The new headlight inverters arrived during the week. Some suitable bulbs have also been procured (they are just car headlight bulbs) and when all was connected up, it was apparent that the headlights are now operational again!
A pipe was attached to the Radiator Drain Tap outlet, routed outside to avoid flooding the shed, and the cooler group was drained down.
The flow was extremely slow to start with but after a compressed air line was attached to the pipe and a bit of "gargling" performed to shift accumulated sludge up inside, the flow rate rose to its correct level! The water ran red for a while after doing that so hopefully a quantity of sludge has been flushed out.
Once drained, Martin F managed to change the old delaminating 3" diameter hose in the settling tank balance pipe located in a very mucky corner of the loco. It has been replaced with a length of modern silicon rubber hose.
About one and a half barrels of antifreeze were then pumped the other way up the pipe into the settling tanks and topped up with fresh water.
With the batteries assisted by a charger, the triple pump was then run for about 30 minutes to mix things up. This will give around a 33% antifreeze concentration.
Martin has also completed repairs on the fuel spill pipework.
Always a fashion icon, Tony T-B has painted the inside of the cab heater covers!
