Boiler dimensions & Boiler tips

tef 20 wrote:No problem, remember there should be a dummy rivet for the extra hole in the perch.




Mark

Thanks Mark - I have the 2 dummy rivets , so they can be glued in later.

great progress Milford, and looking very smart!

I am posting this as a warning to new builders to take care when coming back to parts that you haven’t touched for over a year..... I had a good tip from Mark about the retaining collar inside the perch bracket, and luckily I had only fitted it loosely.... so when I added that collar and put the perch bracket back yesterday I decided to use thread lock on all the nuts..... this morning I came across the thrust washer in my box of parts not yet fitted..... my heart sank, and the next couple of hours was spent trying to get the nuts undone, which is not easy when you have to hold the round rivet heads with pliers.

Anyway, I managed to sort it although a couple of the rivets got damaged in the process.... I felt pretty stupid !!

I am soon going to fit the cork lining on the boiler. The instructions mention using sellotape or similar to hold it down, but I am thinking about using some spray adhesive and attaching it tight to the surface of the boiler. Is this a bad idea - will it ever need to come off again, or be replaced ? Any tips or advice will be appreciated.

On my agri I used ceramic paper/insulation around 5mm from memory and it seems to work far better than the cork.

I replaced the Cork once and it gets very crispy, just used wide parcel tape to secure it and the ceramic stuff and it seems fine. Not sure I'd want to use any spray adhesive as it all gets really hot.

Yes it will need to come off when you have your hydraulic test, although depending who you use club or commercial that will be in 4 to 10yrs time.

Thanks very much for that input.

I'm dead impressed with the ceramic stuff, keeps the outer cladding considerably cooler than the cork, the jury is still out on its longevity.

LiveSteam wrote:I'm dead impressed with the ceramic stuff, keeps the outer cladding considerably cooler than the cork, the jury is still out on its longevity.

Can you give a link or details to the stuff you mean ? Thanks very much

Just a note on "stuck nuts". When trying to remove thread locked nuts. Use a bit of heat on the nut, nothing fancy a hobby propane torch is good enough. This will break the locking compound and make the nut easier to remove.

milford59 wrote:

LiveSteam wrote:I'm dead impressed with the ceramic stuff, keeps the outer cladding considerably cooler than the cork, the jury is still out on its longevity.

Can you give a link or details to the stuff you mean ?  Thanks very much

I bought a one meter of this https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/152127728863 other suppliers are out there, I was happy with my purchase although it was a little cheaper a few years ago. 1mtr was enough to do the Agri with a bit left over from memory, I dont know if the boiler is different on the SCC engine.

I find even after a good hour of steaming I can still touch the cladding and even after a few hours while I wouldnt want to touch it for long you can. Where as when it had the cork there was no way you could even think about touching the cladding after an hour and any water would fizz merrily on the cladding where as now it just runs down it steaming a bit.
I keep meaning to measure the actual difference between raw boiler temp and cladding temp.

Thanks very much ! - I know the stuff you mean now…. I bought something similar (refractory grade) to cover the sides of this propane forge that I made.