HINTS ON MAINTENANCE.
Page 68
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
Adjusting the A.E.C. Water Pump. Improving the Fan on the Tylor Engine. Attending to Steam Wagons. A Maudslay Tip. Fitting Foden Springs.
Taking Up End-play in the A.E.C. Water WHEN the blade edges of the A.E.C. water pump and the face upon which they bear become worn, excessive end-play occurs on the spindle, with the result that the spindle and blades slip outwards and the dogs which drive the pump may come out of engagement.
This trouble can easily be cured by drilling and tap ping a 4in. hole in the cover plate of the pump, this hole being situated to correspond with the end of the pump spindle. A 4-in. grub screw or stud, with its end ease-hardened, and a loeknut to permit adjustment and tightening, will serve to take up the end-play without any difficulty.
A Fan Improvement on the J.B.4 Tylor Engine.
THE automatic spring adjustment regulating the ten
sion on the fan belt of the Tylor S.13.4 engine is a nuisance and causes a lot of unnecessary rattle. One of our readers has found that the best way out of the difficulty is to fix the fan to the pillars by sawing off two old fan-pillar bushes, putting these above the fanbearing casting and tightening the two nuts, making the whole job solid. This will not make any difference to the fan belt, as it will work quite well when moderately slack, but if it becomes too loose a link can be taken out and the belt will then be just about the right tension without altering the bracket in any way.
Attention Required by Steam Wagons.
THE successful use of steam wagons for mechanical
haulage is largely dependent on their efficient maintenance. If possible, each wagon should be laid up at least one day in every twelve to eighteen days; this will allow the boiler to he washed out and any small repairs undertaken. The boiler should be washed out and as much of the scale removed as possible; the inside of the firebox and also the tubes must be thoroughly cleaned by wire brushes. If a small portion of soda ash be added to the water used for filling the boiler the formation of scale will to some extent be retarded.
The driving chain should be cleaned with paraffin and then given a dressing of hot tallow. The injector and feed pump should receive attention; if any valves be leaky, as is quite probable, they should be ground in, if not, steam may leak from the boiler into the feed tank; this will heat the feed water, and as pumps and injectors do not operate so well if the feed be hot, difficulty May be experienced in supplying the boiler. Sometimes spare injectors are kept on hand; in the event of an injector becoming faulty it is simply replaced by a new or repaired one, the faulty one being overhauled when convenient.
Every six weeks the brakes should be adjusted and the boiler tubas should receive attention; if leaky, they should he expanded. The blast pipe Of the exhaust should be cleaned ; if this be dirty, then excessive back 040 pressure will be introduced into the exhaust system of the engine, thus reducing its power.
After 12 or 14 weeks' running, the chassis, wheels and steering gear should be examined and any repairs and adjustments made. If this be done and the average care be exercised in running the wagon, there ought to be no expensive breakdowns at inconvenient times; each wagon should, however, be given a complete overhaul, say, every 12 months.
Quietening the Camshaft Drive on the Mau dslay.
AHAULAgE contractor has written to tell us that
the ball joint on the vertical shaft driving the camshaft of one of his W.D. subsidy-type Maudslay 4tonners began to cause a really serious noise, and he overcame this in the following manner :- He removed the phosphor-bronze ball and retimed the camshaft to bring both fork-ends together. He then procured a piece Of fibre, in. thick, and fitted this inside the circle made by the forks. Next he cut two pieces of Fin, fibre to fit against each of the forks and drilled a hole through the centre of all these parts, bolting them together by a single I-in. bolt.
The only disadvantage of the method is that when the camshaft case has to be lifted it is first necessary to remove the bolt, but we are informed that the difference in the running of the engine is most marked.
Fitting a New Front Spring on a Foden.
AFTER a steam wagon has been in use for a few
years the springs will lose a large amount of their strength. In the case of the front spring on a wagon such as the Foden, it is an easy matter to remove and reassemble an old spring, but difficult to fit a new one. On vehicles equipped with the swivel-jaw type of forecarriage, it is necessary to compress the spring sufficiently to allow the swivel jaw to pass over. the spring, and unless suitable tackle be available, delays are sure to happen.
By means of a simple arrangement consisting of two plates and two i-in, bolts, the fitting of a new spring, no matter how strong, can be accomplished quite easily. The plates and bolls are shown in our sketches.
Place one plate (A) under the axle, insert the bolts through the holes in the plate, place the spring on the axle in its correct position and then the upper plate (A) on the bolts, holding it in this position by means of the nuts. Now draw the swivel jaw over the axle and fit the centre pin. Screw down the nuts of the compressing device until the spring is forced down sufficiently to allow the top pin of the swivel jaw to engage in the recess of the spring clip. Make certain that the nuts are screwed down evenly and test the position of the pin by pushing the jaw towards the top of the spring.