| Archive for The Unofficial Mamod and Other Steam Forum The Original Unofficial Toy Steam Forum Established 2006 The biggest, most popular 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. |
| CCairns |
IPS Janet ProjectThis has been an ongoing project which sees a little progress now & then, so as I've got some time available online, I thought I'd introduce you to this project.Being impressed with my IP Jane ( http://modelsteam.myfreeforum.org/about4212.html ) I kept my eye open for another one, but they were quite a rare item on ebay a few years ago. So when the following IP Jane bodywork was listed, I won it thinking that I could use a Mamod to recreate a Jane look-alike. 
However I found that the spectacle plate was not compatible with the rear boiler insert on the Mamod boiler, requiring the spectacle plate to be moved forward to allow the fitting of a safety valve, water top up valve or even the cab mounted regulator. So when a listing appeared for a PPS boiler, plus other bits listed as from a PPS Janet, I beat the competition including tmuir & Graham-Jilly to win this bundle. I also bought some multi height couplings from the same seller. 
The quality of these boilers is not as good as the Cheddar Models one fitted to my IP Jane. If you look at the front end you will see the 2nd hole that has been scored due to bad fitting into the smoke box. When I refurbished this boiler I had to adjust these holes with a file to get the boiler to fit vertically in the smoke box, and I've soldered 6BA brass nuts to the inside front face to give a more positive method of securing it to the smoke box. 
The pipes for the sight glass tube have been misaligned, and the tube that was in there was broken at the top. Thanks to advice from other Forum members I was able to easily cut a new piece of glass tube to fit. I've left the 2 bolts out of the extra boiler inserts until I decide which side to mount a pressure gauge. The rolling chassis was described as from a PPS Janet, but I think part, if not all, of it comes from an IP Jane, as it has the earlier IP Eng wheels with the holes around the inside face. One of these wheel sets was out of gauge (just like 1 on my Jane) so this was punched out to the right size. They came with Mamod coupling rods but no clips. I've found out that these are 3.2mm e-clips (not circlips) and are difficult to get in small quantities. I got some off ebay, but a radio control buggy/car shop may be your best source (none of the traders at the recent Merstham Model Steam show had any available). 
I've obtained a reverser/regulator valve from Dream Steam to fit to this loco, but that is currently in my SL3. A fellow steam enthusiast was kind enough to donate a beat up Mamod combustion chamber, and this is being modified to fit. However I've been soldering up the tack welding that has failed on the flaps at each end, but now wonder if the plumbers solder I've been using will be strong enough to hold up whilst heating the boiler using a gas burner? 
The PPS bundle included a horizontal gas tank, pipe & jet for a ceramic gas burner. But I need to get a burner for this at some point. 
The bundle also came with a Mamod smoke box & loose chimney, and I'm currently considering whether to have a balloon 
or straight chimney fitted. I've obtained a front buffer plate from alan2525 from his IP Jane. 
I've also obtained a Roundhouse lubricator to fit, but this will need the pipe work adjusting, and I'll need to get another gas torch as my butane one does not want to melt some silver solder I got on Mooseman's recommendation from ebay. Here is an earlier photo of a practice fit before I started refurbishing the boiler, etc. 
And the name IPS Janet comes from combining IP Jane & PPS Janet as it has components from both of these locos. Thanks for looking at this posting. I'll update it when there is some more progress. |
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| Graham-Jilly |
thats looking great Chris cant wait to see it finished and running 
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| pauly |
thats an amazing little loco you have built there 
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| seven.mpd |
Nice work ! | ||
| alan2525 |
The problem with the Roundhouse inline lubricator is that it's a little different from the one used on the IP Jane.
The Roundhouse one has the steam pipe perpendicular to the drain screw on the bottom, the IP one has the drain screw at 45 degrees to the steam pipe. I tried to fit a Roundhouse one to my Jane but in order to get the drain to poke out from under the tank there's no way of routing the pipework and still being able to fit it unobtrusively between the boiler and the cab side in the corner at the front of the cab. It'd be neater to drill the side of the cab and have the drain screw on the side of the cab, although personally I'm rather loathed to drill and modify something unless it's really tatty to begin with. Also the steam pipe on the Roundhouse lubricator is very short so you'll need to add another union nut, which all eats up into the tiny amount of space in the cab! |
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| CCairns |
I agree that it is not the best fit, but I think with some dab pipe bending the Roundhouse lubricator will fit.
I need to shorten the pipe which will connect the regulator output to the lubricator, so this will need the end cutting off, pipe annealing and bent with a scrap drive band inside to prevent kinking, and a new nipple fitted. The problem will be where to have the union nut fitted in the cab on the lubricator out pipe, but as this steam pipe actually goes down the right hand side of the combustion chamber and not between the chassis frames, I think it will fit - just! I'm not really worried where the drain screw ends up as I use the syringe & needle technique, but I think it should come out under the right side tank (it is also shorter that the IP Jane one). Not the same loco, but if you look at 4th photo in Graham's posting you will see how he fitted one to his MSS 'Marvin' with a meths burner as well - http://modelsteam.myfreeforum.org/ftopic4138-0-asc-0.php |
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| alan2525 |
That's how I did it with the Roundhouse Lubricator on my Jane, I figured it'd be much easier to have the drain facing towards the cab opening but after I'd soldered it all up realised it would foul the gas tank, on my Loco the lubricator, gas tank and pressure gauge are all on the right side of the cab, leaving a little space free for a driver figure to go on the left! |
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| CCairns |
I'm using a horizontal gas tank, so it will need to be a 'legless' driver if I fit one! | ||
| CCairns |
As pointed out by alan2525 the pipe work on the Roundhouse lubricator is at a different angle to the one that IP Eng used on the IP Jane.
So after annealing the pipes I have managed to get it to sort of fit. 
As you can see with the horizontal gas tank it is all a very tight fit in the cab! I've still to finish soldering up the combustion chamber, and the other end of the pipe coming out of the lubricator will need to be shortened as well to allow a proper fit to the steam pipe going forward to the reverser/regulator at the front. And those nipples will need silver soldering up on the lubricator after pipes have been finally trimmed. |
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| rangerssteamtoys |
Looks like its coming together, that butane tank is very close to the boiler/fire. I would be worried But I have never used a butane burner.
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| CCairns |
If you look at the IP Jane photo (the dark red one) further up in this posting you can see the burner between the chassis frames and the pipe which goes to a vertical gas tank on that one.
As long as you do not fill up these tanks near a naked flame (been there done that whilst running 2 locos - nice smell of barbecued hairs on my hand after that one!), leave the tank to heat up to normal room temperature then light up by using a naked flame on top of the boiler as you turn on the gas then no problems. Only problem I've heard of was people not using the gas tanks properly on the Accucraft Garratt. Lead to at least one explosion before there was a safety recall.
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| alan2525 |
The burner is a reasonable distance away from the gas tank, just make sure you don't use the nozzle and pipework from a PPS Burner with an IP Burner, they are slightly different diameters and you get an impressive orange fireball in the cab... | ||
| CCairns |
I presume you are speaking from experience.
I would have thought if you are using a burner which works on the Davy Lamp principle then no blow back would occur. Where do you light up this burner, as I apply my naked flame to the top of the boiler and then turn on the gas? Same method works with the Merlin Gas burner. These incompatibilities are really annoying, particularly when IP Eng & PPS used to share common manufacturers for their upgrades (e.g. my IP Jane is actually fitted with a PPS reverser/regulator valve), and sell each others products. They actually both used the same photo of a modified Mamod to promote their upgrades, although the IP Eng one has now disappeared with the sell out to Dream Steam. |
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| tmuir |
I missed this post before.
Bit of a Frankenstein that one, but in a good way. Looks like it will be a nice engine once it's all finished. |
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| CCairns |
Actually it is pretty close to what you would get in a PPS Janet. I do not like the fit of the PPS boiler as the sight glass tube actually touches the body work at the side (Cheddar Models boiler better proportioned) , and as you can see the horizontal gas tank is actually wedged between the sight glass tube and the cab back. Only real Frankenstein piece is the Mamod combustion chamber. It was provided free by a former Forum member, but was beat up & most of the tack welding had failed. It also has a twist which I've been unable to completely straighten (the one used in the IP Jane/PPS Janet has different wings between the chassis frames as they do not use a solid fuel burner). Unfortunately in the IP Jane/PPS Janet the open cab means there is nowhere to mount the rear of the combustion chamber like the old style Mamod or MSS equivalent, so it just sits under the boiler. |
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| tmuir |
Hope you didn't take offence. I simply meant you have managed to put together a pretty good looking loco from basically spare parts and bits of other dead engines, which has got to be half the fun.
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| CCairns |
It is OK Tony. I knew what you were meaning but just pointing out that most of the components are actually as used in the PPS Janet, as it uses the old style Mamod/MSS smoke box & chimney as well. Will need to wait a while whilst I try out silver soldering. Odilon's great video will help there. |
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| tmuir |
Haven't watched his vid yet but most important things with silver soldering is, have the item clean, fluxed with the correct fluxed, big enough torch for the item and ensure all soft solder is gone first.
Helps if you have a brazing hearth to help reflect the lost heat back on the item if its big what you are soldering too. |
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| CCairns |
Yes I've just got a soldering hearth off ebay, and I already have some of the easy flo silver solder & flux that Odilon recommended. Just need to find some of those 1/8" pipe nipples to fit to the lubricator pipes. | ||
| Les |
Try Polly Engineering. |
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| alan2525 |
I actually find silver soldering is easier than soft soldering. I use a Bernzomatic torch with a piezio ignition and the larger cans of Propane. I've also got some of the thinner Easyflo silver solder, 0.8mm diameter. As it's so thin it doesn't take a huge amount of heat to melt it and as long as the part is hot, i.e. the flux starts to look glassy and flows then it's easy. It's good for small steam fittings and little sheet brass brackets etc. For soldering up boilers I'd use the larger sticks of Easyflo solder. As it'd be a real trial trying to rod the thinner stuff in fast enough! The nice thing about silver soldering is that more heat is required so it's easier to solder without melting all of the other solder joints you've already done at the same time. |
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| Graham-Jilly |
i use a couple of clay pavers to silver solder on and cheaper too
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