# Graham Gage VR1A steam motor



## Tom Bowdler (Jan 3, 2008)

Does anyone have experience with this motor? I'm thinking of replacing the Midwest oscillator on my coal fired BAGRS.
My concern is the rating of 5-30 psi and the coal fired boiler easily pops the safety at 40 psi.

I have a Manison Climax with the two cylinder Gage motor and it does fine with 40 psi of steam.
Any help appreciated,
Tom


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## steamtom1 (Jan 2, 2008)

ST3,

Is this the motor of which you speak, the one I retrofitted to my Geoffbuilt Shay?


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## Tom Bowdler (Jan 3, 2008)

Thanks ST1, 
No it is a single cylinder version. 
Have a look at: 
www.grahamind.com/VR1ABro.pdf


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## Spule 4 (Jan 2, 2008)

One thing I have read (not experienced first hand) while looking at model stationary engines a few years ago was that Graham models used aluminum for many of their bits. There were concerns of longevity.


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## Dan Pantages (Jan 2, 2008)

Jim Hadden uses Graham engines for all his projects and has never had a problem. I have many miles on my Hadden Heisler and again there has never been a problem.


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## xo18thfa (Jan 2, 2008)

It appears from the assembly manuals that the VR1A and TVR1A use the same cylinder components. The part numbers match. The single should run the same as the twin. Maybe give Graham a call and see what he thinks.

So you run your twin at 40 PSI? I day dream about an "A" type Climax with that motor.


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## Pete Thornton (Jan 2, 2008)

I day dream about an "A" type Climax with that motor 
Me too. I have a TVR1A kit from way back, and a complete file of Climax stuff. 

Tom - I think the kits were 'upgraded' a few years ago (10?) - something about seals or cylinder bushings? Mine is definitely from before any upgrade.


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## Steve Shyvers (Jan 2, 2008)

Tom, 

I would go right ahead and try it. I doubt that the VR1A's steam chest would be seeing 40 psig when the engine is running. This is no brilliant insight on my part but a thought put forward by JvR in his writings. I have a VR1A on my 4-2-0 logging loco, and wear has never been a problem except for the piston o-ring. On mine the piston's o-ring groove was cut too deep so that there was not enough "squeeze" given to the o-ring when the piston was inside the cylinder. As soon as the o-ring wore a bit all compression was lost because of blow-by. The fix was to wind a thin strip of paper into the o-ring groove to act as a shim underneath the o-ring. It was an experimental adjustment to get what I thought would be the right amount of shim. All I did was start off with too much, and then shortened the paper strip until the piston and o-ring would fit into the cylinder without unnecessary force. Of course oil the piston and o-ring when doing this. Kozo in his "New Shay" book discusses in detail how to calculate the correct amount of "squeeze". He recommends 5% to 10%. The percentage is based on the OD of the o-ring, and the calculations are simple arithmetic. 

Steve


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## Dan Pantages (Jan 2, 2008)

Steve, if you called Gail, I am sure he would give you a new piston.


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## chooch (Jan 2, 2008)

Bob,
You mean like this Climax? This one I believe is owned by John Garrett and has a Graham motor installed. Climax kit by DJB some years ago.


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## Spule 4 (Jan 2, 2008)

Posted By Dan Pantages on 05 Feb 2011 09:14 AM 
Jim Hadden uses Graham engines for all his projects and has never had a problem. I have many miles on my Hadden Heisler and again there has never been a problem. 

Thanks, this was from some of the machinist forums, so maybe it was more personal bias of the posters against aluminum than experience.


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## xo18thfa (Jan 2, 2008)

Posted By chooch on 05 Feb 2011 04:10 PM 
Bob,
You mean like this Climax? This one I believe is owned by John Garrett and has a Graham motor installed. Climax kit by DJB some years ago.





Yep, pretty much along them lines. Always had the idea of cutting Kozo's 3.5" gauge Climax gears for a project like that. Great looking machine. I bet it has monster crazy power. After reading everyone's experience with Graham motors, I'm itching to give it a try.


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## Pete Thornton (Jan 2, 2008)

Always had the idea of cutting Kozo's 3.5" gauge Climax gears for a project like that 
The gears are a problem if you don't have any machine tools or experience! (Didn't David Bailey run another batch of Climax trucks recently?) 

I also noted that recent find/link to a small parts company which had offset drive gearboxes. I glanced at them but didn't really pursue whether they were small enough for an Fn3 Climax.


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