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 partition 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, trimming 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 partition. 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.