Office of Steam Forum for Model & Toy Steam Gas & Hot Air Engines

Hi Maurice,

I have that book and hadn't noticed that the burners weren't producing radiant heat! The ceramic elements which seem to be used in the UK and supplied through model engineering companies come from portable gas heaters.

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They are designed to produce radiant heat, I and many others have used them for many years and I haven't heard of any problems with blow back and I have models maybe 30 years old that still use the ceramics they were originally fitted with.  They are vulnerable if they get wet as they can fall apart.  As to whether one produces more heat than the other I would not know.  At least now we know why yours doesn't turn red.

As to Fan blower or maybe they should be called suckers; they are a battery powered fan that fits over the chimney.  One that I use on my larger steam models:

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Or if there is an air supply available a simpler version of doing the same Job.

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They are used to create a vacuum to draw the fire until steam is raised when the blower is turned on to continue the job.

I think I would just try your burner in the boiler and see how things go, hopefully all will be well. But if the flames aren't drawn into the tubes it would be worth trying some form of suction.  I is good to know your burner is performing as it should and look forward to further progress reports.

Take care.