how get constant temperature in the firebox?

[zielscheibe]

i can operate the Steamloco basicily, but what i don't understand, how i can keep hot tempreture in the firebox?
I have the damper full open and the firebox is mostly full of coal. I know, is not really the best, a full firebox but is this the only problem?
my problem is, that after a long climbe, form the Harbor for example, I run out of steam to the end and the tempreture rises most of the time not over 800°C so I can't generate steam. but i need 1200°C and more, but how?
looks for me, that i reach the 1200°C only when i be faster than 30 km/h or when i stand

[schutt]

basically you need to have draft, with full open throttle and regulator at least partially open (forward i mean) depending on speed. at slow speeds your not getting enough draft out of it, but from about 15kmh on you get enough. Of course this works better the higher the boiler pressure is. So dont work your boiler pressure down to much.
If you cant open the throttle / got the boiler pressure to low you can use the blower, but its less effective and wastes steam.

[ling.speed]

Coal needs enough air and volume to burn with high temperature.

If you have large amount of coal and little air flow the temp will be relatively low and coal will burn inefficiently. To increase temperature and efficiency you need either more air or less coal.

The control of air is not just the damper, thats only a throttle on whatever flow you have. The flow comes from 1) ram air flow - more loco speed = more induced flow. 2) blower - a small amount of induced flow that can be turned on at any point. 3) the steam exhaust - thats the main source of air, the more steam you consume the stronger the airflow.

To get to really high temps you need both topped off firebox and high steam usage.
So you will have to plan accordingly. Shovel only the amount of coal you can burn at good temperature, use inclines and acceleration zones to heat up additional water etc. The more you can look ahead the higher temperatures you can get and better coal efficiency.

For example: after a long climb you should be at max steam not min. Use the incline to run firebox hot enough to both supply steam for movement and heat up new water coming from injector. If you cant go hotter no matter what it might be because the load is not enough. Steamer is the most powerful engine in the game after all. In such cases you want to run very lean on the coal so it does not choke the airflow and produces decent temperature (small shovel is there for a reason :)).

[zielscheibe]

First of all, Thanks for the tipps.
I have now play a lot during the weekend and its a bit better then befor.
Looks like, that i have the best result, when the firbox is 3/4 full and the damper fully open and a good speed.
What i have also noted, when i fill the boiler with water to quick, the presseure go very fast down and goes a while that its gos up again. maybe is the best option for this isseu to let the injector a bit open, so that the water can constantly flow?
Makes a diffrent depens of the steam producten when the boiler nearly full of water? Any sweet spot of water level? I mean to remember, that pre simulator update i had something like that

[ling.speed]

Originally posted by zielscheibe:

maybe is the best option for this isseu to let the injector a bit open, so that the water can constantly flow?

Thats how i do it.
Ideally i try to end up in situation where injector is used to cool the steam tank and keep 14bars without safety valve opening, rather than to "refill the water". This way the amount of coal burned is what ultimately controls the water level.

As for sweetspot for water level. The water level goes beyond the gauge. For example when water starts dripping from the red valve above the gauge then the tank is almost full.
So i generally keep the gauge close to full. The more water we have the higher the "charge" of the steam battery. This makes momentary increases in steam consumption impact the "voltage" (pressure) less, making it easier to run at 14bar, or run without fire in the box for longer. During shunting full tank and one small shovel of coal can keep the loco going.

Lastly more water = a little more traction

Looks like, that i have the best result, when the firbox is 3/4 full and the damper fully open and a good speed.

Sounds good for heavy loads over the hills.
These days im just shoveling as much coal as i expect steam usage to be, and then let the coal run out before end of the hill (or before slowing down) so all of it is burned at high temperature. So sometimes im full box sometimes less than a quarter. We dont have long enough streches of constant gradients to have a common good coal level.

[schutt]

Originally posted by zielscheibe:

First of all, Thanks for the tipps.
I have now play a lot during the weekend and its a bit better then befor.
Looks like, that i have the best result, when the firbox is 3/4 full and the damper fully open and a good speed.
What i have also noted, when i fill the boiler with water to quick, the presseure go very fast down and goes a while that its gos up again. maybe is the best option for this isseu to let the injector a bit open, so that the water can constantly flow?
Makes a diffrent depens of the steam producten when the boiler nearly full of water? Any sweet spot of water level? I mean to remember, that pre simulator update i had something like that

I think your getting there, keep experimenting. just like you said: having 3/4 coal pretty much seems to get the most temp. when you need less steam often can use lesss coal, but coal is pretty cheap and there is plenty of it. Most important to mange the water eficient as in keeping high pressure.

Remember that the max marker of the sight glass means 80% water and the min marker means 68% of water... something like that, i am not sure about the current actuall numbers. Anyway when you see the water lvl at top the boiler is still far away from full. Steam production does not vary much but when your at max and 14bar you have more energy in the boiler water than at min and at 14bar. Or looking at it the other way: if you want to raise pressure cause you dropped below max you can raise it faster if there is less water in the boiler and if you add a lot of water the boiler pressure will drop.