Tel, I sort of figured that you might go with the more "physical" approach :-) ! ..but what sort of balls do you use - bronze or stainless ?? Cheers Peter -----Original Message----- From: Terry Lane [SMTP:tel@xxxxxxxxxxx] Sent: Monday, September 27, 2004 1:07 PM To: modeleng@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: [modeleng] Re: Balls - what sort do you have and how do you seat them comfortably? Yeah. I always use stainless as well, but I rarely lap 'em in, just give 'em a bash with a brass drift > As a personal thing, I would go for Stainless balls, lapped in. I use Brasso > to lap in using your method of a ball soldered onto a rod. Worked on my > locos. > > Dave. > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Peter Sheppard" <peter.sheppard@xxxxxxxxxx> > To: <modeleng@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> > Sent: Monday, September 27, 2004 12:22 PM > Subject: [modeleng] Balls - what sort do you have and how do you seat them > comfortably? > > > > No it's not a porn site! > > > > > > I have recently been running the Hunslet on air (albeit briefly as even > > with a 50 litre tank it gets through the air at a phenomenal rate!) > > > > One thing I have noticed is that one of the safety valves starts to weep > at > > around 30 psi, the other has a far sharper opening at 90psi (the loco is > 90 > > psi working pressure). > > > > I have inspected the safety valve and it is a "standard" bronze ball on a > > flat seat arrangement (with a spring to give the pressure on the seat.) > It > > is not a Ross Pop type, but a simple "standard" safety valve. > > > > Obviously I would like it to seat better, so I have a number of questions > > for the esteemed membership of the list! > > > > 1. What is better - bronze or stainless balls > > 2. Should I reseat by the traditional method of stainless steel ball, a > rod > > and a sharp tap; or > > 3. Should I lap a ball into the seat (I silver solder a ball to the end of > > a piece of rod and "burnish the seat) - I don't usually use any form of > > paste, just pressure. > > > > The seat is about 50mm down in the depths of the safety valve, the only > > access is from the top (you can't separate the seat from the chamber). > > > > Any thoughts, any personal preferences? > > > > Cheers > > > > Peter > > > > MODEL ENGINEERING DISCUSSION LIST. > > > > To UNSUBSCRIBE from this list, send a blank email to, > > modeleng-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the word "unsubscribe" in the subject > line. > > > > > > > MODEL ENGINEERING DISCUSSION LIST. > > To UNSUBSCRIBE from this list, send a blank email to, > modeleng-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the word "unsubscribe" in the subject line. > MODEL ENGINEERING DISCUSSION LIST. To UNSUBSCRIBE from this list, send a blank email to, modeleng-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the word "unsubscribe" in the subject line. MODEL ENGINEERING DISCUSSION LIST. To UNSUBSCRIBE from this list, send a blank email to, modeleng-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the word "unsubscribe" in the subject line.