Accucraft Leader

andyspencer

andyspencer

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Are you sure its not been done by Accucraft. Pretty sure both my Countess's have this small collar on them. Poss something to do with reducing the flame which can melt the smokebox door??
 
The collar is an Accucraft standard item. I believe they were fitted to allow easy lighting of the burner (helps the flame pop back). I had to retro fit one on my Leader and it made a huge difference when lighting up, you have to play around a bit to find the best setting though.

Steve
 
The general idea, as with Dr Bunsen's burner, is to close the air holes somewhat for lighting, then open up as the flame stabilizes.
The actual amount of opening, as has been said, will be worked out by experience.
Since early locos eventually burned OK without the collar, the final setting is likely to be near fully open.
 
The collar is pre-set by Accucraft when the loco is built and controls the mix of Oxygen and Gas to the burner.

If you have a flame up the chimney, in the smokebox or even on the footplate you can usually fix this by moving the collar a little (mm at a time).

You won't be able to get the burner to burn harder by removing the collar, you'll get a less stable flame.
 
Interesting - my Leader was purchased right at the end when they were being pretty seriously discounted (and before they became scarce and expensive again). It has no air control ring and always lights pretty easily.

Having said that, my Ragleth had one and behaves perfectly. My Edrig didn't and the burner was awful. In the end I discovered that the jet sizes vary and some need them and some don't. I put a Chuffed2Bits jet on Edrig with a home made air control ring and it is now every bit as good as Ragleth.

So if a previous owner has made one, it probably needs it. Where I have then the holes are 1/4 covered.

And if you would like to see mine, there are some notes on it here:
https://sites.google.com/a/gardenrailwayclub.com/club/locos/accucraft-leader-2 < Link To https://sites.google.com/...cos/accucraft-leader-2
Cheers
Chris
 
That, to me, doesn't look like it's doing a lot. The holes seem to be all uncovered. I would agree it looks home-made.

I've been threatening one for my Countess as it's a pig to keep alight till it warms well up. I'm trying to find time to clean the jet first.
 
The recent Ragleths have a collar with a hex head screw to lock it in position.

In the pic of Lawley's burner, the jet looks a little far out of the holder?
My own Lawley, Wrekin & Edrig all light up quite easily, with no collars.
 
Like Chris I thing my Leader was near the end of the run and doesn't have the air control ring. As it happens mind lights easily and burns surprisingly quite. Guess I go a good burner. I have though fitted an air control ring to my Regner Lumber Jack and it works a treat to improve lighting and made then burner quieter. So as others have noted above, there is not a hard and fast answer, some adjustment/fiddling is needed to find the sweet spot and that is likely to vary even in similar locos.
 
The gas jet came slightly loose on my (ex) Accucraft Countess, it use to pop out of the back of the holder a little as can be seen on the picture further up. A drop of superglue held it in place and the burner worked a treat.
 
In my experience the burners on Accucraft locos vary greatly in quality. My Countess has a control ring and works superbly. My Superior doesn't have anything and again works superbly. My Caradoc however, doesn't have anything and initially was terrible, it just wouldn't work at all. After a bit of help from a friend at the local model engineering society, we smoothed the burrs out of the burner tube, increased the size of the air holes in the jet holder and replaced the jet for a number 3, I think the usual jet size is 6. It now runs superbly.

The mix between jet size, air input, jet position etc can be a bit of trial and error and if you find a combination that works, just leave it! As Accucraft locos are mass produced, they should all perform in exactly the same way. However, as they are mass produced, sometimes the performance is a little variable.
 
Accucraft's gas jets have been notorious for their unreliable manufacturing quality in the past, somethig to do with the quality (or lack of) on the broaching to produce the fine hole for a properly directed and even flame. All my Accucraft's have had their gas jets replaced with one of C2B's Ronson #6 mods and any previous lighting and running problems have been minimised.

With regards to the collar, this seems to be a standard fittment now. C2B have retrofitted these to a couple of my loco's. I'm advise to think of them as a bit like they were the old fashioned "chokes"(remember them) on a car - reduces the airflow and richens up the air/gas mixture. Close them up a bit in cold weather running and to aid starting.

Max.
P.S. I have no financial connection to C2B, just find he's a darn good reliable & knowledgable service agent.
 
MRail said:
Elmtree Line said:
A drop of superglue held it in place and the burner worked a treat.
Click to expand...
The usual recommendation is plumbers' PTFE tape!!
Click to expand...

I would like to see you do that......... not possible, nowhere to screw it into.
 
Elmtree Line said:
I would like to see you do that......... not possible, nowhere to screw it into.
Click to expand...
Anything to oblige...
Just needed to clear Lawley's jet...
b66d9a50688841b7a3fda0983c4a6883.jpg

7828e6ba27bd4817a63fd9ccffad857e.jpg
 
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