The Steamboating Forum

Thanks for the compliments..

Adding some of the bronze that's been collected over the years. There are two more portholes in the back wall of the cabin on either side of the companionway.. I should be able to see that pressure gauge Will be nice when I'm at a meet, I can always look at a distance to see the pressure when it's just tied up.



-Ron

I know that you're hot to go on finishing the boat, but it's a lot easier to varnish BEFORE you put one brass, etc. And, looking at the pictures of the "house", you don't have the minimum 5 - yes FIVE - coats of varnish on yet. I suggest you use McClosky's (McCloskie's ?) "Man-O-War" spar varnish. I've used it for over 35 years and never had a problem. Whatever you do don't used any of the urethanes - in a couple three years it'll look like that outdoor furniture the neighbor left out in the weather for five years.

Ron,

I'm just mocking up installations.

On varnish, we all have our personal preferences probably. I've always used Epifanes. it's expensive but worth every penny. A few additional coats in the spring if it's to be left in the water, or every other year if storing inside.

I remember trying to use Urethane Spar varnish, what a disaster. I worked about three months on a vintage all mahogany Crosby Snipe Sailboat, varnished hull and deck, within a few years, had to start over. My Chris Craft was done in Epifanes in 2001, the finish is still perfect.

-Ron

Hello,
Epifanes is a good varnish, for my boat I had use deks olje D1 and D2, the result is very nice, and you only have to pass one more coat each year http://www.nwepaints.co.uk/acatalog/WoodOils.html
result: http://midship22.blogspot.com/2011/06/s ... de-la.html

Thierry

Making Tweaks to the steam system, installed turbulators, wrapped the main steam line, put an exhaust out the bottom. Have a T in the exhaust line with two valves, when the feedpump is on I just open the lower exhaust about 1/4 turn to drain the condensate for the preheater. These three changes made a huge difference, we held 60-70 psi no problem.

What I've been doing is build up 90-100 psi at the dock, take off open the throttle fully and fight the fire to keep pressure. Instead yesterday, we only opened the throttle enough to get going and not lose pressure. Hold it up over 60, it was averaging 5.5 mph on the GPS. I checked it at 80 psi with full throttle, and it ran 7.5 mph. We steamed for eight hours straight and must have went about 40 miles. (And answered "Yes" to the question: "Is that a steamboat?!!" from other boaters about 200 times

Got a good buoyancy test as well. The lake which is small was loaded with boats yesterday, lots of 2 foot waves, we took a lot of swells to the side, the hull leans to a point, about a foot below the sheer rail, and just stops, like it hit something.

The only issue we had was the feedwater temperature, when we took on water the pressure was slowly descending, my buddy said an economizer will do the trick. So, I'll install that next and I think the system will be running very well then. The big VFT is easy to maintain and allowed the fireman (me) to sit and enjoy the ride with a few minutes firing and valve pulling and 15 minute breaks.

-Ron

Sounds like you're getting it dialed in! The engine is using more steam than you are producing. How fast is it turning? Maybe slowing it down 50 or so RPM will allow the boiler to stay at a higher pressure.Knowing your RPM,propeller pitch and checking the distance you should have travelled vs the distance you are travelling on your GPS you should be able to determine slippage [which should be 20/25%-mine is 38%] Changing the prop should fix this. You are doing everything right-one thing at a time-then you'll know what really made the biggest change.Keep up the good work. Den
PS And that adding water and losing pressure-me too! I think the economizer is the way to go!

Yep, economizer is next. Suggest you install the plumbing in such a way that when your economizer springs a leak, you can turn the handles of two 3-way valves and bypass the leaking economizer and put the feedwater directly into the boiler. Otherwise the leakage will go through the tubes right onto the fire and put it out - and it's hard to relight a fire with wet wood. Oh, yes, this long coil of tubing/pipe may cause "water hammer" in you feedwater system. Easy enough to fix depending on the type of pump you use for feedwater.

This might be a good time to consider a "steam dryer" - sort of a superheater. Raising the temperature of the boiler steam by 50F will ensure "dry" steam to your engine, resulting in "snappier" performance without necessitating internal cyclinder lubrication.

But hey, if you travel at 5mph you're getting more fun per mile (takes longer to go a mile!).

If you put in an economizer that can be isolated from the protection of the boiler safety valve, then this section of tubing needs its own relief valve.

Say Fred -If we isolate the economizer in case of a leak,then wouldn't the heat on that empty pipe be too great to use copper? Or is it high enough that the heat will less as the boiler has [hopefully!] absorbed most of the heat before reaching the economizer? Is this a situation where stainless will be allowed? Den

Den,

I was just getting ready to ask that very same thing. A bit confused on what to use, was already planning rolling some 1/4" black iron pipe into a flat pancake.

My feed pump runs about 15 minutes on and 10-15 minutes off. While it's off, seems logical the economizer would boil dry. Copper no good, Stainless no good because of the raw lake water. Looks as though it will have to be iron pipe. My buddy uses iron pipe for the coils of his ofeldt in his DeLora steamcar for that very reason. Running at 400+psi, he said the copper just burns right out if the water gets a little low, and it only holds 2 gallons of water.

Agreed on the prop, I think a few more inches of pitch will help a lot. I'm going to try and repitch it myself. Mount it on the weld table and make a fixture to twist the blades equally. Use an Sin bar and some joblocks to check each blade.

Fred, On the relief valve on the economizer, what type would I use, that could be vented?

Ron, Good idea on the bypass network in the event the economizer should fail.