Raising Steam
Potentiometer Control
Blower on
Marshall Chimney
Marshall Chimney
Spigot Unit
On
Durham Chimney
On
Durham Chimney
Fan Unit
With
Spigot unit fitted
With
Spigot unit fitted
Fan Unit
long extension tube on the engines own chimney this increase’s the draught through the fire, but this method can take some time to raise steam.
As can be seen I go against the steel boiler rule and use my fan unit on the Marshall the difference being I don’t force the boiler into steam, the fan motor speed is controlled through the potentiometer which has 0 to 12 volt range I adjust the speed just enough to clear the fire box of smoke when everything is cold, and as the boiler warms up the speed can be increased a little but never forcing the draught.
I put the fan on the chimney switch it on at slow speed and start my fire with paraffin soaked charcoal slowly building the fire up getting a good charcoal fire and the boiler starting to warm up before I start adding coal, by this time the pressure gauge needle may be moving off it’s stop, if you start adding coal to soon it may kill the fire, once there is about 20 to 30 lbs psi the fan can be taken off the chimney and the engines own steam blower can be turned on and bring the steam up to working pressure.
There is no hard and fast rule for getting the fire going it’s down to experience with your own engine, the above is how I fire up my engine which works for me, the main thing to remember when first lighting the fire is not to put the coal on until the fire is good and hot with wood or charcoal,
I use the fan unit on the Durham and NY but with the boiler being copper I can use a faster fan speed while raising steam.
As can be seen I go against the steel boiler rule and use my fan unit on the Marshall the difference being I don’t force the boiler into steam, the fan motor speed is controlled through the potentiometer which has 0 to 12 volt range I adjust the speed just enough to clear the fire box of smoke when everything is cold, and as the boiler warms up the speed can be increased a little but never forcing the draught.
I put the fan on the chimney switch it on at slow speed and start my fire with paraffin soaked charcoal slowly building the fire up getting a good charcoal fire and the boiler starting to warm up before I start adding coal, by this time the pressure gauge needle may be moving off it’s stop, if you start adding coal to soon it may kill the fire, once there is about 20 to 30 lbs psi the fan can be taken off the chimney and the engines own steam blower can be turned on and bring the steam up to working pressure.
There is no hard and fast rule for getting the fire going it’s down to experience with your own engine, the above is how I fire up my engine which works for me, the main thing to remember when first lighting the fire is not to put the coal on until the fire is good and hot with wood or charcoal,
I use the fan unit on the Durham and NY but with the boiler being copper I can use a faster fan speed while raising steam.
The Marshall has a steel boiler and shouldn’t be fan forced to get the fire going, with a steel boiler natural draught is used to get the fire going this means putting a
Spigot unit