How to Become an Engineer

by Frank W. Doughty

Is the steam blowing?

It is.

Which side?

This is the way to find out.

Suppose a blow is heard at each turn and only when the outside crank is nearly in a straight line with the piston rod looking from the left-hand side of the foot-plate and with the outside cranks on the same center line and on the same side of the axle as the inside crank.

Then it would be discovered that a piston is blowing because the sound is intermittent, for the blowing through of a valve would be a continuous leaking.

Further it would be certain that the defect was not in the left hand cylinder, there being no steam in it when the cranks were in the position above described, and therefore we must look to the right hand cylinder where the full pressure of steam must be on the piston.

Beats of the Engine.

There are four beats for one revolution of the driving wheel or the crank axle.

These beats tell you in emphatic language whether the engine is running right, or whether there is something out of gear.