Oil in Water Sight Glass?

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newboydave

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I have an Accucraft "Lawley" (2005 model) which has suddenly started to show signs of oil in the sight glass - still runs OK, but of course now I can not see the actual water level. I have tried cleaning the inide of the glass, but next time I run, the oil appears again. Any suggestions on possible causes, or remedies to correct this situation would be appreciated.
 
Please describe the nature of the oil you are seeing...You ARE using the correct grade of steam oil, right? I've never seen this occurrence in forty-something years of steaming. Accucraft locos like #460 weight.

Roundhouse prefer the lighter grade, so I'm told.

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newboydave said:
I have an Accucraft "Lawley" (2005 model) which has suddenly started to show signs of oil in the sight glass - still runs OK, but of course now I can not see the actual water level. I have tried cleaning the inide of the glass, but next time I run, the oil appears again. Any suggestions on possible causes, or remedies to correct this situation would be appreciated.
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Unfortunately it means you have oil in the boiler, just cleaning the sight glass's won't help, I'm afraid. It may not harm the running of your loco yet, but if it builds up it will start to clog the pipework. Using white spirit or white vinegar will shift it,, but it's not easy. Fill the boiler with the spirit and shake the engine, it will take a long time to get it out.
It's caused by the steam oil getting siphoned back into the boiler water when the engine cools and the regulator is still open. Accucraft locos who's speed is controlled by the reverser are prone to it as its easy to forget to close the regulator after a run.
Others may have better advice, as there's always more than one way to cook a goose
 
Paul M said:
It's caused by the steam oil getting siphoned back into the boiler water when the engine cools and the regulator is still open.
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Interesting, I was expressly told to leave the regulator open at the end of the session. But that's Regner, so it may have to do with differences in builds.
 
Don't stress over it! It's steam oil, so is meant to be fed into your pipework and is not likely to clog things up - though it won't look nice in your sight glass. As Paul M says, it's being sucked back from the lubricator at the end of a run.
Ignore it. If you do clean it out, you'll just end up doing it over and over again.
My Lawley is the same and it does no harm.
Regards Tom
 
Jasper said:
Interesting, I was expressly told to leave the regulator open at the end of the session. But that's Regner, so it may have to do with differences in builds.
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Not sure whether the Regner speed is controlled by its regulator, or by the reversing thingy as my Accucraft. Or, it may be I've got it wrong. Again
 
tac foley said:
Please describe the nature of the oil you are seeing...You ARE using the correct grade of steam oil, right? I've never seen this occurrence in forty-something years of steaming. Accucraft locos like #460 weight.

Roundhouse prefer the lighter grade, so I'm told.

View attachment 337834
Click to expand...
Thanks for the information. I am using the oil shown, and am now reasonably satisfied having received the benefit of other replies, that there is no hidden "serious' cause responsible for the oil. I have used vinegar and removed the residue, so I will continue to monitor the situation.
 
tomfilery said:
Don't stress over it! It's steam oil, so is meant to be fed into your pipework and is not likely to clog things up - though it won't look nice in your sight glass. As Paul M says, it's being sucked back from the lubricator at the end of a run.
Ignore it. If you do clean it out, you'll just end up doing it over and over again.
My Lawley is the same and it does no harm.
Regards Tom
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Thanks for your comments - I think I may have overreacted and having removed the residue by washing out the boiler with white vinegar, I will continue to monitor the situation.
 
tomfilery said:
Don't stress over it! It's steam oil, so is meant to be fed into your pipework and is not likely to clog things up - though it won't look nice in your sight glass. As Paul M says, it's being sucked back from the lubricator at the end of a run.
Ignore it. If you do clean it out, you'll just end up doing it over and over again.
My Lawley is the same and it does no harm.
Regards Tom
Click to expand...
Thanks Tom. I have washed the boiler out with white vinegar, removing the oil residue so I will now monitor the situation on my next runnning sessions and see if it reoccures.
 
Paul M said:
Not sure whether the Regner speed is controlled by its regulator, or by the reversing thingy as my Accucraft. Or, it may be I've got it wrong. Again
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I think you will find a lot of Regners have a combined reverser/regulator valve, my steam tram certainly does as did my Conrad.
 
Paul M said:
That might make a difference. How long did it take to clear it?
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Do we have a misunderstanding here? I was just replying to your implied question of whether a Regner's speed is controlled by the regulator. Which, to my limited knowledge, it is. You may have mistaken me for the OP.

I was simply surprised that someone would be advised to close the regulator after a session, since I got the opposite advice. That's why I mentioned my loco's brand, in case it makes a difference.
 
Paul M said:
Unfortunately it means you have oil in the boiler, just cleaning the sight glass's won't help, I'm afraid. It may not harm the running of your loco yet, but if it builds up it will start to clog the pipework. Using white spirit or white vinegar will shift it,, but it's not easy. Fill the boiler with the spirit and shake the engine, it will take a long time to get it out.
It's caused by the steam oil getting siphoned back into the boiler water when the engine cools and the regulator is still open. Accucraft locos who's speed is controlled by the reverser are prone to it as its easy to forget to close the regulator after a run.
Others may have better advice, as there's always more than one way to cook a goose
Click to expand...
I have an old Hyde Out Mountain Shay built by Jerry Hyde.
His instructions were to crack open the safest/fill valve as soon as the fire went out so it couldn’t suck oil back into the boiler.

I think I cleaned the boiler out with either Simple green or Dawn dish soap and water, fired it just long enough to get the water hot and let it sit then flushed it thoroughly with water several times then distilled water. Made sure there was fresh oil going into the valves and cylinders.

Not sure this was the best way but it seemed to work.
 
I recently took delivery of a "new" 7/8" Decauville that was supposedly only test run - the gauge glass had oil in it and I flushed the boiler using general purpose thinners - the image here shows the results of the first three flushes:

20250104_182415[1].jpg

Then flushed the boiler three times with fresh water - the final time I left the safety valve off and lit the burner and brought it to the boil to evaporate any thinners that may have been left behind.

In the case of the Decauville it was also easy enough to take off the top nut of the gauge glass and clean the inside with a pipe cleaner.

No oil in the sight glass or boiler since then as I shut the regulator at the end of the run.

Having said that the loco hasn't seen full operation yet - it has some of the many issues outlined on the 7/8" Forum's 36 odd pages of posts!

I'm not familiar with Regner lubricators but if they have a control valve (?), that could be shut at the end of the run to stop oil being sucked back into the boiler by the partial vacuum formed by the cooling down process?
 
David Price said:
I recently took delivery of a "new" 7/8" Decauville that was supposedly only test run - the gauge glass had oil in it and I flushed the boiler using general purpose thinners - the image here shows the results of the first three flushes:

View attachment 337995
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That is a lot of oil! You'll do the Arabs out of business with that lot! I can imathat amouwould have detrimental affect on the running of your loco
 
Hi Paul,

that's what I thought so I flushed it before I ran the so-called "new" locomotive (only been test run on the rolling road so far).

Least of its problems actually as the left hand piston rod is not screwed into the cross-head fully and the piston hits the end of the cylinder on the out stroke, locking up the motion (at least I don't have it doing this on a real locomotive - as it would do some serious damage!!).

Steaming is not a problem now - just a whole range of other issues (like the fact that the gauge glass level doesn't really reflect the minimum water level as it allows exposure of the central flue tube).

The least of these is that Accucraft couldn't even get the builder's plates right.............

I had been warned about Accucraft locos - my Roundhouse Davenport has been a delight by comparison!

Going to be 41C tomorrow - good day to be in the workshop with the air-conditioning on! :-)

Might get the valves on the Ater Shay sorted (I wish)

Cheers,
 
If you could pack up a hold-full of that heat, and get Quantas to deliver it to my workshop, it would be greatly appreciated. :D

Mix it with the 12-13°C it is in there, and I should feel nice and toasty. :)

After many years, the tubular heater, which kept most of the damp at bay, has failed. I don't want to leave a fan heater running unattended, so it takes some time to get warm..

Have Accucraft lost their way, on quality control?
I was under the impression they were rather good? - Perhaps, the level of detail?

PhilP.
 
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