Servo or electrical driven boiler feed pump

[Lionel KnightParticipant @lionelknight35935]

[Lionel KnightParticipant @lionelknight35935]

Hi All

Just getting into marine steam, and need some way of remotely  feeding the boiler with water whilst the model is under way.  Any help or advise much apprieciated. I don’t want an engine driven system and don’t have a lathe to make such a device so am looking at an of the shelf system.

 

[Gerald Gardiner 1Participant @geraldgardiner1]

Check out this site;

http://www.home.earthlink.net/~bfindus/

I have not used one of these, but from what I here they are a good unit.

Regards,

Gerald

[glennParticipant @glenn]

hi lionel,

im new on this forum ,but ive been building models for over 25 years.

as with all these questions it comes down to money. have a look here

http://home.earthlink.net/~bfindus/id1.html

i know several people use these pumps & they can be made to opperate from the receiver if required.

 

[Lionel KnightParticipant @lionelknight35935]

Hi Glenn

Thanks for the lead, have Emailed the company for details.  I am total new to steam so any help is much appreciated.

Regards  Lionel

[Colin BishopModerator @colinbishop34627]

If you have not already seen it, the magazine is currently running a six part series on getting into steam using commercial gear and fittings by Richard Simpson. Lots of useful practical information for people who want to run steam models but are not in a position to make their own engines, boilers and fittings.

[Richard SimpsonParticipant @richardsimpson88330]

Hi Lionel, Coincidentally I have just purchased one of the BF Industries servo driven pumps along with one of thier probes and feed pipe all in one units.  Tests on the bench look good with the only challenge being the requirement to fit a 10mm boss to your boiler for the probe.

 

As has already been said though you can drive the pump from your transmitter as the pump is simply driven by a standard servo so you could fill the boiler with the pump without automatic control.

 

[Lionel KnightParticipant @lionelknight35935]

Hi Richard

I have been in touch with Bill Ford@ BF Ind and two things have come to light, firstly that he says that his servo pump will not be big enough for a 4″ horizontal and that the probe bush should be 5 x 0.5mm which appears different from yours.

 

Have you tried your pump whilst your engine requirements are high?  I dont want to buy something thats not suitable.  Does the WLD system work well, I may have to fit an engine driven pump which was I was hoping to avoid as at present have no lathe.  Any help and advise is more than welcome for a newbie like me.

[Richard SimpsonParticipant @richardsimpson88330]

Hi Lionel, Mine is a larger fitting as it is the probe and filling line combined as opposed to simply the probe on it’s own.

 

I’m afraid I have only tried it on the bench for now and it is probably going to be a couple of years before it actually gets fitted to a boat on the water so I cannot give you much of an idea of how well it will keep up with the boiler.  This particular pump though is the only one I have come across that works directly off a servo so it can be battery driven or run easily from the transmitter.  As with all set ups of course it is dependent on how hard you are running the engine and, if the worst came to the worst you might have to stop and let the boiler fill up.  I don’t think that would be a major problem but I don’t think it would come to that anyway as none of us goes rushing about from one end of the pond to the other continuously!

 

As for the WLD I have only tested that on the bench as well so not a great deal of use to you there either.

 

If you want something of a larger capacity then you will be looking at a seperately driven battery operated reciprocating pump but you will be a bit on your own then.  I think perhaps the best way forward would be to put the model together and operate it for a while without a water pump.  You should then be able to get a feel for just what water capacity you need for the type of operations your model will be normally performing.  Then you will know just what capacity pump you will need to supply it automatically and go from there.

[Lionel KnightParticipant @lionelknight35935]

Hi Richard

Thanks for both replies, seems like that I will be making a pump system from an axle driven ram pump driven by a geared dc motor feed via the BF Ind WLD.

 

How do you adjust the level at which the WLD senses a low water level, as I am still waiting for a reply from Bill at BF Ind on that one.  Did you send him cheque for goods and was it made out in pounds sterling or dollers.  I am thinking of getting the Maccsteam 4″ boiler and was told by Mike that I may only get 15mins driving 2 TVR1A engines ( most be mad for my first live steam project).

 

Have you got any instructions for the WLD system and if so would it be possible to E-mail a copy.

 

I hope to get involed in tug towing competitions some time and want to make sure that I can run for about 30 mins so the water and gas must hold up for at least that time,

 

Thanks for your help so far it’s much appreciated.

[Richard SimpsonParticipant @richardsimpson88330]

Lionel, Please send me your e-mail address via a PM and I will send you the scanned instructons.  Don’t get too excited, there is actually very little to read!

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