Member postings for Peter Bell

Thanks Duncan, ordered a copy.

Paul,

Good to hear that yours has done a lot of miles without trouble since you sorted things out. I've heard of the liner problem before but we will see. Interesting the flats in the wrong place for the eccentrics. Not sure of ours but the valve events look ok.

lf your rings have worked we will leave that alone for now, just seemed so over the top.

Thanks for the rebuild info on Traction Talk, found and I'll digest.

Been looking at the boiler back expecting to see some cert stamps but cannot see anything, are they only visible when the cladding is removed?

Not got the Tubal Cain article Duncan but I would be interested in viewing if I could be guided me to a copy or date when it was in the ME?

Peter

As you do, just starting to look around the engine and doesnt seem to bad, well so far!

Why are the piston rings so broad?

Its got a 2" bore, the piston is 1.25" long overall but the rings are 0.236" (6mm) wide, 0.123" and very difficult to compress so I would imagine create a lot of friction?

Thanks Peter

Without dismantling it was almost impossible to gauge what the boiler construction was so decided to leave it alone especially as it was priced at offers over £5k. We spotted it at the Great Dorset Steam Fair last week and rather annoyingly I seem to have lost the pics I took of it!

However, for about the same money saw this 4" Ruston Proctor which had been constructed from a Wiston engineering kit.

Appealed as its complete and had worked when first constructed but needs more finishing/sorting, came with lots of documentation including boiler cert so took the plunge.

Wonder if anyone else has one?

Peter

Thanks for the reply. Conclusion is that its going to need a new boiler but most clubs seem to have there own inspectors.

Only independent inspector that keeps cropping up is John Glaze Does anyone know if he’s active or had any recent dealings with him?

Hello. Sure it’s been asked before but Considering buying a Foden freelance overtype model about 31/2” scale which dates from around the 1930’s. It’s been dry stored and unused for approx 50 years. The copper boiler looks in good condition but of course it’s got no certification/paperwork.

Does this automatically mean the boiler is scrap or is it possible to get it examined by an independent boiler inspector with a view to getting it tested and certified? The design pressure is 60 psi.

Thanks. Peter.

Thanke everyone, pleased I asked, lots of useful info on nuts I've heard about!

The angled/quick release nut sounds an interesting solution which I intend buying or making.

Peter

Ok well that should have made it do something!

Does the injector "creak" when you turn it and atomise cleanly when out of the head but piped in?

Lots of useful advice previously, like does it smoke etc? Does it smokes a you swing it and how difficult is it to get over compression, can you hear anything squeezing passed the rings if you listen with the rocker cover off as you slowly crank it?

I have an application where it would be convenient to remove a tightened nut with say 1/2 turn rather than have it wind it off all the way.

I have had lots of good screw screw cutting experiences in my model engineering years and I keep thinking of quick release threads but have no experience with these apart from seeing them on a large bore gun.

My application would be around 3/8", is this too small to be practical?

Peter

Only 100 hrs so should be pretty good condition, mine is on a wacker plate so had a hard life!

Ive used light engine oil or diesel on stuck rings with varying degrees of success. If you add oil to the bore, turn it a few times so it penetrates the rings then try starting as the oil fills the gap increasing compression allowing starting and then the normal lubrication takes over.

Assume the excess fuel is working and the bore hasnt had water in to seize the the rings?

I recently repaired a Farryman with similar problems and ended up re grooving the piston and using slightly wider rings and both the rings and piston were worn, hope yours insnt like that!

It also had a tapered bore which according to the manual is 75.03mm bottom of bore and 74.930mm at the top so not much. I assumed it was to allow it to become the right size when hot?

Peter

Thanks for the message.

My UC100 occasionally stops communicating, losing the light, normally about half way through a job.

Perhaps I've got the same problem, I'll have a look.

Got my UC-100 parallel adapter successfully connected and reinstalled Mach 3 on my new computer and the machine works again, phew!

However the motor spindle is running backwards, been through the setup and cannot change the direction---has any other Sieg owner had the same problem after a reinstallation?

Peter

Yes the uc100 is powered up from the usb before I open M3 but it makes no difference.

Forgot to say looked in config, plugins and the uc100 box is ticked.

Peter

Thanks for the quick replies and prompts. Downloaded the automatic installer, ran it again and Mach came up with the setup screen, selected uc100 controller and the emergency stop now works!

Nothing else works but presume I'll have to configure the outputs manually unless there's a better way of doing that? Fortunatly I kept screen shots of my previous installation.

Peter

Installed Mach 3 on my windows 7 computer making sure I left the parallel port un ticked and followed the reboot instructions, also intstaled the UC100 driver. successfully.

However the UC100 instructions show a screen when you start Mach so that the UC100 can be selected. This screen doesnt appear and of course the mill doesnt work! Tried re installing everything with the same results.

Anyone had a similar problem when using a UC100 controller?

Peter

I'm watching this thread with great interest to see how it eventually works out as I'd like to be more familiar with Arduino .

I've got a solenoid chime working using a Picaxe triggered from a quartz movement pointer and an 80ms pulse produces a satisfying "bong"

I use loops and compare an incremented master number to a counted number to give the correct strike, clear the incremented number after each performance and reset the master number after 12.

Peter

Following on from that advice borrowed a working 32 bit machine with XP.

Succesfully installed Mach from my disc but the computer crashes as it tries to open Mach every time.

Removed anti virus etc and its got plenty of memory, even tried a different copy of Mach but still get the same result!

Any suggestions what to try next most welcome!

Hi Nick,

Thanks for the link which makes interesting reading. I suppose it depends on what works long term but there's no real way to find out apart from buying something and trying it hence my question. Its a lot like my experience has shown that many of the LED bulbs just dont last where branded ones do.

More reading reveals that the genuine UC100 not just a usb to parallel adapter but a true motion controller and a genuine UC100 would certainly be the easiest solution but its almost 2 years since I initially asked and a lot could have changed.

Peter