Low/No water ...

[gwerhart0800]

Let me first say, that all of my steam experience is with running G-Scale live steam and an 1891 Groton Traction engine I used to own.

Yesterday, we had a situation at our track where a new member with a 1" scale steam engine had a low/no water situation. The engine is one that he and his father purchased, i think from an estate sale. He had been running successfully in the morning and took a break for lunch. He was in the steaming bay trying to raise steam, but was not seeing any pressure. The sight glass had water, but no pressure ... even with a significant fire going. FInally he started pumping some water in the the tender hand pump, the safeties popped almost immediately. (Flash steam) When I walked up there was water "pouring" out of the front of the firebox past the ash pan.

The boiler is steel with copper tubes that appear to be rolled in. The assessment of several of us was that it is likely the flash steam burst cause some of the tubes to lose their seal as the excess pressure was more than the safeties could handle. We could not see any distortion of the tubes, but the engine was too hot to do much close inspection. There was a storm approaching and everyone had to get their equipment loaded up, so there was no time to spend with more inspection.

My advice (and the same was offered by others present) was to take the engine home, cleanup the boiler and look for any obvious signs of damage ... pillowing between stays, pinched tubes, etc. Fill the boiler with water and check for leaks with no pressure. If no leaks, do a hydro with the tender pump and check frequently for leaks (especially around the flues on the front/back flue sheets). Assuming the leaks are around the flues, try re-rolling the flues that are leaking to see if they will seal back up. If so, then bring the engine back and have it re-inspected. Also take the sight glass assembly apart, check for obstruction, and clean it.

For future reference, I told him that in cases where water has gotten below the crown sheet, he should kill the fire quickly and walk away from the engine and let it cool. He should not put water into the engine because it will flash. (This is what I was taught when running a full size traction engine.)

FInally, his sight glass has a shutoff on top side for the line into the "steam space" and one for the drain. On my traction engine (I don't own a steam loco at the moment), there were three shutoffs for the sight glass, one on the steam side on the top, one on the water side on the bottom and one on the bottom drain. My procedure for checking the glass was to close the bottom water line, then open the drain valve and steam should blow out. Close the drain line, open the water side valve and water should fill the glass to the level in the boiler. To check for obstruction and the keep the water line clean, I would also periodically close the steam line, open the drain and blow water out, then close the drain, reopen the steam line and water rise in the glass. Without the water side shutoff, I am assuming that just opening the bottom drain would give a similar results. Any comments?

Was that bad advice, did I miss something? Any other suggestions?

[ALCOSTEAM]

The builder might have put a fuseable plug in the firebox, if so it could have melted and saved the boiler from blowing up and someone(s) from getting hurt.
It will always be a head scratcher now, as to what and how badly compromised the boiler and firebox really is if you do get it sealed back up.

[DianneB]

Your advice on low/no water was right on - pull the fire and walk away until cool.

Anyone who works with steam, whether model or full size, should have that seared into their brain! Many people have died from putting water into a dry boiler or moving one that is low on water (think Madina, Ohio)!

[NP317]

Too bad that happened, and fortunate no one got injured.

Your water glass clearing procedure is good. On full-sized steamers I ran, it was normal procedure to perform that water glass clearing procedure before lighting a fire, during fireup, and ANYTIME a new fireman took over. First task upon arriving on the foot plate was always to verify the water level by clearing the glass! I kicked firemen off the locomotive if they failed to do that. They learned.

I perform that same water glass procedure with my 1/8th scale locomotives. Basic safety. Before lighting a fire, I also verify that the tender hand pump will actually put water into the boiler. Every time. I can't afford a new boiler...
Your experience with the new member is a good reason for clubs to have operating procedures and rules, and ways to verify operators' knowledge. Kitsap Live Steamers (Washington State) does a good job of verifying engineer/operators' knowledge and skill levels. Especially when pulling the public, safety is foremost.
~RN

[Fred_V]

I have seen a case where the bottom water glass valve was shut. The glass was half full where the boiler was actually almost empty. Not good.