TahoeSteam wrote: ↑Sun Oct 13, 2019 4:26 pm
That's a nice brass handle. What did you have in there before?
Do you dry or superheat your steam at all?
It didn't come with anthing but a 3/8"-16 hex bolt with a groove cut in so it could be welded to what was originally some mild steel bar stock that comprises the reversing lever- so basically a little 3/8"-16 stud.
She was a originally a car engine, and she didn't come to me that way. In the ~1960s a gentleman steamer had taken this Toledo and prepared it for use as a spare engine for his steam launch. The connections that were relevant to a car where removed and made more generic for a steam launch. He passed away before he needed it, and the man I bought it from had her stored inside in a heated indoor environment for 40years. It came to me as a crated launch engine. (eBay buy, make sure to search for local-pick only stuff if it's rare like a steam engine, and then negotiate with the seller to pay for crating and shipping.)
I had made a wood handle, but it fell apart in the outside environment Nyitra is stored.
This brass one is great, but I get nervous having too much shiny brass aboard because someone might see it and desire the brass for scrap... (Traction Engine folks have had this problem, even in locked barns...)
--
Well my MAWP is 200PSI. I am blessed with experiencing the huge change that happens
between 150PSI going to 200PSI. The steam becomes more or less dry, and the power goes through the roof. It also is a very odd phenomenon because going from 50-150psi seems to takes a lot of effort fueling with wood. Once you get to 150PSI it takes off to 200psi much quicker because the puffer gets more blow-by. - like a turbo spooling up on a d_i_e_s_e_l.
Also, if it's wavy carry-over can becomes more of a problem with such a high center of gravity, so what I do is run the water level maybe 50% of the Glass, and make that the set point with the fireman.
Keeping the water-glass near 50% combats carry-over but it also makes drier steam - especially above 150psi.
It starts to get complicated with multiple fuels. the propane flame is going fast enough through the boiler, so I don't plan on doing a puffer arrangement while running propane.
Also for efficiency, and because it was done - Nyitra now has an Auxilliary Sail.
However, I will not run my aux sail when we are firing with solid fuels - because that is how many steamboats ended up sinking...
-CB/Andy