Aux reversing lights on Ag-Quip Brumby

Pete · Post by **Pete** » Sun Feb 12, 2006 10:36 pm

G'day All,
I am thinking of fitting a 55w? floodlight as a reversing light on the Brumby to supplement the somewhat average factory lighting

. I have sketched up a simple relay circuit to power the flood and it's twin in the trailer.

I am planning on wiring things so once I am in reverse I press a momentary toggle SW and the lights come on, but next time I use reverse the do not until triggered by the toggle SW. The reason for this is I do not want to have them come on in traffic where they would attract 'unwanted' attention

Anyway, I am trying to find a suitable light to stick on the back. Keeping in mind it has the Ag-quip black steel rear bumper and step, I am looking for something that does not attract attention, will not interfere with the tailgate or numberplate visibility.

MUDRAT · Post by **MUDRAT** » Mon Feb 13, 2006 1:41 pm

Have you though about mounting it up around the rear windscreen, like a work light? Just aim it up a bit so that it shines across a larger area.

fredsub · Post by **fredsub** » Mon Feb 13, 2006 4:21 pm

you can buy a floodlight, OR more cheaper a fog light, then remove the shield within the lens - it actually makes a better floodlight IMHO, because the light is spread wide and flat, whereas the flood light is wide and round.
- just to give you more ideas...hmm need to put mine back on........
Yes, and definitely need the separate switch, it should not be used normally...there may be some legalities about it..not sure

hooking up the relay so the switch only works with gear in reverse is a good idea there...all you need there is one side of supply to energise the relay, comes from the same reverse circuit.

Pete · Post by **Pete** » Mon Feb 13, 2006 9:44 pm

MUDRAT Have you though about mounting it up around the rear windscreen, like a work light? Just aim it up a bit so that it shines across a larger area.

That was my plan on my previous Brumby but this one has a canopy which I am inclined to keep fitted as I take a lot of gear with me when I travel interstate with a minature steam train on the trailer.

I am not fond of the idea of a light on top of the canopy - it's starting to craze pretty badly and I don't want to rip a big hole in it out on the highway. Though I have not completley ruled it out at this point.

I am beginning to seriously consider dumping the steel bumper halves and finding standard Brumby corner bumpers, then bolting the light to the side of the rear step.

I have come across a tiny fog light 70mm OD x 92mm deep that looks perfect for the job, I just need to see if I can easily turn the lense 90 degrees to keep the pattern horizontal. THey are NARVA Compac 70 Fog Lamps Pn71815 if anybody is using these and can tell me about rotating the lenses ?

MUDRAT · Post by **MUDRAT** » Tue Feb 14, 2006 8:49 am

Well I'll give you a tip as to what not to do: Don't even think of mounting it to the sheet metal of the tailgate or any other sheet metal on the car.

I used to have a rear light on my sedan - a Narva spread beam - mounted to the sheet metal below the boot lid. After a few months of torture over gravel roads and corrugations it vibrated itself loose to the point where it cracked around and pulled out a section of the body. Nasty big hole there now.

Miniature steam trains?!? Like real steam trains with a firetube boiler and stuff?!? Oh this sounds very very fun!!! Please tell me more. Do you need a licence to operate them?

Pete · Post by **Pete** » Tue Feb 14, 2006 6:26 pm

MUDRAT wrote: Miniature steam trains?!? Like real steam trains with a firetube boiler and stuff?!? Oh this sounds very very fun!!! Please tell me more. Do you need a licence to operate them?

Identical principles to the full size. Like any machinery you do not NEED a licence as such,

but as soon as other people or public property becomes involved then legalities get involved. I run fairly regularly around Adelaide and a couple of times a year I head toward Melbourne and Cobden (near the twelve apostles )

MUDRAT · Post by **MUDRAT** » Tue Feb 14, 2006 10:20 pm

Surely you must need a licence to operate the boiler?

Pete · Post by **Pete** » Tue Feb 14, 2006 11:15 pm

MUDRAT wrote:Surely you must need a licence to operate the boiler?

Yes, the boiler is built and maintained to a strict Australian standard.

Almost all clubs in Aus are members of the association and operate under the same code of practice re: licencing loco drivers. This way I can take my engine with it's current boiler certificate and my operator licence from my club and run at almost any track in Aus.

32ford · Post by **32ford** » Wed Feb 15, 2006 12:11 pm

I know this is off topic but do you ever get to the railway at wagga?

Pete · Post by **Pete** » Wed Feb 15, 2006 6:38 pm

I have been to a couple of invitation runs there, November from memory. I was last up there 18 months ago with a different loco. The loco was 'Tootles' if you were there.

BaronVonChickenPants · Post by **BaronVonChickenPants** » Wed Feb 15, 2006 6:50 pm

Continuing the tangent: Do you come to the Albion Park Light Railway Museum in Wollongong at all?

Jordan.

MUDRAT · Post by **MUDRAT** » Wed Feb 15, 2006 7:33 pm

Awesome. How powerful is the boiler?

BaronVonChickenPants · Post by **BaronVonChickenPants** » Wed Feb 15, 2006 7:37 pm

And does it make a good coffee?

Jordan.

Pete · Post by **Pete** » Wed Feb 15, 2006 9:28 pm

BaronVonChickenPants wrote:Continuing the tangent: Do you come to the Albion Park Light Railway Museum in Wollongong at all?

Jordan.

Wagga is 11 ish hours with the trailer, wollongong is an overnight stop to be safe, so I have not gotten that far up the coast. Melb is about as far East as I go, and Wagga for North and that is only because I have a place to stay when I get there.

BaronVonChickenPants wrote:And does it make a good coffee?

Jordan.

Not really, the water comes out at around 140 C so it boils off into steam and you end up with coffee syrup, assuming your coffee mug does not grow a hairline crack around the base and shatter. We have done that with a glass bottle where we broke the bottom off at the crack.

MUDRAT wrote:Awesome. How powerful is the boiler?

I am not up to speed on the maths personally but I believe the calcs came up around 3.5kW from a fire about 40 sq".

MUDRAT · Post by **MUDRAT** » Wed Feb 15, 2006 9:52 pm

Schweet! I want one for my backyard. What fuel does it use? What pressure is it at? What do you use as a feedwater system? Do you use demineralised water to prevent waterside fouling?

Pete · Post by **Pete** » Thu Feb 16, 2006 10:06 pm

MUDRAT wrote:Schweet! I want one for my backyard. What fuel does it use? What pressure is it at? What do you use as a feedwater system? Do you use demineralised water to prevent waterside fouling?

Hope you have a big back yard, the minimum radius on turns is around 50 foot. I burn about a 60/40 mix of char and black coal. In Aus we are limited to 100 PSI. Over that we drop out of the code our boilers are built under and come under the standard for all other industrial fired pressure vessles.

I run 2 injectors and a donkey pump, though I have not used the donkey pump in months, I might start using it for compressed air. Feedwater is rainwater by choice, but unless the water is extremley hard there is rarely any problems with deposits.

MUDRAT · Post by **MUDRAT** » Fri Feb 17, 2006 9:54 am

No no, just the boiler. I've oft' wanted to build a small boiler in my backyard. Just to prove I could do it I suppose, did you build your loco yourself?

100 psi is just over 7 bar(g), so that's quite a lot of pressure. Most package boilers only run just over 10.

What I wasn't aware of was the sub classes of boiler tickets for model trains. Would my BA allow me to operate such a vessel?

Pete · Post by **Pete** » Fri Feb 17, 2006 3:26 pm

Hmm, a crossed wire or two. The 'current boiler ticket' I was referring to was the current hydrostatic and accumulation test on the boiler. 3 years currency on copper and 2 years on steel.

The boiler itself comes under the AMBSC Code Pt 1 and 2 which are referred to in AS1200

As far as a licence to operate it is essentially OJT, 10 hours of driving under direct supervision of a competent driver. 10 hours curled up behind a loco is a damn long time

The main objective of the AMBSC and the Association is to make safe boiler operators, not to make boiler engineers so I doubt the process would be any where near as in depth as that of say full size marine boiler operators.

The loco I am currently getting around with I have just recently bought from the guy I have been driving regularly for 3 years now. I am half way through building my own, and I am actually working on the boiler drawings for it on and off ATM.

MUDRAT · Post by **MUDRAT** » Fri Feb 17, 2006 5:17 pm

Ah ok. I wish my licence only took 10 hours!! My WorkCover Advanced Boiler Licence qualifies me to attend any boiler in Australia.

As I've only ever worked with Superheated Steam boilers I've never performed and Accumulation Test, but I've "tested" enough safety valves in the last few years - our insurance company however do demand yearly Hydrostatic Tests.

I'd really love to see some of the work you've done on your own vessel!

Pete · Post by **Pete** » Fri Feb 17, 2006 9:36 pm

I work in Inventor 9, the project size is about 4Mb ATM, I can extract a rough DXF if you have a CAD program to read it ?

Hmm, correction. I work in IV8 cause IV9 is a dog on my system (dual P3) I do believe I am going to have to go back and re-draw it from scratch..

Oh well, more practice.

In your minds eye, 6" Barrel about 18" long and all copper construction. Currently non-radiant superheaters cause they were given to me. But I plan to use full radiant with bronze pistons, cast iron cylinders and rings should be fine.

About a 25 Sq" grate so only a baby, but small enough to fit in the back of the Brumby with all my other crap.