[Steam-engine] Boilers / Repairs

[Jeff Smith]

Dan,

The engine that Tom Crevasse has is a 75hp case and it
is not for sale unless he finds an 80hp.  That is not
the engine that I am talking about. There are a lot
more engines in Florida than people know about.  This
60hp that might be up for sale has been in Florida for
about 5 years.   He is asking $30,000.00 and it is
worth every penny in my opinion.  It is a real choice
engine.

As far as the lap seam.  Steam Traction (AKA Iron Men
Album) a few issues back had a great article on new
boilers.  That might be a good place for you to start.
 You will see in many of the photos that the new
welded boilers do not have a lap seam in the barrel,
they are rolled to the proper diameter and welded
together and then x-rayed and stress relieved.  They
are not lapped and welded together, they are similar
to a basic butt weld only following boiler code
procedures.  Why can't you just have the bottom of the
barrel replaced?  That would save a ton of work. 
There are a few engines at Kinzer's like that.  You
can see the welds down the sides of the engines.  You
don't have to take everything off of the boiler and
align it that way.  I have never seen a boiler that
the steam area is bad, not to say that they aren't out
there, but usually the area above the water line on
all the boilers I have seen look like new with little
pitting.  Most of the time the dome can be saved when
making a new boiler.  They were going to keep my dome
and replace the entire boiler and call it a
repair..........    I thought that was a little on the
unethical side, but they said it was allowed.

Jeff

--- Dan Donaldson <ddonaldson at tampatank.com> wrote:
> Thanks for the reply Jeff,
> 
>     I agree totally about having the job done
> properly with the proper
> paperwork. I have been talking to a certified ASME
> boiler fabricator with an
> "S" and "R" stamp. I have access to SA516 Gr 70
> material with traceable mill
> certs and ASME certified welders and any welds would
> be x-rayed.
>     My plan would be to:
>     purchase the material with traceable mill certs
>     have it formed
>     welded by a certified welder and x-rayed
>     then have the ASME certified fabricator install
> the barrel.
> 
>     I am just wondering if there would be an
> advantage to eliminating the
> lap seam.
> 
>     To answer your question. I do live in Florida.
> The engine you are
> referring to. Is it owned be Jim Crevasse and do you
> know how much he is
> asking for it. What kind of engine does he have now?
> 
> Dan Donaldson
> 
> 
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Jeff Smith" <steamenginesmitty at yahoo.com>
> To: "Steam-engine mailing list"
> <steam-engine at lists.stationary-engine.com>
> Sent: Tuesday, July 13, 2004 10:10 AM
> Subject: [Steam-engine] Boilers / Repairs
> 
> 
> > Dan,
> >
> > I would suggest that any engine you get have a
> > certified boiler repair shop do the work on the
> engine
> > because the paper trail is one of the key points
> to
> > passing inspections.  I know of many engines that
> it
> > would have been very simple to fix but the owner
> chose
> > to pay for the work and the paper trail so they
> could
> > continue to operate their engine in that state.
> >
> > I know that I have a little different opinion than
> > others on the list, but that is the great thing
> about
> > the list and all the different view points.  I
> don't
> > look as engines as an investment because it is a
> hobby
> > to me, and with any hobby I am in, I look to lose
> > money in it, but, to me a non-certified boiler is
> of
> > no value to me.  Trying to get a boiler with any
> weld
> > on it and no paper trail is tough to get inspected
> or
> > impossible in some states.  I know of many engines
> in
> > the area where my father lives, that the owner
> would
> > have to take an engine and have the old welds
> removed
> > (sometimes even sections of the boiler) and new
> welds
> > by a certified shop with the paper trail completed
> > before the inspector would even come back to look
> at
> > the engine, and they inspected those engines for
> > years.  This is not a cheap hobby, and I try to
> > protect my purchase to some degree, and keep some
> > value on it so if I do sell it, I can recover some
> of
> > the original outlay of cash.
> >
> > Are you set on this engine?  Are you located in
> > Florida?  I know of an engine in Florida coming up
> for
> > sale soon that is by far one of the best engines I
> > have ever operated.  In all my years of being
> around
> > engines, I have only seen one or two boilers in
> nicer
> > shape than this one.  The gearing on this engine
> is
> > perfect, and it does not make any noise.  This
> engine
> > must have spent its entire life belted to
> something
> > and they must have had good water or used boiler
> > treatment.  This engine is a 60 hp case without
> > contractor bunkers or a canopy.  It is however, a
> > great engine and I have operated it many times
> > personally and it was a real pleasure to operate,
> > especially since it is so quiet in the gearing. 
> The
> > owner has purchased another engine and is debating
> > letting this one go because his collection is
> getting
> > hard to manage so he has chosen the one on one off
> > system and this is the one to go.
> >
> > I had a price on a new barrel for an engine I had
> and
> > it was about $12k. They were going to roll a new
> one
> > and rivet it back on with a butt strap to replace
> the
> > lap seam. It needed a new crown sheet, and I had a
> > price on a new welded firebox for the same engine
> > because if it has the barrel off might as well fix
> > everything instead of just the crown, and that was
> > about another 10K.  They offered to build a new
> welded
> > boiler for $20k.  I had another quote from another
> > shop out of Iowa and when he came and looked at
> the
> > engine and how rare it was he offered to build a
> new
> > riveted boiler from the 1970 code for $25K.  I
> thought
> > that was a good price for all the work he had to
> do.
> > I later sold the engine though, because I just
> didn't
> > have time for it with everything I have going on
> now.
> >
> > I think a list member in WV had a boiler repair
> > completed so he could keep the paper work trail
> going,
> > but that is what you need to do if you want
> something
> > of any value.  There are engines out there that
> people
> > fix themselves and operate on their property, but
> they
> > can't take them anywhere because they can't get an
> > inspection.  I know of quite a few of them now,
> where
> > they are trying to get letters from repair shops
> for
> > the welds they did themselves and the boiler shop
> > owner is laughing at them telling them no way, or
> that
> > he will give them a letter telling the state to
> run as
> > far away from these engines until they get them
> fixed
> > properly.
> >
> > Anyway, my $.02 worth.  A home repair job may be
> the
> > cheap way out, but not in the long run.  It is
> like
> > when I go to the airport with my friend and when
> we
> > travel to his hanger we see all those guys fixing
> > their own planes in the hangers, and to me those
> > planes are useless without the paper trail from
> day
> > one.
> >
> > Jeff Smith
> >
> > --- Dan Donaldson <ddonaldson at tampatank.com>
> wrote:
> > >     I am new to this mailing list and I am glad
> that
> > > this topic has come up.
> > > I am thinking about buying a traction engine (my
> > > first) and I am trying to
> > > determine what I may need to do to make it
> > > acceptable to run at shows. I
> > > know that I will have to replace a portion of
> the
> > > wrapper and I would like
> > > to also replace the front tube sheet. My
> question
> > > is, if I replace the front
> > > tube sheet should I go ahead and replace the lap
> > > seam barrel with a full
> > > penetration, butt welded 3/8" thk barrel? Would
> I
> > > then be able to operate
> > > the engine at 150 psi in states like Maryland
> > > assuming the rest of the
> > > boiler is in good shape? In other words does a
> new,
> > > butt welded barrel
> > > eliminate the problem of the lap seam?
> 
=== message truncated ===



		
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