Hi guys. It has been a loooong time since I posted here. Very interesting discussion that I could not resist. I have owned or worked on every live steam 1:20.3 Colorado NG Accucraft has produced. Let me first say that the C-18 is mechanically the most advanced engine in this series. I have both poker burner and coal fired engines but this is my first ceramic burner engine. Let me first say that even for an experienced live steam guy, there was a definite learning curve to operating this ceramic burner engine consistently. Much easier than coal fire but more sophisticated than a poker burner. Overall this is a fantastic engine and a real bargain for the price.
Add my name to the list of people not having issues building and maintaining steam in cold weather. If anything during the first few runs I was having issues with too much steam and popping off too frequently. At first when I tried to turn down the burner to compensate, I had problems keeping the burner lit at low settings.
I do not know if it was a learning curve or just break in time but this issue corrected itself with several hours of running time. After several gallons of water and many hours of run time, it is now relatively easy to maintain pressure right at 60psi while keeping the water level at mid glass.
Now here is why I jumped in. My fire looks EXACTLY like the stock burner photographs above except I am getting a little more circular ceramic glow. Even though the engine was producing more than enough steam in cold weather, the appearance of the fire did cause me to review Bill’s old build logs as I was expecting the ceramic to really glow like his did. I finally concluded the burner was working adequately even for cold weather but could be made more efficient if desired.
Based on my experience, I agree with Cliff in that the stock burner with big blue flame should produce more than enough heat. I also agree with Bill’s post that a better more efficient burner could be built. Unfortunately after much thought I cannot offer good ideas on what the issue you are having outside of the burner which based on your pictures should not be the fundamental issue. Other than stressing the importance of maintaining very warm water in the tender, I would suggest running the engine on compressed air while holding resistance to check that each of the 4 exhaust events is providing good and even draft out the stack. A single partially clogged port can really draw an engine down and require much more power to just run.
Question for Bill if you read this far. Does this boiler have the correct grate and flue areas for good coal firing? If it does I might consider buying a kit and building a coal fire C-18 as adding a removable grate and ash pan looks very feasible.
That being said I am continuing to monitor this thread as a more efficient burner would be desirable to extend run times without increasing fuel tank size. Good luck.
Tom Burns
Add my name to the list of people not having issues building and maintaining steam in cold weather. If anything during the first few runs I was having issues with too much steam and popping off too frequently. At first when I tried to turn down the burner to compensate, I had problems keeping the burner lit at low settings.
I do not know if it was a learning curve or just break in time but this issue corrected itself with several hours of running time. After several gallons of water and many hours of run time, it is now relatively easy to maintain pressure right at 60psi while keeping the water level at mid glass.
Now here is why I jumped in. My fire looks EXACTLY like the stock burner photographs above except I am getting a little more circular ceramic glow. Even though the engine was producing more than enough steam in cold weather, the appearance of the fire did cause me to review Bill’s old build logs as I was expecting the ceramic to really glow like his did. I finally concluded the burner was working adequately even for cold weather but could be made more efficient if desired.
Based on my experience, I agree with Cliff in that the stock burner with big blue flame should produce more than enough heat. I also agree with Bill’s post that a better more efficient burner could be built. Unfortunately after much thought I cannot offer good ideas on what the issue you are having outside of the burner which based on your pictures should not be the fundamental issue. Other than stressing the importance of maintaining very warm water in the tender, I would suggest running the engine on compressed air while holding resistance to check that each of the 4 exhaust events is providing good and even draft out the stack. A single partially clogged port can really draw an engine down and require much more power to just run.
Question for Bill if you read this far. Does this boiler have the correct grate and flue areas for good coal firing? If it does I might consider buying a kit and building a coal fire C-18 as adding a removable grate and ash pan looks very feasible.
That being said I am continuing to monitor this thread as a more efficient burner would be desirable to extend run times without increasing fuel tank size. Good luck.
Tom Burns
