ron parola wrote:Ok back from Clear Lake, had a nice time, rain held off although there was lighting and some drizzle & Steve fell asleep under his Blankie in the back of the boat coming back from dinner, sorry Wes. And tried to post some pix but they were too large so will see if I can make them smaller, why yes I AM an idiot when it comes to confusers thanks for asking.
So I was thinkin', I know BAD idea just clear your brain, but here goes; I'm now working on the bottom weld cap. I am going to support this mess by welding 10 1/2in pipes into the cap, radiating outwards and downwards at bit ( just a few degrees) and into a 2in sch 80 pipe circle ( 20in around). This circle will then bolt to the firebox AND have the feed water inlet. So the whole of the support system is water cooled, what I am wondering is; would it be worth while to have maybe half of the pipes that radiate out to go UP into the boiler and have the other half just at the very bottom of the weld cap, POSSIBLY to promote convection circulation within the supports? Thoughts therein? Or am I just full of it.... I can handle it!
And I do have an air operated pump that I use to hydro Stanley boilers; 1200psi NO problem! Cheers rp
Well, all the tubes are subject to direct radiative heating. How do those tubes fill with water again after they form steam and bump the water out?
I found it easier to support the pressure vessel from some brackets welded onto the drum above the tubes; these connect to the casing.
Yeah, that's why I was thinking of long and short tubes, short ones at the bottom; ie cooler, tall tubes (inside central drum that is) toward the top. Enough temp difference to move the water? Have to build a test rig oy! Resized pic.... STILL to large, will try again.rp
OK, After PLYING my friend with some good scotch he showed me how to shrink a photo; so here is a pic of where we are today; a blend of Illingsworth and olfelt
I think I could wind those tubes without problem, and probably weld them to the centre drum as well.
I've always had a question about Ofeldt boilers though: if one of those tube welds starts leaking after a period in service, is there any way you could get to it to replace the tube or even just reweld it?
My friend Bruce has a LARGE lathe so no problem as far as replacing coils..... good luck. Yes you can get in there to repair a weld but pretty impossible to replace a coil with out MAJOR surgery
Pics before welded into drum, downcomers have to be assembled in two parts into coils BEFORE they can be installed into drum otherwise no way to install them !
Next query; starting on the top end of the boiler, any thoughts as to amount of steam storage space above the tubes. In my case I have the center tube end about an inch above the tubes and a section of tube to be welded to that; just for a reservoir. Now in a Stanley you need a LOT, but a boat, not so much, so any thoughts as to % of storage vs generator space? thanks rp
