Scotsman lacks power
I have a Scotsman that has very limited power.
There doesn't seem to be any steam leaks. It gets up to pressure and while running the safety valve blows of occasionally, I tried running on full heat setting just to see but it makes no difference and of course the pressure valve blows of more regularly.
The wheels turn freely both on the loco and the tender.
Timing seems to be ok and it actually runs smoothly just no power, I tried adjusting the fine tuning and was able to make it run worse adjusting both ways so it seems to be set right, some times it slows to a stop and needs a push to get going again. It never gets up to a decent speed.
Running off track the steam valve opens fully and the wheels speed up as you would expect but I can stop them with a fairly light touch
Track and controller are ok as I run a mallard on it and it performs exceptionally well. Maybe the pressure valve is blowing off too early?
Any ideas would be appreciated. I can't find any reference to a similar problem.
Cheers
Thanks David, this all seems to be ok. I keep running it and it is improving each time. So I think the problem may be some sort of partial blockage (maybe calcification)just after the relief valve, difficult to get sufficient steam through. If I stop it with the regulator open slightly the whole system can build up enough volume and pressure to run it a couple of laps. That being said it is running better each time. Last go it ran a full tank without slowing down. So maybe it is clearing itself.