How does the steam regulator valve work on an A3?
Hello,
I've just partly reassembled an A3 (bought for spares and repairs from AC Models) putting a new superheater assembly into it. But I'm not sure if I put the regulator valve components back correctly- I lined up the two tiny holes in the black part that receives the spring and is revolved by the mechanism, with the two holes underneath in the block the superheater assembly is screwed to. Is this correct? It seemed the logical thing to do, but maybe it's not. Also, I must admit I've no idea how it works! Any info / help would be greatly appreciated.
Tim Lyon, Beijing
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Following my last email.
I rebuilt the tender of the A3, putting in a new heating element and thermistor, and this works well with another working A3 I have. The reason for doing this was that the loco plus tender shorted out when connected to the Hornby Live Steam controller. Fixing the tender was to see if the fault lay with the loco- which it obviously does. Intuitively I think the fault lies somewhere in the motor circuit (I changed the loco's pcbs to new ones), and would like to know if anyone has met with this problem. The cylinders and motion seem to have a fair level of resistance, too. All this is teaching me quite a lot about the complexity of these locos' engineering, with their interacting direct heating circuit, the electronic control system, and the components of the steam power system. The challenge is to get the thing working, if possible!