Building a Boiler for a 3 1/2" Gauge Locomotive

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sbwhart:
Thanks Dean

As it will be a couple of weeks before I can pressure test for real I was bitting at the bit just to do a low pressure test.

Before I go on just a warning so that no one gets the wrong message:- DO NOT CONNECT A BOILER TO A COMPRESSOR IT IS VERY DANGEROUS.

Ok what I did was make a connector for a bicycle pump, immersed the boiler in water and with a few strokes of the pump just enough to raise the pressure by a few PSI to see if there were any leeks, the only leeks I had were from the screw plugs for the regulator and the longitudinal stays which are easily fixed, there was nothing from any of the soldered joints:- so far so good.

Stew

Stilldrillin:
A gentle test, and the results are just as I expected, Stew! :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap:

Blummin well done! :thumbup: :D

David D

spuddevans:
Looking good there Stew :thumbup: :thumbup:

I've been really enjoying this build, thanks for documenting it for us all to see and learn from.

Tim

shoey51:
well done Stew :thumbup:

madjackghengis:
Hi Stew, as so many others have said, well done, and beautiful. Your posting has been clear enough I feel confident in being able to take a set of boiler plans and build a boiler properly, and have a successful one, using raw stock and my own pick without a kit, and I've never wanted to spend the money on the kit. I am just a bit surprised in the fact you did not do a hydrostat test yourself. given that you have all the fittings in place, I assume you have the gauges you will be using, as well as other, higher ranging gauges, and you will be using a mechanical feed pump, you ought to use it to do a true "hydro-stat test", with the boiler in a container you can readily establish a reasonably precise level static, and then pump it up to the standards that are the norm for boiler inspectors, and watching the level of your water the boiler is immersed in. I've never done such a thing with a boiler or a steam apparatus, but I have done this to test a hydraulic accumulator and other hydraulic equipment I've had cause to repair, to ensure no incipient cracks are waiting to emerge, and my understanding from my reading, is this form of test would give you a definitive idea of how much distortion the boiler will go through, physically, when it is "up to steam" and where such distortion will show its self. Please don't take this as disparagement, but only as a serious question, hoping for a definitive answer. I can't reiterate how valuable I have found your post to be, and how much it has impacted my own intents for the future with regard to building boilers, you have literally taken that stainless steel "boiler" I found inside a carpet machine and relegated it to nothing but a test object, and forever closed it out as an actual operating devise because of both the quality of your workmanship, which I believe I am up to, and the quality of the post, which has eliminated all my questions and guesses which have arisen out of my studies of model boilers I've made for future intents. :coffee: :bow: :med: mad jack

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