For DRIVERS, MECHANICS FOREMEN.
Page 25
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A PRIZE OP TEN SHILLINGS is awarded each week to the sender of the best letter which we pu,blish on this page. all others are paid for at the rate of a penny a hue, with an allbwance for photographs, All notes are edited before being published. Mention your „employer's name, in confidence, as evidence of good faith, Address, D., M. and F., "The Commercial Intor," 7-15; Rosebery Awitle, London, E.G. 1.
Lamps Alight.
On Saturday, January -17th, light yOur lamps. at 4.50 in London, 4.41 in Edinburgh, 4.390. Newcastle, 4.54 in Liverpool, 4.54in Birmingham,•iit.) in Bristol; nun 5.37 in Dublin.
Fire Making and Keeping.
The sender of the following communication has been awarded the 10s, prize this -Week.
t2,0451 " ILL." (Plaistow) writes :–L" In a recent letter (No. 2,035„ December 2nd, 1919), I described some ot the mistake in steam wagon treatment whiCh usually result in leaky tubes. k should like now .to supplement these by a few hints on the making and keeping 'of, the fire, and on maintaining a proper head ot steam.
" If I am to start at the beginning, the first thing to consider is how to light, the fire, and in view of tile continuous increase in the number of new drivers ode the road, which increase is likely to be maintained for some time to come, I will risk being taken to task as being too elementary, and will explain how I think a fire oughtto be lit.. As a preliminary, make sure that the firebox and its environs are in a C t state to receive a fire. 'Commence-, therefore, by cleaning it out thoroughly, sweeping out the tubes, and raking out the ashpan. Examine the firehars' too, to make sure, that no clinker was left there the night before.
The fire is started, as a rule, with wood and shavings., using a piece of oily waste as a. torch. Let the wood get well. alight before putting on the coal. This is a point which is not generally kept in mind; many drivers fail to realize that there is a great dea of heat in wood, and that there is thus no time, lost by letting the wood burn for a little while before putting on the coal. To get a little extra draught, it is a good plan to have handy an old bucket with the bottom knocked out. This may be fitted over the top of the chimney so as to increase the effective height of the chininey. Additionally, the firehole door may be held open a small amount.
'Once the fire is going properly there is. little to be done to it beyond occasional replenishment, until steam is up, and during the period of steam raising it is usual for the driver to go round the engine and look things over generally. Once upon the road, the important thing is to keep the fire level, of uniform depth, and free from holes. Whenever a hole coin, inences to form; put-a little coal into it and keep it up all the time. Keep the fire well up against the tube plate, So as to protect the tubes. Do not allow it to be made up too well. It paYs.to keep the fire low, consistent with the requirements of good steam: lug being' met. Many drivers seem to think that all is not well unless the boiler is. blowing. off. This is a fallacy. It may be gob(' from the point of view of fast travelling, but it is certainly not economical, and, moreover,it is apt to be dangerous at tithes -owing to the fact that the escaping Steam interferes
with the driver's view of the road. •
"There are times, on the road, when it seems impossible to keep .steam up to the requisite ambunt. In such cases it is net always the fault of the coal or boiler, nor even of the Mate. It 'May quite con eel vably be due to imperfections of the engine itself. Instifficient lubrication' of the. steam 'Cylinders, for example,will result in leakage put the pistons, and haI,e the effect of call-sing the engine to use more Steam than, in rough going, the boiler can provide. Blowing glands, leaky dram taps„ every escape of steam counts against you when you-are needing all
,you can get. There are times, too, when economy
• could be achieved by linking up, as, .for example, -when running-tast on top gear. = Another:-eause di-loss of steam, or poor working of the • boiler, -' and one which is seldom suspected occurs when the exhaust pipe does not point directly up the chitnney it it does not,.. en theexhaust, . instead of 'blo-wing out freely; reboil:Lida' against the side of the tunnel, and 'leSS of draught results 2 In bad 'cases, instead of the eXhauit haying the effect of 'drawing up the fire, it has been known to baire a damping effect. Again, the blower -sonietinie.s-leaks. -Nfany drivers I haVe met' considered this to he a good fault, in view of the fact :that it "helps the .chimney draught. It may be so when the engine is-sta.tionary, but surely not wheti on the road ,and the fire 'subject to the pull .of the exhaust all the tune.
"Finally, when finishing for the day, the driver should make a practice of clinkering Out before he leaves the wagon. A small fire under the tubes is useful, but it should be allowed to die out during the night."
Comments on an Autovac Mystery.
(2,0471 " H.R.')." (Manchester) writes:—" The reading of the occurrence related by A.G.B.' (Enfield)' in your issue for December 9th last has compelled me to thought: and I can only call to mind one case in my experienc.e that Comes anything near to parallel with that of `.A.G.B.'s.' This was during the war. The vehicle was a 2-ton Burford, the driver, of which, making one of his usual stops 'toward the end of a. day, found that he could not re.start, his engine ; so a. request for a tow home was complied with. It fell to my lot the following morning to find out and eliminate the trouble; and, naturally, my attention was first of all to ascertain if there was a. supply of petrol in the tank. Yes, ,plenty. I then proceeded to inspect the carburetter, and, judge of my astonishment, when on lifting the side plate (the Biurfords have not the usual type of bonnet) I found that the engine had the appearance of having been immersed in paraffin: a closer examination revealed the fact that the carburation and ignition systems were in perfect order. I spent a few moments in grinding but in vain; I tried priming from the tank.'but with no better iesults. I then suspected the fuel, and on drawing a supply from the drain cock into a bottle, found that it looked like anything but petrol. I next procured a syringeful of petrol from the tank of a wagon standing in the garage, and priming the Burford with it, had no diffictilty in effecting a start—a. short one, though, for on nci account could I get that engine to run On the Mixture obtained from the 'carburettor. A thorough clean-out of the petrol tank, pipe, and carburetter, a tin of fresh spirit, and our trouble was at an end. A question to the driver elicited the reply that-he had charged his tank with nothing but the usual fuel (wartime petrol), which it oecurs to me is about the only 'grade of spirit that could pass through the exhaust pipe of an I.C.. engine, Whilst running, without becoming ignited.
"As I read A.G.B.'s ' experience and thought of. my own_in the above instance, it certainly seemed to the that the two coincided.
"The Burford trouble I have always attributed to
the presence of • adulterants in the fuel, and their separation from the real spirit owing to their difference of consistency, until finally a very low per-, centage of petrol remained in the tank, in spite of the fact that the dipPingstiek 'tolda good tale."