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

Got my Empire B42 in today from eBay.  Looks pretty but has some problems for sure.  I am going to give it a try to get her to run but might be just for display.  

• As expected the sight glass seals needed refreshing.  That was pretty easy, practice makes perfect on these Empire sight glass seals.  The upside the fittings and glass gave me zero issues.
• Tested for shorts on the heater, it seemed to test okay on the meter.
• I got ahead of myself and gave it a steam up test before taking anything apart.  All kinds of thick smelly smoke came up, so I powered it off quickly.  Smoke was from some kind of oil that dripped down into the tank area.  I had to pull the heater out on the primary (whistle side) and clean all between the mica & tank. Oh, one of the heater irons was missing both nuts!
• Tested the heaters individually they both tested as I would expect for Empire heaters.
• The secondary tank (without whistle) is a bit of a mess as it is smashed but worst it has a leak on one of the mounting screws on the underside.  It would likely be best to replace this tank, if I had one.  I am going to try and repair the leak but I doubt I can fix how it is smashed to one side :'-(

Photos attached before I started any work.

Well you've simply got to be DELIGHTED with that!!!

The dent is not readily noticeable being under the cylinder assembly, so I personally would be able to live with that until a donor boiler comes along for replacement, if ever.

Very nice .... you are one LUCKY BOY!!!

Looks really nice on the Empire Book Case!

Whilst I was working on the B42 I forgot to bid on a Empire No. 52 Saw accessory that I wanted as much as this engine!  I would have paid double what it went for, as I don't recall ever seeing one for sale.

Yes both drive the shaft!  :-)

From a book that I have on Empires, they are rare.  Empire made these from 1926 until 1930 and not many made for the price of $26.

Rog,

That's a nice tip to use super glue, I don't think I would have tried that: thinking the glue would not stick / hold on the metal.  Thank you!

As I dove deeper into the engine I really started to think it was going to be a "display only" engine.  When I took the bottom off and the iron cover for heater blanket was missing two nuts my stomach dropped.  Then I discovered the leak and that the smash to the secondary tank was a lot worse (with it all together it doesn't look so bad).  I felt like I was rolling down hill real fast.  Likely in my younger years I would have thrown the thing against the wall but instead I took a big breath and walked away for a bit to think / chill.  After about 30 minutes I prep'ed the secondary tank and got out my sweating pipe stuff to sort out that leak.  Put her back together and made that video that I shared a few posts back.  Can't really put into words how happy I was that she ran.  I also think getting all the other Empires and working on them prepared me for this B42! :-)

I now have flushed both tanks a few times and disassembled the sight glasses to clean them - I think I finally got them cleaned and no more floaties seen in the sight glasses.  The secondary tank was a mess of brown stuff and I am now thinking perhaps a previous owner put in sealant (say like you put in a radiator to temporally stop a leak).

Here is a close up photo how that secondary tank's sight glass looked - I don't ever recall a Empire's sight glass so gummy/brown.

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I thought I'd give my accessories a try and do another demo video - hope you guys enjoy :-)

  That Empire equipment is impressively substantial . I love the way they look . Run good too !

D. E. Jones

Thanks Paula, kind words <3