| The Breakroom > The Water Cooler |
| Boiler Explosion |
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| andyf:
This reminds me of the Sunday 50 years ago when the ballcock float in the toilet sprang a leak and got a bit of water inside. In the old days, they were made as two hemispheres of thin copper sheet joined with solder round the equator. Dad decided it would be easy to fix. Grasping the thing by its attached lever, he held it over the gas hob to boil the water away, waving it around to distribute the heat. All seemed to be going well, with a slow escape of steam from one point on the equator – there must have been a pinhole in the fillet of solder. However, while rolling the thing around, Dad must have got that point hot enough to melt the solder for a moment, before it re-solidified and sealed the hole. Not realising this, he continued heating what was now a sealed thin copper sphere containing a spoonful of water. The bang was deafening; it must have been audible a quarter mile away. Happily, there was no damage except to the float, which resembled two tulip petals. Shops didn’t open on Sundays back then, so the family was reduced to taking a bucket of water to the loo for flushing purposes until Dad returned from work on Monday evening with a new-fangled plastic float. Ever since, I’ve been very respectful of any closed system containing boiling water. Andy |
| DaveH:
Andy, :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: I know I shouldn't laugh but it is funny. DaveH |
| David Jupp:
Further to NickG's post above - Under the Pressure Equipment Directive, steam generators under 2 L volume fall into the 'Sound Engineering Practice' category. This means that there is no laid down requirement relating to design or manufacture, but it is expected that 'Sound Engineering Practice' (SEP) will be applied. SEP is not defined, but it might include making use of accepted formulae, standards, guidelines etc. Ignoring an established good practice would tend to suggest that SEP had not been applied. It is down to the manufacturer to be able to demonstrate that SEP has been applied. Note that PED does not cover operation or maintenance. I recall that some time ago a 'code of practice' or something similar for model steam plant was drawn up by a working party involving the HSE in some way. If that document is still current it would seem to be 'required reading' - see http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/etis12.htm |
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