| 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. |
| toxx |
SE3 Restoration - leaky old thing?H'llo, lads! Together with my Jensen#85 (thanks, Mike! ), I received my SE3 today, which I got off ebay. What the seller had craftily hidden is the fact that the boiler's been patched. What do you guys say to this? Will it be leaky? I've already partially dismantled it.
I'm gonna clean her up and partially repaint. |
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| MTA |
That 'patching' looks like dezincification to me.
Then again it could just be solder with a copper colour around the edge! If the latter, it all depends on the person's soldering skills. I would suggest gently raising steam, and at the first sign of a leak to remove the burner 
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| johnreid |
Looks like dezincification to me too, is it only on the endcaps? IT can be patched, but patches are not always pretty, but would be Brass colored.
A question for those Mamod people out there, Are the boilers end caps the same size as smaller models in the SE series? Can new endcaps be purchased? I ask as I see so many SE3s with dezinkification in the endcaps. |
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| toxx |
... as far as I can see, it's only on the endcaps. | ||||
| toxx |
... yes, de-zinc it is. The stuff can be sanded off as a white powder, leaving a spot of copper, so it seems. I can't detect any holes. | ||||
| johnreid |
It might not leak, yet 
I would see if it holds pressure, and drain the water out when done using it. |
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| IndianaRog |
Tom, I would personally desolder the end cap, rough it up inside the cap and solder on a round brass patch.
Then resolder the endcap back on the boiler and polish the end as much as you can to remove the nasty looking spot. Seems when these things degrade like that there is a pin hole either all the way thru or soon to be. A patch on the inside will make you steam tight again without making a mess of the exterior. If you solder the EXTERIOR of the end cap, it may hold back the tide for awhile, but like body rot on a car fender, it will find it's way through again. Rog |
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| MooseMan |
I'm with Rog - it's the only way. I've repaired a Bowman-Luton in that way which was so badly zinc-leeched the endcap practically crumbled. | ||||
| Nick |
Back to John's question, can you buy endcaps?
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| Mamodman123 |
Damn thats a shame, Ive seen them come out of sheds with boilers better than that one 
If it doesn't leak then you may get away with it for a while! Only other alternative is whats been suggested above! OR source a spare boiler... |
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| Dampfzauberer |
Wow....well i wonder why i never saw such a problem on an old german engine...their boiler's were also made of brass 
So why do mamod suffer from this?? |
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| Mamodman123 |
You don't see it on the earlier ones just the 70's ones, never seen it on the SP range either...
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| toxx |
... I can't see any holes, not even under the mag glas. Of course, it'll be rotten as hell on the inside. We'll see what happens when I rinse the boiler with citric acid to clear in out.
If the boiler falls apart I'll just toss the damm thing.
edit: I will do no such thing! Sorry for 'sharing' my depressive moods with you, friends. I'll either live with and/ or fix this boiler or get a new one from a dear forum member here (had a pm, thanks, mate! ).
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| Mamodman123 |
Email the seller
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| Les |
Have you the listing still with the description?? | ||||
| toxx |
... naaa, I won't blame him. The spot was clearly visible on the 2nd picture - I didn't look closely enough and he didn't know or care what it was. He didn't hide the blemish as I in my rage stated further above. It was I who was to stupid to look closely. Mea culpa. Ah, it's okay. The SE3 is a darn good machine. We'll get her running!
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| Nick |
Slap a Jensen boiler on there.
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| johnreid |
IF you did not overpay, and you do a proper patch, it will still be a good deal. I think that one should be able to come up with something to fix one right. | ||||
| Mamodman123 |
Thats the most extreme case of dezinc I've ever seen on a mamod so you can count yourself unlucky Tom. Maybe it was stored full of water?
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| Wallace |
Tom, it might be worth checking this thread on how to make your own end caps for it.
I have an SE2 that I will give a try one day http://modelsteam.myfreeforum.org/ftopic1256-0-asc-0.php |
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| Stilldrillin |
Sorry Tom, but........ I HAVE to say it....... I had spotted the spot, and didn`t bid!
I beat Sandra for the next SE3 though....... And that`s got a small spot too!  
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| flywheel61 |
nseverson wrote
Generally no, not for mamod anyway, there are two ways to sove the problem. 1. Make your own, I don't know if it's in the library but a couple of members including tmuir have made up templates from hard wood so you can make your own end caps. , wallace beat me to it,
2. You can buy 'welch' plugs, I think they are called something else in the UK and the USA, they are a brass plug that fits into the egine block of a vehicle and they are designed to blow out. A 2 1/8" one will fit an SE3 but it need to be shaveds down on the inside, also they are pressed out so they are not exactly round and it needs a 4 jawed chuck on a lathe to bring them back into 'round'. I have successfully used one of these plugs on an SE3 and you can't tell the difference between it and the original, and have steamed it many times since replacing the old end cap with it. Someone else asked if all SE end caps are the same, SE3 end caps are bigger than the SE1-2, which are 1 7/8" OD. The SE & SEA end caps are the same OD but the SEA end caps and very late SE3 end caps have a raised ridge in them. Cheers
Chris |
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| toxx |
... while cleaning the boiler, I noticed a washer-type thing right beneath the steam regulator valve. Thinking the valve and steam pipe were screw attached as like with Wilescos, I tried to unscrew, but the thing just rotates. Does anybody know what this is? | ||||
| Stilldrillin |
Tom . The regulator screws into the boiler, same as s/v & whistle. The steampipe is then soldered into regulator. |
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| toxx |
... I see. Mine are both rock-hard stuck then, but since they both seem to function I'll refrain from using force to get them off. | ||||
| Mamodman123 |
The regulator housing just spins in the boiler? |
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| toxx |
... no, the thing looks like a washer, leathery texture:
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| johnreid |
It looks like a washer, it smells like a washer, it tastes like a washer, I bet its a washer, but a better one than what comes on most engines these days. | ||||
| Mamodman123 |
Thats just a washer so you're not metal to metal on the boiler.
It would unscrew if you wanted to, but the washer looks fine so i'd leave it 
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| MTA |
But it doesn't have all the calories of a washer  Sorry, some people might not know what I am referring to!
Tom, it shouldn't be too long before you get your SE3 going
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| flywheel61 |
Toxx wrote
If the whistle just rotates - and won't unscrew, it means that the whistle collar solder has broken and the collar , has come away from the boiler. There's no point in firing it, because it won't build preasure. The steam will only leak around the broken collar seal. I've just had the same problem with another SE3 and the only way to fix it is to take the end cap off closest to the whistle collar. Then get a pair of long nosed pliers and grip the round collar and undo the whistle from there. You might have to turn the boiler upside down and soak the collar and whistle threads in penetratiing oil first , for a while. If it still won't come undone by doing that you might have to give it a blast from a gas torch. For resoldering follow MM's guide in the library - you may as well do the patching job on the othe other end cap at the same time. Good luck Cheers
Chris |
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| toxx |
... it's the washer that rotates, not the valve.
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| Mamodman123 |
Need to tighten the valve up then so it won't leak! |
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| flywheel61 |
toxx wrote
Ah, OK, my mistake, I'd try and steam it first, the washer may have just perished a bit with age. if it doesn't leak, it's fine. If it does leak it means that you will have to undo the cylinder face plates from thier mounts and bend the steam pipe near the regulator upwards and away from the boiler so you can tighten it. If you are going to do that you may as well replace the washer. Be very careful of the steam pipe where it joins the regulator as I've had one pipe break out of the solder, thus necessitatng further work. Good luck Cheers
chrsis |
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| Mister Occlusion |
When I went to fix my SE3 end cap I couldn't get it off. I blasted the bugger with a MAPP torch even until the lacquer blackened, then went around the lip with a wood dowel and mallet, and the bugger just would not shift.
Either I've got a silver soldered boiler or that cap is one hell of a tight press fit. I just globbed some solder on the outside after that... Tom. On mine I fired it a few times before the corroded area began to leak. It was just a fine mist coming out of it first, then it quickly went to a fine spray of water. Shortly after that a second area developed a pin hole. They are hard to spot. I never saw the holes amid the corrosion myself. |
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| Stilldrillin |
I found no real problem un-soldering the steampipe at the regulator, then fitting a new washer, not overtightening.......
A few weeks later, the new washer was leaking.........
I now assemble regulators using Golden Hermetite non hardening gasket compound. It works.......
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| Bubba |
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| toxx |
... a pin-hole can also be treated as such: Drill a hole through it, and cut in a thread. Then screw in a bolt with a washer. Doesn't look very attractive, but it works. Like filling a cavity!
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| johnreid |
I am glad you are not my Dentist 
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| Mamodman123 |
I was thinking the same 
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| toxx |
... I am a part-time dentist, John. You should see me with my Dremel! ... trouble with your boiler? Now, that's a tooth I can pull!
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