A Cracker locomotive

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sbwhart:
Nice bit of boiler smithing their Arnold :thumbup: :headbang:

Stew

Stilldrillin:
Very nicely done Arnold! :clap: :clap: :thumbup:

David D

saw:
Way to go Arnold :clap: :clap: :clap:

arnoldb:
Stew, David & Benni - thanks gents :beer:

Well, a mixed bag of results for today...

After leaving the lot in the pickle overnight, I started fluxing up the last bits for assembly:

Once again, rings of solder and some extra flux:

Showed it the torch, and got a horrible result. Some flux had run off the side and some silver solder followed that. Flux had also flown across nearly the entire end cap, so solder everywhere :bang: :bang:
And worst of all, if you look carefully at the bit where the flue comes through the end cap, there's no fillet - in fact it looks like there's no solder in the joint :bang: :bang::

:doh: That'll teach me to remember to draw on anti-flux lines and not to use so much flux...
I plonked the boiler back in the pickle for a couple of minutes to get the top cleaned up, and used another ring of solder and a more conservative amount of flux, and ended up with a good clean fillet around the flue.
The boiler was then put back in the pickle to clean up properly.

I made a quick T-piece to fit the boiler back head bush and my pressure gauge and hydraulic pump:

Then collected together all the bits needed for the pressure test - pump, gauge, some ptfe tape, a bung for the safety bush, the T-piece, and of course the boiler which cleaned up nicely:

Some ptfe tape on the bung and T-piece:

All connected up and the boiler filled to the brim with water, before screwing in the bung:

An overview of the layout - ready for pressure:

The boiler maximum pressure as I calculated it would be 40 psi. This means the hydraulic test must be done to 80 psi - which is 551 kPa.
The first test is to take it up to pressure, and then release it. The second test is to take it to pressure and make sure that it will retain pressure for at least 20 minutes.

The pump is very quick - just two and a half strokes on the first test, and I'd overshot the pressure already, but that's ok:

I released the pressure by unscrewing the filler cap - you can see how little water came out - just a tiny puddle:

Back up to pressure again, and once again I overshot the needed pressure:

I left it and spent some "office" time to remotely start the month-end run at the company I work for. Took about 30 minutes, and this is what I found when I got back to the boiler:

:ddb: :ddb: I'ts a good 'un - it's just a pity I ruined the last bit of soldering.

:beer:, Arnold

sbwhart:
Well done that man
:clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap:

Stew

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