K-36 Live Steam - At Diamondhead

Dave,

Your forgetting that even if it becomes a metered lubricator, the oil would still be piped through the superheater, which in my book is a BAD thing. Properly, we need a deadleg (metered/unmetered) and a kit to install it so that the oil enters right at the valve chest where it will be most beneficial. Superheated oil just thins out and leads to premature failure and if you meter this, it thins out even more, becoming nothing more than nice blue smoke. Not to mention that a deadleg frees up room in the cab by placing it where an air tank would be in real life (ala the GS-4 and C-16).

Bottom line:
If a $2,xxx C-16 can have an OEM deadleg,then why not a $4,xxx K-27/28/36 or for that matter, a slightly more expensive AC-11/12 not have a separate oil feed that comes in right at the valve chest?

Rod,

I have seen David's lubricator mod and love it's conception, but for me, it still doesn't solve the issue of running oil through a superheater. IMHO, only steam should be run through the superheater (steam dryer in our case).


Bill,

Excessive water carry-over will certainly flush the oil out! Fortunately, our bronze cylinders are a bit more forgiving, and there is slightly thinner oil being passed through in our engines as well.



Everyone who is concerned about this, or just gives a hoot:

See the Informative threads index and look up the lubricator discussion for some good ideas (namely from Torry K and David Bailey).

Chris,

Once again, a informative and semi-long winded post. However, you are forgetting one important thing. Even if the oil is metered from the cab, it is still exposed to the thermal properties of a red-hot superheater. Once the oil and steam mixture hits this pipe, the thermal properties of the oil change dramatically, and cause the oil to reach it's flash point at low throttle settings. Hence why most engines with pass-through lubricators that flow through a superheater create issues with not only coking of the oil molecules, but thin out the oil to a point where the lubricative properties are near useless. Take for example the o-ring in the piston (another item that should be changed) without oil, or with significantly thinned oil, smoke doesn't lubricate the cylinders, the oil does. A properly lubricated engine should have a slight (very faint) froth of oil in a ring around the stack, the color of creamed coffee, which signifies proper emulsification as the oil leaves the cylinders.

The accucraft lubricators have a properly sized metering hole, the main issue is that the steam pipe is too low on the side of the lubricator, as opposed to the top and centered, which makes the steam work longer to get the oil above the hole in the pipe. ALL of the original run C-16's (268, 278, and 42) had the deadleg lubricator placed under the running board. The issue with the over consumption of oil was due to the steam pipe being too large in internal diameter, creating an issue with too much oil carryover.

There is one more article that can be added to the list of SCO articles and that is the one by Mr Bill Petitjean, the owner and founder of Green Velvet oil's. You can find a wealth of information that has been slightly simplified for the common finger-burner. Find the article here

Dave,

The I know that it is expecting a lot of those not willing to do aftermarket modifications, but anyone who has some mechanical ability can certainly install a proper working deadleg.  I covered the issue of the C-16 lubricator ^^up there^^. 

Not to bring another issue into this, but 98% of aster engines have deadleg lubricators, not just the Berkshire. 

I'm not concerned with coking up the superheater, as that is the operator's choice.  My BIG concern is the lack of proper "wet" oil going to the cylinders.  Apparently everyine is content with the "plavix" cure of metering the oil, but I want the 4-way bypass surgery.  It it simply a stop gap to meter the oil, as it is still going to be thinned to the flashing point. 

Since this is way off this topic, I will close my thoughts here.  Contact me off-list for ways to alleviate this problem.