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

Hi Folks
I've done a little more modifying of my Wilesco D45 , I removed the center flue pipe from the boiler (this is a 2 person job) & made a Brass plug for the top & bottom of the boiler ...the top plug has been turned so that the chimney pipe slips tightly over it ,& the bottom plug has been drilled & tapped 3/16" x 40 tpi to accept a pipe for the drain valve with a custom made Wilesco style solid Brass hand wheel & all soldered in place, the drain makes it very handy to empty the boiler now as these are difficult to get the water out of normally.  this plant now has an 300w immersion rod heater installed in a brass sleeve also soldered in the bottom of the boiler with a grounded 18/3 cord & proper Wilesco ID tag on back of the firebox. I installed a 2K watt voltage reducer in the firebox using a custom brass spacer to hold the stem through one of the firebox draft vents. we have a 1" face 0-30psi pressure gauge residing on a custom brass pedestal that also holds the safety valve.  this is a self contained unit that will easily run for over an hour now (probably 2 hrs. on low voltage) , especially now that it is a full 500cm with the center flue removed.

Very nicely done Bruce

Who did you hire to help with the flue removal? 

A little water pump suggested by Charlie M. nice little (& cheap) steam accessory with a few SPS mods.

Bruce,

That's a lot of mods packed into a small footprint.  Very interesting.

Could you post a photo or two (if you took any) of the boiler before and after removing the flue?

Great job and up to the SPS standard of high quality + inventiveness.

Scott

Hi Scott ,& thank you for the compliments ( as well as all the others)
I did & usually do take build picture's even though I may not show them, I did take just a few of both ends of the boiler....unfortunately no "before" shots , here are two...

top of boiler , with dome for the chimney ,this would make an excellent spot for a S/V or a water fill plug in my next build.



And the bottom of the boiler , this is another thing I would do differently on the next build, I never planned on removing the flue when I put the cartridge heater in, the next one will have the cartridge heater in the center of the Brass plug with the drain pipe offset slightly , the 1/4 circle piece next to the brass sleeve is for a tang & #2 bolt to hold the cartridge heater in place since its a vertical application in this instance.



I do have a brand new D455 & will be modifying it over the next week or two, if enough interest I can post a build thread.

That's another very cool Wilesco mod Bruce.

I bought one of those plastic beam engines a few months ago as well. Great for the price. I wish there were more things like it.