On another thread I show my Weeden pumper working
on air. When I tried water in it a leak started from
a hole on the boiler bottom. Now that I cleaned it
of all the smudgy junk it is larger. I have no doubt
that the more I rubbed the larger the hole will get.
I added a photo of the baddie.
Now, I can wait for a Weeden wreck with the same boiler
to come up on EBAY and hope to get it cheap. Swap it in
and I'd be ok. Barring that, I could clean it very well,
cut a piece of tin to fit exactly, and epoxy it to seal
it for good. Is this a reasonable idea, and if so, what
is a very good hi-temp epoxy? I fear none would be apropos.
Wayne
That's a bummer, Wayne. Since it's rusted through in that one spot, it's likely close to rusting through elsewhere. If it was only the bottom of the boiler, you could possibly cut a brass or copper disk, sized appropriately to fit in the bottom depression, and silver solder around the periphery where the boiler meets the firebox. Even then, I would do a hydraulic pressure test at 2x working pressure just to be safe.
I don't know of an epoxy that would withstand the heat from the burner, although the water in the boiler would absorb most of the heat. Still... maybe a good one to back away from. Just my thoughts.
Paula
Two options .
# 1 completely disassemble and remove tin bottom and replace with a brass one . Soft solder will be sufficient.
# 2 remove most of the tin bottom leaving about 5 mm all around as a ledge and soft solder a new brass disc .
Silver solder requires higher temps and likely to cause you more issues .
No way i hell would i use epoxy. In my opinion there is no use in engineering for glues or epoxy
Cheers
Dennis
Have you tried dropping a raw egg in it and steaming it up?
It wouldn’t work here, but when I was a kid I put my Jensen 30 away for years with water in the boiler. When I got it out again it was weeping through the boiler. I put in some Bars Leak and heated it up. It never leaked again.
Well, I tried the xtra hi-temp JB, let it set for two days,
and it heated up, started to steam, and then let go, the
whole 4ozs in one rush. I'll seal it up again and make it
an 'air run engine' only. Someday, I'll find another boiler.
Wayne
Well, I tried the xtra hi-temp JB, let it set for two days,
and it heated up, started to steam, and then let go, the
whole 4ozs in one rush. I'll seal it up again and make it
an 'air run engine' only. Someday, I'll find another boiler.
Wayne
Well buggar me
you try a cheap short cut and got the expected result .
Cheap shortcut. Yes. the boiler was an even more cheaply
made item. Whoever left water in it was lazy or stupid, so
that makes two idiots. It was a holed and getting worse so
I took a shot. Also, MAJOR desoldering/soldering is not my
talent. Reminds me of working in major computer code that
others had turned into a rats nest in places.
Thanks for the encouragement,
Wayne