Steam Sirens

A special section just for steam engines and boilers, as without these you may as well fit a sail.
racerfrank
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Steam Sirens

Post by racerfrank » Tue Nov 17, 2015 10:11 pm

Well they go ON a boiler so I thought I would put this here.
I thought I would share a few photos of building sirens but I don't want to give away any secrets. (this post is intended to be a bit funny) So here are the siren building photos.
Image
Image
Image


So who wants a siren???

Frank
Bob Cleek
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Re: Steam Sirens

Post by Bob Cleek » Wed Nov 18, 2015 10:05 pm

Not that I have a steamboat to put one on, but I sure do LOVE seam sirens!
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barts
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Re: Steam Sirens

Post by barts » Thu Nov 26, 2015 6:11 pm

One of these would definitely be fun to have on a boat... Whoop Whoop Whooop.

- Bart
-------
Bart Smaalders http://smaalders.net/barts Lopez Island, WA
racerfrank
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Re: Steam Sirens

Post by racerfrank » Fri Nov 27, 2015 3:17 am

barts wrote:One of these would definitely be fun to have on a boat... Whoop Whoop Whooop.

- Bart
Well, I do have 5 available ;)

Frank
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Re: Steam Sirens

Post by cyberbadger » Sat Nov 28, 2015 1:24 am

Wish the steam siren I got "new" that looks similar to these - but is not the same actually worked. :(

Sadly I can't spare the cash for one of these puppies, but they look great...

-CB
racerfrank
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Re: Steam Sirens

Post by racerfrank » Sat Nov 28, 2015 2:50 am

cyberbadger wrote:Wish the steam siren I got "new" that looks similar to these - but is not the same actually worked. :(

Sadly I can't spare the cash for one of these puppies, but they look great...

-CB
Do you have a photo of your siren? What does it do/not do when you try and blow it. possibly it just needs a little "tweek" to make it work. I've done repair work on quite a few sirens (Starr Brass, Foster, Stevens and Sruthers)

Frank
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Re: Steam Sirens

Post by Edward » Sat Nov 28, 2015 9:25 pm

Quite a common fault with home made sirens is that people tend to make them too precisely . The spool/rotor/whizzy-thing-inside-the-body should be a fairly loose fit .

My siren doesn't go whoop whoop whoop , it doesn't have a brake and was , I think , designed for a working pressure of 100-120 psi , certainly lower than my optimum pressure of 150-175 psi . Anyhow at my working pressure it screams like a banshee having its tail and one or two other parts of its anatomy twisted off.

Edward
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DetroiTug
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Re: Steam Sirens

Post by DetroiTug » Sun Nov 29, 2015 5:59 pm

Edward,

Do they have some sort of bearing inside or does the rotor just spin suspended in a cavity?

-Ron
racerfrank
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Re: Steam Sirens

Post by racerfrank » Sun Nov 29, 2015 9:18 pm

DetroiTug wrote:Edward,

Do they have some sort of bearing inside or does the rotor just spin suspended in a cavity?

-Ron

The sirens I build the rotor just spins in a cavity. The new sirens sold by Preston Services in the UK also just spin in a cavity
There is or was a maker, Old Time Tech---Jerry Blain, their sirens are a bit larger than mine but I believe on theirs, the rotor is on a shaft that runs in a bushing/bearing.

Naval sirens made by Starr Brass had bushings, Foster sirens had bushings, Stevens and Struthers from the UK was a rotor spinning in a cavity.
racerfrank
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Re: Steam Sirens

Post by racerfrank » Sun Nov 29, 2015 9:39 pm

Edward wrote:Quite a common fault with home made sirens is that people tend to make them too precisely . The spool/rotor/whizzy-thing-inside-the-body should be a fairly loose fit .

My siren doesn't go whoop whoop whoop , it doesn't have a brake and was , I think , designed for a working pressure of 100-120 psi , certainly lower than my optimum pressure of 150-175 psi . Anyhow at my working pressure it screams like a banshee having its tail and one or two other parts of its anatomy twisted off.

Edward
Several thing could be done to make it whoop whoop instead of scream like a banshee with it's tail on fire. the easiest may be to put a ball valve in the line and use it only for flow/volume adjustment. The other things that could be done involve making a new rotor that has more mass so it takes more time to come up to speed or a rotor with the same/more mass with slots that are sized and angled so it comes up to speed slower.

When I first started making these sirens I made 8 or 9 stator and rotor sets until I was satisfied with the design I use now.

Frank
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