Fitting an IP Eng Lubricator to an old style Mamod or an MSS

CCairns

I appreciate that this subject has been posted before, but it had some very poor out of focus & dark photos, and only showed you the lubricator fully fitted.

So as I'm fitting one of these lubricators to an SL1K, together with the 'O' ring pistons, then here is a fully illustrated guide to fitting one of these lubricators.

Firstly the lubricators came pre-bent, but they still require further bending to fit properly.

It is a pity that they were not supplied fully bent, but maybe that's something for Dream Steam to consider. It needs to be bent again just at the bottom of the first bend, so that it will go through the cut out in the chassis frame at the front of the combustion chamber, and then further bent to align the T piece with the steam in port on the regulator/reverser valve. By removing the wheels, steam pipe & 1 chassis frame from an incomplete SL3, you can see this clearer.

Here is what the final shape of the lubricator looks like.

The steam pipe will need shortening by about 22mm (shortened pipe uppermost).

And here is how this shortened pipe & lubricator fit.

As was previously posted, the T piece portion of the lubricator can foul the cylinder pivot screw and the regulator/reverser valve pivot screw as well.

In this photo my regulator pivot screw has been modified with the addition of a 2nd spring & washers.

So some filing down of the T piece in these areas should ensure no interference with these pivot screws.

I would also recommend soldering up the steam pipe into the T piece to prevent another possible source of steam leaks.

What you are not told in the instructions, and I only found out from advice from another Yahoo group, is that you need to prime the steam pipe coming into the lubricator with steam oil.

In use I've found that these lubricators do not use much oil, compared to the Roundhouse lubricator that other owners fit, but as it is operating at a lower pressure this low rate of oil seems to be enough. Only long term experience will tell.

Thanks for looking. I trust it may be useful to you, and please feel free to post any further observations or questions about these lubricators.

Graham-Jilly

thanks again Chris for a very informative post. I always enjoy reading.

steamyjim

Very useful guide Chris!

tmuir

Nicely explained and good photos.
I will add if you solder the steam pipe into the lubricator be careful not to get it too hot as it has an 'O' ring inside it and you will cook it.
I learnt this the hard way when I heated up the copper pipe to reanneal it to allow it to be bent into the correct shape.

Cam

very nice

CCairns

tmuir

Graham-Jilly

the one i have also has an O Ring

CCairns

Interesting.

They must have changed the design slightly, as both of mine came painted (I know that Tony's was unpainted), and on my first one whilst trying to get it fitted, the little collar that fits into the T piece came out, which is why I soldered it up.

Is this 'O' ring behind that collar?

I believe that this lubricator was first made by Mike Chaney, and his had a little draining screw fitted. I've got a Mike Chaney modified Mamod en-route from ebay hopefully soon, and this one is fitted for Radio Control as well.

Graham-Jilly

yes Chris the o ring on mine is behind the collar. I havent used it as I prefer the Roundhouse ones and it didnt come painted

CCairns

There certainly was not an 'O' ring on my first lubricator, as the collar pulled straight out and I was left with a hollow looking T piece. Cannot check my 2nd one as it has already been soldered up and is in service now. Perhaps Dream Steam can enlighten us further.

I like the small amount of oil used by these lubricators, as it means my small supplies will go further. Sadly steam oil will not be allowed in my hand baggage on Ryanair on Saturday, after the Merstham Steam Rally. It is also amazing what will be counted as a sharp item, including drill bits!

CCairns

With recent experience, my opinion of these lubricators has changed significantly.

I first started using the inline lubricator like the Roundhouse lubricator on my Cheddar Models marine engines, and my IP Jane. These tended to use up all of their oil in one boiler full of water, and left a significant deposit of water to be removed at the end of a run.

My first IP Eng lubricator used virtually no oil at all, and I was convinced at the time that this was due to the smaller size of the pipe coming into the lubricator body. However, after being advised to prime the steam pipe with oil (I use my syringe for this when filling up the lubricator), I got it to work.

I've just completed a continuous in steam run on my SL1K with the 2nd of these lubricators. This was for 5 fills of the boiler & meths burner, stopping the engine for each refill, and cleaning the piston rods of oil each time. At the end of these runs the piston rods still had a light coating of oil. However it has been very difficult to empty any water that has ended up in the lubricator, probably because there is actually very little produced.

So I'm pleased with this outcome, particularly as I have another Mamod which has been modified with the similar Mike Chaney lubricator, en-route from ebay.