Garden Railway Forum

I have an Accucraft Caradoc that is in meed of some TLC it was bought second hand and whilst it runs it has some shortcomings. Possibly it has had a hard life and/or lack of maintenance previously. I will list some of the issues below.

The burn time is only 20 minutes. I have changed the gas valve for one of the Train Department finer control valves to see if I can extend the burn time by turning the gas down a little more than previously. There was virtually no control between off and fully on previously.

The burner has always been noisy. I have replaced the gas jet with a Chuffed 2 Bits M5 jet. Now I can't get more than 20 psi on the gauge. Even if I adjust the collar to change the airflow. I would like to replace the burner. When viewed from the open smokebox the flames are seen to the right and below the burner, Not like the flame seen here in Chris Bird's video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l3WNJ-9XL94

Steam has been wisping from the safety valve, even at 10 psi. I will either replace it with a wee bee pop valve, or service the existing safety valve. Water drips a little from the water level check valve when in steam.

Water dripping from the left hand cylinder. The cylinder cover nuts are tight.

Water or oil can be seen round the base of the smoke box accompanied by a popping sound of oil/water being boiled. Not sure where this is coming from. Possibly the steam chest?

Has anyone else come across any of these issues?

Start with the simple ones first.

Safety valve, take if apart and inspect for dirt. Are you able to run the loco on air?

Cylinder, sounds like a gasket. Again, take the cover off and inspect.

Thanks Tom. I propose to tackle one issue at a time. If I change more than one thing at a time it might mean I can't be sure what has improved matters, and what hasn't.