REAL Scary!

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Steve Goodbody
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Joined: Thu May 25, 2006 7:16 am

Re: REAL Scary!

Post by Steve Goodbody »

Thanks Marty.
Best regards
Steve
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Fender
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Location: Chattanooga TN

Re: REAL Scary!

Post by Fender »

Marty,
From what I see it looks like most of the deposits are scale (gray) rather than rust (reddish brown). Would you agree? OTH, the firebox looks mighty thin compared to the outer shell. Was it built this way, or has the firebox wasted away?
Dan Watson
Chattanooga, TN
Marty_Knox
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Joined: Thu Jan 09, 2003 6:50 pm
Location: Michigan, USA

Re: REAL Scary!

Post by Marty_Knox »

Dan, there are layers of scale, but it is mostly rust. I can't determine the original thickness of the inner firebox - the drawing called for 1/4".
Whatever the original thickness, there is some serious wastage.
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Fred_V
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Joined: Sun Jan 12, 2003 3:26 pm

Re: REAL Scary!

Post by Fred_V »

A point about the crown sheet. the bridge stays kept it flat front to back but it bowed side to side. Since there were no side stays the firebox side sheets could flex allowing the crown to drop down. Bridge stays don't look so good in that light.
Fred V
Pensacola, Fl.
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Builder01
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Location: Erie, PA

Re: REAL Scary!

Post by Builder01 »

No side stays on the firebox sides? I wonder what inspector certified this boiler. That's crazy.

David
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Fred_V
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Re: REAL Scary!

Post by Fred_V »

I'll have to take that back. I can see the welds on the inside of the firebox for the side stays. On the water side they are gone or buried in the muck.
Fred V
Pensacola, Fl.
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Builder01
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Location: Erie, PA

Re: REAL Scary!

Post by Builder01 »

Ughh! What a mess!

David
pat1027
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Location: Michigan

Re: REAL Scary!

Post by pat1027 »

Marty_Knox wrote:Steve, I recommend you use a pressure washer. No additives are needed, remove all the washout plugs and the dome top and get in everywhere you can. Most pressure washers have a 1/4"NPT connection somewhere. You can make your own nozzles to try and reach in the nooks and crannies. I will often go back a week or so later and was again.
Marty, Would you pressure wash in lieu of say washing with say white vinegar or in addition?
10 Wheeler Rob
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Location: East Hartford, CT

Re: REAL Scary!

Post by 10 Wheeler Rob »

One point I would like to make regarding safety in the 1 1/5" and smaller scales is that with all this neglect on a boilers proper care is the failure modes do not seem catastrophic in regards to personal injury. They are a ruined boiler beyond repair but normally show up as leaks on the fire box that prevent operation.

Rob
Marty_Knox
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Re: REAL Scary!

Post by Marty_Knox »

pat1027 wrote:
Marty_Knox wrote:Steve, I recommend you use a pressure washer. No additives are needed, remove all the washout plugs and the dome top and get in everywhere you can. Most pressure washers have a 1/4"NPT connection somewhere. You can make your own nozzles to try and reach in the nooks and crannies. I will often go back a week or so later and was again.
Marty, Would you pressure wash in lieu of say washing with say white vinegar or in addition?
Pat, the definitive answer is, that depends.
Often a soak with a mild acid works to loosen some deposits, but doesn't touch others. Actually I look at the boiler a week or so after I wash it; sometimes I will wash it again with the pressure washer; sometimes I will give it a soak with CLR (I Hate the semll of vinegar!) the pressure wash again.
I will dilute the CLR and only leave it in for 3 or 4 hours, then flush it out with clean water.
pat1027
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Location: Michigan

Re: REAL Scary!

Post by pat1027 »

My own experience is with a 10" steel boiler with 3/4" water legs and 3/4" plugs in the corners of the mud ring and over the crown sheet. My dad put it in service in 1992. In the fall he would reach in the plugs with a nozzle and wash the firebox area until the water was clear. After about 12 years service a crack developed in the fire box.

Opening the boiler up he found the stay bolts had been shadowing the fire box sheets from the water spray. A 3/8" layer of build up was on the sheets and in spots they had corroded to less than 1/16" thick. He also found a small mound of solids near the front tube sheet in line with the water feed points. The barrel was corroding under these piles as well but not to the degree the firebox had.

The decision was to replace the boiler rather than repair. The new boiler incorporated plugs in the back head inline with the space between the stay bolt rows. He started using LSB800 in the feed water with a better washout. It helps but in my opinion isn't the total solution.

He's handed the locomotive off to me. With the inexpensive bore scope cameras I'm looking inside (everyone should have one). I continue LSB800 and do a periodic vinegar wash. The sheets are staying clean or atthe end of the summer show just a light coat of white. The second 12 years of operation are in with a dramatic reduction is corrosion.
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jschoenly
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Location: Spring City, PA

Re: REAL Scary!

Post by jschoenly »

Saw some of this boiler, Absolutely crazy. This must have used some REALLY terrible water on top of the neglect. Marty - Do you think there was some off spec steel used? I just couldn't believe the sheets of rust in this thing. For the age it nearly seems impossible but obviously we are seeing it....
Jared Schoenly

Cabin Fever Expo
Model Engineering of all sorts.....
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