SUGGESTIONS FOR STEAM WAGON OPERATORS.
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Hints Given by Our Driver and Mechanic Readers.
"EIOR the following two tips suggested by "A.W.," of Dewsbury, this week's prize of 15s. is awarded:— Our contributor is thinking of the Yorkshire wagon in particular, but the principle of the device for preventing the loss of flywheel keys should be applicable to many other makes of vehicle. In
order to stop the'keys working out in an endwise direction excessive force is frequently applied with a hammer which makes removal a difficult task when it becomes necessary. "A.W." drilled the crankshaft with a fin. tapping hole, applied the necessary tap and fitted a retaining plate by means of a setscrew which has to be removed before the keys can be withdrawn.
Measuring a brake lining to fit on a circular band or pair of shoos is not easily accomplished, as a straight-edged rule cannot be applied. "A.W.'s" idea is to make a metal disc and lit it into a handle which has a forked end. By running the disc, which has one mark Made upon it, along the band or shoes, the number of revolutions can be counted and a similar distance traversed along the new lining, thus enabling the correct length to be cut off for fixing to the brakes. UNLESS the regulator valve is a good
fit upon its seat steam will leak through to the engine and it will be necessary for the brakes to be applied hard in order to keep the wagon stationary. " A.W.," of Dewsbury, points out that valve grinding can be accomplished on the Yorkshire wagon quite simply, and the regulator may be ground in on the boiler with an ordinary brace, as the guides on the valve seat keep it rigid and in correct alignment. To extract the valve seat an ordinary square key, having a rather long shank, is usually satisfactory.
In connection with the Yorkshire wagon " A.IV." emphasizes the necessity for the correct grade of lubricant to be used in the engine. Toe thick an oil faits to reach the cress-head guides when cold, which causes excessive wear and loss of power until such time as the oil has warmed up sufficiently to be splashed about easily.
IT is stated by "J.H.B.," of Marking ton, that the breaking of the nipples on the end of the water feedpipe from the water filter box to the injector on old type Foden wagons is a constant trouble, caused by the vibration of the boiler within the frame of the wagon. A scheme which he has found to be of service is to cut away an inch of the pipe midway in its length, and to make up the missing portion by means of a short piece of i-in, diameter garden hose piping; this provides the necessary degree of flexibility.
ACCORDING to " P.Er." many drivers attempt to grind-in some of the valves on their Sentinel wagons when leakage occurs, and obtain unsatisfactory results. The best method, our correspondent claims, is to remove the handle on the valve spindle—it is usually a tight fit—and then to screw the spindle through the valve seat until it comes away. The valve face and the seating should be skimmed up' in a. lathe in order to obtain good contact over the whole of each face.
THE fusible plug in a firebox often
• becomes rusted into position and it cannot be moved without the aid of a chisel, which means that it is split, and the broken shell often lodges on the top of the firebox where it is difficult Of access in addition to upsetting the flew of water around the new plug.
of London, N.16, uses a tool which may be briefly described as a handle for lifting out the split shell of the plug when the closing up has been accomplished. A piece of +-in. iron rod is screwed at one end and bent at right angles; a washer, of almost the same external diameter as that of the plug, is tapped to fit on to the threaded end of the rod and fixed by a nut. The rod is passed through the hole which has been drilled in the splitfplug via the filling-up plug on the boiler. which is nsuallY in an approximately direct line with the top of the firebox. The washer anti nut are then placed in position and, according to " by careful manipulation of the tool, the nipped shell of the fusible plug can be lifted up and out through the filling-up plug.
THE short length of trailing chain provided by steam wagon manufacturers to give an earth for the electric current generated when the safety valve blows off is, according to " J.P.," of Warrington, apt to wear by dragging along the ground, and be describes a device which he has rigged up on his own wagon to overcome this trouble.
A bracket was fitted to the exhaust joint stud on the engine base, and to which the earth chain is nimally
coupled. On this bracket was mounted an arm, the longer portion of which was 12 ins. long, I. in. deep and in thick. The other end of the arm was 6 ins, in length, and supported two lead weights of 1 lb. each, which balanced the chain mounted at the extremity of the long arm. Stranded-wire cable coupled the short arm to the drain-valve wire, so that when the wagon stopped and the drain valve was open it dropped the earth chain; in this way the chain was only in contact with the ground when the wagon was stationary.