This is a repeating bell ringer?

In what way does it leak?

Oops! Sorry. Nope. Changed the subject header.

Sander valve out of a GE 45 ton. It leaks around the stem.

Had ringer and bells on my mind when I posted. No wonder it won't ring. LoL.

htwyr1,

It seems to me that if the valve were in "textbook" condition, you shouldn't be seeing any air pressure at the stem; this would be prevented by the rotary valve making an air tight seal with it's seat in the valve body. So, perhaps you have a leak between the rotary valve and seat, but perhaps not to the extent that it tends to operate the sanders in the "off" position. Or, maybe there is enough wear between stem and body that it is allowing the stem/rotary assembly to cock and lift off the seat when the valve is operated. Or, maybe a combination of these defects.

Attached is a drawing of a King Sander Operating Valve found in an online search, and available thanks to the Northwest Railway Museum. Not sure if it meets your model exactly, but looks very close. As you can see in the drawing, the circumferential groove around the stem appears to simply be featured for periodic lubrication, though in the exact model shown in the drawing this feature may be a hole as opposed to a groove.


Hope this helps.

-Erich Armpriester
Strasburg Rail Road Mechanical Services

I've never seen or worked on a "King" sander valve. But something is not adding up with that diagram. Where is the sealing surface? The flat brass face of that piston-like valve against the casting?

It doesn't seem like that would ever seal up right. I've seen similar things but where there is a hard plastic seal attached to on surface or the other.

What's the paper gasket with the blue stuff in the first photo? What are those two holes in the
face of the valve?

htwyr1,

It seems to me that if the valve were in "textbook" condition, you shouldn't be seeing any air pressure at the stem; this would be prevented by the rotary valve making an air tight seal with it's seat in the valve body. So, perhaps you have a leak between the rotary valve and seat, but perhaps not to the extent that it tends to operate the sanders in the "off" position. Or, maybe there is enough wear between stem and body that it is allowing the stem/rotary assembly to cock and lift off the seat when the valve is operated. Or, maybe a combination of these defects.

Attached is a drawing of a King Sander Operating Valve found in an online search, and available thanks to the Northwest Railway Museum. Not sure if it meets your model exactly, but looks very close. As you can see in the drawing, the circumferential groove around the stem appears to simply be featured for periodic lubrication, though in the exact model shown in the drawing this feature may be a hole as opposed to a groove.


Hope this helps.

-Erich Armpriester
Strasburg Rail Road Mechanical Services

The paper gasket is something I cut from gasket material. When I pulled it apart it had a paper type gasket glued to the castings. Nothing else.

The casting laying face up just to the right of the piece in my hand has a smooth brass face with similar holes at 3 and 9 o'clock between the bolt holes. The two holes in the piece in my hand move over holes in the brass casting laying off to the side and divert air to either the front or rear truck.

I have tried searching for the King Valve online and only see one reference to it in locomotive cyclopedia of practices from 1950 where King is advertising sanders. Still not seeing the museum site with it. Maybe I am not searching correctly.