Live Steam (Steel) Boilers - additive

[Carrdo]

Has anyone used and can report on this additive which it is claimed has been designed for live steam boilers?

See: www.terlyn.com/locomotive-steam-boiler-treatment

Also, do any of these products have a shelf life?

[Bill Shields]

I have used it and it seems to work well...I always got a lot of junk out with blow downs and the inners of the boiler look good.

However I stopped because I was not interested in breathing it...OK it probably is no worse than coal smoke but since my steel boiler loco is propane fired....

no ??? on shelf life...

[Soot n' Cinders]

If anything, it may be a little overkill. LSB was originally designed for nuclear systems and mainly is for keeping disolved solids in suspension, although nobody really knows what's in it other than the manufacturer. It seems to do a good job at keeping scale build up to a minimum though and doesn't seem to have a noticeable shelf life.
Only thing I would suggest with it is to monitor the feed water PH. Too acidic or basic will eat away at the boiler. Optimal PH is between 9 and 10.

[Fender]

Conventional boiler water treatments do at least three things: control the pH, scavenge oxygen and inhibit scale formation. The first two are intended to prevent corrosion. LSB seems to do a good job of the latter, but (I believe) nothing for the former two. And, as Bill says, you don't know what's in it. I am now using a conventional boiler treatment, and know exactly what's in it, and have the MSDS.

[pat1027]

From my experience with LSB000 it helps reduce build up in the boiler. But through the summer build up does slowly occur. I wash the boiler with white vinegar once a year. I looked at the firebox sheets this winter with a bore scope camera and after 12 years service they are in very good shape. I don't know if that is LSB8000 alone, keeping the boiler clean overall, how I store it between runs or all of the above.

[Bill Shields]

as I have said many times (and others): you should really treat for the water that you have -> which means TEST the water and treat accordingly.

it is not a good thing to treat for something that is not there. If the pH is ok...leave it alone. If there is no scale in the water...then you do not need to treat for that.

There is no magic wand....

heck...if we all ran distilled water......

[timmy wheeler]

Fender, just curious ...what do you use for boiler treatment? Timmy

[Soot n' Cinders]

as I have said many times (and others): you should really treat for the water that you have -> which means TEST the water and treat accordingly.

it is not a good thing to treat for something that is not there. If the pH is ok...leave it alone. If there is no scale in the water...then you do not need to treat for that.

There is no magic wand....

heck...if we all ran distilled water......

Distilled water actually wouldn't be good. It's lack of minerals would mean it would eat away at the steel to deionize itself. Some minerals in the water is actually a good thing, as long as they don't build up too much. Hence why blowing down while running is good, especially on hard water.

[Soot n' Cinders]

From my experience with LSB000 it helps reduce build up in the boiler. But through the summer build up does slowly occur. I wash the boiler with white vinegar once a year. I looked at the firebox sheets this winter with a bore scope camera and after 12 years service they are in very good shape. I don't know if that is LSB8000, keeping the boiler clean overall, how I store it between runs or all of the above.

Storage is the most important anticorrosion thing we can do with our boilers, since they lay up 90% of the year. Drying out the inside will help keep rust at bay better than any water treatment. But keeping scale to a minimum is part of that ad scale will retain moisture and rot the contacting sheets in storage.

[Fender]

Fender, just curious ...what do you use for boiler treatment? Timmy

Timmy, this is what I have started using. It contains sodium sulfite, trisodium phosphate, sodium hydroxide and sodium metasilicate. In addition, I bought some sodium sulfite to mix up and use separately for oxygen removal, and sodium hydroxide for pH adjustment. You can buy test strips to check the pH. At first I bought "single swatch" test strips, which are ok for lower pH testing (1-7) but found out that you really can't discriminate between pH 8-13. So I bought some "four swatch" test strips that differentiate this much better.

[timmy wheeler]

Thanks Fender, this is new to me. Timmy

[kenrinc]

It's my understanding that LSB is a polymer based treatment and there has been a lot of discussion over the years on the value of that in a model boiler. I did like fender and moved to a treatment containing sodium sulfite that is shipped dry and mixed prior to use. Part of that was just out of necessity: LSB is not directly available to the consumer. You or your club have to buy in bulk. If your in a club then it's fine, but your out a luck if it's just you $.02

Ken-