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TRAPPERKEEPER
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TE1a has lost powerI tried to run my TE1a twice today, and it would not propel itself at all. It is running at about half speed i would say stationary and not at all with the drive band attached. Just a couple days ago I ran it and it went fine, nothing changed but now its lost a lot of power. Any ideas as to what is wrong? 
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Wallace
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Hi mate.
Sorry to hear of your troubles.
Assuming all seals are ok, and it's not leaking steam anywhere, my guess would be the engine priming, for it to run so bad in such a short period of time.
Just make sure you aren't filling the boiler too much.
If you do, it can prime, and make the engine run like you described.
I had it happen with a MM2 I had. I overfilled it, and all it did was barely tick over, wouldn't pick up speed at all for the full lenght of the run.
Other than that, check the screw for cylinder to faceplate isn't too tight or loose (if loosing steam).
Pull the piston out too, and use a cotton bud (earbud) to clean any oil junk out of cylinder.
Let us know how you get on.
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IndianaRog
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Something (bit of boiler crud) might be plugging one of the lines from the boiler to the oscillating cylinder. I have had that occur occasionally following an upside down shake/drain routine trying to get water out of the boiler.
I would remove the cylinder (loosen the spring/bolt that holds it in place)...run a fine wire thru anything that resembles a hole in both cylinder and the surface it oscillates against. If you can get the wire to run thru the passages, chances are you have knocked loose whatever was plugging things up.
If after the next steaming all is well, you might try to carefully rinse out the boiler to flush any moveable crud down the drain so it doesn't clog your lines again.
Another possibility is something stuck in the safety valve causing pressure to constantly release and never build up. Wash and rinse the valve under flowing water just in case.
Hope this helps,
Roger
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TRAPPERKEEPER
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THanks guys, i rinsed the boiler with vinegar, (shouldn't mess it up I hope) =), and blue water came out. I rinsed it out again with water agian and it came out clear. I may have overfilled it so i will try and fill it less tomorrow.
Another question.
On the SW1 I just got in the mail 2 days ago, steam shoots out of the piston when it is in forward running position, and it will not run. It does run however in the neutral position, and not at all in reverse. It won't power itself because of all this leakage, and I think a whole new cylinder is in need of ordering, along with the spring and washer, as the spring is very weak, does this sound like an accurate solution?
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Wallace
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| TRAPPERKEEPER wrote: | THanks guys, i rinsed the boiler with vinegar, (shouldn't mess it up I hope) =), and blue water came out. I rinsed it out again with water agian and it came out clear. I may have overfilled it so i will try and fill it less tomorrow.
Another question.
On the SW1 I just got in the mail 2 days ago, steam shoots out of the piston when it is in forward running position, and it will not run. It does run however in the neutral position, and not at all in reverse. It won't power itself because of all this leakage, and I think a whole new cylinder is in need of ordering, along with the spring and washer, as the spring is very weak, does this sound like an accurate solution? |
Is it coming out of the cylinder/faceplate area, or from the inside of actual cylinder?
Just asking, because you mentioned the spring is week, so if it's between the faceplate/cylinder area, due to a weak spring, get the current spring, grab each end, and stretch it a little. That will give the cylinder more pressure against the faceplate.
If that doesn't help check the reversing lever lineup. Someone else had a similar problem, and I think it was the reverese lever not aligning ports correctly, due to the hole in the reverse lever being worn.
If both the above are ok, check the cylinder face, and faceplate face. They may be scratched somehow, and need a slight honing.
Good luck
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Cranko
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It sound rather unususl that it runs in neutral , it should be stationary in that position 
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SillyBilly
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Tighten the trunion screw?
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Mamodman123
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Could well be the reverse handle has been put on wrong.
Use that picture for reference and check where the cylinder is alligned when neutral/forward and reverse sometimes they don't always 'work' first time these levers. They can slip...
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TRAPPERKEEPER
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The Steam leaks out of the faceplate part, where the little hole is, like it should, but it doesnt get into the cylinder like it should. I am afraid it does this because the entire piston is positioned too low. When it is in stationary position it is raised to roughly the would be drive position. The lever is on the right way but it is so weakly attached it isn't effective I guess. 
I will take it off and update what the thing looks like all apart, thanks for the tips =)
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Mamodman123
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| TRAPPERKEEPER wrote: | The Steam leaks out of the faceplate part, where the little hole is, like it should, but it doesnt get into the cylinder like it should. I am afraid it does this because the entire piston is positioned too low. When it is in stationary position it is raised to roughly the would be drive position. The lever is on the right way but it is so weakly attached it isn't effective I guess.
I will take it off and update what the thing looks like all apart, thanks for the tips =) |
Could be the spring isn't tight enough I think if the lever is bent it badly effects the performance.
Some pictures would be helpful too though 
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TRAPPERKEEPER
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Arghhh I know, but my camera has lost the usb cord, and it is a special one that only works with the camera  Evil company. Will update when I take apart the piston
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tmuir
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Could be a wrong forward reverse lever.
I've noticed the new ones have the hole in a slightly different position to old levers.
If I fit a new lever to my Te1a it won't run at all but runs fine with the old worn lever.
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IndianaRog
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Trapperkeeper said in his initial post that his TE1A was running fine a few days ago...but poorly thereafter...he noted no changes to the engine in that timeframe, so it couldn't be the wrong lever...though the spring could have possibly loosened.
I still suggest running a thin wire thru the pipework and ports...I have buggered up other engines after shaking them upside down to get water out of the boiler. Some bit of calcium or solder laying in the bottom of the boiler plugs up a port. Kind of unavoidable, but a relatively easy thing to try before more drastic measures 
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rangerssteamtoys
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| IndianaRog wrote: | Trapperkeeper said in his initial post that his TE1A was running fine a few days ago...but poorly thereafter...he noted no changes to the engine in that timeframe, so it couldn't be the wrong lever...though the spring could have possibly loosened.
I still suggest running a thin wire thru the pipework and ports...I have buggered up other engines after shaking them upside down to get water out of the boiler. Some bit of calcium or solder laying in the bottom of the boiler plugs up a port. Kind of unavoidable, but a relatively easy thing to try before more drastic measures |
That might be what I had done wrong. My Te1a lost alot of power afert I tiped it back to drain water from the overflow plug. I usually just siphon water out of my engines.
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