Tubes...leaking

[Emfinger]

I don't know it it can be done. as an oil eater can't enter from the grate..no grate. ??

[Emfinger]

Welded but some of the beads don't penetrate the sheet. That's the way it appears to me.
Denny

FYI none of the tube welds penetrate the sheet, smokebox or firebox end.
Tom

[cbrew]

FYI none of the tube welds penetrate the sheet, smokebox or firebox end.
Tom

this will likely prove to be a good think,

[milwiron]

Welded but some of the beads don't penetrate the sheet. That's the way it appears to me.
Denny

FYI none of the tube welds penetrate the sheet, smokebox or firebox end.
Tom

50 something tube ends welded and none of the welds penetrated the sheets!?
If it were me I'd get an experienced boiler maker's eyes on the entire boiler before going much further.
If the tubes are original I'd love to know if the same person welded the stays and the tube ends, probably never know. Hoping for the best!
Denny

[Emfinger]

Trust me there is zero penetration, I think they were rolled. None of the welds have evidence of start or finish no one welds that well. I'm going to plug that tube on both ends to see if others leak.
Tom

[Bill Shields]

See my earlier comment(s)

simply rolling the tubes will not 'flare' the ends over the face of the tube (at least in any rolling process i have seen / used)

[NP317]

On all four full-sized steam locomotive boilers I helped retube, we rolled the tubes into the sheet and then "beaded" (rolled over) each tube end with a special hook-shaped tool using an air hammer, until the bead touched the sheet. Then the firebox beaded tube ends were "seal welded" to the firebox sheet to prevent burning, especially from oil fires to prevent flame erosion.
A light re-roll made sure the tubes were sealed at the sheet.

The photo of the firebox tube ends seems to replicate that tube installation method, except no seal welding. The overlapping beads tell that story.
Interesting to see in a miniature boiler.
And I still can't say where the leak is coming from without inspecting the boiler myself. You get to determine that.
((-;
RussN

[Emfinger]

"inspecting the boiler myself" Come on down !

Tom

[Emfinger]

But what is vaguebooking?

In a nutshell, vaguebooking is any update on a social network that is intentionally vague. While you will see people vaguebooking on Twitter and Instagram, it's especially prevalent on Facebook. Which is where the name---a portmanteau of "vague" and the "book" from Facebook--- comes from.

Status updates which fall under the category of vaguebooking can be long or short, but most comprise just a few simple words. Regardless of the length they all have one thing in common... to elicit a response---any sort of response---from friends and followers.


I find this insulting.

[NP317]

I would be delighted to meet you in person, and inspect the boiler in question.
Unfortunately not in the cards for me.
Thank you for the invite!
RussN

[Emfinger]

Before you do anything else fill the boiler with water and let it sit overnight.

Why?

As much to stop and check this methodically as anything. Did you have water in it when you punched the tubes?
Or did you put water in after and it leaked out? Or did you hydro it?

Hello Marty, sorry about the long time to respond. I don't know how to drive this web site but I love it, and I hope to get better at it.

I'm 76 and don't recall too well. I just switched to this hobby on Aug 17th, 2019 when I took delivery of a Columbia 2-4-2 basket case that didn't have any connected plumbing. It's an oil eater without an installed burner or plumbing, the good news is that there was a new "Bagley Burner" in the bucket of bad parts. Everything was plugged or leaked. I sir have learned so much.

Back to your questions, It seems it had water in it and a little air pressure too. I ran the rod down one row at a time. Then I would blow from the firebox in direction of the smokebox. After awhile I noticed water in the smokebox then I noticed when blowing out the firebox water was going every witch way.

Turns out at least one tube was leaking. Yesterday I put a rod of 3/8" all-thread down the for sure leaking tube. I put a large rubber grommet on each end a washer and nut, a little pressure closing off that tube so I could test the others.

Managed to seal that one and up the air to 80 PSI no problem. There is a very small air leak that I have always had...I'm going after that SOB.

I can't even see the tubes from the firebox door, well a little with the use of a mirror. So there isn't any way to work on anything from that end.

I have an idea or seven but I don't know what my options are. In order to avoid the main problem for awhile I'm going to find that little SOB and repair it.

Well Marty you are up to date, thank you Sir.
Tom

[NP317]

Tom:
I recommend you locate your nearest live steam track and organization, join that group, and get some of their members to assist you getting your 2-4-2 back up and running.
That will be a most efficient way, and you will make new Live Steam Friends, and find new resources.
I found this particular hobby too complex and too safety conscious to attempt to do it alone.
Just my thoughts.
RussN