Rough and Tumble Engineering | Page 7

it
all right, he would have let it alone, and would have gone over the
balance of the engine and when he started up again his engine would
have looked better for the wiping it got and would have run just as well
as before he stopped it. Now you will understand why a good engineer
wears out more rags than wrenches, while a poor one wears out more
wrenches than rags. Never bother an engine until it bothers you. If you
do, you will make lots of grief for yourself.
I have mentioned the bad habits of a poor engineer so that you may
avoid them. If you carefully avoid all the bad habits connected with the
running of an engine, you will be certain to fall into good habits and
will become a good engineer.
TINKERING ENGINEERS
After carelessness, meddling with an engine comes next in the list of
bad habits. The tinkering engineer never knows whether his engine is in
good shape or not, and the chances are that if he should get it in good
shape he would not know enough to let it alone. If anything does
actually get wrong with your engine, do not be afraid to take hold of it,
for something must be done, and you are the one to do it, but before
you do anything be certain that you know what is wrong. For instance,
should the valve become disarranged on the valve stem or in any other
way, do not try to remedy the trouble by changing the eccentric, or if
the eccentric slips do not go to the valve to mend the trouble. I am well
aware that among young engineers the impression prevails that a valve
is a wonderful piece of mechanism liable to kick out of place and play
smash generally. Now let me tell you right here that a valve (I mean the
ordinary slide valve, such as is used on traction and portable engines),
is one of the simplest parts of an engine, and you are not to lose any
sleep about it, so be patient until I am ready to introduce you to this

part of your work. You have a perfect right to know what is wrong with
the engine. The trouble may not be so serious and it is evident to you
that the engine is not running just as nicely as it should. 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 high 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 fit 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