Injector water control valve

[Richard GuthrieParticipant @richardguthrie81736]

I am trying to find if anyone has designed a two-way injector water control valve for a 5" G loco.

The valve is controlled by a vertical control with four alternative feeds: 1) Off 2) Injector 1; 3) Injector 2; 4 ) Injectors 1 and 2 together.

I feel sure that someone will have designed something like this before, but have searched my ME back numbers without success. Rather than re-inventing the wheel…

Richard Guthrie

Rochdale SMEE

[Richard GuthrieParticipant @richardguthrie81736]

Designs for a single valve controlling feeds to two separate injectors

[MICHAEL WILLIAMSParticipant @michaelwilliams41215]

Hi Richard ,

It would be possible to design a valve with required functions but not really a good idea .

Injectors like everything straight and simple with clear flows through all pipework and valves with easy adjustments of flow rates .

Passages through any type of selector valve are inevitably going to be tortuous and it will be difficult to arrange control of any one flow as anything better that ' ON – OFF '.

Since water valves are so inherently simple I suggest that you attempt to use two separate ones – could actually be a smaller installation than a selector valve with all its pipework ..

If there is no other way then a rotary plug valve with four port selection positions would be a possibility – but not a prefered option .

Regards ,

Michael Williams .

[Richard GuthrieParticipant @richardguthrie81736]

Thanks, Michael,

My tender has a standard injector water control valve on one side and the tender brake spindle on the other.

So the problem I was trying to overcome was a location for a second injector water control valve, without completely re-building the tender..

Any other ideas would be welcome.

Richard

[MICHAEL WILLIAMSParticipant @michaelwilliams41215]

Hi Richard ,

Its quite common on full size engines for the two water valves on tender to be more or less in the same place . Some common arrangements are :

(1) Two side by side . Plug cock types with one handle operating to left and one to right .

(2) One behind the other – you see this sometimes on Fench engines where the actual handles are on the tank top – not on footplate as on most British engines .

(3) Two valves arranged ' up and under ' ie the two valves are nearly one on top of each other – just spaced enough to get two separate valve rods .. Valve handles are also almost on top of each other . Again usually plug cock types .

(4) Rare but not unknown is two valves on a common centre – one above the other – with operating spindle for lower one going through hollow operating rod for upper one .

There is one other approach – use existing valve as an all or nothing shut off valve and connect two supplies to injectors without any additional control valves at all . Not ideal but many injectors on smaller engines work OK with flood feed – any surplus just goes overboard and the continuous flow keeps injectors cool .

Regards ,

Michael Williams .

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