Garden Railway Forum

Hi,

Probably stuff i should of found out BEFORE I bought the beast but if id of done that id more than likley not bothered...

Just a few things about ragleth...

Boiler draining... do it or not ?

De calcifing boiler with kettle cleaners.. (wot we uze on the bigguns, cant remeber what its called, Killrok?)

Servcing, what when and how often?


Will

I've never bothered with draining the boiler on my edrig unless i'm working on it and i have to turn it upside down every now and then etc as i've been told that it'll be all right

Don't have a clue bout the others though

I wouldnt bother draining the boiler unless your using hard water.

As for descaler, any off the shelf kettle descaler will do just follow the insructions (just remember to take off all the boiler fittings first!)

And servicing, only when and if you feel it needs it, just keep grit out of the oily bearings and keep the piston valve timed correctly. I have recently had an edrig in where it had been run out of time (it would only go backwards) for about a year and the valve was badly worn.

Hope this helps

My locos live out in the shed, so I tend to drain the boilers in winter as a precaution against frost damage. Otherwise I don't drain.
This is a relatively soft water area.

Nice to see you trust me Will I don't drain my boilers, I descale with vinegar and I shouldn't think you will have to do anything to Ragleth for quite a while although un bending it would be a start

Here's another vote for a)not draining unless you're working on it, b)white vinegar for de-scaling if you need it (but if you're using filtered rainwater that should be rare)

Now the bit that might draw some flak......................

c)servicing intervals - Make sure you give it a visual once over after every session before packing away and periodically give it a much closer inspection after cleaning. What with keeping an eye on it while it's running and regular post run checks I reckon you should stay on top of any maintenance required.

why would that draw flak? Thats sensible! Part of oiling a larger loco round is to visually check all the motion, why should it not apply here?

Boiler washouts what are they?
As for servicing , if it broke don't fix it.

ptlrcecil:46969 wrote:As for servicing , if it broke don't fix it.

Cecil, shouldn't it be 'if it ain't broke'......

ptlrcecil:46969 wrote:Boiler washouts  what are they?
As for servicing , if it broke don't fix it.

Run it, run it some more, run it till it stops running. If something falls off then put it back on....Yes BR brainwashed me!

made-in-england:46927 wrote:Hi,

Probably stuff i should of found out BEFORE I bought the beast but if id of done that id more than likley not bothered...

Just a few things about ragleth...

Boiler draining... do it or not ?

De calcifing boiler with kettle cleaners.. (wot we uze on the bigguns, cant remeber what its called, Killrok?)

Servcing, what when and how often?

Will

Use distilled water in your locomotive. We are not talking gallons here and none of the locomotives are cheap. Degrease, wash and re-oil running gear every few runs – will pay dividends in longevity. Drain the boiler if you are storing for any length of time. Servicing is really limited to cleaning as above, but do a visual check every so often to ensure nothing is loosening off with the heating/reheating. If you get a weep between steamchests and cylinders post again and I will run through this with you.

Buy and fit a resonator whistle :-) easy to do if you can drill three holes. Not required for maintenance but all locos should have a whistle of course...

GardenRail:47092 wrote:

made-in-england:46927 wrote:Hi,

Probably stuff i should of found out BEFORE I bought the beast but if id of done that id more than likley not bothered...

Just a few things about ragleth...

Boiler draining... do it or not ?

De calcifing boiler with kettle cleaners.. (wot we uze on the bigguns, cant remeber what its called, Killrok?)

Servcing, what when and how often?

Will

Use distilled water in your locomotive. We are not talking gallons here and none of the locomotives are cheap. Degrease, wash and re-oil running gear every few runs – will pay dividends in longevity. Drain the boiler if you are storing for any length of time. Servicing is really limited to cleaning as above, but do a visual check every so often to ensure nothing is loosening off with the heating/reheating. If you get a weep between steamchests and cylinders post again and I will run through this with you.

Buy and fit a resonator whistle :-) easy to do if you can drill three holes. Not required for maintenance but all locos should have a whistle of course...

Thanks Tag, I think I might go for a whistle... any ideas where you can buy them from? DJB?

made-in-england wrote: Thanks Tag, I think I might go for a whistle... any ideas where you can buy them from? DJB?

Google DJB Engineering.

I usually don't have to drain boilers, Ruby tends to boil dry. I am more familiar with the dive down the yard when it stops chuffing and kill the fire routine.

I usually clean my locomotive's motion every week or so by spraying WD 40 over it and trying it with a paper towel. The WD40 blasts the cr@p out of the motion (if any) and removes the mucky oil. I then lubricate as normal. When it is windy I follow this procedure after every operating session as where I live can be quite dusty.

Peter in AZ

As usual Tag is on the button. With two Ragleth's on order, I have the DJB whistles, just need the loco's! Blue one due this week but green one gone back from October to December. China slow boat getting slower. Will have a Bangham Resonator fitted to my Lady Anne too in due course. Picking up on anything Ragleth related.
Bob P.

1. leave it with or without, at the end of a run its usually pretty empty!

2. use distilled water then no need.

3. servicing is limited to keeping motion clean, too much oil attracts dirt.

The best oil to use on the motion is gun oil,also don't use deionized water in the boiler,some places sell it as distilled.