Rough and Tumble Engineering Part 2

But don't conclude that you can do the same amount of work each day in the week on the same amount of fuel, even should it be of the same kind.

You will that with all your care and skill, your engine will differ very materially both as to the amount of fuel and water that it will require, though the conditions may apparently be the same.

This may be as good a time as any to say to you, remember that a blast of cold air against the tubes is a bad thing, so be careful about your firedoor; open it as little as, possible; when you want to throw in fuel, don't open the door, and then go a rod away after a shovel of coal; and I will say here that I have seen this thing done by men who flattered themselves that they were about at the top in the matter of running an engine. That kind of treatment will ruin the best boiler in existence. I don't mean that once or twice will do it, but to keep it up will do it. Get your shovel of coal and when you are ready to throw it in, open the door quickly and close it at once. Make it one of your habits to do this, and you will never think of doing it in any other way. If it becomes necessary to stop your engine with a hot fire and a high pressure of steam, don't throw your door open, but drop your damper and open the smoke box door.

If, however, you only expect to stop a minute or two, drop your damper, and start your injector if you have one. If you have none, get one.

An independent boiler feeder is a very nice thing, if constructed on the proper principles. You can't have your boiler too well equipped in this particular.

PART FOUR. _

A boiler should be kept clean, outside and inside. Outside for your own credit, and inside for the credit of the manufacturers. A dirty boiler requires hard firing, takes lots of fuel, and is unsatisfactory in every way.

The best way to keep it clean is not to let it get dirty. The place to begin work, is with your "water boy," pursuade him to be very careful of the water he brings you, if you can't succeed in this, ask him to resign.

I have seen a water-hauler back into a stream, and then dip the water from the lowerside of tank, the muddy water always goes down stream and the wheels stir up the mud; and your bright water hauler dips it into the tank. While if he had dipped it from the upper side he would have gotten clear water. However, the days of dipping water are past, but a water boy that will do as I have stated is just as liable to throw his hose into the muddy water or lower side of tank as on the upper side, where it is clear. See that he keeps his tank clean. We have seen tanks with one-half inch of mud in the bottom. We know that there are times when you are compelled to use muddy water, but as soon as it is possible to get clear water make him wash out his tank, and don't let him haul it around till the boiler gets it all.

Allow me just here to tell you how to construct a good tank for a traction engine. You can make the dimensions to suit yourself, but across the front end and about two feet back fit a part.i.tion or second head; in the center of this head and about an inch from the bottom bore a two inch hole. Place a screen over this hole on the side next the rear, and on the other side, or side next front end, put a valve. You can construct the valve in this way: Take a piece of thick leather, about four inches long, and two and a half inches wide; fit a block of wood (a large bung answers the purpose nicely) on one end, tr.i.m.m.i.n.g the leather around one side of the wood, then nail the long part of the valve just above the hole, so that the valve will fit nicely over the hole in part.i.tion. When properly constructed, this valve will allow the water to flow into the front end of tank, but will prevent its running back. So, when you are on the road with part of a tank of water, and start down hill, this front part fills full of water, and when you start up hill, it can not get back, and your pumps will work as well as if you had a full tank of water, without this arrangement you cannot get your pumps to work well in going up a steep hill with anything less than a full tank. Now, this may be considered a little out of the engineer's duty, but it will save lots of annoyance if he has his tank supplied with this little appliance, which is simple but does the business.

A boiler should be washed out and not blown out, I believe I am safe in saying that more than half the engineers of threshing engines today depend on the "blowing out" process to clean their boilers. I don't intend to tell you to do anything without giving my reasons. We will take a hot boiler, for instance; say, 50 pounds steam. We will, of course, take out the fire. It is not supposed that anyone will attempt to blow out the water with any fire in the firebox. We will, after removing the fire, open the blow-off valve, which will be found at the bottom or lowest water point. The water is forced out very rapidly with this pressure, and the last thing that comes out is the steam. This steam keeps the entire boiler hot till everything is blown out, and the result is that all the dirt, sediment and lime is baked solid on the tubes and side of firebox. But you say you know enough to not blow off at 50 pounds pressure. Well, we will say 5 pounds, then. You will admit that the boiler is not cold by any means, even at only 5 pounds, and if you know enough not to blow off at 50 pounds, you certainly know that at 5 pounds pressure the damage is not entirely avoided. As long as the iron is hot, the dirt will dry out quickly, and by the time the boiler is cold enough to force cold water through it safely, the mud is dry and adheres closely to the iron. Some of the foreign matter will be blown out, but you will find it a difficult matter to wash out what sticks to the hot iron.

I am aware that some engineers claim that the boiler should be blown out at about 5 pounds or I0 pounds pressure, but I believe in taking the common sense view. They will advise you to blow out at a low pressure, and then, as soon as the boiler is cool enough, to wash it thoroughly.

Now, if you must wait till the boiler is cool before washing, why not let it cool with the water in it? Then, when you let the water out, your work is easy, and the moment you begin to force water through it, you will see the dirty water flowing out at the man or hand hole. The dirt is soft and washes very easily; but, if it had dried on the inside of boiler while you were waiting for it to cool, you would find it very difficult to wash off. .

You say I said to force the water through the boiler, and to do this you must use a force pump. No engineer ought to attempt to run an engine without a force pump. It is one of the necessities. You say, can't you wash out a boiler without a force pump? Oh, yes! You can do it just like some people do business. But I started out to tell you how to keep your boiler clean, and the way to do it is to wash it out, and the way to wash it out is with a good force pump. There are a number of good pumps made, especially for threshing engines. They are fitted to the tank for lifting water for filling, and are fitted with a discharge hose and nozzle.

You will find at the bottom of boiler one or two hand hole plates-if your boiler has a water bottom-if not, they will be found at the bottom of sides of firebox. Take out these hand hole plates. You will also find another plate near the top, on firebox end of boiler; take this out, then open up smoke box door and you will find another hand hole plate or plug near lower row of tubes; take this out, and you are ready for your water works, and you want to use them vigorously; don't throw in a few buckets of water, but continue to direct the nozzle to every part of the boiler, and don't stop as long as there is any muddy water flowing at the bottom hand holes. This is the way to clean your boiler, and don't think that you can be a success as an engineer without this process, and once a week is none too often. If you want satisfactory results from your engine, you must keep a clean boiler, and to keep it clean requires care and labor. If you neglect it you can expect trouble. If you blow out your boiler hot, or if the mud and slush bakes on the tubes, there is soon a scale formed on the tubes, which decreases the boiler's evaporating capacity. You, therefore, in order to make sufficient amount of steam, must increase the amount of fuel, which of itself is a source of expense, to say nothing of extra labor and the danger of causing the tubes to leak from the increased heat you must produce in the firebox in order to make steam sufficient to do the work.

You must not expect economy of fuel, and keep a dirty boiler, and don't condemn a boiler because of hard firing until you know it is clean, and don't say it is clean when it can be shown to be half full of mud.

SCALE

Advertis.e.m.e.nts say that certain compounds will prevent scale on boilers, and I think they tell the truth, as far as they go; but they don't say what the result may be on iron. I will not advise the use of any of these preparations, for several reasons. In the first place, certain chemicals will successfully remove the scale formed by water charged with bicarbonate of lime, and have no effect on water charged with sulphate of lime. Some kinds of bark-summac, logwood, etc.,-are sufficient to remove the scale from water charged with magnesia or carbonate of lime, but they are injurious to the iron owing to the tannic acid with which they are charged. Vinegar, rotten apples, slop, etc., owing to their containing acetic acid, will remove scale, but this is even more injurious to the iron than the barks. Alkalies of any kind, such as soda, will be found good in water containing sulphate of lime, by converting it into a carbonate and thereby forming a soft scale, which is easily washed out; but these have their objections, for, when used to excess, they cause foaming.

Petroleum is not a bad thing in water where sulphate of lime prevails; but you should use only the refined, as crude oil sometimes helps to form a very injurious scale. Carbonate of soda and corn-starch have been recommended as a scale preventative, and I am inclined to think they are as good as anything, but as we are out in the country most of the time I can tell you of a simple little thing that will answer the same purpose, and can usually be had with little trouble. Every Monday morning just dump a hatful of potatoes into your boiler, and Sat.u.r.day night wash the boiler out, as I have already suggested, and when the fall's run is over there will not be much scale in the boiler.

CLEAN FLUES.

We have been urging you to keep your boiler clean. Now, to get the best results from your fuel, it will also be necessary to keep your flues clean; as soot and ashes are non-conductors of heat, you will find it very difficult to get up steam with a coating of soot in your tubes.

Most factories furnish with each engine a flue cleaner and rod. This cleaner should be made to fit the tubes snug, and should be forced through each separate tube every morning before building a fire. Some engineers never touch their flues with a cleaner, but when they choke the exhaust sufficiently to create such a draught as to clean the flues, they are working the engine at a great disadvantage, besides being much more liable to pull the fire out at the top of smokestack. If it were not necessary to create draught by reducing your exhaust nozzle, your engine would run much nicer and be much more powerful if your nozzle was not reduced at all. However, you must reduce it sufficiently to give draught, but don't impair the power by making the engine clean its own flues. I think ninety per cent of the fires started by. traction engines can be traced to the engineer having his engine choked at the exhaust nozzle. This is dangerous for the reason that the excessive draught created throws fire out at the stack. It cuts the power of the engine by creating back pressure. We will ill.u.s.trate this: Suppose you close the exhaust entirely, and the engine would not turn itself. If this is true, you can readily understand that partly closing it will weaken it to a certain extent. So, remember that the nozzle has something to do with the power of the engine, and you can see why the fellow that makes his engine clean its own flues is not the brightest engineer in the world.

While it is not my intention to encourage the foolish habit of pulling engines, to see which is the best puller, should you get into this kind of a test, you will show the other fellow a trick by dropping the exhaust nozzle off entirely, and no one need know it. Your engine will not appear to be making any effort, either, in making the pull. Many a test has been won more through the shrewdness of the operator than the superiority of the engine.

The knowing of this little trick may also help you out of a bad hole some time when you want a little extra power. And this brings us to the point to which I want you to pay special attention. The majority of engineers, when they want a little extra power, give the safety valve a twist.

Now, I have already told you to carry a good head of steam, anywhere from 100 to 120 pounds of steam is good pressure and is plenty, and if you have your valve set to blow off at 115, let it be there; and don't screw it down every time you want more power, for if you do you will soon have it up to I25, and should you want more steam at some other time you will find yourself s.c.r.e.w.i.n.g it down again, and what was really intended for a safety valve loses all its virtue as a safety, as far as you and those around you are concerned. If you know you have a good boiler you are safe in setting it at I25 pounds, provided you are determined to not set it up to any higher pressure. But my advice to you is that if your engine won't do the work required of it at 115 pounds, you had best do what you can with it until you can get a larger one.

A safety valve is exactly what its name implies, and there should be a heavy penalty for anyone taking that power away from it.

If you refuse to set your safety down at any time, it does not imply that you are afraid of your boiler, but rather you understand your business and realize your responsibility.

I stated before what you should do with the safety valve in starting a new engine. You should also attend to this part of it every few days.

See that it does not become slow to work. You should note the pressure every time it blows off; you know where it ought to blow off, so don't allow it to stick or hold the steam beyond this pressure. If you are careful about this, there is no danger about it sticking some time when you don't happen to be watching the gauge. The steam gauge will tell you when the pop ought to blow off, and you want to see that it does it.

PART FIVE _

STEAM GAUGE

Some engineers call a steam gauge a "clock." I suppose they do this because they think it tells them when it is time to throw in coal, and when it is time to quit, and when it is time for the safety valve to blow off. If that is what they think a steam gauge is for, I can tell them that it is time for them to learn differently.

It is true that in a certain sense it does tell the engineer when to do certain things, but not as a clock would tell the time of day. The office of a steam gauge is to enable you to read the pressure on your boiler at all times, the same as a scale will enable you to determine the weight of any object.

As this is the duty of the steam gauge, it is necessary that it be absolutely correct. By the use of an unreliable gauge you may become thoroughly bewildered, and in reality know nothing of what pressure you are carrying.

This will occur in about this way: Your steam gauge becomes weak, and if your safety is set at I00 pounds, it will show I00 or even more before the pop allows the steam to escape; or if the gauge becomes clogged, the pop may blow off when the gauge only shows go pounds or less. This latter is really more dangerous than the former. As you would most naturally conclude that your safety was getting weak, and about the first thing you would do would be to screw it down so that the gauge would show I00 before the pop would blow off, when in fact you would have I00 or more.

So you can see at once how important it is that your gauge and safety should work exactly together, and there is but one way to make certain of this, and that is to test your steam gauge. If you know the steam gauge is correct, you can make your safety valve agree with it; but never try to make it do it till you know the gauge is reliable.

HOW TO TEST A STEAM GAUGE

Take it off, and take it to some shop where there is a steam boiler in active use; have the engineer attach your gauge where it will receive the direct pressure, and if it shows the same as his gauge, it is reasonable to suppose that your gauge is correct. If the engineer to whom you take your gauge should say he thinks his gauge is weak, or a little strong, then go somewhere else. I have already told you that I did not want you to think anything about your engine-I want you to know it. However, should you find that your gauge shows when tested with another gauge, that it is weak, or unreliable in any way, you want to repair it at once, and the safest way is to get a new one; and yet I would advise you first to examine it and see if you cannot discover the trouble. It frequently happens that the pointer becomes loosened on the journal or spindle, which attaches it to the mechanism that operates it.

If this is the trouble, it is easily remedied, but should the trouble prove to be in the spring, or the delicate mechanism, it would be much more satisfactory to get a new one.

In selecting a new gauge you will be better satisfied with a gauge having a double spring or tube, as they are less liable to freeze or become strained from a high pressure, and the double spring will not allow the needle or pointer to vibrate when subject to a shock or sudden increase of pressure, as with the single spring. A careful engineer will have nothing to do with a defective steam gauge or an unreliable safety valve. Some steam gauges are provided with a seal, and as long as this seal is not broken the factory will make it good.

FUSIBLE PLUG

We have told you about a safety valve, we will now have something to say of a safety plug. A safety, or fusible plug, is a hollow bra.s.s plug or bolt, screwed into the top crown sheet. The hole through the plug being filled with some soft metal that will fuse at a much less temperature than is required to burn iron. The heat from the firebox will have no effect on this fusible plug as long as the crown sheet is covered with water, but the moment that the water level falls below the top of the crown sheet, thereby exposing the plug, this soft metal is melted and runs out, allows the steam to rush down through the opening in the lug, putting out the fire and preventing any injury to the boiler. This all sounds very nice, but I am free to confess that I am not an advocate of a fusible plug. After telling you to never allow the water to get low, and then to say there is something to even make this allowable, sounds very much like the preacher who told his boy "never to go fishing on Sunday, but if he did go, to be sure and bring home the fish." I would have no objection to the safety plug if the engineer did not know it was there. I am aware that some states require that all engines be fitted with a fusible plug. I do not question their good intentions, but I do question their good judgment. It seems to me the are granting a license to carelessness. For instance, an engineer is running with a low gauge of water, owing possibly to the tank being delayed longer than usual, he knows the water is getting low, but he says to himself, "well, if the water gets too low I will only blow out the plug," and so he continues to run until the tank arrives. If the plug holds, he at once begins to pump in cold water, and most likely does it on a very hot sheet, which of itself, is something he never should do; and if the plug does blow out he is delayed a couple of hours, at least, before he can put in a new plug and get up steam again. Now suppose he had not had a soft plug (as they are sometimes called). He would have stopped before he had low water. He would not even have had a hot crown sheet, and would only have lost the time he waited on the tank. This is not a fancied circ.u.mstance by any means, for it happens every day. The engineer running an engine with a safety plug seldom stops for a load of water until he blows out the plug. It frequently happens that a fusible plug becomes corroded to such an extent that it will stand a heat sufficient to burn the iron. This is my greatest objection to it. The engineer continues to rely on it for safety, the same as if it were in perfect order, and the ultimate result is he burns or cracks his crown sheet. I have already stated that I have no objection to the plug, if the engineer did not know it was there, so if you must use one, attend to it, and every time you clean your boiler sc.r.a.pe the upper or water end of the plug with a knife, and be careful to remove any corrosive matter that may have collected on it, and then treat your boiler exactly as though there was no such a thing as a safety plug in it. A safety plug was not designed to let you run with any lower gauge of water. It is placed there to prevent injury to the boiler, in case of an accident or when, by some means, you might be deceived in your gauge of water, or if by mistake, a fire was started without any water in the boiler.

Should the plug melt out, it is necessary to replace it at once, or as soon as the heat will permit you to do so. It might be a saving of time to have an extra plug always ready, then all you have to do is to remove the melted one by uns.c.r.e.w.i.n.g it from the crown sheet and s.c.r.e.w.i.n.g the extra one in. But if you have no extra plug you must remove the first one and refill it with babbitt. You can do this by filling one end of the plug with wet clay and pouring the metal into the other end, and then pounding it down smooth to prevent any leaking. This done, you can screw the plug back into its place.

If you should have two plugs, as soon as you have melted out one replace it with the new one, and refill the other at your earliest convenience.

By the time you have replaced a fusible plug a few times in a hot boiler you will conclude it is better to keep water over your crown sheet.

LEAKY FLUES

What makes flues leak? I asked this question once, and the answer was that the flues were not large enough to fill up the hole in flue sheet.

This struck me as being funny at first, but on second thought I concluded it was about correct. Flues may leak from several causes, but usually it can be traced to the carelessness of some one. You may have noticed before this that I am inclined to blame a great many things to carelessness. Well, by the time you have run an engine a year or two you will conclude that I am not unjust in my suspicions. I do not blame engineers for everything, but I do say that they are responsible for a great many things which they endeavor to shift on to the manufacturer.

If the flues in a new boiler leak, it is evident that they were slighted by the boiler-maker; but should they run a season or part of a season before leaking, then it would indicate that the boiler-maker did his duty, but the engineer did not do his. He has been building too hot a fire to begin with, or has, been letting his fire door stand open; or he may have overtaxed his boiler; or else he has been blowing out his boiler when too hot; or has at some time blown out with some fire in firebox. Now, any one of these things, repeated a few times, will make the best of them leak. You have been advised already not to do these things, and if you do them, or any one of them, I want to know what better word there is to express it than "carelessness."

There are other things that will make your flues leak. Pumping cold water into a boiler with a low gauge of water will do it, if it does nothing more serious. Pouring cold water into a hot boiler will do it.

For instance, if for any reason you should blow out your boiler while in the field, and as you might be in a hurry to get to work, you would not let the iron cool, before beginning to refill. I have seen an engineer pour water into a boiler as soon as the escaping steam would admit it.

The flues cannot stand such treatment, as they are thinner than the sh.e.l.l or flue sheet, and therefore cool much quicker, and in contracting are drawn from the flue sheet, and as a matter of course must leak. A flue, when once started to leak, seldom stops without being set up, and one leaky flue will start others, and what are you going to do about it?

Are you going to send to a boiler shop and get a boilermaker to come out and fix them and pay him from forty to sixty cents an hour for doing it?

I don't know but that you must the first time, but if you are going to make a business of making your flues leak, you had best learn how to do it yourself. You can do it if you are not too big to get into the fire door. You should provide yourself with a flue expander and a calking tool, with a machinist's hammer, (not too heavy). Take into the firebox with you a piece of clean waste with which you will wipe off the ends of the flues and flue sheet to remove any soot or ashes that may have collected around them. After this is done you will force the expander into the flues driving it well up, in order to bring the shoulder of expander up snug against the head of the flue. Then drive the tapering pin into the expander. By driving the pin in too far you may spread the flue sufficient to crack it or you are more liable, by expanding too hard, to spread the hole in flue sheet and thereby loosen other flues.

You must be careful about this. When you think you have expanded sufficient, hit the pin a side blow in order to loosen it, and turn the expander about one-quarter of a turn, and drive it up as before; loosen up and continue to turn as before until you have made the entire circle of flues. Then remove the expander, and you are ready for your header or calking tool. It is best to expand all the flues that are leaking before beginning with the header.