TRIPLE EXPANSION MODEL ENGINE- FIRST RUN (air)
by John
This is a short video of the first run of the Bolton9 Model Triple Expansion Steam Engine, which I have been building on and off over the past 3 years.
The video is a bit shakey, because it is taken on my hand held phone while I am using he other hand to operate the controls. I really did not expect the engine to work!
It runs a bit roughly, and is still quite tight, but settles down in the final few seconds.
It is not running very smoothly, because it is on air rather than steam, and because it is probably only powered on the high pressure cylinder, and maybe a bit on the intermediate, and not at all on the low pressure cylinder.
The next day it would not run. Very frustrating. I suspect that one of the eccentrics slipped on the crankshaft, and threw the timing out. Not the easily accessible low or high pressure valve, but the intermediate one, which needs another teardown to get to it.
But Hey! It will work. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.
One of my readers has requested a description of the triple engine timing procedure, so that will appear on this blog soon. Unless you have a particular need for the timing info I suggest that you give that post a miss.
johnsmachines 
Very nice! It might be rough because air is a more ‘ideal’ gas. I have read that others run with the IP Inlet open to atmosphere- essentially a single HP- for air running
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good idea. I will try it
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Hi John
Trust you are well
What are your thought on this?
http://www.maxitrak.com/locomotive-item/1-inch-scale-fowler-ploughing-engine
Regards
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Hi Albert, yes thankyou, going OK for an old fart. The Fowler Ploughing engineis cute and interesting, but IMO bigger is better with miniature traction engines. I doubt that one would be able to tow a person, or do any real work. Nice as a shelf decoration. John.
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It runs very well John, congratulations with this result on air.
Do not forget to lubricate so on and on even by air pressure. This helps a lot for the way it runs. Goodluck so far.
Regards Huib
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Thanks Huib! You are correct, It was not fully lubricated. I will add an in line lubricator for future runs on air. John
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I can understand how excited you were at the first run of the engine, very impressive.
I am building the same engine and would appreciate any advice you could pass on regarding some details of your build. I would be interested in how you achieved the alignment of the cylinder block and columns with the baseplate?. Also what sealant did you use on the faces of the cylinder blocks, valve chests and covers?
I am enjoying your blog and look forward to each article.
Regards
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Hi Roy, and thank you for your feedback. I do need an occasional positive to keep posting.
I used your questions as a basis for a post. I hope that it helps a bit. Let me know if I can be of further assistance. John.
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Hi John,
Thanks for the email advice re. the triple expansion engine.
I am still waiting for the supplier to advise on the availability /time frame for the castings.
Meanwhile I went ahead and obtained all the old ME magazines containing all the Bertinat articles and have just finished scanning them all into PDF format.
Also building a 5 1/2″ vertical boiler from scaled down plans of the one featured in Australian Model Engineering from Jul -Oct 2014. 5 1/2 inch boiler because I had the tube left over from the C32 loco build.
Looking forward to seeing your next build. Looks interesting to say the least.
Cheers,
Ned
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Thanks Ned, stay in touch! John
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I’m building one of these engines using a solid lump of CI for the cylinders. It’s interesting to watch your progress in building the model. Good instructions on setting the valve timings as I’m making the valve gear at the moment.
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