STEAM ENGINE TROUBLES A PRACTICAL TREATISE FOR THE ENGINEER, TELLING HOW TO LOCATE AND CYLINDERS, VALVES, PISTONS, FRAMES, PILLOW BLOCKS AND GIVES THE REASONS AND TELLS. BY H. HAMKENS MECHANICAL ENGINEER SCIENCE THOROUGHLY ILLUSTRATED WITH DETAILED ENGRAVINGS NEW YORK THE NORMAN W. HENLEY PUBLISHING CO. 1919 BY THE NORMAN W. HENLEY PUBLISHING CO. Printed in U.S.A.. COMPOSITION, ELECTROTYPING AND PRESSWORK BY BRAUN WORTH & CO., BROOKLYN, NEW YORK TH PREFACE DURING a number of years the writer has been in the closest touch with steam engines, small and large, as designer and superintendent of erection, and has always felt that the troubles which an engineer encounters form a large and not unimportant part of his professional life. With the great number of different designs of engines in use it keeps engineers and power plant owners guessing why things go wrong with certain parts of engines, and being without the necessary theoretical knowledge, they are at a perfect loss to know how they can be prevented or remedied. It seems to be the hardest thing in the world to get any real inside information in case of trouble, for the reason that nobody wants to fix the blame and nobody wants to take it, and be made responsible. Another thing, it is very often a thankless job for the engineer to point out defects of an engine which may in future become a source of trouble. The development and perfection of the steam engine is in a large part due to designers who made a close study of the existing designs with the idea of remedying defects and making improvements, in order to limit breakdowns and repairs, and in this way making engines more reliable, easier to handle and increasing their economical performance. But the constant improving and changing has added so great a number of differently arranged parts that it is almost impossible for the practical man, whose time is limited and who has not the opportunity to come in personal contact with the new features which have been introduced, to keep informed. These considerations led the author to write a series of articles on Steam Engine Troubles" which were published in Power a short while ago. The interest which was manifested in these articles led him to revise and extend the same, which are now issued in book form. The author acknowledges with thanks many suggestions which were made by Charles H. Bromley, associate editor of Power. January, 1919. CONTENTS Engine cylinders must be of correct size. Stresses in cylinder walls. Radiation losses. Bolts and nuts. Slide-valve cylinder. Square-corner Corliss cylinder. Lagging. Built-up cylinders. Steam jackets. Sleeves for cylinders. Material for cylinder castings. Insufficient drainage. Location of valves. Inac- cessibility of cylinders with valves in heads. Ground joints. Common slide valve. Partly balanced valves. Balancing rings. Influence of the angularity of the connecting-rod. Equaliza- tion of cut-off. Valves for automatic engines. Prof. Sweet's valve. Piston valves. Adjustable valve seats. Adjustable piston-valve ring. Corliss valves. Port boring rig. Single- ported Corliss valves. Double-ported valves. Corliss valves which wear leaky. Steam valves must lift. Water in cylin- der. Porter-Allen valves. Multiported valves. Gridiron |
