It's been a while, time for an update.
I fitted new commercial clack valves to the boiler back in August after one of them kept sticking open (after the last failed steaming I discovered that the ball valve in one of them had been sucked into the boiler). When I took apart the other valve I discovered the builder had fitted nitrile balls rather than stainless steel. There are various debates over recommended types of balls used in valves, however, I decided I wanted stainless steel.
Here are the new valves fitted:
I tested them soon after and had the engine in steam for a hour in the garden with the axle pump and injector taking turns filling the boiler with water (they use separate clack valves so this gave each one a proper test to prove they would be reliable).
I have not been able to get to my ME club this year to run the engine and with recent restrictions now in place due to the Coronavirus the club has to closed again to members. I decided as I will not get to run the loco for the foreseeable future that it would be a good time to take the engine apart and paint the chassis so it is ready for next year when hopefully I can get her on the club track again.
Painting is not something I enjoy and I admit I have been putting this off, however, with Nomis posting about his 7 1/4" gauge Wren 'Jynn' build and how he went about painting her it gave me a push to try hand painting my engine instead of using rattle cans (I like the idea of having to do little prep work and painting inside a warm workshop).
So to begin, I had to disconnect all the various pipe work and remove the saddle tank and boiler:
Which left me with this:
A view of the majority of the pipework (that horrible bend to the left side of the picture on the water pipe for the hand pump/axle pump was my first attempt before I bought some fire bricks and learnt to anneal pipes properly, I am going to redo before putting the loco back together):
Smokebox removed and deciding what needs to be taken apart next (notice the orange stuff around the cylinders):
Closer inspection revealed it was gasket sealant, however, the cylinders are already fitted with thick gaskets to reduce heat loss into the chassis so I guess the use of sealant was just a belt and braces approach:
Scraping it off was not getting me anywhere and I didn't want to remove the cylinders so I read that paint stripper works well if left on for a while and sure enough it faked off very easily, result!
I managed to remove all the wheels and motion complete which was another result (notice I have written 'FRONT' on the piece of wood, I just need to remember that I removed this with the chassis upside down!)
And here we are ready for cleaning and painting:
I was able to do all the man handling of the chassis on my own as without the boiler it is just about manageable (the hydraulic lifting table earning its keep here!)
5" gauge 0-6-0 Sweet Pea
- tom_tom_go
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Re: 5" gauge 0-6-0 Sweet Pea
I don't have any useful advice: I just wanted to wish you good luck with it and may you have patience until the project is successful and satisfactory.
I, too, absolutely loathe painting. Especially metal.
May the force be with you.
I, too, absolutely loathe painting. Especially metal.
May the force be with you.
Re: 5" gauge 0-6-0 Sweet Pea
Interesting that the nitrile ball got sucked in towards the boiler...
I have tried to get into the habit of opening all steam valves slightly after blowing down - mostly to stop them from jamming as the cool - but it also stops a vacuum forming in the boiler.
Good luck with the painting. I didn't have to deal with any oily bits as my engine was a new-build. Might be worth experimenting with some different de-greasers to avoid trouble later?
I may have used petrol for degreasing before paint in the past (not really recommended for safety reasons - but it does work), although I have seen others say that modern additives can leave a residue that may affect paint.
I have tried to get into the habit of opening all steam valves slightly after blowing down - mostly to stop them from jamming as the cool - but it also stops a vacuum forming in the boiler.
Good luck with the painting. I didn't have to deal with any oily bits as my engine was a new-build. Might be worth experimenting with some different de-greasers to avoid trouble later?
I may have used petrol for degreasing before paint in the past (not really recommended for safety reasons - but it does work), although I have seen others say that modern additives can leave a residue that may affect paint.
- tom_tom_go
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- Location: Kent, UK
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Re: 5" gauge 0-6-0 Sweet Pea
Thanks Keith!
- tom_tom_go
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Re: 5" gauge 0-6-0 Sweet Pea
I have followed the same ritual since owning the loco and leave all valves open when not in use.
Degreasing wise, I am going to use Isopropanol (because I have some) but given it's highly flammable I am waiting for a day one weekend when it is not raining so I can take the chassis outside to clean. I have a cleaning gun for my air compressor so I might give that a go or just use a cloth and then air clean the chassis afterwards.
My issue now is what colours to choose. There is a huge choice of RAL colours on offer. As I want the loco to have a used look I was thinking RAL9004 signal black for the frames and RAL3020 buffer beam red for the buffer beams? (satin paint):
https://paintersworld.co.uk/7300-combic ... al-paint-1
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