Archive for The Unofficial Mamod and Other Steam Forum The Original Unofficial Toy Steam Forum Established 2006 The biggest, most popular global steam forum around! Accept NO imitations! We have a growing community of regular posting members who chat about all aspects of toy and model steam.          The Unofficial Mamod and Other Steam Forum Forum Index -> Meet the members! harman5 Hi all Hi from Oz! Only discovered this forum recently after I (re?) discovered live 'toy' steam.   Picked up my very first steamer - a Wilesco D365 Steam roller about two weeks ago and have been having no end of fun with it. One of the first things I did when I got it was put some silver masking tape over the rolling surfaces (the wheels) to protect the finish - back wheels immediately and the front rollers later. I'm using ESBIT solid fuel tablets and they seem to be doing the job fairly well - just been working on fine-tuning its running by use of the burner slide. Had some troubles finding 'proper' distilled water locally for the boiler though (and I'm a stickler when it comes to these things haha) but I'm glad that issue has been sorted. Anyway, here's my first video of the D365 running 'topless'  - I decided to lose the roof for a little while today just to see what it would look like... So far it has just over 2 litres of water through it. And here's a pic from a week or so before (tape is only on the rear wheels in this pic...) I must say I've been bitten good and hard by the 'steam bug' now. I've always been fascinated by steam engines since I was a young lad (not much older now   ) and I'm glad I got into this when I did. Next on the list is the D405 Steam Tractor...maybe with some of those rubber tyres from the Forest Classics folks...mmm... Anyway, think I've written too much already! Thanks for reading! Regards, Harman MooseMan Hi, welcome to the forum and to the hobby from rain-soaked South Wales, UK! Lovely engine - the silver masking tape looks the part, great idea! tmuir Hi, welcome to the forum from a fellow Australian Les Hi and welcome from a very wet Bournemouth, be prepared though as you will find this hobby the most addictive and the quickest way to empty your wallet.     Wallace Hi and Welcome from another Aussie   Nice engine. Toysteam is very addictive   johnreid Welcome from Indiana USA Graham-Jilly another welcome from some more aussies Roly Williams Hi and welcome. That idea with the silver tape is a good one. It looks far better than the rubber ones for a roller. ozsteamdemon hi and welcome , i`m sure you`ll like it here Alf That's a very nice roller. I wish I had one as I've always liked Wilesco mobiles, especially the Old Smoky. IndianaRog Hi Harmon and welcome from another Indiana, USA steamer.  I only own two Wilescos and one is the Old Smoky...great enjoyment for sure. I like your silver tape idea...looks like what we call Duct Tape and as Roly said, looks better than rubber on a roller. cheers, Roger Steve_S Hello Harman, and welcome to the forum! That's a very nice roller... I've always liked those. Andy hi and welcome to the forum. I can't say that i have ever used distilled water, just normal tap water. (or is that distilled) i am sure will correct me upon this. Nick from Minnesota, USA! James Welcome to the forum from Lincolnshire - best place in the world. That's a great story and a real tidy Wilesco roller! Brilliant! scorpion2nz it must be one hell of a Virus (Steam bug) and it seems to be world wide  and very catching  as there appear to be new victims all the time and now that you have it Welcome to the club from New Zealand main symptoms appear to be empty wallet and big parcel s in the post and lots of time spent lighting matches cheers Kritika Hi and a big:welcome: from the very wet and windy South of England Roly Williams Andy wrote: hi and welcome to the forum. I can't say that i have ever used distilled water, just normal tap water. (or is that distilled) i am sure will correct me upon this. No, tap water is not distilled but it might still be ok. Tap water varies a lot in different areas. If your tap water is "soft" then it's OK for boilers. If it's "hard" then you shouldn't use it. Basically, if your kettle gets furred up inside then your boiler will do the same. Some free sources of distilled water are: rain water the water collected from a de-huminifier or air-con water collected when de-frosting the fridge or freezer In all these cases it's a good idea to filter the water first. Opinions differ about "de-ionised" water. Some say that it can weaken soldered joints. I used to use it and had no problems, but I now have a de-humidifier so I use the water from that to be on the safe side (it's also free.) Roly Williams scorpion2nz wrote: it must be one hell of a Virus (Steam bug) and it seems to be world wide  and very catching  as there appear to be new victims all the time and now that you have it Welcome to the club from New Zealand main symptoms appear to be empty wallet and big parcel s in the post and lots of time spent lighting matches cheers Brasso under the finger nails is another sure symptom. There's no known cure except, possibly, bankruptcy (even that's debateable). An unco-operative spouse or parent can help control the symptoms (or encourages you to hide them).   yellow_jr New Member scalex A big welcome from sunny Nelson in New Zealand mogogear Always room for another....Addict!! hello from Portland Oregon.. on the "left" coast of the US harman5 Thanks for the warm welcome Gents, With regards to distilled water, I was so surprised at how difficult it was to obtain proper 'distilled' water locally (Perth, Australia) and most the stores only had de-mineralised or de-ionised water (same thing according to Wikipedia) which I've also heard causes problems with solder in the boilers over time so I've stayed away from that. In the end, we (read: my fiancee  ) found a manufacturer of distilled drinking water which is sold in most stores around here for quite cheap. Here's the link: http://refreshwater.com.au/about.html - apparently they sell their water to the historical steam society around here, too. Just thought it'd be useful for others. Thanks for the kind comments guys - and I can definitely feel my wallet getting lighter already hehe - at least next payday isn't far away...   Regards, Harman DLR welcome to the forum. Wilescos are good models and very easy to mod Sandman A big Scottish welcome to the forum. Look forward to chatting steam with you.   xlchainsaw a big welcome from liz and glenn brisbane australia. steamgranny You seem to be off to a good start            The Unofficial Mamod and Other Steam Forum Forum Index -> Meet the members! Page 1 of 1