Can't imagine what fuel was being used to produce that prodigious layer of soot on the bottom of the boiler, but certainly alcohol burns much cleaner than that!
Perhaps what they called Paraffin back then, which was a more refined Kerosene, or maybe Kerosene itself which might better account for all the soot?
I know, right? Could they possibly have been using coal oil? Whatever it was, it was a real mess cleaning it from the bottom of the boiler, and especially from the stack tube running up the boiler. Here's how it looks now:
[ Guests cannot view attachments ]
With that mess defused, I went ahead and did a leak test on the boiler. My main concern was the sight glass seals, as I had a negative experience with the Doll engine in this regard. Interestingly, the filler cap threads are 1/4"-28, while the whistle and steam line holes are M5. [ Guests cannot view attachments ] I used a couple of bolts with Teflon washers to seal off two of the holes, while the steam line fitting served nicely as a hose attachment point:
[ Guests cannot view attachments ]
With barely 15 PSI on the boiler, I could hear the sight glass "seals" hissing away, even over the sound of the compressor! No soap suds needed. Here's a close-up of the sight glass:
[ Guests cannot view attachments ]
As mentioned earlier, it looks the sight glass was replaced (relatively) recently, and there is evidence of some kind of clear sealant or adhesive at the connection points. I wonder if it was replaced merely for aesthetic purposes, just to improve its appearance as a shelf queen. Possibly? So, I guess the next step is to disassemble it and see if a better sealing method can be effected.
(to be continued)
Home
Search
Today's Posts
Login
Register