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27th April 2013, 12:33 AM #1SENIOR MEMBER
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Restoring a Weir boiler feed pump
I am about to embark on a restoration project I should have started approximately 20 years ago. No sense rushing into these things
The project is the complete rebuild of a G J weir feed pump.
Weir Pump Diagram.jpg
So far I am still in the strip down stage which is going well with all the nuts and bolts coming undone fairly easily
A couple of close-ups before I started
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And here is the bane of my life...rust!!
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First bit of noticeable damage. Looks like it may have fallen on its face at some stage. That little shaft and those studs are supposed to be straight
DSC_0912.jpg
First sign of corrosion appeared after I removed the steam stop valve (24 on the diagram)
DSC_0917.JPG
Here are some shots of more rust found after I removed the steam slide valve chest covers (1 on the diagram). The orange active active corrosion.
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After I pulled out the internal,s ie the shuttle valve, auxiliary valve and bells, gees, more active corrosion. It is supposed to be bright and shiny and smooth in there
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A couple of pics of the internals
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Phil
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27th April 2013, 12:49 AM #2
Hi Phil,
I think I can help you out, if you send a telegram to "GIWEIR GLASGOW" you can order the spare parts you need..
Here's an interesting variation...
Images linked from Grace's Guide
Regards
Ray
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27th April 2013, 12:57 AM #3GOLD MEMBER
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Hi Phil,
Someone stole two of the studs that hold the steam slide valve chest on
The bent part is number 26?
Is it going to be a full just like new rebuild or a clean it up make it work while still looking its age rebuild?
Stuart
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27th April 2013, 07:29 AM #4SENIOR MEMBER
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Bugga Ray, you could have let me know sooner, 3 of my carrier pigeons have just left with an order.
By the way, whats a 'telegram'? I'm not a big fan of moving with the times, new technology and all that. Pigeons will be around forever...wont they.
Hi Stuart,
you have a reputation for having an 'eagle eye' but this is just plain ridiculous. I have just gone through the pics I posted a gazillion times and can't see how you could have known that. Number 1 in the diagram is sitting on the cover that I removed but refers to the 'Steam slide valve chest' as a whole but I referred to it as the 'cover' for these purposes. I have removed the whole steam slide valve chest and yep you are right, two studs stayed with the pump. How in the hootin' do you do that, do you have a camera in my shed??
Of course you are also correct, it is the Auxilliary valve spindle that is bent (26)
I am not sure yet as to the extent of the restoration. The two schools of thought are 'showroom condition' and 'in working clothes'. At work it is showroom, but personally, I like working clothes. My intended use for the pump means that 'working clothes' would be the better choice but at some point (hopefully) the engine at 'Days Mill' will be using it's own pump. I suppose if I had the urge I could give it a showroom after it has finished its tour of duty at the mill. This is always going to be a perplexing question.
What does everyone reckon it should be???
Phil
Here is a pic of the 'Steam slide valve chest after I removed it, minus the two studs. Ya doin' my head in Stuart.
DSC_0945.JPGLast edited by Steamwhisperer; 27th April 2013 at 07:49 AM. Reason: To answer the last part of Stuarts question
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27th April 2013, 08:36 AM #5GOLD MEMBER
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Hi Phil,
To the un-trained eye (not Stuarts eye BTW. Stuart you're a freak!) the pump looks quite badly damaged with rust. Are you telling me you can recondition it back to showroom if you so desired?
You really are the Steam Whisperer!
Cheers,
Simon
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27th April 2013, 11:46 AM #6GOLD MEMBER
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hhmmm should he leave things alone and allow the legend of his superpowers to grow or fess up ??
Oh fine I'll fess. I was just referring to the diagram having seven bolts holding the "cover" on and your pump having five
So are these two parts a servo valve(is that the right name?)
https://www.woodworkforums.com/attach...p-dsc_0922.jpg
https://www.woodworkforums.com/attach...p-dsc_0928.jpg
That move these "things*" to open and close the main valves?
https://www.woodworkforums.com/attach...p-dsc_0921.jpg
Working clothes sounds good to me. While the castings would likely come up showroom well enough, you'd have to remove a fair bit of metal to get the machined all over parts to showroom wouldnt you? As you say you can always go showroom later.
Stuart
*which maybe called valves?
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27th April 2013, 09:17 PM #7SENIOR MEMBER
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Hi Simon,
No special powers, But you can do anything if you 'really' want to. The beauty of machinery from the era where they were fair dinkum about what they made is that they were designed to be reconditioned. The steam chest can be bored out and re-sleeved and the water side has a sleeve that can be removed and replaced. The steam cylinder is an easy peasy as I can hone it out and use oversize rings or machine it out and make an oversized piston. The valves in the water side are built so you can lap and lap and lap then re-machine then lap and lap etc.
I'm looking forward to this one
Hi Stuart,
I did a pic with labels this morning but wasn't happy with it so I did another tonight.
I don't believe for one minute that you don't have super powers in the eye department and you possibly have psychic ability
I will try and explain how the valve system works, but remember that all my good explanations are in a black hole somewhere.
DSC_1014.JPG
Ok Here goes,
As the piston moves up and down, so does the auxiliary valve. The auxiliary valve works on the flat face of the shuttle valve
With the piston moving in the upwards direction, as it nears the end of it's stroke, the Auxilliary valve moves up and admits steam to one end of the shuttle valve through a passage in its flat face.
This shoots the shuttle valve to the other end of the steam valve chest.
This opens the ports leading to the top of the piston and allows steam to push the piston in the downward direction.
As the piston nears the end of it's stroke the auxiliary valve moves in the downward direction and sends steam to the other end of the shuttle valve.
This shoots it to the opposite end of the steam valve chest sending steam to the under side of the piston and so the cycle begins again.
Phil
ps. I could do a short movie.
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27th April 2013, 10:31 PM #8GOLD MEMBER
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Hi Phil,
Thanks for that, its pretty much what I was thinking except I thought it was the "bells" that opened and closed the ports.............. So that brings me to my next question. What do the bells do? a buffer?
and the pointer is for?
Stuart
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27th April 2013, 11:46 PM #9SENIOR MEMBER
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Hi Stuart,
The bells create a cavity for the steam to push against to send the shuttle valve to the other end. There are a couple of slots in the bells One in the back that the pointer connects to and one on the lip that creates a path so the steam can be bypassed during the operation of the pump.
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This is where the pointers come in.
The pointers provide a means of rotating the bells so the bypass slots line up with bypass ports in the shuttle valve.
This is a pic of the bell in position. There is a projection on the inside of the cover that is attached to the pointer
DSC_0920.JPG
On the outside of the cover is indicators showing whether they are opened or closed.
Now for the confusing bit
These pointers are also called 'expansion pointers'.
The pump is started with them in the open position and after the engine has warmed up the pointers are closed.
This means that instead of the steam being continually pushed through the valve the steam is cut off early and expansion pushes the piston the last bit slowly and stops 'hammer' when the stroke is reversed.
This pic shows how you can tell if they are open or closed
DSC_0982.JPG
Phil
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28th April 2013, 12:04 AM #10SENIOR MEMBER
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Here is that damn rust again. I got quite a shock when I took the lid off.
I was feeling real good too as all the nuts came undone including the two suspect ones
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so I grabbed an old bronze bush and started cleaning.
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28th April 2013, 01:22 AM #11GOLD MEMBER
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Oh I think I have it. So the Bells are the cylinders that the shuttle valve slides in? I'd been thinking they were the same diameter and all in a line, not the shuttle sliding inside the bells. So there is a hole in each end of the shuttle valve going to one of the passages covered by the auxiliary valve?
Wow didn't that cylinder clean up well. Looked like it was fit to be a boat anchor.
Stuart
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28th April 2013, 08:39 AM #12SENIOR MEMBER
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Spot on Stuart.
The reason the valve arrangement is like this is so that the pump can be started in any position during normal operation which is important when feeding water to a boiler.
The only place they wont start is at the end of the stroke (pretty much like all steam engines) but a spanner is supplied that you use to 'short stroke' the engine, in other words, manually shift the auxilliary valve.
Gunna agree about how well the cylinder came up. I have seen worse on operating engines. I will give it a hone first and see how it comes up otherwise it might be a rebore.
I also agree with you about 'working clothes'. I was thinking about where I am going to use it and brightly painted aint gunna cut it. Bright metal will though
Phil
Here's a pic of the shooting hole (passage)
DSC_1002.JPG
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28th April 2013, 10:28 AM #13GOLD MEMBER
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This is awsome stuff!
I gotta get myself a stationary steam engine as a do-er-up-er and have it chug away in my backyard!
Can you run them off rabbits and stray cats? I got lots of them!
Simon
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28th April 2013, 10:29 AM #14GOLD MEMBER
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Maybe a model steam railway that runs on feral animals.......... OMG I'm a genius!
Can't talk..... looking on ebay......... heading out to the shed............
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28th April 2013, 12:15 PM #15Senior Member
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Keep up the good work Phil, good to see your progress so far.A working model with re co internals be the way to go.Got a portable boring bar here if you need 1 easy just to bore a plate and stud hole for location at the bottom bar on top.A lot easier than saddling it up and line boring.
Lots of meehanite here if you want for pistons and got a good source for rings. P/m me you got my number if you need any thing. Is good to see your progressive and informative blow by blow re animation. John.