Does anybody have any info on a Nathan D.V. 2 Mechanical Lubricator? I am about to start working on one for our museum to get it ready to go on our Vulcan 0-4-0T locomotive. It appears to be in more or less working condition, but I want to go through it, clean it up inside and out, and replace any worn parts as needed. Judging from all of the oil caked on the ratchet lever, I would say that it is probably leaking some oil. Any idea as to what kind of seals are in there? If anybody has a drawing of one of these, I would be most grateful.

Thanks!

Keith Rucker
Tifton, GA

Don't waste your time on seals until you have pressure tested the pumps - they must deliver against steam pressure. Your slide valve engine was probably originally equipped with a hydrostatic displacement lubricator which delivered oily vapor into the valve chest through a choke in the valve chest cover. Your mechanical lubricator will deliver just unatomized oil (unless you provide it with an atomizer, which might not be critical for a low pressure lowe speed application) but a terminal check valve with an adequate cracking pressure must be provided at the delivery point to assure both that the vacuum created during coasting doesn't suck the oil out of the line, leaving it to run under load for many strokes before the line again fills to start delivering oil again.

So: boil out the accumulated grunge in a hot tank, then fill with hydraulic fluid. Build a test rig to test the pressure each oil pump provides. Each pump should put out at least 300 PSI or more. 300 is marginal and aproaching worn out. If the pumps are good, fine, pour out the hydraulic fluid, replace the leaky seal with a new O ring or similar, and fill with valve oil and pump until all the hydraulic has been pumped out. Now you can install it.

Your feed lines no longer must run downhill. Install the terminal checks in the top of the valve chest covers, run the lines, and pump until all lines are full and a good squirt is delivered with each stroke.

If you hook up (which I hope you do to run expansively) you ight not have adequate valve travel to operate the pump actuator through the ratchet clicks without some sort of travel extender - happened on a little tank engine I was working on. Might need to fit one in somewhere - bell crank with different length ends or something like that.

There's more to this than is obvious. Good luck.

dave

Thanks for the input and insight. I will get a hydraulic gauge and check the pressure this week before going any further.

I would still like to see a exploded drawing of this lubricator if anybody has one.

Keith Rucker

I want to thank Pay Fahey for replying via e-mail with some documentation on these lubricators from a book that he had. In case anybody out there is also looking for this information, I have posted a PDF file of the info obtained from a copy of Locomotive Cyclopedia dated 1930.

http://wiki.owwm.com/images/krucker/Nathan_mechanical_lubricator.pdf

If anybody else has any further info on these lubricators, I would be most thankful.

Keith Rucker
Tifton, GA

Dave,

Once again, I want to say thanks for your input on the lubricator. I spent a couple of hours working on the lubricator tonight. As we received the lubricator, three of the six pumps were installed (three of them had factory plugs in the bottom and no pumping mechanism inside). Seeing that we only needed two of the pumps to actually work, this was not a problem.

I took a brass tee fitting and attached it to one of the copper tubes coming out of the lubricator - on the top, I placed a pressure gauge that measured up to 600 psi (one that I had laying around the shop). On the end, I put a brass gate valve so that I could open it up and prime the line. Once I had oil running, I could shut the valve and measure the pressure.

On the first pump, everything went just fine. It easily pegged the pressure gauge out at 600 psi. So, I went to the second line and repeated the process. This one was a problem - I could not even get any oil flowing. So, I took the pump out and discovered that the piston in the pump was broken. While disappointed, it was not a huge problem since there was an extra pump installed!

Next, I checked the third pump. Again, nothing at all - I felt a pit in the bottom of my stomach. I took that pump apart and everything appeared to be working fine. I cleaned things up really well and put it all back together. The next try gave the same results as the first - nothing was being pumped at all. I took the brass check valve out, pumped the handle, and oil was pumping just fine. After scratching my head for a few seconds, I decided to take the check valve off of the pump that was broken and put it on this pump. A few more turns of the handle and oil was flowing just fine. After hooking up the pressure gauge, it too easily pegged the pressure gauge out at 600 psi.

In the end, I just removed the broken piston from the lubricator and plugged the hole in the bottom so that it no longer functions at all. The other two pumps appear to be in great shape and ready to go.

Next, I plan to remove the rachet mechnicim and see if I can replace any seals or O-rings in there to hopefully prevent any further leaking. After that, I will clean her up, give her a fresh coat of paint, and she will be ready to install on our 1917 Vulcan 0-4-0.

Thanks again for your input!

Keith Rucker
Tifton, GA

No problem. Terminal checks of about 100 PSI cracking pressure are available from McMaster off the shelf.

dave

We came across the following from the International Textbook Company, Scranton, PA.

Publication 509B
"Lubricators - Headlights"

J.W. Harding, Director - Steam Railroad School
International Correspondence School
1943 Edition

The attached file is pages 50-60 of the book.

Maybe this will help your efforts?

Thank you Mike! Again, some very good information!!!

Keith Rucker
Tifton, GA

I went through a couple of these for 401. There are two seals you will need. Your local NAPA auto parts store can supply them. Unfortunately, I failed to write down the part numbers but you can just measure the shaft sizes, seal OD, and thickness you need and they can look them up that way for you.

You will also want to pay attention to the outlet checks. There are two styles that I know of. A single check and double check. I found that most of the check balls were pitted, allowing leakage. The terminal check and the outlet check on the pump should hold pressure in the delivery line at all times so that lubrication is supplied to the valves and cylinders immediately when the engine starts moving. I bought new steel ball bearings and seated them into the check body by giving them a good whack with a hammer and a brass punch.

Thanks, Mike, for the ITC info. The copy I have is older and doesn't have the Nathan DVs in it.

Russ
Monticello Railway Museum

Russ,

I got your email requesting my email address but the message did not have an address to reply to. You can send me the file here:

krucker@friendlycity.net

Thanks!

Keith Rucker