[Steam-engine] Boilers / Repairs

Dan Donaldson ddonaldson at tampatank.com
Thu Jul 15 04:09:05 PDT 2004


Thanks Ken,

    That is the type of information and advice I was looking for. The barrel
is actually in great shape and does not need to be replaced. I was merely
trying to determine if it would be an advantage to eliminate the lap seam
because many states are putting such harsh restrictions on them.
    You have brought up a good point about checking material thickness. How
can I go about checking plate thickness on a boiler I may be interested in
buying? Will I need an ultra sound machine? If so how would I go about
getting use of one of those?

Thanks,
Dan


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Ken Majeski" <fuller_johnson1 at msn.com>
To: <steam-engine at lists.stationary-engine.com>
Sent: Wednesday, July 14, 2004 7:18 PM
Subject: Re: [Steam-engine] Boilers / Repairs


> Well, Dan you asked for opinions so Here is one.
>
> In many states you can not alter the construction of a pressure vessel
> without a bunch of High Tech Expensive paperwork... They can  make you
> recalculate everything... This is the reason some people have actually
made
> new barrels of Butt Strap construction. I have seen one of these and it is
a
> work of art.
>
> The second problem is if your state or the one you are going to has or
will
> adopt NBIC appendix C the stayed surface area will get you long before the
> barrel will. In short if the barrel needs replacing the rest of the boiler
> is not too far behind. For example if the stayed surface is .300 and the
> staybolts measure 4 1/2 you will get 128 PSI... with a safety factor of 4.
> So there goes your 150 right there. States can set their own safety factor
> as long as it is not less that 4. At a SF of 5 you will get 103 PSI.
>
> I have seen engines that have good looking staybolts and nice looking
> straight firebox sheets that check at about .200 in the firebox area. At
> .200 you will get about 57 PSI with a spacing of 4 1/2.
>
> This is the reason engines and shows seem to be jumping state lines a lot
in
> recent years. I believe you will see a lot of ASME all welded boilers in
the
> next few years on the few engines that are still running.
>
> A guy near here spent about 8,000 on a 15/45 Case a few years ago... New
> front flue sheet, Riveted in, Fill the pits on the barrel, all new flues.
> And Now... he has a firebox that is in the .100 range with a leak in the
> middle of the crown sheet... :( 8,000 would have been a pretty good
> downpayment on a new boiler....  So my Uneducated opinion is if you are
> thinking of extensive boiler repair look the rest of it over Pretty Darn
> Good first... And try to second geuss what your state will think up
Next....
> I wish you Good Luck...
>
>
>
> Ken Majeski, Ellsworth Wis. Case Steam Engine, Minneapolis Steam Engine,
> Rumely Oilpulls H, F, & R. Website, Http://www.pressenter.com/~kmajeski/





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