Garden Railway Forum

Have been home a week now from our trip so on the weekend after mowing and getting all the leaves of the track I gave marvin a run it ran round the track well the first run and after a topup it has decided to leak from some where and puts the flames out
so looks like Ihave a job ahead

I had a friend who had a Jane that did that once, water was topped up, but then there was a pool of water on the track. We thought the boiler had failed but when refilled and relit there wasn't any trouble

Perhaps it's to do with the blanking plug in the dome?

havent pulled it apart yet so not sure whats wrong

blanking plug under dome is ok but end plug on one of the pistons has come adrift.

I looked on ipengineering and they dont sell mamod mods any more
any where I can get them now
also I think I may need to find a new boiler for it help

ACLR wrote:blanking plug under dome is ok but end plug on one of the pistons has come adrift.

I looked on ipengineering and they dont sell mamod mods any more
any where I can get them now
also I think I may need to find a new boiler for it help

www.pps-steam-modes.co.uk

only place i can think of

or for a standard one, forrest classics, or 'paper n steam galore'

marvin has been compleetly stripped down and cleaned.
New boiler and wheel sets have been purchased just waiting for the postman now to deliver.
have bought an uprated boiler with sidemounted sightglass and the wheels are made from steel cant wait to start rebuilding him

Sorry to read that Marvin has decided to become a troublesome MSS.

I wonder if your leak problem is coming from the tube that goes up into the steam dome. I've read elsewhere that some believe this tube is rivetted to the bottom of the boiler, but I believe it is just a piece of tube which has had 1 end flared and soldered to the bottom of the boiler. This solder joint is very weak in my opinion, particularly if subjected to direct flames from meths or gas burner, and when I refurbish my boilers this is 1 item I include.

With regards to your cylinder end cap coming off I wonder if that is to do with the length of the piston rod. When replacing the brass big end I wonder what the total length of the rod should be, as I have one on an SL1K which seems to get stuck in the fully out position occasionally, and pulls the cylinder off the backing plate.

It is a pity that you've had to resort to getting the upgraded boiler, as you already have the uprated safety valve, cab regulator and water top-up valve fitted to your MSS boiler.

I'm thinking more about steel replacement wheels as well. I've had to fit 2 sets of wobbly wheels out of my spare parts box, and re-punching them has not been successful enough, and just covering them in loctite has similarly failed. What I now do is completely remove the wheels from the axle, clean up the axle & apply some torque seal, and fix the wheels back on. However without some sort of jig it is difficult to get these wheels exactly straight, but at least they seem to work better than my previous attempts.

Look forward to reading your progress on Marvin in due course.

Chris ive decided to replace the boiler as i run this engine a lot and find the plastic sightglass to be a pain so have opted for the upgraded boiler and run a bit more pressure. all the things you mention about the old boiler is wrong with it and the oring on the sightglass had let go as well.
Mamodevon has started his own sales site and I was the guineapig for it he will be anouncing the launch of the site soon has a lot of spares on there for mamaod/mss at reasonable prices. the parts should be here early next week so will let you know the progress of the rebuild. should be specked nearly the same as an ip janet but cant afford a gas conversion as yet
my home made meths burner is doing a great job at present.

Graham, I received a PM from Mamodevon regarding his new online sales shop. Whilst I've viewed his site, my current travels have prevented me ordering some spares yet.

Good luck with your rebuild. I would suggest soldering 6 BA nuts to the inside of the boiler face at the front, which allows you to fix it to the sidetanks & smokebox using a 6 BA screw - much better than those posidrive screws.

Are you getting the upgraded cylinder/pistons as well?

Chris Ive already got the uprated cylinders/pistons so not buying them just have to fix the loose cap  :?
thanks for the 6ba nut sugestion thats a great idea

well an update the parts turned up today held up by customs who opened it for inspection then left a note say nothing was touched.
have put marvin back together and he has been running all evening on blocks just to run him in again and to test the new boiler. the new steal wheels are great. looking forward to tomorrow to see how he runs on the track.
will let you all know

Great to hear that Marvin steams again.

I wonder if you will get the air bubble being trapped in the water sight glass tube, that I've experienced with these type of boilers - makes an accurate reading difficult, and even Mamodevon has fitted a blow down valve on Pandora for this reason ( http://www.mamodevon.pwp.blueyonder.co. ... ection.htm ).

Not a major problem as being silver soldered these boilers can actually be run dry, although it is a bad practice.

Look forward to seeing Marvin back running