Chapter 9

A. Wrap the exposed wire, if you can locate it, with a piece of waste, or if you cannot locate the short circuit, disconnect one of your cab wires from the dynamo. This would give you the benefit of the arc lamp and you can look for the trouble at your leisure.

38. Q. If the light goes out when steam drops back fifteen to twenty pounds, what is the trouble?

A. Either one of the governor valves is stuck shut, short bushing No. 18 in engine cab is worn badly, allowing wheel to drop away from the governor stand so steam passes around wheel to exhaust, or governor springs are too weak.

39. Q. In this case what should be done?

A. Report of the action of the dynamo should be made upon the work book at the terminal.

40. Q. If clutch rod No. 78-B should break while on the road, what could be done to get use of the lamp?

A. A piece of wire could be used by fastening one end around the end of top lever No. 59, the other end being attached to clutch through eye.

41. Q. If you should lose the clothespin holder or top carbon clutch, what could be done to get the light?

A. Would fasten a wire around the carbon and top holder to keep carbon in line, being careful not to get the wire either too tight or too loose.

42. Q. If you should lose the iron armature No. 64 in solenoid, what could be done to get use of light?

A. Would use a common iron bolt and suspend same by wire in magnet.

43. Q. What would be the result if any of the levers of the lamp should bind?

A. All levers of the lamp must work absolutely free and must not drag, for if they are not perfectly free the carbon cannot feed properly.

=Pyle-National Electric Incandescent Headlight=

44. Q. What is meant by an incandescent headlight equipment?

A. A headlight having an electric incandescent lamp in the reflector in place of the usual oil or acetylene gas flame, and electric instead of oil cab lamps, the electricity being generated by a small combination steam-turbine and electric generator. Suitable wiring distributes the electric current.

45. Q. In what manner does the incandescent headlight differ from the arc headlight?

A. It is not so powerful. An incandescent or bulb type of lamp takes the place of the arc lamp in the headlight reflector. The current being less than is required for an arc, is supplied by a smaller turbine.

46. Q. What type of incandescent lamp is used in the reflector?

A. A low voltage, gas filled bulb, containing a very compact or concentrated fillament.

47. Q. Why cannot a standard or house type of lamp be successfully used in the reflector?

A. Because the fillament or light-giving wire inside the bulb is not sufficiently compact or concentrated to reflect the light in the form of a beam. The voltage of the house lamp is also too high to be used on a locomotive installation.

48. Q. How is the lamp held in place in the reflector?

A. By the usual socket, into which the lamp screws. The socket is a part of the focusing device, one type of which holds the lamp in a horizontal position, while in the other the lamp is held vertically or upright.

49. Q. Before turning the steam into the turbine, what precautions should be observed?

A. The turbo-generator should be lubricated by a small amount of black or engine oil, placed in the cup on the turbine or steam end. On the generator end, the oil should be maintained within one-half inch of the top of the hinge-cover cup; using black oil. The drainage of the steam end is cared for automatically by a three-eighth inch drain pipe without a valve. The pipe should be kept open.

50. Q. How do you proceed when you wish to use the light?

A. Open the globe valve in the steam pipe to the turbo-generator, at least two turns. The water-glass, steam and air gauge lamps in the cab, and the number indicator lamp in the headlight case should light up as soon as the turbo-generator reaches full speed. A double-throw knife switch in the cab controls the headlight. In one position the switch gives the full brilliancy of the headlight. The opposite or "dimmer" position reduces the brilliancy about one-half. When the switch bar is in neither position the headlight is entirely out, and only the number lamp is burning. The classification lamp, lubricator and order or reading lamp, are controlled by a small switch on the socket of each lamp.

51. Q. For what purpose is the dimmer, and how does it operate?

A. It is to reduce the intensity of the headlight when locomotive is in yards or around stations. It consists of a small resistance tube in the wiring circuit, and with the cab switch in dimmer position, a portion of the current is converted into heat instead of light.

52. Q. How is an incandescent headlight focussed?

A. By moving the lamp in its position in the reflector until the most brilliant and compact beam of light is obtained. If the beam does not strike the track centrally, or as high or low, the headlight case must be moved on its platform until the beam is properly directed. It is often necessary to raise the front or back of the case by shimming between the case and its platform in order to direct the beam of light the proper distance ahead of the locomotive.

53. Q. What provision is made for moving or focussing the lamp in the reflector?

A. When the lamp is mounted horizontally there are thumb screws by which the lamp may be moved sidewise, up and down, and forward and backward. This mounting is called the "micrometer" device, because of the accuracy of adjustment. With the vertical mounting, a flat head thumb screw at the base of the lamp support releases the ball joint so that the lamp may be easily moved sidewise or forward and backward. To raise or lower the lamp, the thumb screw higher on the lamp stand must be loosened.

54. Q. What causes a "black spot" in the illumination ahead of the locomotive?

A. The lamp is out of focus, being too far ahead or back of the proper position in the reflector.

55. Q. How would you remedy the following possible defects?

A. (a) =All lamps fail to burn.= If turbine is not running the wrong steam valve in the cab may have been opened, or there may be a second valve, closed, in the steam pipe. The screen on the governor valve in the turbine may be clogged. Remove brass cap at top of turbine and unscrew screen or strainer-cap.

(b) =Turbo-generator runs, but no lights.= Wires may be "short-circuited" (crossed) which will cause brushes to spark badly, and turbo-generator to pull hard. The "short" can usually be found by an occasional sparking or smoke at the point of trouble. Separate and protect wires when short is found. The brushes may be "cocked up" as left by some repair man. Open the dynamo door and see that the brushes bear on the copper commutator. A wire may be loose at the dynamo binding posts (which may be seen when the dynamo door is open), or at the main switch in the cab. A main wire may have broken. (All locomotives are not equipped with fuse plugs.) A fuse plug may have become loose or burnt out. Replace with new fuse plugs or break an incandescent lamp and twist the leads in the base together, when the base may be screwed into the fuse plug socket, answering the purpose of a fuse plug, temporarily.

(c) =Headlight fails to burn.= Examine the wires between cab switch and head lamp for breaks or disconnections. Examine fuse plugs (which are sometimes in head lamp circuit only) and proceed as in (b) if trouble is found there. Headlight bulb may not be screwed in far enough to make contact in the socket, as the lock-sockets provided to prevent lamps loosening cause lamp to screw in hard. Lamp may have broken fillament. Replace with proper type of lamp or use a cab lamp.

(d) =Lamps burn dim.= Steam valve not open wide enough. Boiler pressure too low. Brushes sparking badly on commutator of dynamo--due to poor contact. Governor or steam-valve of turbine improperly adjusted.

(e) =Lamps burn too brightly.= Improper turbine regulation. Throttle the steam valve in cab until lamps are reduced to proper brilliancy. Report all irregularities on arriving at terminal.

=SCHROEDER HEADLIGHT=

1. Q. What is the speed of a Schroeder headlight dynamo?

A. About 2,800 revolutions per minute.

2. Q. How is the speed altered?

A. By a governor in the turbine.

3. Q. How would you proceed to change the speed of the governor?

A. Remove cover No. 3 and loosen lock nut No. 14 and turn nut No. 13 to the right to increase the speed and to the left to decrease it.

4. Q. What is a short circuit?

A. A connection between the positive and negative wires of the dynamo without any resistance between.

5. Q. How does the dynamo act when short-circuited?

A. It will run very slowly as it is under a heavy strain.

6. Q. What would be the result if left to run under that strain?

A. The armature or fields would burn out.

7. Q. What would you do if a short circuit developed while on the road?

A. Shut the steam off and remove the positive or right-hand wire of the cab circuit from the dynamo, start up and see if the headlight went to work properly; if not, replace the cab wire and remove the positive or left-hand wire and see if the cab lights burned properly. If such was the case, let it run, using the small incandescent light in the case for a headlight and report it at the roundhouse.

8. Q. What is a volt?

A. The unit of pressure of electricity.

9. Q. What is an ampere?

A. The unit of quantity of electricity.

10. Q. What is the proper voltage of a Schroeder headlight?

A. About 28 volts.

11. Q. Can a person be injured by that voltage?

A. No.

12. Q. What is the proper amperage of a Schroeder headlight?

A. About 30.

13. Q. How often should the ball bearings be oiled?

A. About three times a week.

14. Q. How often should the governor be oiled?

A. Before leaving every trip.

15. Q. What kind of oil should be used?

A. Valve oil.

16. Q. Is it necessary to clean the electrode every trip?

A. No.

17. Q. Why?

A. The dynamo is provided with shunt fields which build up the current regardless of the arc light.

18. Q. What are the two causes of lamp burning green?

A. Speed too high, or wires to the lamp being reversed.

19. Q. If the carbons burned away too fast, but otherwise the lamp appeared to be burning properly, where would you look for the trouble?

A. It would indicate that tripping spring No. 209 was too tight.

20. Q. If tripping spring No. 209 was being annealed from heat and sparks were noticed at the clutch, where would you look for the trouble?

A. Flexible wire No. 251 would be broken.

="BUDA-ROSS" ELECTRIC HEADLIGHT=

1. Q. What are the three essential elements in the "Buda-Ross" electric headlight equipment?

A. Steam turbine engine, dynamo directly connected on the same shaft, and self-focusing arc lamp.

2. Q. At what speed should the turbine run?

A. 2,800 revolutions per minute.

3. Q. How is the speed controlled?

A. By a centrifugal governing device.

4. Q. How does the steam enter the turbine?

A. Through a main valve which is perfectly balanced in all steam pressures directly and impinged on the buckets directly from a nozzle.

5. Q. About how much opening should this valve have?

A. About one-fourth of an inch.

6. Q. Can the lift of this valve be changed?

A. Yes.

7. Q. How?

A. By adjusting the inner sleeve of the valve with a common monkey wrench after removing cap nut on top of turbine.

8. Q. Can this be done while the light is burning?

A. Yes.

9. Q. What is necessary to do this?

A. Take a monkey wrench and screw the inner sleeve down to the right to reduce the lift, and to the left to increase the lift. In reducing the lift you reduce the speed, and by increasing the lift you increase the speed.

10. Q. Is there any other method of setting speed?

A. Yes.

11. Q. How?

A. By removing oil box on the turbine cap and adjusting the nuts on the governor studs on the face of wheel.

12. Q. Is any provision made for operating the light with low pressure steam?

A. Yes.

13. Q. What?

A. An auxiliary valve is used which operates automatically at any predetermined pressure, which is adjusted by an adjusting stem at the bottom of the engine and which can also be adjusted while the light is burning.

14. Q. What kind of oil should be used in the "Buda-Ross" bearings?

A. Cylinder or valve oil.

15. Q. What style of generator is used.

A. An iron-clad type with no outside magnetism.

16. Q. How many fields in this generator?

A. Two.

17. Q. What style field is used?

A. Compound wound.

18. Q. What kind of wire is used on these fields?

A. Deltabeston wire.

19. Q. Why is Deltabeston wire used in preference to cotton-covered wire?

A. So that it cannot be injured by short circuits, for if a short circuit occurs and afterwards is removed there is no danger done to the insulation on this make of wire.

20. Q. Where are the fields located?

A. One on each side of the dynamo.

21. Q. Why?

A. So that they cannot be injured by waste oil from the ball bearing, or by water or snow.

22. Q. How should ball bearing on dynamo end be lubricated?

A. By removing oil plug in frame just back of dynamo and introducing cylinder oil.

23. Q. Is it necessary to remove the top carbon holder from the lamp to remove reflector from case?

A. No.

24. Q. Why not?

A. Because there is no top guide to the carbon, as the carbon is guided by the clutches.

25. Q. How many levers are there in the lamp?

A. Only one.

26. Q. What regulation should be given to top lever spring No. 308 on lamp?

A. Top lever spring No. 308 should be adjusted as loose as possible and not have light go out standing still.

27. Q. If this spring was tightened until the light burned steady when the locomotive was at rest, what might occur when engine was running high speed?

A. It might cause the light to dim down.

28. Q. Is there anything else that would cause the light to dim down when the engine is running fast?

A. If the clutches should be used until the sharp edge that grips the carbon have become worn smooth or round they would allow the carbon to feed too fast and the light would burn dim.

29. Q. If the light burns satisfactory while engine is in motion, but goes out when engine is stopped, where would you find the trouble?

A. This trouble is most always found to be caused by the top lever springs No. 308 being too weak; or, an imperfect carbon, though if the dash pot plunger has become corroded until it sticks in the dash pot, the light will act the same as if the tension spring was too weak.

30. Q. Is it possible to apply the bottom electrode holder wrong?

A. No

31. Q. Why not?

A. For the reason that its support is on a center line with the electrode and the holder can be turned in any direction and the electrode is held central with the top carbon.

32. Q. What would you do if you had no bottom electrode holder?

A. Place a piece of 5/8-inch carbon in the hole through the bottom bracket having top end in focal point of reflector and tighten with set-screw; as this carbon would burn away the light would be raised and it would therefore be necessary to raise the carbon about every hour, as the carbon would burn away about one-half inch per hour.

=GENERAL QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS ON ELECTRIC HEADLIGHTS=

33. Q. Describe the passage of the current through the lamp and tell how arc light is formed?

A. It enters the lamp at the binding posts with the large hole, then to the top carbon holder, carbon, then into the electrode and holder; from there to the solenoid and back to the dynamo, leaving the lamp at the binding post with the small hole in it. The magnetism from the current while passing through the solenoid attracts magnet in a downward motion, and it in turn, by the levers on the lamp, separate the carbon from the copper, thereby forming the arc.

34. Q. Why should sandpaper be used to smooth commutator instead of emery cloth?

A. In using emery paper a piece of emery might lodge in the grooves between the commutator segments, and being a conductor of electricity, causes short. Will also get embedded in the copper and cut the brushes. Sand will not do this.

35. Q. State how you would go about to focus a lamp?

A. (1) Would adjust back of reflector so front edge of reflector would be parallel with front edge of case. (2) Adjust lamp to have point of copper electrode as near the center of reflector as possible with carbons as near the center of chimney hole as you can set them. (3) Have the locomotive on straight track. Now move the base of the lamp around until you get a parallel beam of white light straight down the center of the track, then tighten lamp down.

36. Q. If the light throws shadows upon the track, is it properly focused?

A. No.

37. Q. If the light is properly focused, that is, if the rays are leaving the reflector in parallel lines, but the light does not strike the center of the track, what should be done?

A. When the light rays are thrown out in parallel lines and they do not strike the center of the track, it denotes that the headlight case is not set straight with the engine, and the entire case on baseboard must be shifted until the shaft of light strikes the track as desired.

38. Q. What can you do to insure a good and unfailing light for the entire trip?

A. By carefully inspecting the entire equipment before departing on each trip and know that there are no wires with insulation chafed or worn off; that all screws and connections are tight; commutator clean; brushes set in brush holder in the proper manner; carbon in lamp of sufficient length to complete trip; copper electrode cleaned off and oil in both bearings.

39. Q. Why would you not fill the main oil cellar full of oil?

A. If you should fill the main oil cellar full of oil, the oil would run out of the overflow holes on the side and all over the equipment and locomotive and could do the dynamo no good but possibly harm.

40. Q. What is the most vital part of the dynamo?

A. The commutator.

41. Q. What care and attention should be given the commutator?

A. The commutator must be kept clean, free from dirt and grease; the mica must be kept filed down about one-sixty-fourth of an inch below the surface of the bars.

42. Q. How should you clean the commutator, and when?

A. The commutator should be cleaned before starting out on each trip by using a piece of damp waste, rubbing the bars lengthwise, then wipe dry with clean dry piece of waste.

43. Q. What kind of a bearing should the brush have on the commutator?

A. Brushes should be fitted to have a bearing with the same contour as the commutator, with bearing covering no less than two of the commutator bars, nor more than three of the bars.

44. Q. How are the brushes fitted?

A. Brushes are fitted by cutting a strip of No. O sandpaper about the width of the commutator surface. (Have the dynamo idle.) Place the strip of sandpaper under the brush on the commutator with the rough side towards the brush, then pull the sandpaper from right to left; continue this process until the brush has been fitted to a true smooth bearing. Then trim about one-eighth of an inch off the front edge of the brush.

45. Q. Is it advisable to ever try to fit a brush up with a file or knife?

A. No.

46. Q. Why is it important to clean the scale off the point of the copper electrode each trip?

A. To allow the point of the carbon and the electrode to touch to form a circuit; this scale being a non-conductor of electricity and with it on, the current would not pass from the carbon to the electrode and holder.

47. Q. How should the copper electrode be trimmed at the point?

A. Copper electrode should have about 1/4-inch surface at contact point.

48. Q. How far should the copper electrode project above the holder?

A. One inch.

49. Q. Should the electrode be raised up to 1-1/2 inches, what might happen?

A. If the copper electrode was run at a point so near the clutch, the intense heat of the arc might do damage to the top carbon holder and clutch.

50. Q. If the dash pot should be found stuck, would you put oil in it?

A. Coal oil should be used to clean and cut the dirt out of the pot and from off the plunger, but after the dash pot and plunger have been cleaned all oil should be wiped off of same, as the oil would cause the plunger to collect dirt and stick.

51. Q. If one carbon of lamp should "jig or pound", what can be done to stop it?

A. If the carbon jumps or pounds the electrode, it is evident that the iron armature is too far out of the solenoid, or the speed is too low.

52. Q. Does the pounding of the lamp occur with the old series wound machines or with the new compound wound machines?

A. The pounding of the lamp occurs with the new compound wound machines.

53. Q. If the copper electrode was fusing, how would you know it?

A. By the fact, when copper is fused a shaft of green light will be thrown off instead of a shaft of white light.

54. Q. What should be done when a green light is seen?

A. Close the throttle to turbine engine, then open slowly until a white light re-appears.

55. Q. What is the cause of the copper electrode fusing?

A. The cause of the copper electrode fusing is due to too high speed of the generator, or having lead wires connected up wrong, allowing positive current to get into copper electrode first.

56. Q. What arrangements have been made so that you cannot connect your wires wrong?

A. The positive binding post both at the dynamo and lamp have been provided with a much larger hole to receive the wire than has been made in the negative binding post, and the ends of the positive wire should always be bent or doubled back so they will just enter the receptacle in the positive binding posts, but cannot be connected to the negative binding post.

57. Q. Should the copper electrode and holder become fused until no longer serviceable out on the road, what would you do?

A. Would remove the damaged holder from the lamp and substitute a carbon, securing the substituted electrode in the bracket of lamp same as the electrode holder is held. Be sure that the end of the carbon comes up to center of reflector and does not rest on base of reflector or lamp.

58. Q. If you were running along with your light burning steady and nice, then suddenly the light began to flash badly and kept it up, where would you look for the trouble?

A. You would no doubt find one of the lead wires loose in binding post.

59. Q. If you were running along with light burning satisfactorily and suddenly your light went out, where would you be likely to find the trouble?

A. You would undoubtedly find carbon burned out, or a lead wire was broken off or out of the binding posts.

60. Q. If the light goes out while between stations, what course would an engineer pursue?

A. If investigation cannot be made within a few minutes thereafter to determine the cause, the steam should be shut off from the turbine engine until such time when cause of failure can be determined.

61. Q. Why is it essential to shut off steam and stop the equipment?

A. If failure was due to a short circuit, damage might be done to the armature or field coils by overheating.

62. Q. How does the equipment act when short circuited?

A. The engine will labor heavily and run slowly with a large volume of steam blowing at the exhaust, the carbon points and cab lights will only show a dull red light.

63. Q. How would you test for a broken circuit?

A. Would test for a broken circuit or open circuit: First, by placing a carbon across the binding posts at dynamo. If the trouble was in the dynamo, no flash would be seen, but if dynamo was all right you would get a flash; this would indicate that the trouble was on towards the lamp. Second: Go to the lamp, place your carbon across binding posts. If wire was broken between dynamo and lamp you would not get a flash. If your wires were all right you would get a flash and you would find your trouble in the lamp. No doubt, it would be a burned-out carbon.