# Cheapest Goodall valve and filler bottle ever



## rkapuaala (Jan 3, 2008)

Well, this weekend Henner cut the M10x1.0 thread for my home made goodall valve and made me a great gasket for it.
This morning, I turned and threaded the stem on the top of the valve. I was about to go to the store to buy a filler bottle when I noticed this









Fits for the nozzle was a little loose so I used some teflon tape and the leaks disappeared. Of course, I had to spend a lot of time cleaning it out but I saved some money and recycled too " align="absmiddle" border="0" />


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## Jack - Freshwater Models (Feb 17, 2008)

Cheap bottle but the hose looks a bit complicated, small, and expensive??? Is that an airbrush fitting and hose? Do ya have to screw it on the Goodall type valve every tine you want to add water? I'm sure it will work fine but.... 

I bought a $0.99 spray bottle at the store and removed the spray gutz. Bored out the knozzel adjuster gizmo. Turned a part to fit the knozzel adjuster gizmo and hold a plastic hoze. Assembled it. Made a Goodall type valve with a hole that just fits da hoze. Da hoze shoved into the hole and the water pressure expands da hoze to make a seel with the valve. Pretty simple and cheap. 

Jack


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## rkapuaala (Jan 3, 2008)

Jack, 
Thats' right, it was from my first air brush that was a piece of junk, but being the die-hard-pack rat that I am I kept it and so far the hose turned out to be just what I needed  
Yep, you have to screw it on, but the way I'm using this doesn't allow for a hole to shove my hose into because the goodall valve top will be under a tank and a sand-dome. The access to the filler will be on the filler cap at the front of the tank. 
I lucked out in that I had junk parts laying around that all fit together and work fine. I get a steady stream of water jetting out of the valve, no leaks on the handle and I have tested it with hot water with success. Someone told me about some bottles at Lowes or HomeDepot that work perfectly; I'm not sure how much they cost, but they were also cheap. I'm always amused and happy when ever I can use something that was destined for the land fill.


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## Jack - Freshwater Models (Feb 17, 2008)

I have to agree with recycling! I'm a pack rat too but never seem to have what I need. My favorite method if adding water to a boiler is to use a hand pump or axle pump located on the loco but adding them is lot of work and in siome cases difficult if realestate is sparse. When I first saw a goodall valve and squirt bottle I decided that that would be the way I would go. My bottle is a HD bottle on sale. I just happened to see one in my many trips there and the size of the cylinder was impressive. I'm not keen on screwing the hose to the valve especially when that valve gets warmed up a bit. 

Jack


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## seadawg (Jan 2, 2008)

Posted By Jack - Freshwater Models on 03/02/2009 7:16 PM
Cheap bottle but the hose looks a bit complicated, small, and expensive??? Is that an airbrush fitting and hose? Do ya have to screw it on the Goodall type valve every tine you want to add water? I'm sure it will work fine but.... 

I bought a $0.99 spray bottle at the store and removed the spray gutz. Bored out the knozzel adjuster gizmo. Turned a part to fit the knozzel adjuster gizmo and hold a plastic hoze. Assembled it. Made a Goodall type valve with a hole that just fits da hoze. Da hoze shoved into the hole and the water pressure expands da hoze to make a seel with the valve. Pretty simple and cheap. 

Jack 




Jack, that's how my Goodall valves all seem to work, the "hoze" stuck into the hole, the ones I bought from Sulphur Springs, the ones I got from Royce and the refeeding valve from Regner. I don't use the metal tipped fill jug anymore. I'm gonna try my hand at converting my Frank S fill plug to a goodall valve, but I have a question. How big is the hole you drilled for the fill tube? 4mm? 5/32?


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## rkapuaala (Jan 3, 2008)

I tested it out on my 4-4-0 today. I see what you folks mean about screwing it to the top. Man that sucker was hot! But I haven't given up on the idea yet, I think I have an idea for an insulated grip that will make it easier. 
I drilled 2 holes in it. 
One at 3/32 going straight down from the top and dead ending an 1/8" from the bottom of the valve. 
The other was 1/16" at 90 degrees to the steam and straight through. 
I was going to use this valve original on my Ruby, but found that there wasn't enough clearance for the banjo fitting for the fill tube and the valve, so this one will be used permanantly on my 4-4-0. 
One annoying thing I found out while I was trying to determine when to add more water is that accucraft water glass. It seems to have a mind of its own. Sometimes the water level goes right down to the bottom and then right back up again. I was thinking maybe some air got trapped in there while I was filling it. I'm thinking of adding some type of breather valve on the hour glass fitting so that I can open it up and let air out while I'm filling it up.


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## Jack - Freshwater Models (Feb 17, 2008)

Posted By seadawg on 03/03/2009 8:59 AM



"How big is the hole you drilled for the fill tube? 4mm? 5/32? "

Really you have to fit it to your particular piece of tubing. I made mine a very close fit (almost too tight) and then rounded over the edge of the hole so the tube would easily slip into the hole. I would suggest starting small and opening the hole until it just fits.

Shoving a tube in the hole is much easier than any other arrangement I can think of.

Jack


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## CapeCodSteam (Jan 2, 2008)

There you go, steam can be green!! Great example of re-use.


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## steamboatmodel (Jan 2, 2008)

If you " I'm thinking of adding some type of breather valve on the hour glass fitting so that I can open it up and let air out while I'm filling it up. " That defeats the use of the Goodall valve, as when you open the breather valve the boiler would drop pressure. 
Regards, 
Gerald


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## seadawg (Jan 2, 2008)

Posted By steamboatmodel on 03/04/2009 7:55 AM
If you " I'm thinking of adding some type of breather valve on the hour glass fitting so that I can open it up and let air out while I'm filling it up. " That defeats the use of the Goodall valve, as when you open the breather valve the boiler would drop pressure. 
Regards, 
Gerald 



I'm not sure if it's pressure or just capillary resisitance, that's why I added a schwinky valve to the top of my sight glass on my Willi.


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## Eric M. (Jan 3, 2008)

Hi Richard,


The prototypical solution would be to install a sight glass blowdown like the one on my 3.5" gauge 0-4-0:










 
As you can see there is a small valve at the bottom fitting.  Just a quick opening of the valve blasts all the air out-- and it does so with a big cloud of steam which is fun too ;-)


My thought to mount a sightglass blowdown on a loco where access was restrictive was to add a pipe that goes outside the cab, and then mount a miniature globe valve, under the cab, to control it.  I have been thinking of doing this on my Konrad.


Regards,


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## seadawg (Jan 2, 2008)

Posted By Eric M. on 03/04/2009 8:59 AM

SNIP....


My thought to mount a sightglass blowdown on a loco where access was restrictive was to add a pipe that goes outside the cab, and then mount a miniature globe valve, under the cab, to control it. I have been thinking of doing this on my Konrad.


Regards,




Naw, you just need a schwinky valve.


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## Semper Vaporo (Jan 2, 2008)

Schwinky valve?????


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## seadawg (Jan 2, 2008)

Posted By Semper Vaporo on 03/04/2009 9:30 AM
Schwinky valve?????


Well, it's kind of like a quick acting blow down valve that points up, sort of the opposite of a blow down valve. I didn't want to call it a blow up valve, people would be scared. And the complete opposite would be a suck up valve, and we already got enough of that going around. I'll try to add a pic later on today. Just one quick push of the finger and BAAMM - bubble gone.


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## rkapuaala (Jan 3, 2008)

Eric, 
I like your idea for the Conrad because it's easy to access, but I'm also very curious about this swinky valve


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## Eric M. (Jan 3, 2008)

Yeah the schwinky valve sounds like a great solution too. Effectively does the same thing-- blast the bubbles right the heck outa there!!!! Either way you are looking at a bit of custom fab work. The advantage I see to my solution is that you could aim the blowdown pipe to the opposite side of the loco so you can blast innocent spectators with steam!









I have one question about the schwinky valve; do you have to say "BAAMM" when using it?







Isn't "Baamm" Emiril Lagasse's intellectual property?


Regards,

Eric


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## seadawg (Jan 2, 2008)

Maybe if I said it with less A's or M's.


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## seadawg (Jan 2, 2008)

Or maybe you need to say "SCHWINK"


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## seadawg (Jan 2, 2008)

I took a couple of pictures at lunch but I couldn't find my USB cable to download from the camera. I DO have a conceptual drawing. 









Push the collar downward and release the pressure on the oring, enough steam can escape through the hole drilled through the plug for the shaft. The steam released causes the water in the sight glass to bounce and return to the actual level.


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## Eric M. (Jan 3, 2008)

That's a pretty cool design. I like how it just replaces the top nut on the upper sightglass fitting.

Regards,


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## seadawg (Jan 2, 2008)

Posted By Eric M. on 03/04/2009 12:10 PM
That's a pretty cool design. I like how it just replaces the top nut on the upper sightglass fitting.

Regards,





Yep, I actually use the plug and modify it. I had to wait until a had a couple extra before I was willing to try it. My skillz are still lacking.


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## Semper Vaporo (Jan 2, 2008)

Posted By Eric M. on 03/04/2009 11:47 AM
Yeah the schwinky valve sounds like a great solution too. Effectively does the same thing-- blast the bubbles right the heck outa there!!!! Either way you are looking at a bit of custom fab work. The advantage I see to my solution is that you could aim the blowdown pipe to the opposite side of the loco so you can blast innocent spectators with steam!









I have one question about the schwinky valve; do you have to say "BAAMM" when using it?







Isn't "Baamm" Emiril Lagasse's intellectual property?


Regards,

Eric 



"Intellectual"??????


I would suspect that you should us gloves when pressing the button on the valve or you will cook the end of your finger.


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## dhamer52 (Jan 2, 2008)

That's not all that's lacking.


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## seadawg (Jan 2, 2008)

Posted By Semper Vaporo on 03/04/2009 12:17 PM

"Intellectual"??????



I would suspect that you should us gloves when pressing the button on the valve or you will cook the end of your finger.



It's hot, but you don't have to mash on it, like you're squashin' a tick. Just a little "pfft" and you're good. I get more heat to the finger tips opening an Accucraft smokebox door. 

My prototype has a longer spring than the illustration, but it's not like it's long distance. The steam rushing out is also very minimal and is only slightly warm by the time it reaches finger level. 

I recommend the schwinky valve but I'm not going to build any for sale like I was thinking about at first. Just like the lady who sued McD's for her own mistake with the coffee, there's lot's of folks out there who can figure out how to hurt themselves with the safest toys around. 

_I mean really, who needs a goodall valve anyway, just open the fill plug under full pressure, make sure your face is hangin' over the opening and look inside the boiler to see if anything's in there._ 
The previous sentence was an attempt at wry, sarcastic humor which does not translate well across the internet. Never open and fill plugs while under steam, and if you aren't aware of the safety issue invovled, you should be running battery powered sparkies because transformers are dangerous.


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## seadawg (Jan 2, 2008)

PS, Dan seems to think I should explain what a "pfft' is. (It's my word to describe the sound of steam escaping while I tap in the top of the schwinky valve, Dan)


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## seadawg (Jan 2, 2008)

OK, here's a pic of it installed on my Regner Willi, the spring is huge because it's what I had on hand:









Please ignore the fireman, it's a "King Cake Baby' from Diamondhead, and there are no child labor laws being violated.


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## rkapuaala (Jan 3, 2008)

Eric, 
Your idea is more interesting to me now. Since you suggested another application for the redirected steam exhaust;"blast inoccent spectators"; it gave me a moment to reflect on other possibilities; my wife has been asking for an expresso machine! 
I could place the engine on rollers, maybe on top of a breadbox or something so the exhaust line is high enough to get a decent mug under. I could thread the end of the line so that I could put a little expresso tip on it that could be plunged to the bottom of the mug. Man, then I would really look forward to that first cup in the morning " align="absmiddle" border="0" /> 
Oh,,, yeah that is a cool design for the swinky valve,,, looks like a reverse safety valve.


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## rkapuaala (Jan 3, 2008)

Dave, 
BTW, babies should not be left in hot cabs naked


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## HMeinhold (Jan 2, 2008)

Rick, Eric, 
looks like schwinky time next Saturday. 
Regards


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## Eric M. (Jan 3, 2008)

Richard a locomotive espresso machine is a fantastic idea. Heck my brother is a HUGE coffee snob. He only buys his beans from a specific place in San Francisco and he spent like three grand on his espresso machine. A 4-4-0 is cheaper than that so it's a bargain right!!!???? You may wish to power it off of an upper fitting on the boiler though so you don't drain the boiler of water in the process. The thing that Accucraft calls a "blow down" actually comes from a bushing mounted high up on the backhead (at least that is the case on the Shay.) Does the 4-4-0 have one of those? That would be a good place to attach your espresso tip so you can froth your milk with reckless abandon!

I would like to be the first to place an order. I'll have a venti vanilla latte, low fat, no whip.










Regards,


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## rkapuaala (Jan 3, 2008)

Henner, 
I can't make it this weekend, but I can't wait to see what you folks come up with. 
Eric, 
There are two locations actually. One is right on top of the site glass (same place as the swinky valve in the pic) and the other is just in front of it on top of the boiler. 
The one in the front would be perfect. Might work real good on L track just pull it into a siding during a steam up and steam some milk, then off you go. Not sure how to make the part that steams the grounds, but I'm open to any ideas.


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