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Contributions from Drivers and Mechanics.

24th December 1908
Page 18
Page 18, 24th December 1908 — Contributions from Drivers and Mechanics.
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Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

Ten Shillings Weekly for the Best Communication Received, and One Penny a Lii of ten words for anything else published.

Drivers of commercial motors, and mechanics and foremen of garages or shops, who are engaged in any branch of the indust are invitcd to contribute short, personal experiences, opinions or suggestions, on subjects which are likely to prove of interest to o readers. We shall be glad to hear of anything in (nesting that has come under any driver's or mechanic's notice, either in the slu or on the road. Long and successful runs ; services with it, "lost journeys" ; workshop tips and smart repairs ; all are sulk subjects. Send a pokt card, or a lelter, or a sketch to us—no matter how short, or how written, or how worded. We will "knock int,' shape" before publication. 1-Yhen writing it is as well to mention your employer's name as a guarantee of bona fides (i for publication), and to state whether you wish ylnir own name, or initials only, to be published. Payment will be made intmediat after publication. Address your totters to The Editor," THE COMMERCIAL. MOTOR," 7-15, Rosebery Avenue, London, E.C.

An Unusual Steam-engine Failure and Its Remedy.

The sender of the following communication lens been awarded the cos. prize this week.

[47o] We have received the following letter from a correspondent who signs himself J.D.K." (Woking). He describes a rather unusual cause of failure in the engine of a steam tractor. " A short time ago I was sent out to inspect a steam tractor which had broken down on the road. When I arrived on the scene, the driver told me that the engine would run " light " satisfactorily, but with the load attached he could get no pull out of the machine. After a preliminary look round, I removed the covers from the cylinder and steam chest, disconnected the piston and slide valve, and 1 thought, when I discovered that one of the piston rings was broken into several pieces, that I had located the whole cause of the trouble. The other piston ring was slack in the cylinder and the slide-valve face was not in good condition, but I found that the ends of the hole through which the valve rod passed had worn to the shape of the nuts, as there had been no washers placed on the rod between the nuts and the valve. I thought the best thing to do was to take the piston and valve back to the shop; and there to have two new rings turned and fitted, and the ends of the valve machined square, so that they would take washers between the nuts and the valves. As soon as this was all fixed up, I went back to the engine, fitted the rings, reset the valve, made the joint, and boxed it all up again. We then got up steam to see that all was in order, but, to my great surprise, I found that the steam was going straight up the exhaust when the piston was at the back end of the cylinder ; curiously enough this was not the case when the piston was at the front end of the cylinder. I again took off the steam-chest cover, and carefully examined the walls of the back port, and I then made the discovery that by holding a candle in the exhaust port I could see a light from it in the back steam port. As a matter of fact, there was a hole about two inches long and from to ft inch in width through the wall. It was evident that a patch of some description would have to be made, and I therefore again went back to the shop, and had two pieces of plate made about two inches wide and four inches long, with a hole in each, and I also procured a ft-inch stud about two

inches long and screwed through its length. These pt I brought with me, together with some' mangansite.' WI I got back to the job, 1 made room through the wall of port for the stud to go through easily, and I then softe the ' mangansite ' in hot water, and made it up to about consistency of red lead. I then put some on each side of wall round the hole, and placed the plates on to the St and screwed the whole lot up tightly by means of the nt I next reset the valve,remade the joint, and put on cover. After I had raised steam again, I found everyth was O.K., but, in order to make sure I had made a g joint between the plates and the wall, after I had run engine for a while, I again took the cover off and exami the joint after the steam had been on it. Everything , quite in order, and 1 coupled all up again, and the pt which I made in this way has been working under pressure quite satisfactorily for over two months."

More About Fusible Plugs.

1_4711 We have received a large number of letters on subject of the suggested type of improved fusible plug wl emanated from our correspondent " W.J.R." (Cam Town), and which we published on the 5th November. these we have selected the following example, whicl signed `1 W.11.13." (Leeds), for publication.—" With la cnce to the correspondence which has been going on in D. and M.' columns of Tim COMMERCIAL MOTOR recet with regard to a suggested new type of fusible plui have read altogether five different reports. I do not a; with the use of oak as a plug, as suggested by ' W. neither do I agree with ` W.J.R.' when he states that f the time when the plug in the boiler has dropped to the when he was able to re-light his tire was thirty mint The riveting of lead from the crown of the box does appeal to me either. When the plug in a fire-box drop will take the driver at least 34 hours to replace it and to steam again, presuming that he has another plug with 1 A plug which has never been taken out for four or five w is not liable to fall out, and oftentimes it takes a great of getting out. A driver is not going to stick his head a fire-box until it cools down, and it is in circumstances these that such things as half-inch screws are used tc up the plug, when, as a matter of fact, a little -delay w have enabled the driver to make a good job of the rep ment. Personally, I always carry one or two full p with me on the wagon, and I never have to take the pan down, or to remove the bars to enable me to get troublesome plug. Providing that a driver takes the out every week when he washes out his boiler, and tht cleans the scale from the top of it, he should seldom ex ence the dropping of a plug. I have only dropped during the eight years of my experience, as I have all made a practice of removing the plug when I wash ou also always carry a short, ft-inch box spanner, which fit plug. The spanner is about one foot long, and I use a ra lever to rotate it, and in this way I am able to rernov4 plug quite easily through the fire-doors. I do us remove the plug with my fingers, as I do not beliel

tightening it up too securely. I do not consider that thing better will he found than the old type of taper I plug, with a half-inch taper tap put through it to ac moclate the lead. I, of course, agree with the driver allows his boiler to cool down properly before he agair with cold water, Neglect to do this is the cause of r a leaky tube."

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Locations: Cam Town, Leeds, London

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