TIPS FROM STEAM WAGON DRIVERS.
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Interesting and Valuable Suggestions trom our Steam Wagon Driver Readers.
[1 IS ALWAYS difficult to pick the best of a series of letters from drivers of steam wagons. Their communications are nearly always original and of a high standard, besides covering such a variety of topics. 'The steam wagon driver appears to be niece perfectly acquainted with each and every part of hie chassis than is the case as a rule with most petrol-vehicle drivers.
However, this week's 15s. prize should go, we think, to " H.A.B.," of Rotherham, chiefly because of the fact that both of the suggestions which are contained in his letter are, to the best of our recollection, quite original.
One of his suggestions, which is depicted by one of the accompanying illustrations, refers to a lubricator for the regulator valve of a well-known overtype wagon. This valve, as he says, is totally enclosed within the cylinaer casting, being, therefore, comparatively inaccessible, and, in the ordinary way, it is never lubricated from the time that the top cover of that casting is put on until i
it s removed. This circumstance, according to " II.A.B.," is anything bin propitious, and does not produce the best conditions for the working of the valve. For example, he says, it is common-knowledge that if the wagon stands idle foe any unclue length of time a layer of rust completely covers the valve seating, and must considerably depreciate the efficiency of the valve itself.
The lubricator is made from a piece of brass tubing, 11 ins, bore and 2 MS. long ; it is screwed internally at each end, and into one is fitted a base, which itself will screw into a tapped hole in the top cover of the steam cylinder meting. At the other end the screwing is carried some distance into the tube, and the cover is made in one with a small knurled cap arid a substaRtial needle valve, which seats in a V-shaped hole in the base of the lubricator. It is " H.A.B.'s " practice each morning to dose the starting valve and its seat with a liberal quantity of thick oil, using this lubricator for the purpose. The other suggestion which he makes has reference to a means of preventing grit or scale coming from the boiler from entering the cylinder. He effects this object by fitting wire gauze over the hOles in the two nipples which project from the cylinder casting into the boiler. Theft nipples project below the boiler shell about 1-18 in. of that distance; a washer and existing nut take up in., Leaving room for another nut, one side of which is covered with wire gauze, to he screwed tightly into place as shown.. in the sketch.
The same writer sends us an interesting suggestion for improving the efficiency of a boiler by spreading the hot gases more evenly over the interior of its tubes, whilst at the same time lessening the heating and abrasive effects of those gases on the interior of the tubes. He takes a strip of 61-teet, iron the width of which is equal to the bore of the tube ; this is twisted into corkscrew shape and passed down the full length-of the tribe'
ft is held in place in conjunction with a. piece of steel wire, whioh, as shown in the sketch, passes through a small hole drilled in the end of the plate. The same wire will suffice to retain a number of baffle strips.
of Stonehouse, refers to a type of water pump which is commonly fitted to a well-known undertype steam wagon. A by-pass lever is fulorumed upon a brass pin, and frequently, he says, it happens that the pin fits more tightly into the lever than into the bracket; the consequence is that the pin, which is of brass, wears the hole in the bracket, which is also of brass, As it is naturally out of the question to fit a new bracket on account of this wear, resort has to be had to patching, in some form or other, which is not often satisfactory. In his case) he reamered out the holes in the casting until large enough to accommodate two -tightly fitting bushes, into which also the pin was a tight fit ; subsequently any wear took place on the pin, which was easily capable of being renewed.
" R,L.," Of Luton, offers a suggestion to those drivers who may, at any time, find themselves unable to account for a knock which develops in the engine. He has found in such circumstances that it was due to the big-end brasses having worn until they were slack in the forkend of the rod ; once the trouble is discovered, it is an easy matter to remedy it by fitting pieces of sheet metal betweea" the brasses and rod, making the necessary slots in these packings for the passage of the cotter.
On one occasion, he says, he came across a driver in trouble because Ic could not turn off his pump, so that his boiler every now and again received too much water, and the driver was in constant apprehension of trouble from this source. Upon examination, it was discovered that tho plug of the top valve from the pump had recently been trued up in the lathe, and. when refitting it, the mechanic had not noticed that, instead of fitting its tapered bole, it was bedding on the bottom of the casting, leaving a gap all round the plug, along which water could pass when the valve was apparently shut.
Here, again, the difficulty was to find the source of the trouble, and once this was discovered it became an easy matter to think of, and to apply, a remedv, which in this particular case was merely to file a little off the bottom of the plug and grind it in.