Remember those $600hammers and $1000 dollar toilet seats helped fund black projects.... SR 71 comes to mind! rpby ron parola - SteamStuff
It might be worthwhile to check out Ricardo's steam engine and ALUMINUM boiler, he too was looking to make up a alternate prime mover that would be cost effective to build. It wasn't. cheers rpby ron parola - SteamStuff
OK, got my pipes and got my coils wound, BUT... I was thinkin' ( yeah I know, bad idea). Since there is a lot of free space within the coil clusters has anyone put vertical tubes within them? With 18 coils there is room for 6.3 sq ft of tubing in just one of the open areas of the coils, ASSUMING you could even assemble such a thing. Any thoughts on that, or would having coils ten feet long and verby ron parola - SteamStuff
The reason I was asking here rather than the boat site is I figured more car people are into Ofeldts than boaty types and there's not much activity on the boat half. And as to why steel vs copper; right now I'm looking for the main drum, copper in 6 or 8in sizes thick enough for a running pressure of 150 psi is even HARDER to get a hold of and as the central drum is a downcomer thermal conductivitby ron parola - SteamStuff
Well all I can find in McMaster is only up to 2in, darn it. And as far as flame impingement on center drum; I'm now using a Lune valley burner which does leave a "hole" in the center of the fire so a small shield would be pretty much all I need. Thanks rpby ron parola - SteamStuff
Ok gents, winters here... it's RAINING!, in Calif!! So thoughts are turning to an indoor project; new boat boiler. I thinking to replace my 40 sq ft vft with an Ofeldt type for two main reasons; faster steamup and to lower my CG which with a canopy and rear cabin is REALLY high. My question is; are there any suppliers that sell small quantities of A-106, 6 or 8 in od, at reasonable prices? Yeah nby ron parola - SteamStuff
Well I don't really want to be a stick in the mud but Honda in the 80's and 90's with their Civic HF, OUTSIDE of California was EPAed at 63 mpg, a bit less in cal, I think 59ish. This was done with a LOT of fancy engineering ie; a CARB!, good engine design (single cam!) and weight savings. This variant alone had aluminum wheels, air filre housing, valve cover and other bits. So nothing trick, justby ron parola - SteamStuff