I have a length of regular steam hose that I've used for blowdown. It is connected to the boiler, but the other end is free. The length is sufficient to reach over the gunnel and into the water if I want to blow down quietly. This is also handy when draining the boiler on the trailer as it is long e...

Do be careful with antifreeze containing ethylene glycol - it is toxic to people and animals, so disposing of it requires care, and it cannot be left anywhere the animals will find it. If I lived in an area with hard freezes, I'd be inclined to just blow out the plumbing with compressed air rather t...

55% or so silver solder is really strong, and is exactly what is needed for joining dissimilar metals such as steel with copper, etc. Sil-fos 5 or 15 works well and will fill gaps and form fillets, which is handy with commercial copper pipe fittings. Refrigeration techs use this extensively; it is o...

I used 3/4" heavy copper tube soldered w/ Sil-Fos... it's worked well trailering for 15 years or so. On your engine you'll end up with more back pressure since it's somewhat larger, but the volume drops very quickly to virtually nothing as the steam condenses. Remember you can always use two or more...

classic 60-40 solder is a lead/tin alloy. Silver is used in small amounts in lead-free alloys, which you don't need.

Personally, I generally use Sil-fos 5 or 15 on copper pipe on the steamboat; it's much stronger (and higher temp).

- Bart

http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/steam ... _1129.html

Indicates that 30' of 3/4" pipe would have about 7 psi of pressure drop assuming no condensation... so you'd have less
drop than that...

- Bart

In "Propeller Handbook", Dave Gerr recommends a maximum shaft angle of 15 degrees. He suggests that this is because past this the difference in forward velocity of the sides (one side advancing and the other retreating) will cause vibration. Some other interesting data points: the closer to square t...

A single expansion engine with a conventional link is exhausting steam at perhaps 50% of boiler pressure. 18" of water isn't even 1 PSI of extra back pressure, so you won't notice any effects from the increased height. Running a vacuum will provide some additional power, minus whatever it takes to r...

If you're worried about oil separation getting messed up due to turbulence, do that in a separate container... the hot well will be fine w/ one or two gallon capacity. You will not go through nearly as much water as you think....

- Bart

You can definitely use 1/4" copper line to hook up your gage; this is done all the time and it's how I did Otter's gage as well. Don't let the gage get hot; warm is ok. If you can hold your hand on it, it's fine. A bit of an air gap between the gage and the mounting surface should take care of thing...