Member postings for ChrisH

No - it's constant all year round, mind you, as soon as one Dec 25th has gone perhaps they start straight away on the next one..............

The Little People keep borrowing stuff from my workshop too - if only I knew what they are making........

Carl,

cannot agree more with you on your opinion of Neville Shute. I have recently re-read nearly all his books, excellent stories, excellent portrayals of the world as it used to be, and, with reference to another thread on here regarding bad language, his stories never had to use bad language to tell the story. Sadly, his stories relate to a world now long gone, more's the pity!

Chris

David (as in DC1) - I think Ian S C's suggestion is great, a lot of articles can be made of what he suggests, and it would be of great use and interest to engineers who, whilst not novices in the engineering field, have never had to make stuff in the workshop, as well as for beginners to the hobby.

Sorry not to have commented on Ian's suggestion before, have only just come across this thread again,

Chris

Alan, At the risk of restating the obvious, a central heating pump is a centrifugal pump. As has been stated, they can, indeed should, be started against a shut valve, and then the discharge valve can be opened. The degree of opening determines the quantity of flow. You do not need to by-pass any flow back to the tank IMO unless the flow is very very small and the pump is in danger of overheating, which is extremely rare, and in which case the pump is grossly oversized! Use either a needle valve to control or preferably a ball valve - the cheaper, easier option - to control what flow you need. Please do not use a gate valve, they are useless other than for scrap - at sea we used to call them dimmo valves because they were such a dim idea.

Basically, this is what KWIL originally said but in more detail - keep it simple, it's best each time!

Chris

OK, no.209 has now arrived in digital format - my paper edition is hopefully winging it's way to me in France as I write - and my initial reaction to the new look mag is that it is OK, quite good in fact, except the CNC stuff flies straight over my head, but that is my problem not the mags.

BUT. There alway is a but. I add my vote to those who complain of the issue number being moved from a very prominent position in the top LH corner of the front cover to an insignificant 'hunt the issue number' position elsewhere. If that could be reinstated there would be one more satisfied customer! And to those who say add a stick on tab I ask why, when the answer is so simple for the publisher? It wasn't broke so why was it fixed?

Chris

Edited By ChrisH on 25/10/2013 21:59:34

Edited By ChrisH on 25/10/2013 22:00:04

We're off topic, but I remember a short while ago buying a little electric gadget that could have been hard wired into a fused socket or could have been fitted with a three pin plug, in the latter case the instruction went on, it should be fitted by a suitably qualified person. Buggar I thought, missed out on the 'How to fit a three pin Plug' course, thought that would have been a jolly day out.

Wonder how we went on before everything electrical from the shop came with bare wires, and a three pin plug, complete with a 13amp fuse - usually the one fuse you didn't need - coming as an extra to buy.

We'll all be walking round in bubble wrap soon, case we fall over, to pleas 'elf n safety...........

Edited By ChrisH on 09/10/2013 20:48:37

If it was a superheated steam leak it was very dangerous indeed - you cannot see the leak only hear it, and if you touch it it just cuts right through you, so it was hunted down using a bit of rag tied to the longest gas welding rod or similar that you could find and very very careful probing!

Chris

Don't you believe it, not all French stuff is better it's true but there is an awful lot in France that we could learn from. They have their faults over there, but don't we have here too! I'm amazed at the stuff I find over there that is better than here in the UK, so I'll pass on the soap mouthwash mate!

Mick - I do believe that the French stuff is superior - hasn't got all that dye and stuff they put in it in the UK to discourage the wineo's for a start.....!

Chris

Neil - the French version of meths is Alcool a Bruler. There is an accent over the 'a' and an upside down v over the 'u', but I can't do that on my keyboard!

Price for it is under 2euros for a litre and around 8 euros for 5litres.

Chris

Thanks to all for the suggestions re wicks - I will follow them up.

I did try a very little experiment using some wire wool - finest grade - stuffed into a short length of 15mm pipe (I did say it was a very small experiment!) which had the bottom blocked off. It worked quite well, got a decent flame, surprisingly hot, using the French version of meths - no blue colour and very cheap, buy it in the supermarket - the wire wool didn't seem to burn, well nothing to worry about anyway, and it all gave me encouragement to try something bigger and better. Things like how hard the wool is rammed in and how much the wick stands proud of the top are things to think about, plus air supply and of course, control.

Spirit cookers for boats use a similar wick based container too, but a very broad container, not very high containing just over a litre of spirit, with a flat wick across the top with a quite large gapped mesh across the top. Can't remember sizes, but is the container is say 8" in diameter and about 1.5" high then the hole i the middle for the flame is only about 2" diameter.  The wick does not stand proud and the cookers produce a fair bit of heat.  Control is by a cover that can be slid across the top from fully open to completely shut.

Ah Ian, Lyttelton, that was a lovely port when I was there, so quiet, peaceful and beautiful unspoilt scenery!

Chris

Edited By ChrisH on 04/10/2013 19:18:37

Edited By ChrisH on 04/10/2013 19:21:28

Edited By ChrisH on 04/10/2013 19:23:51

From another thread I have had another thought, would stove fire rope (used for wood burning stove door seals) work does anyone think?

Mark - that would be great if you could me a pm with the text.

Many thanks,

Chris

Hi, greenhouse heater wicks sound good, will try that.

Ian, I had thought of wire wool, but thought that might burn!  Might give it a try now though, and try the wire you suggested.

Ian again.  Whenever I read your comments on this forum I always think with affection of the early 1970's when I visited North and South Islands on one of Shaw Savills ships, it was such a special place then, hope it still is now.

Chris

Edited By ChrisH on 03/10/2013 22:05:34

Hi, many thanks for your replies, all have been followed up. I am looking to purchase the 07?2006 copy of EiM.

Mark. Have you any more details of the burner you have drawn?

Chris

Hi, Part 2 is because I wanted to keep it separate from the original Part 1 query!

Again from K.N.Harris's excellent book "Model Boilers and Boilermaking" he talks of pressurised oil fired burners and "Lune Valley" burners (and I think boilers)

Where can I find constructional details of such burners, and in particular "Lune Valley" stuff. I am obviously looking in the wrong place or putting in the wrong search words but the Internet is not coming up trumps for me at present!

Any steerage in the right direction greatly appreciated.

ChrisH

Hi, I would like to experiment with the construction of a spirit burner. In K.N.Harris's excellent book "Model Boilers and Boilermaking", he describes (meths) spirit burners in a simple wick and a vaporized burners, the latter requiring a wick-fed pilot flame.

The query regards the wick, which is required for both burners. What material is the wick made from? Anyone out here able to advise on this, and where it can be obtained?

Thanks, ChrisH

Edited By ChrisH on 02/10/2013 22:12:22

When lapping in ships Diesel engine fuel valves many years ago, the lapping blocks for lapping smooth and true the mating faces of the fuel valves which were of some special steel were made of CI. The grinding paste was held in the softer CI which wore away the harder steel. Just reinforcing what Colin was saying..........

Chris

When I worked in the food industry conveyor chains used to run on green 'plastic' (of some description) strips which were of low friction, even less friction when conveyor lube (a sort of soapy water) was sprayed on.

Never knew what the stuff was called, was always referred to as "that greeen stuff". Anyone know what "that green stuff" was called?

Chris

Edited By ChrisH on 18/09/2013 23:21:40