Office of Steam Forum for Model & Toy Steam Gas & Hot Air Engines

Finally found some time to give an engine from the restoration-shelf a bit of attention


Quite a while back, i won a late Jensen 5 on a stamped tinplate base.
It was missing the cylinder, but a spare was mounted, and a short test initiated.


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Straight after it started to heat, it blew the gaskets on the sightglass, but fortunately (thanks to Bruce) some very nice teflon gaskets was at hand for just that, and the issue swiftly mended.


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The testrun proved to be a bit special, to say the least.
The engine ran quite well at a steady pace, but it was VERY wet and quite rattly when the throttle was opened.





I initially thought that the trunnion spring was to blame, but swiftly realised that the engine was just as busy pumping water, as it was running like a Jensen 5 (which usually is FAST when opened up!):





Then i thought that i had made a mistake, and accidently filled way to much much water in the boiler, but no...this was what met my eye, when i finally paid attention:





Some sort of bubbles was filling the entire boiler.


Upon inspection after the run, i had a theory that there could have been someone, who had put some soap or another chemical in there, but no trace of such was found.
BUT...what i did discover, was an incredible amount of tiny soot-like fragments in the boilerwater, gathering in the sink when i emptied the boiler (and naturally forgot to shoot a picture of it).
A couple of followup rinses with tab water, revealed more of the same, so the next time i find a bit of fun-time, i most certainly intend to wash it out properly via the porthole.
I strongly assume all that "drebris" contaminating the water, has been the reason for the bubbly behaviour.
Bubbles which then again got pushed through the steamline, instead of the usual relatively dry steam, thus "drowning" the engine.

Jan, I have run a lot of steam engines...but never saw one that looked like the insides of a washing machine.  Makes one curious what the former owner put in that boiler!!   BUT, that may be the reason you ended up with it and a very easy fix.

cheers,
Rog

Well that's a strange case for sure....I wonder what the previous owner put in that caused the bubbles?

Keith Appleton mentions killrock k or kettle descaler? In the US it's called CLR. Calcium, Lime, and Rust. Does wonders on cleaning out these boilers. I have used it for years in scaled up boilers. I fill the boiler with it and let it set for a few hours, depending on calcium deposits, pour it out, and then flush the boiler with tap water and dish detergent a few times. Then I only use distilled water to run my engines. Never had problems thereafter.

As others have already said it is a very attractive variation, shame Jensen no longer offer the cast base #5 as i think it is far more attractive than the model #70.

I've had a similar issue with foaming water being carried over into the steam line, hopefully a good flush out of the boiler will sort yours out Jan. 

Nice engine Jan and it even makes it more special with the troubleshooting and fixes you have made.

Thanks for sharing your journey with this Jensen 5.