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[Terry]

Hello all.
I have an old steamboat, a Modeen African Queen. It is in good working order, no steam leaks etc. but fails to generate much steam.
It has a meths burner which seems to be very reliant on the wicks being 100% correctly set. My question is would it be Ok to use camping stove, or Mamod, type tablets under a Copper boiler?


Cheers, Terry.

[AlexC]

Hi Terry,
 
Yes you can use tablet fuel providing you place it in a suitable container... with a raised lip all round.
Whether it will provide more heat, than Meths, is arguable... but certainly worth trying and is easier than wick trimming.
 
You could also use a smalll round ceramic gas burner which will provide considerably more heat than either of the above.
 
You state that it is a very old unit... so may have a build up of calcium/limescale inside, which will severely restrict the transfer of heat to the water. This would be more likely if the boiler had been used with hard tapwater.
 
It may be worth filling the boiler with some 'Steam Iron' descaler (preferably hot) and allow to stand for a few hours... empty and rinse well... then fill with filtered rainwater or distilled water and try steaming it again.
 
Hope this helps.
 
Best regards.
 
AlexC.

[Terry]

Hi Alex,


thanks for the reply. You could be right about the calcium build up. Will follow your advice.


Cheers, Terry.

[Circlip]

Citric acid Alex?
 
  Regards  Ian.

[AlexC]

Hi ,
 
Ian,   Yes ... Citric acid would work if you use a saturated solution... I suggested 'Steam Iron' descaler as it may be more readily available where Terry is.
 
Either will do... you could even use Sulphuric Acid... but that's dodgy stuff .
 
Keep happy.
 
AlexC

[Circlip]

H2So4 + Ca  = CaSo4 + H2
 
  Suggested Citric acid as it's possible to speed up the reaction by applying the burner underneath the boiler, bit violent (even for old school like me) using the "Good" stuff         
 
  Regards  Ian.
 
  NOT with any pipes  connected, allow the contents to freely gas and keep topping up as joints may be soft soldered.

[kiwimodeller]

If de-scaling does not solve the problem and you decide to convert to a more modern burner system have a look at these http://www.forest-classics.co.uk/ceramic_burners.htm . There are a variety of sizes of ceramic burner available to convert older boilers to running on gas, just be careful that they do not work so well that you run out of water in the boiler quicker than you expect. Hope this helps, Ian.

[pettyofficernick]

If de-scaling does not solve the problem and you decide to convert to a more modern burner system have a look at these http://www.forest-classics.co.uk/ceramic_burners.htm . There are a variety of sizes of ceramic burner available to convert older boilers to running on gas, just be careful that they do not work so well that you run out of water in the boiler quicker than you expect. Hope this helps, Ian.

Kiwi beat me to it there, give the goog people at Forest Classics a ring, they are very helpfull and I an sure they will come up with a suitable burner for you. They aldo do a variety od solid fuel burners as well....

[hammer]

Citric acid obtainable from any shop with home brewing interests. 

[Gerardy]

Hey guy I want to know have you got your problem resoled?