THE SUMMERLANDS CHUFFER

Richard Page has come up with a simple method, but it is not for those of a nervous disposition and I cannot recommend it as I have not tried it. Here is what Richard wrote:

"I recently purchased 2 chuffers for a Cheddar Goliath and a Cheddar Reisa. According to your website there was a need to virtually dismantle the Reisa and quite a complicated amount of work for the Goliath.
 
I have just successfully installed chuffers on both with a total time of less than half an hour's work for the two. All that was needed was to gently tap off the front of the smoke box. This can be done with a wooden drift on the false hinge on the left hand side. Slide the Chuffer down the funnel, mark the exhaust pipe 20mm above the bottom of the chuffer when the top of the chuffer is just below the top of the funnel, and cut. I used a Dremel which means the cut cannot be at 90 degrees but it takes virtually no time and the exhaust pipe can be supported by holding it with some pliers.
 
Then slip the Chuffer over the exhaust; ensure the steam outlet on the Chuffer is well away from the side of the funnel by turning it to the best position. The longest operation was putting a slight bend in the exhaust to get the right tightness of fit. Push the smoke box front back on and the job is done.
 
Wonderfully simple and a wonderful improvement to the sound of the locos."

Please note that Richard has given this account on the basis that it is one option. It could damage your loco and if you are in any doubt - please do not attempt it.

Paul Hyde has fitted an SCGP3 Chuffer to his Cheddar Riesa and has supplied us with comprehensive notes and photos, as well as a brief video of the results (see News page) . As you will see - this is not a simple fit and Paul has quite rightly repeated our normal warning at the start!

"These notes are based on my experiences in fitting a Summerlands Chuffer to my loco, and are for guidance only. There may be alternate methods to achieve the fitting of a Chuffer. A loco may potentially be damaged in the fitting of a chuffer, or other work undertaken on it, by whatever method if errors are made. It is up to the individual to assess the risks of any damages caused by undertaking work on a loco. If in doubt consult one of the team of Summerlands fitters.

Photo 1. General view of the locomotive.

Remove body from loco, undo the eight screws on outer edges of running plate and foot plate and lift off. Take care with radio control equipment connections, there should be enough slack in the wires not to require disconnection.

(Note: I did not wish to disconnect the servos from the receiver (which is attached by the aerial to the cab roof), as I had previously re-arranged which of the channels on the receiver the servos were plugged into and did not want to lose the settings. My modified settings give: Regulator increase by pushing the left stick up (as supplied), forward and reverse by pushing the right stick up and down respectively, and whistle opening by moving right stick to the right. I did this as originally forward and reverse was achieved by moving one stick from left to right and I kept forgetting whether left or right was forward or reverse, up for forward on a separate stick to the regulator, seemed to make more sense to me. Whilst the loco is disassembled you may wish to carry out the same conversion (at your own risk).)

Photo 2.  One of six screws through holes in tags on frames that attach the frames to the forward running plate (A). All six require removing to enable the frames to be slewed to one side to allow access to the screws (B) holding smokebox to the front running plate on 32mm gauge loco, one of which can be seen obscured by frames.

Photo 3.  Frames slewed to reveal screw holding smokebox to front running plate. Amount of sideways frame movement required indicated by distance between hole in frame tag (C) and associated treaded hole in running plate (D).

Photo 4. Smokebox retaining screw removed.

The lubricator is held to the side of the smokebox by a treaded spigot into the smokebox retained by a nut inside the smokebox.

Note 2. At this point it might be possible to slide the smokebox off the boiler by deforming the lubricator pipe work (and thus removing the necessity to remove the loco body (although the footplate would have to be unscrewed from the frames to allow them to slew)), however this is not recommended. I decided to remove the boiler instead to access the nut and release the lubricator from the smoke box, there being no obvious way to disconnect the lubricator from the regulator and associated pipe work between the frames.

Photo 5.  To gain access to the inside of the smokebox, remove boiler by disconnecting pipe work at the dome, removing the burner, and undoing the large retaining screw (F) between the frames behind the trailing (rear) axle, before withdrawing the boiler from the smokebox.

Photo 6. Undo the lubricator retaining nut to release lubricator from smokebox and remove the smokebox from loco.

Photo 7.  Loco disassembled

Photo 8.  With the Chuffer installed on original length exhaust pipe (after removing the push-fit factory chuffer) place the smokebox back on loco to measure excess height that needs to be removed from exhaust pipe. The difference between top of new Chuffer and top of chimney, plus the distance bellow the top of chimney you require the chuffer to be when fitted (about 0.5mm in my case as the chuffer sounding slot needs to be inside the chimney), is the amount you need to cut from the exhaust.

Photo 9.  Measuring excess hight.

Photo 10.  Original length exhaust marked with amount to be removed and being cut. Remember to cut above the mark or the exhaust will be shortened by the marked distance, plus the width of cut.

Cut exhaust pipe and remove burs from edges of cut.

Photo 11.  Install chuffer by slipping it over the end of exhaust pipe, temporarily reassemble the smoke box onto the loco.

Once you are satisfied that the chuffer sits at the correct height, and no more requires removing from the exhaust pipe, reassemble the loco in the reverse order to disassembly."