New & Could do with some help!
Hello Everyone,
I am pretty new to Live Steam, although I was given the Seagull Live Steam Model as a birthday present around 13 years ago, I have only now managed to get it out of storage and see if it'll run and by the look at the title you can probably give a good guess to the answer!
I'll start off by listing a few of the issues I seem to be having with the loco.
When I switch the controller and and put the heater valve all the way to the right, the loco's light shines red with the regulator valve set pretty much all the way to the right without setting the whistle off. But after a few minutes of heating up, the light turns off and you can hear the audible "whine" stop, thereafter the controller cuts out and a long beep proceeds from the controller.
I believe I have an issue with the steam chest control valve chamber. In my stupid younger days I do believe the thread may have snapped off in there as I am now having to use a new oil plug for the time being. Is there a a way of getting this out without having to take the chamber off and having to re-time the engine.
Which brings me to my third issue, I can see water coming from the bottom of the steam chest control valve chamber, If I was to buy a second hand chamber from eBay, what kind of work would it take to get the new one fitted and timed.
Another Issue i am having is with the directional control. When I flick the lever in the reverse direction, I can see the regulator opening nicely, but when flicking the controller in the opposite direction, there is an audible click along with the light switching off momentarily, but there is no movement on the regular arm, what could be the possible issue here?
I know there's a lot wrong with my Seagull Loco but I would love to get this little beaty working again for sentimental value. The smell of the steam that comes from the loco is just unmatched!
Thank you and I look forward to liaising with all of you shortly!
A few comments/thoughts for you:
I assume the tender was filled with water for this test - if not, it's normal behaviour tripping out to prevent damage when out of water. If you did fill it with water, it's probably a faulty thermal switch which lived under the boiler. A relatively easy swap for a new part (from the club shop).
If you look at some of the cutaway loco photos, you will see that it's basically an empty chamber with a pipe through for the steam and a very small hole near the steam exit point at the front to regulate the addition of oil. Having half a screw in there wouldn't cause any problems at all. It would be nigh on impossible to get it out, so don't worry about it.
I'm not exactly sure where you mean - a photo with an arrow on it would help. It may just need a new seal.
Not sure on the regulator motor only going one way. Does the volt meter on the controller behave the same when flicking left & right ? Is there any debris around the motor armature which might prevent movement in one direction? It's unlikely to be an electrical fault if it allows movement in one direction as the loco pcb connects the DC motor directly to the rails during a controller "flick".
I hope this helps.