With the 2012 rally season on the horizon, I have finally made my way to the steam yard again to catch up on progress on the Sentinel steam waggon “Vectis Knight”!

As you can see above, things are back together and it is in steam!

Back in October, however, the boiler was out. It wasn’t steaming properly and it was time for the boiler to be split and put back together anyway.

Above you can see the inner part of the boiler which is put inside the outer part, seen below.

The tubes seen on the inside part contain the water and steam and the fire exists within the inner part of the boiler with the flames going around the outside of the tubes, hence why the water tubes criss-cross on the inside of the inner part (seen below).

Below you can see how bad the limescale has got after several years of steaming. This obviously hinders the heat transfer, which was the cause for it not steaming particularly well at times.

So anyway… back to now! As mentioned, the Sentinel is back together again and is in steam!

You can see here that the front-end is still missing. This was removed because the boiler comes out through the front. Needless to say, it will be put back on shortly.

You can see below the pressure at 170 psi or so, getting close to it’s maximum, later showing that it is perfectly capable of containing the pressure that is required for it to run!

Finally, to end this blog post, below is a video of “Vectis Knight” in steam on this day!

If you cannot see the video above, you can watch it on Youtube here: A pre-rally steam-up on Sentinel Super “Vectis Knight”

I will keep you updated on its progress as the rally season approaches as best I can (time permitting, of course)!

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1. Can you guess what this steam engine owner’s tool is?
2. A series of five more fantastic steam rallies – Part 5
3. A Ride On a Sentinel Super Steam Waggon – 2011 Steam Videos Part 2

Here’s a challenge!

What do you think this is for?

Below is a close-up of one end…

And here is a close-up of the other end…

Any ideas yet?

So… what do you think it’s for?

Post your answers in the Comments Section and I’ll let you know by email or Facebook whether you got it right!

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1. Winter Steam Engine Maintenance
2. A day up the steam yard with the Sentinel
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After levelling off the steering wheel as part of the track rod/drag link replacement a few weeks ago I reversed out of the garage, heard a sudden crunching noise from within the steering wheel as I turned it and the SRS airbag light came on!

I had crunched/snapped the “rotary coupler” (also known as a “clock spring”) which sits behind the steering wheel to allow the airbag, horn and cruise control to maintain connectivity with the wiring behind the dashboard as the steering wheel rotates.

I then sourced a used replacement (part number YRC100350) from Land Rover Spares for £37 including VAT and postage (seen above). Brand new ones cost over £200, so pulling one from an old vehicle seemed like a good idea in this instance.

Also, I suspect the following isn’t perfect, but upon investigation I think this part number is fine in the following vehicles:

• Discovery 1 (300Tdi and V8) from 1994-1998 (from VIN WA762769)
• Discovery 2 (Td5 and V8) from 1998-2004
• Range Rover Classic (Soft dash models) from 1994-1996
• Range Rover P38 (All models) from 1994-2002 (from VIN VA346794)

Please Post a comment if you spot a mistake in the above.

Anyway, I stuck the multi-meter on all the pins in the new coupler to check for continuity and I found what I thought to be a fault. Both airbag pins had continuity with both other airbag pins at the other end (both red plugs). Basically, the entire airbag circuit was shorted out.

It turns out this is normal (when it is not connected, at least)!

Inside the plug which connects inside the dashboard there are a pair of shorting “clips”. These are designed to prevent the airbag going off as the coupler is disconnected underneath the dashboard (I think!).

You can see them clearly inside the plug in the photo below.

As this particular rotary coupler was knackered, I smashed the plug apart with a hammer and extracted the shorting “clips” to check that they really were there for that purpose and seeing them outside the plug shows that they are indeed for this purpose!

So basically, as you plug it in, the plug pushes the shorting “clips” away from the pins to break the short circuit and turn it into two separate connections as it is shown on the vehicle’s wiring diagrams.

So, for those who need to know what the other plugs look like here are a few more pics.

Above you can see the horn/cruise control plug which connects behind the steering wheel in the dashboard.

Below is the other side of the same plug, showing which wires connect to which pins.

Below is the horn/cruise control plug which connects inside the steering wheel itself.

The above plug and the airbag plug connect directly to the plug shown below.

Above is the plug on the “outside” of the rotary coupler (already mentioned just above). This is the plug that rotates with the steering wheel and it cannot be unplugged.

Here we can see the red airbag plug which connects to the airbag itself.

This plug has a coil inside it, which I’m told is to filter out any high frequency noise thereby preventing unwanted discharge of the airbag (which is discharged simply by providing a voltage to it I believe).

Above you can see the plug from a different angle so you can see which wires line up with which pins on the plug itself.

“What’s actually inside the rotary coupler?”, I hear you ask…

A 14ft/4.26m (roughly) coil of ribbon cable which tightens and loosens as the coupler rotates back and forth.

The coupler will handle roughly 5 complete turns, but the steering wheel only does around 3 turns from lock to lock, so there is plenty of slack built into it (as long as it’s centred properly before it’s fitted).

Above you can see the steering wheel side of the coupler. This is the part that rotates with the steering wheel.

Here you can see the dashboard side of the coupler. This is the part that remains stationary and does not rotate with the steering wheel.

Above you can see the entire coupler opened up with all 14ft of ribbon cable spread out.

And finally the part number and barcode, the part number being YRC100350.

One last thing to mention is that I was of the understanding that on a Discovery 1 the SRS light does not reset itself automatically, unlike the Discovery 2 and other more modern vehicles. This turns out not to be the case with my vehicle. I’m told that the Discovery 1 was of a time when they were still playing around with SRS (“Supplementary Restraint System”) and early Discovery 1 models had different SRS units to later Discovery 1 models.

Therefore, as I have one of the later Discovery 1 models, mine is capable of resetting the SRS light automatically once the connections are all back in place, but earlier models must have the diagnostics computer plugged in to clear the error code in order for the SRS light to go out.

It is likely that my SRS unit will keep the error in its logs, but it figures out that things are fine again all by itself and turns out the light. Earlier models also keep the errors in their logs, but do not reset the light automatically.

As of 1 Jan 2012 I believe this becomes an MOT advisory, and after 1 April 2012 it becomes an MOT failure (in the UK, of course), hence me deciding to fix it!

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I never even imagined it would happen, but my YouTube videos have had over 1 million views!

My first ever video (uploaded on 29 March 2008) was a terrible time-lapse of some family members trying to get a loaf of bread out of my terrible bread maker! This obviously had almost no views.

My second video was another rather boring video of my classic motorcycle engine running.

It was from here I decided I should start filming some of the events I go to, and this is where it started to take off!

My most popular video as of today is the Pratt & Whitney 50 litre 18 cylinder Radial Airplane Engine which has had 507,249 views. This one doesn’t seem to be very popular any more though. Perhaps a bit old and everyone’s already seen it!

In the last 30 days, my videos have received an average of 4109 total views per day, which I am very pleased about!

My most popular videos at the moment seem to be the Paxman V12YHA Diesel 60-litre 450bhp/1000bhp Ship Engine from HMS Rhyl…

…and How Diff Lock Works and When To Use It.

Regarding time and effort that has gone into all this, the answer is, of course, a lot!

I shoot roughly 20 minutes of footage each day at any event in a series of short clips each around 20 seconds long. This adds up to around 1 hour of footage across 150 clips for the whole event.

I then spend roughly 5 hours editing and producing this footage into it’s final form and then upload it to YouTube.

Across 119 of the 120 videos I have uploaded (with a total duration of 12 hours), I have shot roughly 50 hours of footage and probably spent a total of 250 hours editing and producing.

I then came up with my “Best of” video… this involved re-editing every video I have ever produced (all 12 hours of footage) into a short 8 minute video. This took roughly 50 hours of further editing and the end result is here!

If you cannot see the video above, you can watch the video on YouTube here: Best of “fishsponge” – Steam Engines, Land Rovers, Motorcycles, Off-Roading & lots more!

Over 4 years I have put 350 hours of my time into shooting and editing videos, and have had over 1 million views in return. That’s an average of 14 minutes per day editing and 685 views per day. Not too bad, in my opinion!

Overall, however, my views have only really started picking up recently. Here’s a graph of the last 4 years (since I joined) of the daily video views:

Let’s hope this trend continues!

Anyway, if you like the videos above and want to see more, why not:

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This is last part of the 10-part “2011 Steam Videos” series showing you some of the more specific videos I have produced over the 2011 steam rally season, focusing on some particular exhibits, displays and events in or around the steam rallies themselves.

In this episode you will see a journey on board Darren Swain’s Aveling & Porter Steam Roller “Sally” to and from Great Chesterford Steam-Up 2011.

If you cannot see the video above, you can view it directly on Youtube here: Youtube – A Journey On Board Steam Roller “Sally” to Great Chesterford Steam Up 2011

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1. A series of five more fantastic steam rallies – Part 5
2. An Evening Road Run the the Pub! – 2011 Steam Videos Part 7
3. Barco Portable Gasoline Hammer Demonstration – 2011 Steam Videos Part 9

This is Part 9 of the 10-part “2011 Steam Videos” series showing you some of the more specific videos I have produced over the 2011 steam rally season, focusing on some particular exhibits, displays and events in or around the steam rallies themselves.

In this episode you will see a Barco Portable Gasoline Hammer being demonstrated at Kettering Vintage Rally and Steam Fayre 2011.

If you cannot see the video above, you can view it directly on Youtube here: Youtube – Barco Portable Gasoline Hammer and Warsop Benjo Power Rammer at Kettering Vintage Steam Rally 2011

Also in this video is another Warsop Benjo Power Rammer (as seen in Part 3 of this series).

The Barco Portable Gasoline Hammer operated at a much higher frequency than the Warsop Benjo and is therefore more like today’s jack-hammers. It could also be fitted with various implements such as a stamping “foot” or a blade for cutting through tarmac or other surfaces.

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1. Warsop Benjo Power Rammer Demonstration – 2011 Steam Videos Part 3
2. A series of five more fantastic steam rallies – Part 4
3. Steam Ploughing Demonstration – 2011 Steam Videos Part 6

It’s been a relatively eventful few months for the Land Rover!

First of all, the tyres (seen above) were worn down almost to their legal limit, so it was time for new ones!

I decided to stick with mud-terrain despite doing mostly road mileage because I thought, “what’s the point in owning a Land Rover if you end up getting stick when you really need it”! Also, the old tyres had worn slightly unevenly and caused vibration at 10mph or less which was marginally annoying when crawling through a queue on my daily commute!

I then planned to sell the old tyres cheaply with the Alloy wheels so I could buy some new wheels that looked a little less shiny and could take an off-road battering better than alloys (whenever I next manage to get to an off-road site, that is!). So… here are the new wheels and tyres!

They drive much better than the old worn-out tyres, but sadly I have still not taken them off road, so have no idea how they perform in their intended environment! This will happen eventually… perhaps when diesel prices decrease (as if!).

So, the new tyres, despite being the same size as the old ones, had much more tread on them (14mm to be exact!), so I thought I’d see how much they rubbed on the bodywork.

Hard to tell from this angle, but at the front, things are fine.

At the rear, however…

There is significant contact with the bodywork. The suspension is pushed up as high as it can go and is almost rubbing on the top of the wheel arch (which is normal). While in this position, the bottom corner of the wheel arch is pushed inwards and upwards by the tyre and therefore needs cutting off along the line at which it has bent. This fairly standard modification is known as the “camel cut” (because it was done to all Camel Trophy vehicles for the same reason).

I have not actually done the “camel cut” yet, but I will report back when I have done!

Since putting on the new tyres I thought I should have the wheels aligned to make the tyres last as long as possible. They did need re-aligning, but every was completely seized so I forked out for a brand new Terrafirma Heavy-Duty track rod, drag link, new balljoints and steering damper (steering damper seen below)!

I won’t go into the details on this because this really is just a case of lying under the vehicle, undoing 6 (difficult!) bolts, replacing the parts and doing 6 new bolts up!

Since doing this though, it does seem to like wandering over to the left slightly… maybe due to the suspension lift and i’ve never noticed it, maybe the wheels are still somehow out of alignment, maybe the power steering box is not centered despite me centering it by the correct methods or maybe I just need new trailing arm and radius arm bushes… who knows!

And finally, there seems to be a water leak coming into the passenger footwell whenever it rains, and I think it’s a wiring gromet that goes through the bulkhead into the engine bay underneath the windscreen washer bottle and behind the glovebox… it’s relatively inaccessible although I can see the gromet from inside the car, so that will hopefully be just a case of removing and treating the rust and making it good again!

Here’s a video of the leaky gromet is below for those of you who are really interested!

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2. A series of five more fantastic steam rallies – Part 1
3. The Warspite model has arrived, but a few bits are missing…

This is Part 8 of the 10-part “2011 Steam Videos” series showing you some of the more specific videos I have produced over the 2011 steam rally season, focusing on some particular exhibits, displays and events in or around the steam rallies themselves.

In this episode you will see scaled-down remote control tanks and other military vehicles at Kettering Vintage Rally and Steam Fayre 2011.

This one isn’t strictly steam-engine related, but it was filmed at a steam-event, so here it is!

If you cannot see the video above, you can view it directly on Youtube here: Youtube – Remote Control Model Tanks and Military Vehicles at Kettering Vintage Rally and Steam Fayre 2011

It’s quite hard to tell from this video, but a lot of work goes into these models – they are typically powered by wheelchair motors and wheelchair batteries, I believe, and the tanks are generally way too heavy for one person to lift.

They are all-metal, complete with sound effect units and smoke generators for the exhaust pipes and generally the gun turrets rotate and elevate and either have sound effect units in themselves or small “blanks” which are fired.

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1. A series of five more fantastic steam rallies – Part 4
2. An Evening Road Run the the Pub! – 2011 Steam Videos Part 7
3. Steam Ploughing Demonstration – 2011 Steam Videos Part 6

This is Part 7 of the 10-part “2011 Steam Videos” series showing you some of the more specific videos I have produced over the 2011 steam rally season, focusing on some particular exhibits, displays and events in or around the steam rallies themselves.

In this episode you will see an evening road run on Aveling & Porter steam tractor “Margaret” leaving Bedfordshire Steam & Country Fayre 2011 to pop along to the local pub. “Margaret” had her usual trailer behind her with several of us in it for the journey and the weather was truly awful!

If you cannot see the video above, you can view it directly on Youtube here: Youtube – Road Run To The Pub from Bedfordshire Steam Rally and Country Fayre 2011

Thanks to Bob Jakes for letting us travel on his engine, and thanks to Pete and Michael for driving and steering us there and back!

There’s an interesting article on “Margaret” here: Aveling Tractor Margaret – Old Glory Magazine.

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1. Vintage Road Making and Rolling Demonstration – 2011 Steam Videos Part 5
2. Steam Ploughing Demonstration – 2011 Steam Videos Part 6
3. A Journey On-Board a Steam Roller – 2011 Steam Videos Part 10

This is Part 6 of the 10-part “2011 Steam Videos” series showing you some of the more specific videos I have produced over the 2011 steam rally season, focusing on some particular exhibits, displays and events in or around the steam rallies themselves.

In this episode you will see ploughing how it used to be done – with steam! This video was shot at Bedfordshire Steam and Country Fayre 2011, held at Old Warden Park with the Shuttleworth Collection.

If you cannot see the video above, you can view it directly on Youtube here: Youtube – Steam Ploughing Demonstration at Bedfordshire Steam Rally and Country Fayre 2011

For those that don’t know, ploughing engines are different to what you might recognise as a “standard” traction engine in that they are typically much longer, have larger boilers and have a winch mounted in the middle underneath for pulling the winch back across the field.

Ploughing is done by placing one engine at either end of the field, each connected to the plough with a wire rope. One engine pulls the plough across the field towards itself with the winch while the other engine let’s the winch free-wheel out as much cable as needed. The “receiving” engine then blows the whistle briefly to signal that the distant engine can begin to winch the plough back again.

As this process continues, each engine moves forward while the plough is stopped so the plough can be dragged across unploughed parts of the field.

You can read more about steam ploughing or join the club on the Steam Plough Club web site!

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1. Barco Portable Gasoline Hammer Demonstration – 2011 Steam Videos Part 9
2. Warsop Benjo Power Rammer Demonstration – 2011 Steam Videos Part 3
3. Vintage Road Making and Rolling Demonstration – 2011 Steam Videos Part 5