Kempton Steam Museum

Posted by Roger Dowden

Kempton Steam Museum

Visted the Kempton Steam Museum today. It was as really fascinating visit. I had been to see the engine run before but just the sheer size of these steam engines is enough to keep my attention. The building is listed and so are the Triple-Expansion Steam Engines. These are huge 3 story high team engines that used to pump ~33 million gallons of water per day to north London (15 miles).  They did this for 57 years! The engines and the building have been restored by volunteers with some support from Thames Water (built a boiler house for them). Just an amazing achievement to get one of the engines running again. They are so huge and heavy, around 100 Tonnes, that they had to start warming the engine on Thursday for today’s run (Saturday)

They do guides tours, definitely recommended, tea/coffee and snacks (great value and good quality). Out side there is a Steam railway and a play area for kids. Today there was  bit of a car show, Jaguars from the Surrey Hants Border JEC Club (Thanks for the lift and company Neil) and a range of other classic cars plus a long row of American classic cars too.

Nice video of the engine starting on youtube.

Engine Number 6
Engine Number 6
Steam Turbine driven Water Pumps
Steam Turbine driven Water Pumps
Engine Number 6 running
Engine Number 6 running
Engine number 6 running
Engine number 6 running

kempton-steam-009 kempton-steam-008

These futuristic looking Glass Bulbs are actually AC to DC rectifiers (Diodes) They use Mercury as one contact and mains AC electricity is fed in whilst DC is the output. These are replacements and came from an Opera house of all places.

Mercury Rectifiers
Mercury Rectifiers
Mercury Rectifiers
Mercury Rectifiers

XJ6R – Air Bag Module Wiring

Posted by Roger Dowden

XJ6R – Air Bag Module Wiring

Following from the earlier success, I put the battery on charge which then limited further testing. The airbag module testing was complete however I had to make a choice. Modify the Air Bag Module (ABM) or build a circuit to fake the signal required. I decided that the quickest way to resolve the ABM output signal requirement was to hard wire the connections as if the airbags and impact sensors were connected. I will find a space for the ABM somewhere in the drivers side dash. Maybe to the right of the foot well just above the sill and under the air intake. I have put a second fuse box in that space on the passenger side.

I printed out the connector pin outs and drew the various links needed. This reminded me of having to do updates to circuit boards years ago but my eyesight was much better then! I still need to add the resistors to simulate the Airbags. There are no suitable resistors in my spares box so I will order some ASAP.

Air Bag Module and Pin outs
Air Bag Module and Pin outs

The blue wires are those I added to the module as drawn in above

Hardwired Links on Air Bag Module
Hardwired Links on Air Bag Module – click for a closeup

 

Loom requirements
Loom requirements

The loom is much simpler now. The original loom is used with the unused wires removed. Only one of the two plugs are needed now so I will use the empty plug to fill the open socket and seal the wire entries with some sealant or glue.

The following wires are needed:

  • Two ground connections that go into 1 after a few inches
  • Continuous +B power
  • Switched +B power (ignition switch position 1)
  • Air Bag module signal output

I just need to order the resistors to finish the job.

XJ6R – Major step forward!

Posted by Roger Dowden

XJ6R – Major step forward!

I have just turned the engine over using the original S2 ignition switch! That might not sound much but what it actually means is that the Security and Control Module, the Body Processor, the Exciter/Reader, the XJR key, the ECU and a few switches and relays have all agreed that it is OK to turn the engine over. The engine immobiliser circuit is accepting the new setup.

Overjoyed at this moment. Still a huge journey ahead but a major hurdle overcome.

I did paste a little update on the Jaguar forum but I will paste a full explanation later as I want to check out a few other things.

Later …