The Steamboating Forum

Have you seen these? They're not mine, they look like the ones from India. He has several sizes? Thoughts, opinions?
http://www.ebay.com/itm/250975964251?ss ... 1438.l2649

To quote them."we do not manufacture,or test them.There is no warrenty." etc etc Sounds like you should build it yourself-then you'll know who to blame when it blows up!! Den

These boilers are built for rural power needs in India, and now evidently in China. In the power boiler industry, (large boilers, driving steam engines of several hundred thousand horsepower) there have been failures of boiler pressure parts made in China, and most USA large engineering firms prohibit the use of China manufactured boiler pressure parts.

These boilers may function OK, but they are not Code boilers, or even an attempt to design/build according to the code rules. I would definately build locally, with materials and workmanship that I can examine every step of the way, or use an ASME Code fabricator and get a stamped boiler. There are plenty of reasonable boiler designs available here in the USA, or England, within steamboat groups.

The only way I would personally sit next to one of those units would be to do some testing. Like first drill some test holes and see what thickness things really are!

Then send of some samples of the steel for analysis. That wouldn't be that expensive but better than finding that you are pressurizing something that isn't very malleable. Mild steel (low carbon) isn't the problem. Brittle stuff from too much carbon is treacherous. What worse example of too high a carbon level could there be for a pressure vessel than cast iron with lots of carbon? The beauty of steel is that it fails so 'gracefully'. None of this crack-bang stuff.

Then do my own calculations and hydro test with more than the usual look for leaks. For instance, take a bunch of measurements before and after testing to see if things come back to dimension. That's how they determine when to throw out scuba tanks.

Ah, find a trained and certified pipe or pressure vessel welder. You'll save money and have a good time.

Mike