m Drivers &Mechanics
Page 19
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TEN SHILLINGS WEEKLY is paid for the best communication received, and one penny a line of ten words for anything else published, with an allowance for photographs.
Light Up Your Lamps At 9.11 on Thursday ; 9.10 on Friday ; 9.8 on Saturday; 9.6 on Monday ; 9.5 on Tuesday; 9.3 on Wednesday.
Roadside...made Cylinder Lubricator.
The sender of the following communication, has been awarded the 10s. prize this week.
[1647] " A.G." (Rugby) writes :—" On a recent occasion, when driving a steam wagon, carrying a lot of valuable furniture, I had the misfortune to lose the cylinder lubricator. This dropped from the en A temporary lubricator made from gas fittings. gine on to the ground and was immediately crushed to pieces by a rear road wheel. "1 was then well over a hundred miles from home
and had before the commencement f j u o my o rnej
been thoroughly impressed with the importance of my load and the necessity for delivering it at the' earliest possible moment. If I were to wire for a nev lubricator I should probably have to wait at least a, day for it, on the other hand, the engine would not run far without oil, and, in any case, the steam wa escaping through the pipe in the steam chest to which the lubricator was usually attached. "I was able to remedy this latter trouble by the aid of a wheel valve of the correct size which I had the good fortune to discover in my tool kit, but in order to keep going I had, at intervals of every 10 minutes or so, to pour through this valve. "Eventually I had a bright idea. I called at an ironmonger's shop and .purchased two diminishi,ng couplings, these being 3 ins, at one end and -,12 in. at the other. I joined these up by means of a 3 in nipple, screwed one end of the receptacle aunt formed into the wheel valve and put a in. gas,plup into the top end. By filling this little oil tank and regulating the feed of oil by means of the wheel valve, I was able to proceed quite satisfactorily."
Removing Boiler Tubes.
[1648] " (Leicester) writes :—" Drivers who wish to run their steam lorries at as cheap. a rate as possible, will find that one way to accomplish, this end is to effect minor repairs at home, rather than to have the machine returned to the makers. One maintenance job which can be done more frequently by the driver than it is as a rule, is that of cleaning the boiler tubes. I myself have done this. work en my own. wagon for some time, and possiblya, description of my methods may .prove of interest to your tearn-wagon-driver readers. Prepare a bar long nough to go right through the tube and a little over, as stiff as may be consistent with being able to push it inside the tube, and jumped up at one end, also a fairly long drift, equal in diameter to that of the outside of the tube' and turned down for two or three inches of its length to lit the inside thereof. Take off the smoke and fire-box doors and commence operations by knocking out the ferrules with the aid of the long bar aforesaid. Then trim the extremities of the tubes at the fire-box end till they are level with the tube plate. This can very easily be done with the aid of a sharp chisel, but care must be taken not to cut the plate. Fit the special drift into the firebox end of each tube in turn, and it will then be a simple matter, by hammering lightly on the outer end of it, to remove the tubes for cleaning purposes. After withdrawing them all and cleaning them, if they appear to be in good condition, I recommend that they should each be heated to a dull red heat at the fire-box end and the heated part buried in dry ashes, This will have the effect of softening them a little ; a. in. should then be cut off the end of each. Clean the holes in the tube plates and replace the tubes so that they project from the fire-box tube plate 1-16th in. Expand both ends with properly fitting expanders and refit with Food ferrules. No repair shop could make a better job of it."