smd4 posted:Big Jim, please stop moving the goal post, and defend, if you can, this statement:
"The loss of pressure is that you are using boiler pressure to operate the injector."
I can tell you--and I know you already know this--that book learning can take you only so far. Before I put my hand on an injector or blower valve or atomizer, I had done the book reading. I knew all about the theory of firing; opening the blower to get more air thought the fire; keeping my water level up, but not too high; controlling the damper; keeping the fire box door closed to prevent cold air from getting sucked in. I read all the text books. I knew the theory.
Then one day they put me on the left cushion, luckily supervised, on a run. Four miles. Two steep mile-long grades in either direction. Small steam locomotive, a switcher, pulling four 60-ton military flat cars built up as coaches, doing what it was never built for: pulling a train at speed.
The book learning--while helpful in understanding the theory, knowing what I was supposed to be doing, and why--went by the board pretty quick. Knowing how many pounds of steam would be used to lift so many gallons of water per minute didn't help me much when we were going up-grade, with low water and pressure dropping. Or when we were at the bottom of the grade, with the pops screaming and so much water in the glass that it was solid black. I sure didn't want to be responsible for a cracked cylinder head because the water was too high and I couldn't add any more.
You're right. Don't believe me. I haven't been doing this for even a decade. But Hot Water--one of the most experienced firemen around--told you, and yet you refuse to believe him: Adding water to the boiler with an injector lowers the boiler pressure because the water going in is cooler than the water in the boiler, and lowering the overall water temperature in the boiler means the pressure will go down as well.
Just getting into this thread. The simulator looks pretty interesting. This engine looks just slightly simpler than the one I used to operate so I will probably look into this program.
And yes, from personal experience, using the injector to add water to the boiler will lower the pressure.
