So the right order to plumb the feed side after the engine driven feed pump is: 1. Tee to float valve in hotwell so we bypass water from the hotwell back into the hotwell w/o heating it. 2. Lift check valve to keep steam (if any) formed in economizer out of the hotwell. 3. Pressure relief valve in c...

"England boiler rivets"

yields as first hit:

http://www.sapphireproducts.co.uk/boiler.htm

which seems appropriate.

- Bart

A radiant superheater is definitely subject to burnout if there's no steam going through it... so a hot (wood - not readily turned down) fire. I think your best solution when stopping the engine for a while is to 1) stop firing a while before if you can predict it. 2) open the firebox door and keep ...

I use the green velvet oil PB &J 460 but they seem to be out of business.

- Bart

Required water speed depends on tube diameter - you must have turbulent flow, which means a Reynolds number (dimensionless) of at least 4000 in a tube. This helps prevent overheating of the tube at very high firing rates. Note that this requires that there's water flowing through the tubes whenever ...

One (lonely?) thought that is running round my head is that the taller the engine is, the more flex there must be in the pillars; larger dia. will help but at some point diagonal bracing will need to be applied. This is true. Flex in a beam varies with the cube of the length for a given cross secti...

Audel's suggests that the normal range is from 2:1 to 2.5:1 - you're in good company no matter where you go. Reciprocating weight is seldom an issue on our engines other than for vibration. I do wish the Burleigh compound in Rainbow were taller; there's little room for proper valve guides & glands o...

Longer rods are generally better; 2.5:1 is not too long by any means. Herrreshoff engines were well known for long connecting rods. If you have the space, go right ahead. Long rods may need slightly larger sections to prevent Euler buckling.

- Bart

The most flexible steam engine of all is probably a twin single cylinder w/ cranks 90 degrees out of phase and 75% cut-off or more - these were often used as hoist or elevator engines. However, that doesn't do much for steam economy. Triples and quad expansion engines were basically designed to run ...

I've used one of those small 12V impeller pumps to do various utility pumping jobs. If you need one regularly, I'd just install it somewhere hidden and properly wire it into place. The impeller pumps get grouchy if you run them dry and they do pound one's battery, so if this is an issue, consider a ...