06-08-2014, 05:12 AM
faraway Wrote:Would you keep an operational steam engine intentionally up and running for a certain time without access to feed water (tender) or would you shut down (no fire, no pressure in boiler) the engine in all cases before the tender becomes temporary unavailable?As the engine is not converting the steam to work, the water in the boiler would last for a longer period of time though without the tender there is no supply of fuel either. I stand to be corrected but I would suggest that the fire would be getting dumped fairly swiftly. Relighting the fire would be far cheaper than repairing a damaged boiler.
Cheers, the Bear.
"One difference between pessimists and optimists is that while pessimists are more often right, optimists have far more fun."