Lamps Alight.
Page 21
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Light your lamps at 9.52 in London; 11.3 in Edinburgh, 10.20 in Newcastle, 10.15 in Liverpool, 10.4 in Birmingham, 10.1 in Bristol, and 10.58 in Dublin, A Repair to a Grooved Pump Spindle.
The sender of the following communication has been awarded the las. prize this week. , [1752] "JAI." (Leyland) writes :—" We had frequent trouble with a water pump on a chassis which is in my charge, the main difficulty being leakage from the gland surrounding the driving shaft. In spite of frequent repacking, this did not seem to improve. Eventually I took the pump to pieces and discovered that, owing to someone having previously packed it too tightly, several deep circumferential grooves were worn in the spindle, which grooves rendered it quite impossible for it to be packed and made leakproof. I had not the facilities for quickly making a new shaft, partly because it was not an ordinary, straightforward job, having the driving jaw in one. piece in the 'spindle. To turn it down meant rebushing the pump, which, also, as it happens was inconvenient. Eventually I decided to reverie the usual order-of things and hush the spindle, reboring the pump bushes and gland. "I first.of all skimmed the shaft down to as small a diameter as I conveniently coulcLwithout adversely affecting the tapered portion upon which the pump impeller was secured. I then bored out an old. spring bush, making it a tight fit over the shaft and cutting it of such a length that it did not interfere with the positioning or eventual tightening of the impeller upon the tapered end of the shaft. The outside of this bush was then trued up to a standard drill size. I was thus enabled to bore out the pump gland and • bush by means of an ordinary drill. In order to guard against the tool tearing the brass, I first of all ground it to a very obtuse angle; as shown in the • sketch [We have baci this redrawn and reproduce it herewith.—En.l. I also plugged the holes with lead."
An Unusual Difficulty with a Firebox Crown Plate.
[1753] "L.C." (Leeds) writes recently had a
great deal of trouble in connection with the crown plate of a firebox on a steam wagon. The difficulty was that of persistent leakage through the screwed hole into which was fitted the fusible plug. After one or two ineffectual attempts to remedy this state of affairs, I eventually decided to make a thorough examination to see if I could get at the bottom of tho'matter. To my surprise I found that the metal. of the-crown.phite,round thescrewed hole was badly corroded, so that for about 111in. diameter it was no more than half, its normal thickness. It should be remarked that apartifrom this unexpected difficulty,. the firebox crown Was in a very good state of repair, and I was for a time somewhat at a loss as to how to proceed so as to guard against further, leakage, a§ well as against the possibility of this portion of the crown being blown out. Finally, I hit upon &method, and it occurs to me that a difficulty 1,n connection with one wagon may.:-crop up again with another of similar design. I therefore have no dcubt that a description of the repair as carried out in this case will appeal to your-readers. " I drilled out the whole of the corroded piece of metal, and then discovered that I could fill this by means of a plug screwed outside eqnal to 1-3/4in. gas thread. I procured a suitable; piece of bar steel long enough for a hexagon bead,-a screwed shank of 11 in, gas, which must pass through the crown plate, a, lock nut and a washer. I turned the piece of steel up so as to fulfil these conditions and then bored. and tapped it for the fusible plug. Screwed in place,. locked, and the Via nut hacked by a copper washer, it proved to be a permanent, successful and sound repair."