Turbulator question

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cp4449
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Turbulator question

Post by cp4449 »

Need to make some turbulators. A club member said to do them out of stainless steel. Any perticular stainless number (316,....) and how thick of material 18 gauge, 22, 30?

Thanks
Christopher P. Mahony
Los Angeles Live Steamers
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ccvstmr
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Re: Turbulator question

Post by ccvstmr »

CP...

Don't know what gauge this material is, but I had someone shear up some .033" stainless for me years ago. Final width was somewhere around .040 to .060" less than the ID of the tube (you might want to remove these at some time). Easy enough to twist in the lathe by closing the chuck jaws on one end and clamping the other end to tool post...and then spin the chuck by hand. I had about 2.5 revs in a 22" long piece of metal. The metal strip will get shorter as you twist. Keep some tension on the carriage. If the metal strip wants to pull...it'll most likely slide out of the chuck or clamp.

And most important...take a file, sand paper, belt sander or other to remove the burrs along the edge of the strips before you twist. The last thing you want is a sharp burr vibrating against a flue...copper or otherwise.

You might want to check out earlier posts on the subject. I know this has come up before (I've made a few posts myself). Hope this helps. Good luck. Carl B.
Life is like a sewer...what you get out of it depends on what you put into it!
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Bob D.
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Re: Turbulator question

Post by Bob D. »

A tip on turbulators. I drilled an 1/8" hole at each end. When the time comes to remove them from the tubes it sure makes easy work of it to be able to hook them and pull them out.

Bob D.
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Ray Cadd
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Re: Turbulator question

Post by Ray Cadd »

Chris- what size- dimensions do you need? I have some I made for another project, but ended up not using them. Just sitting on the shelf...yours if they'll work.
Ray Cadd

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Superberky1204
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Re: Turbulator question

Post by Superberky1204 »

I have an Allen type 10 wheeler. I am burning propane. The boiler has 25 1/2 inch copper tubes. I do not have any room for an arch. I have played with adjustment with the nozzle height. I have lowered the petticoat. It makes steam sort of ok, but not like I want. I have a Locoparts burner setup with 17 burners butting out about 5500 btu's each. I also have a plate over the burners to prevent too much air in from the bottom of the fire box.
I have heard of guys using turbulators but not many saying they were great. Any experience out there that showed better results?

Any helpful advice would be appreciated.
Thanks,

Bruce
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cbrew
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Re: Turbulator question

Post by cbrew »

Superberky1204 wrote:I have an Allen type 10 wheeler. I am burning propane. The boiler has 25 1/2 inch copper tubes. I do not have any room for an arch. I have played with adjustment with the nozzle height. I have lowered the petticoat. It makes steam sort of ok, but not like I want. I have a Locoparts burner setup with 17 burners butting out about 5500 btu's each. I also have a plate over the burners to prevent too much air in from the bottom of the fire box.
I have heard of guys using turbulators but not many saying they were great. Any experience out there that showed better results?

Any helpful advice would be appreciated.
Thanks,

Bruce

Bruce, how do you have the plate setup. i set mine up so it sits above the primary air intake and below the caps. I also positions this plate right at the bottom of the mud ring with the thought of cool fresh air for the primary intake ports. the only think i have not done yet is tabulators.

I did raise the blast nozzle into the stack basically nullifying the creation of draft from the exhaust. in turn relying solely on the blower but created a more stable environment for the fire
If it is not live steam. its not worth it.
Ray Cadd
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Re: Turbulator question

Post by Ray Cadd »

Although it may not be an honest comparison, I'm running propane (Locoparts) and turbulators in my Allen Chloe, and it made all the difference in the world. Also (in my case), raising the petticoat pipe, as it was too low. My firebox is wide open underneath; no baffle plate, no nuthin'. Of course, this may not be the case for you. I tried turbulators on an OS Koppel, no good. From my own somewhat non-scientific observations, it would appear that no two locomotives are quite alike. I imagine others with far greater engineering skills will chime in on this.
Ray Cadd

2.5" scale Allen Chloe saddle tank
2.5" scale RMI switcher
2.5" scale LE "Crab"
4.75" ga. O.S. "Koppel"
3.5" ga. "Fanny"
asst. ga1...
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cbrew
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Re: Turbulator question

Post by cbrew »

well the whole point of turbulators is to slow down the exhaust gases in theory allowing more heat to be absorb.
i know with my ten wheeler, she would draft so well that the air being sucked in around the fire door with start howling. i would to crack the door open and the howling would go away.
this does not happen near as much after moving the blast out put up. but i can still suck the fire out if too low, so i am hoping the turbulators will dumpen the blast pulses that much more.. will see in the spring
If it is not live steam. its not worth it.
Superberky1204
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Re: Turbulator question

Post by Superberky1204 »

Chris,

My plate is about the same as yours. I have large format photo and will sent to your email.

Bruce
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Bill Shields
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Re: Turbulator question

Post by Bill Shields »

FWIW:

I have something very similar (20 burners in groups of 10, with only 10 running most of the time).

I have not gone the turbolator route yet but I do have a VERTICAL ARCH 1" from the rear tube-sheet that made a big difference

Makes more steam than I know what to do with once I get the air-flow as controlled by the blower set correctly.

It takes a bit more air than one would normally expect -> which might just be a peculiarity of my design / setup.
Too many things going on to bother listing them.
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Dave_Johnson
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Re: Turbulator question

Post by Dave_Johnson »

Bill, are you using the Solar Flo jets or something else?
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Bill Shields
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Re: Turbulator question

Post by Bill Shields »

Got them from Don Orr....so they are Solar Flow for all intents and purposes

want pictures?
Too many things going on to bother listing them.
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