New here
Posted: Mon Oct 14, 2024 1:25 am
Hello all!
I'm Adam from SC. I've been fascinated by steam power as long as I can remember. Joined the Navy and worked on a destroyer, although we only had waste heat boilers and steam was used for mostly hotel services.
I've worked on steam railroad locomotives for about 25 years. I volunteered to help restore the Norfolk and Western #611, one of the most 'modern' steam locomotives ever built in the US. I also am the proud owner of a tiny standard gauge 2-6-2 that needs a complete restoration. So steam is in my blood and I have a lot of experience with it.
I live right by a nice lake and have had dreams for a decade of building a steam powered paddlewheeler. Drawn up plans, purchased parts, etc.
Well I was lucky and a friend sent me a steam boat for sale on FB marketplace. So I drove to AL and now am the proud owner of the Ex-Southwind, a paddle boat built in 2019. I don't know by whom, but it was last registered in Delaware. It was used to make a documentary film and was steamed down the Mississippi collecting corn, where they eventually converted the boat into a distillery and made shine out of it.
Anyway, it needs a lot of wood work and freshening up. The hull was made of sawmill cut wood and covered in fiberglass. It seems very well built. There is only one hull passthrough, used as a drain. I need to add more for boiler blowdown, etc. It has a very nicely built dry end scotch boiler, (wood fired) and a home built 3x5 vertical engine, chain driving a riding lawnmower transmission, out to the wheel. I've disassembled all the piping, it was a hodge podge of schedule 40, 80, stainless, brass, and run low in the hull and there was no provision to drain it. This will be completely replaced with all schedule 80, steam rated valves, drains, etc. I'm also putting a reflex sight glass on instead of the open glass tube type. It has a gear pump on the engine and a hand pump for feedwater, and used the water it was floating in as the supply. I'm thinking of building a hotwell and condenser so I can use a closed loop feedwater system. I also plan to add an injector.
I'd also like to add a generator of some sort to provide for 12v power for lights etc. The wheel sits way too low in the water according to design plans and specs for a paddlewheel. I plan to move it up above the beams. This will also allow me to build much better rudders, as the ones on it now are wood and have broken repeatedly, with clothesline as the steering cable. I plan to install a helm in its current spot (starboard side between boiler and engine) and one at the bow, so you can run the boat by yourself or have a helmsman/captain while an engineer maintains the machinery. There was also no lubricator for the engine, I have several and will install one. I have a few 55 gallon drums of steam oil ready to go after all.
The cabin is getting removed, so that it just an open canopy. It gets way to hot inside according to the last owner. I also got a 10 whistle calliope that was built for this boat.
Anyway, looking for help with the design and parts for the condensing/hotwell build, and ideas for power generation.
I'm Adam from SC. I've been fascinated by steam power as long as I can remember. Joined the Navy and worked on a destroyer, although we only had waste heat boilers and steam was used for mostly hotel services.
I've worked on steam railroad locomotives for about 25 years. I volunteered to help restore the Norfolk and Western #611, one of the most 'modern' steam locomotives ever built in the US. I also am the proud owner of a tiny standard gauge 2-6-2 that needs a complete restoration. So steam is in my blood and I have a lot of experience with it.
I live right by a nice lake and have had dreams for a decade of building a steam powered paddlewheeler. Drawn up plans, purchased parts, etc.
Well I was lucky and a friend sent me a steam boat for sale on FB marketplace. So I drove to AL and now am the proud owner of the Ex-Southwind, a paddle boat built in 2019. I don't know by whom, but it was last registered in Delaware. It was used to make a documentary film and was steamed down the Mississippi collecting corn, where they eventually converted the boat into a distillery and made shine out of it.
Anyway, it needs a lot of wood work and freshening up. The hull was made of sawmill cut wood and covered in fiberglass. It seems very well built. There is only one hull passthrough, used as a drain. I need to add more for boiler blowdown, etc. It has a very nicely built dry end scotch boiler, (wood fired) and a home built 3x5 vertical engine, chain driving a riding lawnmower transmission, out to the wheel. I've disassembled all the piping, it was a hodge podge of schedule 40, 80, stainless, brass, and run low in the hull and there was no provision to drain it. This will be completely replaced with all schedule 80, steam rated valves, drains, etc. I'm also putting a reflex sight glass on instead of the open glass tube type. It has a gear pump on the engine and a hand pump for feedwater, and used the water it was floating in as the supply. I'm thinking of building a hotwell and condenser so I can use a closed loop feedwater system. I also plan to add an injector.
I'd also like to add a generator of some sort to provide for 12v power for lights etc. The wheel sits way too low in the water according to design plans and specs for a paddlewheel. I plan to move it up above the beams. This will also allow me to build much better rudders, as the ones on it now are wood and have broken repeatedly, with clothesline as the steering cable. I plan to install a helm in its current spot (starboard side between boiler and engine) and one at the bow, so you can run the boat by yourself or have a helmsman/captain while an engineer maintains the machinery. There was also no lubricator for the engine, I have several and will install one. I have a few 55 gallon drums of steam oil ready to go after all.
The cabin is getting removed, so that it just an open canopy. It gets way to hot inside according to the last owner. I also got a 10 whistle calliope that was built for this boat.
Anyway, looking for help with the design and parts for the condensing/hotwell build, and ideas for power generation.