Sunday - The Merlin Mayflower would raise steam, but struggled to move. We trundled back and forth a bit, but there wasn't any power, and the loco ran out of puff pretty quickly.
I noticed that the drain plug on the lubricator was spewing out a watery oil mix. It's always been a weepy loco, but now things were getting messy. I wondered if that was where all my pressure was going.
Monday - Thinking that there bolt needed an O-ring on the back, I searched the local stores. Halfrods sold me something that was close, but nowhere near close enough in size.
So, I make a hole in a bit of Daler board, put it over the bolt, and tightened it up. Things felt good, so it was back to the track for a test.
Result - it worked!
No more goo dribbling out of the lubricator, although the card gradually soaked up oil and became discloured. The loco was back to its free-steaming best. After a few circuits, I had the regulator barely cracked open as any more and the thing would run like a rocket.
So, the next job is to stock up on proper O-rings. Something else for the travelling toolbox.
2 comments:
Hi Phil - good to chat on Saturday morning. I'd recommend a fibre washer for the lubricator filler rather than an O-ring as O-rings don't always enjoy being repeatedly squashed. Adrian J
This is true. There's no chamfer around the screw hole for an O-ring, so some fibre washers (I'm told these were what would have been used) are on order.
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