[Slick]

Has anyone got an idea what type solder was used in the construction of Aristocraft's Livesteam Mikado? I'm trying to seal a leak and getting poor results. (a good bit of operator difficulty too I suspect)

 

[Charles]

Dan
What type and technique are you using to repair?

 

[Slick]

I'm using silver solder and flux, at this time I've only tried to flow solder into the leaking area. This is right at the seam between backplate and boiler shell. This is just shy of the sight glass at the 7'oclock position. I think my next move will be a bit of curved "L" copper for a patch, perhaps this will seal the little bugger.

 

[SalM]

Dan.....AC wants to know of any leaking boilers......mine leaked in the same place and they replace the engine & tender no questions asked. Let Navin know.

 

[Jerry Barnes]

Well Navin has mine right now, for the same problem, but has not said anything about replacing it.
Jerry

 

[Slick]

I would be very impressed if Aristocraft offers to replace my leaking boiler.

 

[SalM]

Dan and Jerry.........mine failed early in the build cycle of the version one Mikes.......they had no spare boilers at the time so an exchange of loco's was the solution. Navin may now have spare boilers and a boiler swap will resolve the problem. Fixing a boiler and recertifing it is probably beyond what can be done at AC in New Jersey. Keep me posted as to the "fix".....I have two ver. 1 Mikes so I have a vested interested in how the leak is resolved.

 

[Jerry Barnes]

This is what he said:
Jerry, I have to replace the boiler on the locomotive and I do not have any in stock. I will check our show items and see if I have any to replace for you.
Thank you,
Navin

 

[aceinspp]

Man I hope its not going to go down like when I blew the fuel tank. No spares or replacement available. It took two years to finally get the new fuel tank. I will also want to know what the final answer is as I also have the first gen Mike. I'll keep my fingers cross that mine stays together can not have another shelve queen for two years. Yikes. Later RJD

 

[Jerry Barnes]

Merry Christmas RJ!

 

[aceinspp]

Jerry when did your boiler go? Yep and Merry Christmas to you. May the new year bring back a LS Later RJD

 

[Jerry Barnes]

Must have been leaking for awhile, but I hardly ever run it on rollers, on a bench. Noticed a bit of water, on a white spot at about 4 o'clock on the boilers right side. Had a drip from above, so tightened it, but it was there again the next day, so concluded it was a leak. Puzzled, since I always use distilled water.

 

[Guest]

Back to the repair . . . My GUESS would be that it is silver soldered. Are you trying to make the repair using a true silver solder (1150°F+), or is it "silver-bearing" solder (425°F±)? Silver-bearing solders typically contain only 2%-5% silver and are often deliberately labeled so as to mislead the unwary into thinking they have something better than a tin-based plumber's soft solder. Also, if you should contemplate a sent-out repair (if this boiler is made such that it's worth repairing), once you have applied soft solder to a surface it is impossible to then get silver solder to flow in that place unless every molecule of soft solder is removed down to bare metal - a laborious process that will make an otherwise doable and affordable repair at the very least more expensive, if it's then doable at all.

 

[SalM]

Jerry/Dan......if AC can't fix the leak Harry Wade in Nashville may be able to resolve the problem. I'll try to find his number...... Harry W [email protected]

 

[Slick]

You may have hit it right on the head.......the solder I choose for this job is not correct, low silver content. Looks like a clean up job is ahead, thanks for the input.

 

[Torby]

I'd call Aristo and ask for Navin. They'll get you fixed right up.

 

[aceinspp]

It will be interesting if Aristo can repair or if they want t or know how to. They had no way to repair my fuel tank when it let go . If they do not have replacements then your out of luck. This is two areas that AC did not count on as far as making replacements. Later RJD

 

[aceinspp]

Looks like a stalemate. Later RJD

 

[norman]

Hi there:

Which release version of the Mikado have been experiencing the boiler leak?

Have any of the second release Mikados had a leaking boiler?

Thank you
Norman

 

[Jerry Barnes]

Mine is first generation Aristo is putting a boiler in from a demo model. Not exactly what I wanted, but better than a leaky boiler.