Testing after changing fusable plug

Evening all, my friend has recently bought a newly completed stw kit but on his first solo run be blew the fusable plug. My qestion is after replacing the plug what boiler testing must he do before he runs at the next show giving public rides. I only ask coz my local mes say he should get it retested by a boiler inspector before he does any public running for insurance reasons. Ant advice will be very welcome.

Hi

Depending on how severe the "dropping the plug" was. It could be just replace the plug to a complete replacement boiler.

It might also make a difference if his boiler inspection is from the local MES club. If something were to happen and the body that certified it had suggested further inspection it wouldn't be ideal.

I know plugs can get dropped from time to time (Although keeping water levels is the most important part of engine management), but maybe your friend needs to look for a bit of help at his next show?

Unless your friend has built up a roaring fire and continued to work the engine hard even with the plug having melted he is unlikely to have caused any damage that would warrant a boiler inspection. Building, operating and maintaining a miniature traction engine requires an understanding of basic mechanical engineering and basic physics. While we all start out as novices it would be wise to do some research and gain a reasonable understanding of the principles involved to get the most enjoyment from a 4" engine, and avoid damage that is both time consuming and costly to rectify.

I'd suggest the "friend" does a fair few more steamings before they even entertain "giving rides" again, REALLY get to know the engine, understand its limits and what to do in an emergency, plug dropping really is a last resort.

I spent best part of a 6mths to a year steaming in the garden, seeing how the engine performs, what has to be done to recover from a number of scenarios and how to recover from these safely.

While I'm all for encouraging folks into the steam world, folks must realise these arnt toys, and it does worry me when I hear folks that jump in with both feet with little experience and are out in the public domain, sadly it will only be a matter of time before one of these folks will ruin it for all of us I fear.

Even with over ten years of steaming experience under my belt there are still a number of things that scare me, from a gauge glass failing, steering chains braking, perch bracket breaking, the regulator puck detaching from the rod, the latter one has happened to me and that was a scary one finding that you cannot shut the regulator
In ten years I've never dropped the plug, anyone doing so in my view is either not paying attention to the engine or asking it to do something outside its operating parameters.

For everyones sake ask them get some more "training" or help before they venture out again and please avoid giving rides until they are really at one with the engine.