[voxnut]

Thanks again to all the advice concerning the Ruby. I had gotten it to run "okay" but there were still issues with flames in the smokebox and not being able to run it with the door closed- even after the Hottman smokebox bottom plate modification and some dremel work to allow more air into the smokebox.

After a quick call to Royce who referred me to Chuck at Accucraft, a smaller jet was on its way. It arrived today and man, what a difference! Much better burner and throttle control, no flames in the smokebox and I can run it with the door closed. Steam in 6 minutes and nearly 20 minutes of run time. Currently the only issue I'm dealing with is the boiler appears to run out of water before it runs out of fuel. I'm filling the boiler completely and then removing 15ml. Perhaps I'm running too low of a burner setting.

Anyway, I'm really pleased. I feel as though the Ruby is now running as well as she can, given the design limitations.

Next step- building the portable track! A small loop with 4' curves on the patio just isn't quite scratching the itch...
All the best,
Dean

 

[davidarf]

Dean

Glad to hear that you have resolved the burner issue.

Ideally a steam locomotive should be fired as low as possible to raise steam and then maintain pressure. If your Ruby is running well and maintaining pressure there is no reason to turn up the burner. The better way to increase duration and avoid the water running out before the gas is to add more water and the simplest way to do this is with a goodall valve in place of the filler plug. This would allow you to pump in more water.

I have two Ruby based locomotives and they are fine little locomotives. On one of them I have gone a stage further and added an electric water pump and water tank in the tender to keep the water topped up. I have also added a larger gas tank and now regularly get runs of 30 to 40 minutes.

David

 

[Pete Thornton]

the boiler appears to run out of water before it runs out of fuel

Dean,

Most of the Accucraft locos are set up that way, unlike Roundhouse, so your loco is operating 'correctly'.

AS David says, a 'Goodall' valve and pressure squirt bottle is useful for topping up the boiler during the run. You can get them from Sulphur Springs:
http://www.sssmodels.com/locospartsaccess/locopartsaccess.html#WATER INJECTION VALVES

 

[voxnut]

David- wow! Impressive Ruby and impressive performance! Thanks for sharing the pics! I'm resisting the urge to do more performance-based mods and just accept a stock Ruby for what it is. Truth be told, I'd like to get another live steam loco so I figure that money not spent on Ruby upgrades will be money that can go towards a Mogul or Shay... although the larger cylinders do keep tempting me." border=0>


Pete- thanks for letting me know that the water running out before the fuel is standard for this model. When I talked to Royce about the jet last week, I also ordered a goodall valve and a spray bottle setup, so I'm guessing it will be here this week and another problem solved! Good stuff-

Thanks again- I really appreciate the time folks take out of their day to help a newby like myself.

All the best,
Dean

 

[JoelB]

Dean,

Did Chuck specify what size jet he sent you? I'm having a similar issue with an Edrig, methinks a smaller jet would help.

Many thanks.

Joel

 

[voxnut]

Joel-

He didn't and I didn't see anything stamped on either the jet that was too big or the replacement. It's just an assumption, but it's my understanding that the jets that are too big are a #4 jet, and the smaller jet is a #3. Based on the saved thread about the Ruby burner problems, if this replacement jet hadn't worked, I was prepared to order a #3 jet and a die from Sulphur Springs to rethread it for the metric threads in the Ruby jet holder.

So I'm assuming since it works well now, this was a #3 jet from Chuck.

Best of luck- let me know how it works out.
Dean

 

[Skip]

Posted By Pete Thornton on 07/30/2008 11:23 AM
the boiler appears to run out of water before it runs out of fuel

Dean,
Most of the Accucraft locos are set up that way, unlike Roundhouse, so your loco is operating 'correctly'.
AS David says, a 'Goodall' valve and pressure squirt bottle is useful for topping up the boiler during the run. You can get them from Sulphur Springs:
http://www.sssmodels.com/locospartsaccess/locopartsaccess.html#WATER INJECTION VALVES





Pete - its the other way around for the Rubies - running out of gas before water (supposed to be anyway). The smaller jet may make the tank last longer. Also, refilling the gas tank after it gets up to steam will also create the problem.

 

[Kovacjr]

The Accucraft jets dont seem to have any markings on them other than the bag they come in..You can easily see the large one vs the small one buy holding it up to a light or the sky. Same as seeing if it is clogged.

 

[weaverc]

Jason,
With the fuel tank only half full, one of the burners on my K-28 gurgled a lot even with mesh on it and occasionally the flame jumped into the smoke box even on a low fuel control valve setting. I could not eliminate the gurgling with the air rings or the fuel control valve. So, on a whim, I put in an Accucraft 'small' jet and the gurgling went away. Now the burner works perfectly keeping the mesh red hot. I suppose my 'big' jet was too big. What a difference a jet makes!

 

[llynrice]

Hi Carl,

Did you change both jets to the small size? Did your K28 come with large jets?

Llyn

 

[weaverc]

Llyn,
According to an email I got from Accucraft when I asked about which part number went with which size jet, they said 21351 was .20mm for large engines and 21352 was .15 for small engines. I assume from their statement that both the K-27 and K-28 come with the 21351 jet with the .20mm hole. I think one of my jets was bigger than .20 and hence the gurgling. I just happened to have a 21352 jet left over from when I had a Ruby and used it to solve my problem.

On my K-27, I had a different problem where one burner would not stay lit. I ordered a 21351 .20mm big jet from Accucraft and put it in the offending burner and the thing now stays lit. In that case, I think one of the burners accidently had a small jet in it.

As the thread says, what a difference a jet makes! It's just a matter of finding a clean one that inserts the right amount of gas.