Misfit sailor
What boiler did you find that supplied enough steam for you P8 engine? I found my original Victorial [Krick could not run the engine at a good steady speed for long.]
I hope you found a good replacement boiler you can direct me to?
Regards Woody [Alex Wood]

Hi Sailor,

I have justy recieved my #8 Vtwin from PM research. Did you get a suitable boat, what about a flywheel and coupling?.

Misfit
I had the good fortune of meeting a steamer at boat meeting in Hamilton Ontario who gave me his first boiler he had ever made minus fittings, I purchased fittings from PM Research ie.
safety valve, water glasss and pressure gauge. The boiler has 13 tubes like the PM boiler ,my Krick burner was not up to the task but after much thought I tried using esbit fuel 4-5 tablets, it raised 30 psi pressure for about 15-20 min. on the test table. When attemptig to put it in the boat I had to raise the boiler a couple of inches. I thought I could get a 3" copper coupling but at $39.00 it was out of the question. After consuming a tin of peaches I cut the tin to the size I needed the tray for the esbit fuel was another tin of snack size pinapple inverted over a different tin that was placed over the original bolt that held the Krick burner. I am now awaiting spring thaw to test it on the lake. Woody

ive been away from this boat for some time. here is an update.

So I started to build the boilers today. Lee came over with a boat and some beer. He is going to be doing some painting.

Check out this site, my father made the engine, boiler and the tug. The speed and reverse of the steam engine (and model tug)is controlled by a variable pitch propeller that he also made, as it very difficult to control the speed of a single cylinder steam engine and impossible to make it go in reverse. A single cylinder steam engine will not self start, requiring the engine to be started on shore and continue to run for the entire time the model is being sailed.

http://steamtug.orcon.net.nz/

Unfortunately dad has had problems with eyes and can't see as well as did so is no longer able to drive.(he is now 83) We take him and the steam tug out for a sail from time to time.

Cheers

David

Hi all, old thread huh...I too am thinking of steam.I was suprized to see a few others considering a sternwheeled paddleboat steamer build. The actual building of such a vessell seems well within my abilities BUT...I'm no sailor! I don't know what it takes to properly float a boat. I was reading the boards at that UK Paddleducks site,and it seems a few of those guys don't recommend the tall riverboats as a viable powered model.They say the slightest breeze will roll 'er over[X(]even with proper ballasting!AWWW MAN...what a bummer!Can anybody here tell me it ain't so...PLEASE tell me it ain't so! I've been dreamin' for years of chuggin' up the creek with black smoke pump smoke billowing from the stacks, fake caliopie(SP?)music tootling from the onboard speaker(fake whistle too, tweet tweet don't cut it),and oh... the lights at night!!!Have my riverboat dreams gone "bottom up[]?

Simple solution. Only run the sternwheeler in calm weather. It would look better than one fighting the wind. And at night the air generally calms down making for running with lights on. Get the center of gravity as low as possible, led shot works good for that. I used an iPod and a 3watt amplifier on my towboat for the sound of the horn and it works great.

Good luck

Sounds good! I have some experience ripping through the water with a V24,stepped deep V and the weather isn't a factor! A wide beamed, shallow draft( hope I'm using the correct terms) hull like on a river boat looks to be rather unforgiving.Being mostly a land lubber I would naturally only attemp sailing on the calmest of days. Truthfully my fascination is with the steam powerplant and the paddlewheel propultion.Maybe I should consider a more novice oriented platform?Any suggestions?

bluebrew

Here are a couple of video links to my towboat. You can hear the iPod play the horn sound. A towboat is alot easier to build than a sternwheeler and you can do more stuff with it like get pushy, but only when they need it. It is shallow draft but I have a large battery low in the hull for ballast.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=shl7J0drIXQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=28HaC65Va5g&feature=user

That horn is GREAT!!! Is the echo recorded or real? Are you running those nozzle things, sure steers nice. Very inspiring model! I'm still stuck on the sternwheeler thing and a nearby LHS has a Myrtle Corey in stock. Think I'll give it a try. It looks to be large enough for all the steam and radio gear if I modify the deck to keep everything low. Finding(and paying for) a good boiler will be the hard part I quess.In what way is a towboat easier to build?

The horn echo is recorded sound but it sounds like it is echoing off of the nearby buildings but it really is not.
It has two electric motors driving two Graupner Schottle drives. The drives swivel 180 degrees so the boat is very manuverable both forward and reverse.
Easier to build I think because of all the flat surfaces and 90 degree corners. Also not to scale so I could do anything I was capable of creating.

I think you should build a live steam sternwheeled paddleboat . just give your self some more with on the hull. ive seen 3 sternwheeled paddleboat and one side wheeler in my day and thay looked stable in the watter.

A steamer is on my list of boats I want to build eventually, but too many projects sitting in garage as of now!

Need to get them built first! [sm=red_smile.gif]

Rats...the Myrtle Corey at the LHS is gone! Quess I'll order one from Tower.Rglass,I was thinking about all the windows and railings on a riverboat...OH MY! I love to build things but that could get tedious. Didn't even consider all the rounded corners.At first I thought the Myrtle Corey was a bit "homely', but the more I look at it the more I like It. Hey benny2.0, glad to here you seen those stable boats with your own eyes! I'm gonna quit worrying about it. They wouldn't market these kits if they rolled over would they.(or would they?) I can't lay-up my own hulls so I'll have to make do with OE. Just have to keep the heavy stuff LOW!

benny???
what is the make of those 2 cyl. engines?
Are they TVR1As?
if not then where can I get one? and how much?

They certainly are TVR1A from Graham Industries.

yes TVr1A. Go to http://www.theengineshop.net/engines.shtml
That is where i got my two.

ok one more question...
Im going to purchase the same TVR1A engine but how do you control steam pressure via servo for the forwards and reverse speed?
I know that the forwards and reverse is switched with one servo but how does that work for speed?

You have to install a separate steam valve on the pipe connecting boiler and engine. There are such valves with a lever instead of a wheel, so they are suitable for rc control.

I figured that out already thanks but my problem is trying to find one.
what are they called?
steam control valves
purge valves
throttle valves
and who sells them?
????????????????

The reversing valve setup on the TRV1a does more than change the direction of rotation, it also gives variable throttling. One servo does it all.

Theres one in every crowd.
Someone who thinks he knows everything.

I reread the operating instructions again and it says....
one servo to control the steam supply BY A VALVE and to act as a throttle.
The second servo is used to reverse the engine.

It also states
"the reversing lever is NOT intended as a speed control, but CAN be used to increase efficiency when running with a light load"

SO I will ask again
What is this valve called? and where can I get one?

PLEASE if you dont know then dont say!!!
ONLY intellagent answers please!!!

All right, I've found you one which is exactly meant as a speed throttle for R/C:
http://www.bengs-modellbau.de/assets...-modellbau.de/
Sorry, website is in German. I don't know American websites to sell such stuff.
If you need help, let me know.

I have a Chedder Puffin Verticle two cylinder steam engine and one servo is all that is needed to control both direction and speed. Speed in both forward and reverse. The way they do it is by meens of little ports in the engine. That is all I know about it. If you really want to control speed and direction for hours at a time then go electric. Clean, quiet, and smoooooooth.[sm=wink_smile.gif]