WHEN YOUR ENGINE IS ALL RIGHT, LET IT ALONE.
Some engineers are always loosening a nut here, tightening
up a box there, adjusting this, altering that. When an engine is all right they keep at it till it is all wrong. As a result they are in trouble most of the time. When an engine is running all right, LET IT ALONE. Don’t think you are not earning your salary because you are merely sitting still and looking on. If you must be at work, keep at it with an oily rag, cleaning and polishing up. That is the way to find out if anything is really the matter. As the practised hand of the skilled engineer goes over an engine, his ears wide open for any peculiarity of sound, anything that is not as it should be will make itself decidedly apparent. On the other hand, an engineer who does not keep his engine clean and bright by constantly passing his hand over it with an oily rag, is certain to overlook something, which perhaps in the end will cost the owner a good many dollars to put right.
Says an old engineer[3] we know, “When I see an engineer watching his engine closely while running, I am most certain to see another commendable feature in a good engineer, and that is, when he stops his engine he will pick up a greasy rag and go over his engine carefully, wiping every working part, watching or looking carefully at every point that he touches. If a nut is working loose, he finds it; if a bearing is hot, he finds it; if any part of his engine has been cutting, he finds it. He picks up a greasy rag instead of a wrench, for the engineer that understands his business and attends to it never picks up a wrench unless he has something to do with it.”
This same engineer goes on with some more most excellent advice. Says he:
“Now, if your engine runs irregularly, that is, if it runs up to a higher speed than you want, and then runs down, you are likely to say at once, ‘Oh, I know what the trouble is, it is the governor.’ Well, suppose it is. What are you going to do about it? Are you going to shut down at once and go to tinkering with it? No, don’t do that. Stay close to the throttle valve and watch the governor closely. Keep your eye on the governor stem, and when the engine starts off on one of its speed tilts, you will see the stem go down through the stuffing box and then stop and stick in one place until the engine slows down below its regular speed, and it then lets loose and goes up quickly and your engine lopes off again. You have now located the trouble. It is in the stuffing box around the little brass rod or governor stem. The packing has become dry and by loosening it up and applying oil you may remedy the trouble until such time as you can repack it with fresh packing. Candle wick is as good for this purpose as anything you can use.
“But if the governor does not act as I have described, and the stem seems to be perfectly free and easy in the box, and the governor still acts queerly, starting off and running fast for a few seconds and then suddenly concluding to take it easy and away goes the engine again, see if the governor belt is all right, and if it is it would be well for you to stop and see if a wheel is not loose. It might be either the little belt wheel or one of the little cog wheels. If you find these are all right, examine the spool on the crank shaft from which the governor is run, and you will probably find it loose. If the engine has been run for any length of time, you will always find the trouble in one of these places; but if it is a new one, the governor valve might work a little tight in the valve chamber, and you may have to take it out and use a little emery paper to take off the rough projections on the valve. Never use a file on this valve if you can get emery paper, and I should advise you always to have some of it with you. It will often come handy.”
This is good advice in regard to any trouble you may have with an engine. Watch the affected part closely; think the matter over carefully, and see if you cannot locate the difficulty before you even stop your engine. If you find the trouble and know that you have found it, you will soon be able to correct the defect, and no time will be lost. At the same time you will not ruin your engine by trying all sorts of remedies at random in the thought that you may ultimately hit the right thing. The chances are that before you do hit the right point, you will have put half a dozen other matters wrong, and it will take half a day to get the matter right again.
As there are many different types of governors in use, it would be impossible to give exact directions for regulating that would apply to them all; but the following suggestions applying to the Waters governor (one widely used on threshing engines) will give a general idea of the method for all:
There are two little brass nuts on the top of the stem of the governor, one a thumb nut and the other a loose jam nut. To increase the speed, loosen the jam nut and then turn the thumb nut back slowly, watching the motion of the engine all the time. When the required speed has been obtained, then tighten up as snug as you can with your fingers (not using a wrench). To decrease the speed, loosen the jam nut as before, running it up a few turns, and then turn down the thumb nut till the speed meets your requirements, when the thumb nut is made fast as before. In any case, be very careful not to press down on the stem when turning the thumb nut, as this will make the engine run a little slower than will be the case when your hand has been removed.
If your engine does not start with an open throttle, look to see if the governor stem has not been screwed down tight. This is usually the case with a new engine, which has been screwed down for safety in transportation.