Fred Rosse helped me get the Jackie Lee running at Lee's Mills this weekend !!! It was the first time the boiler had been fired and the engine had been steamed. Fred was great and Al Dunlap and Chris Greaves went out with us on the first cruise. We went out and back on our own steam......................
I had screwed up some plumbing and Fred laid out a better design and went to Lowes with me after the dinner saturday night to get all the pieces. Then he and his son re-plumbed my steam feed lines on Sunday morning while I worked on making the feedwater circuit more reliable.
We got thngs squared away and took her out for another ride........... I still have work to do but I am really pleased with how it went.
Thanks to all of you for your help over the past year !!!!!
Well you did make it in the water this year! Good for you, what a thrill the first time they move on their own steam.
Looks and sounds really good Jon. And you definitely have the right folks helping out.
Nice to see that engine run on steam after all these years, and doing what it was intended to do. If you want to reposition the stevenson lever (they typically point up for forward), just swap the valve links on the stevenson quadrant (part with long radial slot), but the valve rod length may need to be adjusted if they are switched. Also, I set up the timing for clockwise rotation, and for reverse I didn't take much time with that ( I think it's late). The clockwise eccentric is set to open right on top/bottom dead center.
That engine is like new and should provide many years of service. Make sure to give her a shot of steam oil at shut down(It has tallow which is not easily displaced by moisture). And plenty for winter layup.
What is the lowest pressure it will run and still propel her along?
Had trouble adding the YouTube URL, but please look up "Lee's Mills - New Steamer" to see the boat underway, quite a good showing, and plenty of boiler capacity.
A good time was had by all at Lee's Mills. A new steamer underway is a great reward for much effort, as many of us know. Turning fire into power, a worthy effort.
I have been out on the Margaret S. dozens of times, and I think this year's Lee's Mills Meet is the first time I have not gotten a burn of some sort. I guess its just a part of the process, and hopefully we eventually learn to make the burns smaller and smaller, and less frequent. Even cheap single layer cotton gloves prevent many burns for me.
If one has the presence of mind, along with a cold can of soda nearby, a burn can be largely cancelled by pressing the burn against a very cold surface. For this to be effective you have to immediately move your burned finger (or other body part) from the hot surface to the cold surface. If you do not do this in just a few seconds the burn will survive. If you have to spend a few seconds looking for the cold surface, or that nearby bucket of ice water, then this trick will not work.
Anything cold will do the job for a burn or scald. Cold water is as good as any. If nothing nearer, then stick your hand over the side (assuming the freeboard isn't longer than your arm). As said, speed is the important thing.
See the pic below. Here are another couple of videos from Lee's Mills.