Steam space.

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hoppercar
Posts: 616
Joined: Sun Jul 22, 2018 4:09 pm

Steam space.

Post by hoppercar »

Finishing up the plumbing on my railroad supply mikado. ..I felt comfortable with the bottom of my waterglass, 3/4 of an inch above the crown sheet....I. may even move it a bit higher?...with the water glass I am using, if it were completely at the top of the glass, this would leave about 1 1/2 inch steam space. But since you normally run around a 1/2 glass...this puts my steam space closer to 2 1/2 to 3 inches...is this adequate?....those mikes have big boilers, nearly 12 inches in diameter I believe.
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cbrew
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Re: Steam space.

Post by cbrew »

more then enough, after all, the water is the stored energy not the steam. only need enough space to evaporate off the water without carry over. my 8 inch boiler has less then a inch
If it is not live steam. its not worth it.
Pontiacguy1
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Re: Steam space.

Post by Pontiacguy1 »

That's going to be pretty good. Main thing is that if you have water low in the glass and head down a grade, you want there to be enough that it doesn't uncover the crown sheet. In a long boiler like yours the water level tends to bounce up and down a lot with changing grades. If you wanted to make it 7/8" or even 1" it wouldn't hurt it any, but I think you are fine where you are.

Sounds like you have a nice, wide window that you can keep your water level in and be OK, which makes the locomotive much more forgiving and a lot easier and more fun to run. I've run locomotives before that had high crown sheets, and they were very finicky. You had to have your water level just right or you would risk either uncovering the crown sheet or carrying water into your throttle and spraying it all over everyone. I have a tendency to run my water at a higher level in the glass, so I kept on getting sprayed with water until I figured out how that locomotive liked to be run.
pat1027
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Location: Michigan

Re: Steam space.

Post by pat1027 »

It sounds similar to what I've got on a 10" boiler. 1/4 to 1/2 a glass is a nice water level. As the water level gets nearer the top of the glass it'll carry some water over if the engine is working hard.
hoppercar
Posts: 616
Joined: Sun Jul 22, 2018 4:09 pm

Re: Steam space.

Post by hoppercar »

Yeah, I don't mind running a little bit higher water glass, and then keep glass at a constant level as possible....just keeping that crown sheet covered is what it all about !!!!
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Bill Shields
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Re: Steam space.

Post by Bill Shields »

Ever see how little 'steam space' a full-size Niagara ran with...considering that it didn't really have a steam dome????
Too many things going on to bother listing them.
hoppercar
Posts: 616
Joined: Sun Jul 22, 2018 4:09 pm

Re: Steam space.

Post by hoppercar »

Nope, I'm afraid niagaras were long before my time
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