Accucraft Isle of Man Wagons.

[dunnyrail]

I often wonder if the water is to blame with regards to the number of problems experienced with sight gauges. I have never seen any water treatment offered that might alter the surface tension or scaling of the different waters - is there such a thing for model steamers? Or do you just use water produced by condensation?

Water that old chestnut with Live Steam. Use of inapropriate water could indeed mess up sight glass.

Another small tip with sight glass is to do a Diagonal Set of lines to the rear, I use those Chalk Felt Tips for this. The line then magically straightens where the water is but not where it isn't. All to do with refraction or something I believe.
JonD

 

[Trainman 864]

I had to go back to the start of this thread - I thought I had missed something! I presume your locomotive was from the same stable as the trucks?

I often wonder if the water is to blame with regards to the number of problems experienced with sight gauges. I have never seen any water treatment offered that might alter the surface tension or scaling of the different waters - is there such a thing for model steamers? Or do you just use water produced by condensation?

You have made some large increases in bore size - nearly 70% in the case of the top and bottom fittings. You would think that manufacturers would adequately test their products before releasing them on to the market place!

As for the subject of this thread, I think they are a nice looking representation of the originals!

Yes, they were from the same stable - and I was aware of the thread drift, for which I hope Casey won't mind - but I felt that Alan's post #10 deserved a reply.

In my experience the common gauge reliability problems are 99% due to the the length and restrictive dimensions of the internal passages and nothing to do with the type of water. Due to the small size of these boilers there really isn't much the manufacturers can do about it that would be economically viable for them.

I always use deionised water with 5% tap water added to quench it's desire to regain it's lost ions.

 

[Trainman 864]

Water that old chestnut with Live Steam. Use of inapropriate water could indeed mess up sight glass.

Another small tip with sight glass is to do a Diagonal Set of lines to the rear, I use those Chalk Felt Tips for this. The line then magically straightens where the water is but not where it isn't. All to do with refraction or something I believe.
JonD

I think it's only become an 'old chestnut' because some people - including manufacturers - sometimes don't really understand what's going on.

Diagonal lines - or coloured line glass - or a thin piece of wire in the tube to modify the effect of the surface tension - will only help you read a stable water surface. If the surface is unstable due to entrained bubbles or whatever - or the level doesn't coincide with the actual level in the boiler - then you really have to fix that first.

Another factor to consider is that the surface tension in a 5mm glass will adversly effect the reading more than in a 6mm glass.

 

[dunnyrail]

Sight glasses can be affected if Hard Water has been used in a Puffer which is what I was refering to in my Chestnut statement. Surprising how many people think that using any old water is OK in a small puffer.
JonD

 

[Paul M]

I've always been led to believe that using any water other than distilled or filtered will soon fur up the pipes and cause scaling on the site gauges, especially in hard water areas. Ionised water is a no-no for some reason. Filtered rain water is the best option (also free and in plentiful supply). As for the comments at the beginning of the thread, if you have a problem with any new purchase, you really ought to contact the supplier or manufacturer, if they don't know there's a problem,they aren't going to be able to make amends.

 

[railwayman198]

I am surprised that John is being taken to task for detailing his disappointment with his wagons, particularly when he has already said that he has relayed his findings to both dealer and designer. Are we only supposed to express delight at all new offerings? If I am looking to buy a new camera or car and I read reviews I need them to be critical to be helpful. Product reviews in GardenRail are not much use because they are reluctant to criticise anything at all. Forums like this are one of the few places that we can share our experiences, both good and bad.

 

[Trainman 864]

I've always been led to believe that using any water other than distilled or filtered will soon fur up the pipes and cause scaling on the site gauges, especially in hard water areas. Ionised water is a no-no for some reason. Filtered rain water is the best option (also free and in plentiful supply).

Perhaps this thread is not the place to debate the water issue again. In any case, I think it's such a complex topic that we all just have to arrive at our personal conclusions based on the sum total of our individual knowledge of the subject. I'm happy with my choice ....

As for the comments at the beginning of the thread, if you have a problem with any new purchase, you really ought to contact the supplier or manufacturer, if they don't know there's a problem,they aren't going to be able to make amends.

See my comment in post #8 para#5 in this thread.

 

[tac foley]

I have a small-scale laboratory distiller that makes around a gallon of pure water every time. The water that goes into to it has already been through a B*ita filter unit.

Even so, the sludgy brown scum at the bottom of the catch-tank tells me that whatever starts off in the water would probably kill a hyena.

And my sight-glasses STILL get crudded up.

tac

 

[Trainman 864]

..................... Are we only supposed to express delight at all new offerings? If I am looking to buy a new camera or car and I read reviews I need them to be critical to be helpful. Product reviews in GardenRail are not much use because they are reluctant to criticise anything at all............

Exactly! - as I said in the recent recent Garrat thread .....

" I tend to prefer the kind of critical reviews where comparisons are drawn to what could have been - rather than to what has gone before"

..... It's one reason I tend to avoid motoring reviews in small town news papers - they nearly always sound like they're afraid they'll never get another car to test if they don't say all the 'right' things - whereas reviewers from the Clarkson school of motoring journalism can say what they really think and there'll still be a line of manufacturers queing up to offer their products for testing ....

 

[casey jones snr]

Perhaps this thread is not the place to debate the water issue again. In any case, I think it's such a complex topic that we all just have to arrive at our personal conclusions based on the sum total of our individual knowledge of the subject. I'm happy with my choice ....



See my comment in post #8 para#5 in this thread.

There certainly is some serious thread drift going on once again.