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

Regarding charcoal...

  I think the bags of skinny split wood pieces that were turned into charcoal
look right.  I'll have to find a bag and read the contents.

  The question is....does all charcoal give off carbon monoxide when burned?
Seems like I've heard of this happening - and that folks died because of it.
They burned it in a brazier.

Also..,.

  I'm considering the aged 'twigs' I can use to fire it up.  I think nice pieces
of ruderalis might fit the bill.

  Besides that, I'm considering a way to mount an alcohol burner in the firebox
with the vent tube coming thru the door.  I'll fill it thru the tube and use
screen covered wicks to burn it.  The screen will keep the wicks from burning,
something I discourage if at all possible. 

Chilly in Brooklyn,
Wayne 

  Screen.  Hmmm.  Stainless steel screening (from a pan anti-spatter screen)
is what I've used to cover several wicks, such as in the pm solar.

  I think I might need the wicking material to soak up the alcohol and get it to
the rolled screen.  Maybe a rolled-up screen would wick it up from the reservoir
but I'll have to test that.  Either way, I won't have to quick-step to save the
wick from burning down in an inconvenient way.

Wayne

  Screen.  Hmmm.  Stainless steel screening (from a pan anti-spatter screen)
is what I've used to cover several wicks, such as in the pm solar.

  I think I might need the wicking material to soak up the alcohol and get it to
the rolled screen.  Maybe a rolled-up screen would wick it up from the reservoir
but I'll have to test that.  Either way, I won't have to quick-step to save the
wick from burning down in an inconvenient way.

Wayne

Wayne hand sanitizer is a whole lot simpler than using spirits and the SE-03's burner works perfectly for it -

Hand sanitizer....I'll check some out and read the ingredients.
I'm picky about what I burn in the house.  No stinkies!

  I just checked the shipping status and it left there for...I'd like
to think directly here.  Maybe this time next week?

I've been looking at the photos, especially regarding the firebox.
I see the two knurled knobs that hold the base of the firebox up.
Do you just undo the nuts, it drops down, and you slide it out?
There may be better solutions. 

Regarding the 'after run' duties.  Does the boiler have two drain
plugs?  Looks like it does.  Maybe one of those could be used to
pump water into while it runs.  Seems like a no-brainer. 

Don't even have it and I'm thinking of how to add features.

Sunny and frigid,
Wayne

G'day Wayne,
You back off the two thumbscrews and the firebox (with a slight twist) drops down.
Mine didn't have enough clearance to pull out though and I've just uploaded a video showing the small mod I did to raise the boiler 3mm.

Yes, you could use one of the plugs to pump water into the boiler which would be great for running on gas. The only problem I can see with that is that there is no blow down on the glass sight gauge and like all glass sight gauges that don't have that feature you can get a bubble (or two) in the sight glass column that doesn't allow you to know the true extent of how much water is left in the boiler.
This isn't a problem with spirits (or now I know hand sanitizer gel) as the amount of fuel in the firebox is matched to the amount of water in the boiler leaving enough that it won't run dry. But pumping water in and bubbles in the sight glass, could prove an issue. You would have to be on the ball to keep water in there and not trust the sight glass as it is.