Well it was often that a boiler needed replacing before the engine. For boats/ships replacing a boiler is not such a big deal. For traction engines and locomotives the boiler formed part of the chassis, and you might as well get a new one at that point.DetroiTug wrote:Quote: "Some steam engines were not really designed to last that long. I have heard the figure 7 years was the average life of a steam traction engine."
That is not consistent with the level of workmanship that went in to these early engines, or anything I've ever read. It was anything but a throw-away society a hundred years ago. Look at how many of them exist until this day.
Well this is a long time period I am talking about. There was a time when it was not uncommon for some steamships/boats to stink to high heaven from rotting vegetable and animal fat.DetroiTug wrote: Quote: "Also remember during the eras of steam engines in general you have a lot of variety. Lubrication did not really exist as we know it. So quality was often poor."
Considering the majority of oil came from the Pennsylvania oil fields, regarded as oil of the highest quality, they had very good oil. I think you may be confusing Kerosene and Gasoline being low quality a hundred years ago when refining processes were not perfected.
Quote: "lets be honest now - how many miles/year does the average steam boater today travel under steam? I thought I had a great first season with Nyitra this summer, and I estimate ~30miles for the whole summer."
So you have gone further in a day then me - what of it? How many miles/year? We are not running these engines day in and day out like they were.DetroiTug wrote: I have often traveled farther than that in one day, we did close to 50 miles in one day. In New York we did 63 miles in three days and that was going through several locks and finishing up early in the afternoon - and too going slower at times to keep the group together.
Yeah, I refill my swift under way too.DetroiTug wrote: Quote: "And we both use steam cylinder oil. But if you ask me, have you ever forgotten oil or ignored it for a while? - the answer is absolutely."
The answer is absolutely not. I will not run any of my engines without oil. I've ran out a few times under way and the Swift oiler can be shut off and filled under way which I did.
Now that I've kept the the drive ratio, I get similar performance. I the Toledo can turn the prop at 30psi. I'm not seeing degredation myself yet.DetroiTug wrote: Quote: "Am I worried about this? A little, but not really. But I would never drive a modern i car with the oil light on - it's needs it much more."
What's the difference? An I/C engine is certainly a much more demanding mechanical operation, but why do some sliding metal surfaces need oil lubrication and others do not? The steam engine can be in a very poor state which would render an I/C engine inoperable and still run seemingly well. My car and boat will both run on very low pressures, the boat will run on 10 psi. The car will pull itself on around 50 psi, which is very low for a car. Neither have shown any sort of degradation of performance over time.
The different is "Something is better then nothing". Wet steam is not perfect as a lubricant, but you can get away with it for a long time.
-CB