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Has anyone ever just said "enough is enough"  :twisted:  and silver-soldered the steam line into the back of the reverser?

One cannot do it with the deadleg lubricator, but if you have the RH or Jane/Janet type on the footplate it seems to me it would be an option.

Any reason (other than having to un-solder the line in cases of repairs) that it would not be the best soution in the end?

It's a good idea in principle aye.

But for the record, Swordbreaker with a PPS steamline and inline luber, plus PPS reverser...nae needed it, seriously.

My new loco, Dolmur Goch, which DLRdan built for me made a displacement lubricator which is in the cab (same as the R/H type etc) and so far it seems that there isn't a need for the steam pipe to be soldered into the reversing block.

Britomart on the other hand with the dead leg is a different matter It's not been leaking from the T piece and reversing block, but between the T piece and steam pipe, after a lot of annoyance (and whistling of the loco) it now has had some instant gasket applied to the area, which has stopped all leaks so far.

A new O ring in the reverser block has always worked for me.

I have heard of others silver soldering in the steam pipe so it does work OK.

The dead leg lubricator can cause 2 sources of steam leaks. At the back of the T piece there is a brass collar into which the main steam pipe is friction fitted. There should be an 'O' ring inside of that collar but on one of mine there was none. I fully solder this collar and the main steam pipe together so no leak there. The other end of the T piece should be a bit of 1/8" copper pipe but I have found they do tend to vary slightly in diameter. I file a chuck of the T piece away on the inside face as it can foul the reverser pivot bolt, and this allows the T piece to be fitted in a 90 degrees to the reverser block.

On my prototype PPS De Winton it uses a modified Mamod reverser block into which the steam & exhaust pipes are soft soldered. It is one of the areas that needs more work as there is a slight steam leak there.

Chris Cairns.

Dealing with Second Chance and process of elimination, I reckon it's the steampipe > deadleg luber via the brass collar that's giving all the grief. I've now used Greville Instant Gasket [heatproof too] to seal it over and am trying it very soon.

Really, the deadleg receivers should have an oring around the point of contact with the steampipe.

I've just checked my Mike Chaney (the original designer) dead leg lubricator and there is no 'O' ring inside of the collar but it does look like the inside front face of the collar is threaded. The steam pipe on this loco was soft soldered into the collar but that has failed - this loco is under a full rebuild so one more item on the repair list.

I'm sure that the IP Eng dead leg lubricator had an 'O' ring fitted inside of the collar, but they did not fit the drain screw to the oil tank like Mike had done.

I recently fitted a Dream Steam dead leg lubricator to my Mamod Mark I and that did not have an 'O' ring fitted either. In fact this was a very difficult fit into that loco and the collar actually pulled out of the T piece. But it was all successfully soldered together.

Chris Cairns.

I've silver soldered 5 of them now, I didn't get on with the O rings.

Now Second Chance is certified....!

The trick is to get them tension locked.That is, the pipe can't move, waddle or flex within its holdings. An s-bend in it may be necesary.

Oddly, once you have the steampipe pushfitted tightly tense into the reverser block, provided the o rings are good in said block, it's usually a good'un.

The steam leaks come more from the steampipe > deadleg connection. In the ones I've seen it's been a bras collar which the steampipe slips into. An oring somewhere would be nice but alas doesn't work - also again, it has to be tension tight to work. I coated this joint in gasket and not looked back since -a bodge job but it works.

dougrail wrote:An 'O' ring somewhere would be nice but alas doesn't work

It does on one of my locos. I bought an MGM Engineering modified Mamod from a trader and he recommended fitting a lubricator as it had 'O' ring pistons fitted. So I bought an IP Engineering dead leg lubricator which has that 'O' ring inside the T piece. Provided you cut the standard steam pipe (which is already S or Z shaped) at the right point then you can get a good steam tight joint and the end of the T piece fits into the reverser block at the right angle as well. As long as you prime the steam pipe in the lubricator each refill then this loco runs well with no steam leaks.

Chris Cairns.

I stand corrected C:

For the best fit, I'd say both - an o ring and a tension lock. An oring is good but if the pipe is flapping, that gap the steam -will- use. As I discovered on 'Chance.

The best fit is to solder up the steam pipe to T piece joint.

It is interesting to note the different lengths that the steam pipe from the T piece to reverser block can be.

Chris Cairns.