[Steam-engine] Boilers / Repairs

[Ken Majeski]

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/





>From: "Dan Donaldson" <ddonaldson at tampatank.com>
>Reply-To: Steam-engine mailing list 
><steam-engine at lists.stationary-engine.com>
>To: "Steam-engine mailing list" <steam-engine at lists.stationary-engine.com>
>Subject: Re: [Steam-engine] Boilers / Repairs
>Date: Wed, 14 Jul 2004 14:49:07 -0400
>
>     WOW!!! Jeff, I thought that the politicians flip-flopped and avoided
>answering the questions directly but you take the prize. My original
>question was; if I 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? You managed to avoid that question and instead
>proceed with a lecture about doing the job the right way with a paper trail
>and using a qualified boiler shop (you assumed I was going to take
>short-cuts) and then turn around and suggest replacing only the lower
>portion of the barrel because it would save work. Plus, you suggested
>another engine for sale, give prices and the state it is located but you
>don't reveal the name of the owner. I understand you may not want to give
>out that information but then why bring it up anyway?
>
>     I appreciate the response and the feed back  but I still have not 
>gotten
>an answer to my original question. Can someone if there would be a benefit
>to replacing
>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?
>
>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 4:27 PM
>Subject: Re: [Steam-engine] Boilers / Repairs
>
>
> > 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
>
>
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