found that the plate didn't burn away for six months; it completely protected the bottom of the ring and the troublesome rivets.
" Owing to the constant expanding ' which old tubes, as a rule, have undergone, the holes themselves are too large for new tubes when they are put in. In such cases, where only one or two of the new tubes are slack, a strip of copper or brass wrapped round the ends often makes a tight job, but, where the whole of the new set—perhaps
nearly 40—is found to be slack, it is best to make a good job of the replacement by heating all the ends and drifting them out slightly ; this will do no harm if carried out carefully. Care must, of course, be taken not to risk burning the tubes; the drift should be well greased for each tube. The ends should be left to cool and not dipped. "A set of tubes can be made to look a picture,' if the ends be left in. proud of the tube plate, then beaten
over carefully with the pane end of a hammer and finished off with a suitable beading tool which should be about 5-16 in. wide. Tubes thus beaded get a good hold on to the tube plates. Before stay heads are caulked, they should always first be hammered flat on the ends; this lessens the danger of cutting into the plate and makes a tighter job of it. Care should be taken to keep ashpans and damper doors a good snug fit; otherwise, it is difficult to ensure a good regulation of draught."