Draft Indicator/Gauge

A special section just for steam engines and boilers, as without these you may as well fit a sail.
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cyberbadger
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Draft Indicator/Gauge

Post by cyberbadger » Mon Jun 15, 2020 3:02 pm

I put a small fitting on my boiler's bonnet that goes via a long copper pipe to a Magna-Helic Gauge, measuring -1 to 1 inch pressure of H2O.

I installed it so the fireman could notice changes in air movement through the boiler.

The stack is now 5ft+bonnet which helps the draft naturally.
There is manual steam blower, which is the strongest effect, when it is being used, showing full range on my gauge. (Venturi end)
There is optional engine exhaust puffer - which works so well It is almost always used. The puffer effect is a function of the boiler pressure and how hard the engine is running. (Spiral, High Volume Full-Cone, 0.44" Orifice end)

Definitely on larger Steam Ship's Boiler rooms I have seen draft indicators/gauges.

Anyone else measuring their Boiler Draft?

-CB
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Re: Draft Indicator/Gauge

Post by Steam Captain » Mon Jun 15, 2020 6:31 pm

Not yet, but I was thinking of it.
I can imagine it's a great, measurable way to discover the draft getting weaker and the boiler needs cleaning.
the arduino version steam engine indicator: https://app.box.com/s/b2i0z3gw6ny3rcfdet5xjg8ubrfu799i - app version coming soon
Excuse my occasional long response time. It's caused by the side effects from ptsd.
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