Fireing with gas blow torch

My tester has suggested that it might be easier for test if we used Propane to fire up. Anyone else done this

I asked this question a few months ago, and was told that it may create local hotspots which could cause damage. However a local owner of full size and 2 and 3 inch says he uses a gas burner in his two inch. Rather than a torch. Mike

I would not use a gas torch as it does not spread the heat like a coal fire and you could get a hot spot in the fire box
Mark

Wouldnt a proper gas burner on a low flame be suitable? I'm talking of a multi jet burner, much lime you would cook on. What do you reckon? Mike

Must admit that I cant see any real reason why you wouldnt use a real fire, apart from the fact its a quicker and cleaner shut down but then personally slow and gradual on the way up and down is best really.
We normally put our little 5" Polly loco into steam in about 30mins using a mix of charcoal soaked in parafin, then wood and then coal, and that had a similar size boiler as the 2" I suspect.

In the 1970's, my father worked at the research laboratory of the national gas board. He and a rather brilliant colleague with a scientific background did some serious research to find the best way to convert a 7 1/4" Royal Scot loco in an amusement park to gas firing. I remember it wasn't trivial to do properly, without causing hot and cold spots and possible boiler damage. They eventually developed an arch shaped burner using ceramic elements that were common in gas heaters at the time. This produced a fairly good simulation of a radiating coal fire, which is what you want in a boiler that's designed to be coal fired. So personally, I wouldn't mess with gas and stick to coal.

With its specially developed burner, the loco ran happily on gas for at least 20 years, by the way, until it was converted back to coal.

Eric

Hi Eric, my grandfather was involve in similar schemes whe he worked for Calor gas in the 70s, as you say it was very complicated and when the tax breaks changed for using gas they abandoned the idea.

Can't do it, not on the club testing scheme - unless you mean for testing purposes after maintenance?

For the boiler test, you need to fire it at the maximum rate of the engine using the normal fuel - coal. Either that, or you have to convert it to gas firing properly with a proper full spread multi jet burner.

Either way, firing it using a propane gas torch is a very bad idea and should not be entertained under any circumstances.