The header tank on my roadster condenser has a crudely welded area so I decided to take it apart get it vapour degreased and have it rewelded.
A simple job which rapidly became un simple.
A tool that fits between the top and bottom tanks to press a slotted screw driver bit into the slot on the quarter UNF screws finally let me get the nuts off.
Almost completely filling the top header tank was a large amount (quarter filled a 2 gallon bucket) of soft rubber from a flexible hose.
I've now taken the bottom tank off and am in full clean mode.
I have of course more questions.

Does any one have a bottom elbow I can purchase or alternatively drawings so I can CNC one?

Any recommendations for flexible tubing to hook up the exhaust steam pipes?

What is recommended paint or colour for the header tanks? Mine appear to be black over green chromate primer .

Thanks in advance
Mark



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/19/2015 05:39AM by Marksteamnz.

Just the luck,,,found condenser pipe an' elbow,,,,
But its for the top,,
Along with 4' of pipe an welded elbow for the bottom,zig-zag,,,
NO condenser forging/fitting
All for now,,,Ben

Yep I've got the top cast elbow and pipe. As the bottom condenser tank has a threaded hole inside I assume it had an elbow with a drilled retaining boss just like the top elbow.
It's not a major as there is another 740 a couple of hours away I can have a look at and take some measurements from.

Cheers
Mark

The condenser bottom header has 2 recesses cast into it round the threaded mooting holes, for a flexible bush I assume. Mine was missing the bush, with the header hard mounted to the folded steel bar mount. The 735 I've visited has the same header and support but there is a ?rubber? disk visible as an isolator. The owner doesn't know what the material is.
Any suggestions recommendations.
Thanks in advance
Mark

On my 1922 735's bottom tank, there was (just sold the car) an elbow mounted about in the center of the back side of the bottom tank. It was pulled up tight agaist the bottom tank with a capscrew. The connection was sealed with a gasket that fit very well. I think the gasket was made of an asbestos gasket material. It never leaked. There really isn't much pressure at the bottom of the condenser. You should have a slight vacuum at that point if everything is operating correctly.

I think we are talking about the mounting to the chassis cross member.
I made a rubber washer about 2mm thicker than the recess in the bottom header, followed by a larger washer also about 2mm thick. I presume that originally they had a moulded rubber bushing with these steps. Below the cross member I put a app 2mm rubber washer plus a steel washer followed by the castellated nut which I tightened moderately and alligned with the hole for the split pin..

BR
Mikkel, Denmark

While being in this topic... My condenser - although fitted to my 1919 735 - seems to be the 740 model. The bottom outlet is placed in the far left side. And the fitting used to connect to it is obviously not anything original.

Can somebody help me with a picture or description of the original outlet fitting?

Best regards
Mikkel, Denmark

Hear are a few photos of the bottom of my condenser on my 1920 735 as I got it before I installed a new boiler.
Rolly

Sorry better to put a picture up than rely on my messy descriptions. This is the bottom header underside with the casting numbers and the recesses for the rubber bushes i was asking about.
Regards
Mark

In this view you can see the bottom of my 735 condensers. It’s not something one normally takes a photo off.
Rolly

Rolly,

Curious here - Whats the big brass tee valve? Screen? Thanks!

Jared

Jared
When I first got the car I wanted to clean the water tank and condenser of oil. I had a 250 PSI rated steam hose I used to steam clean my boat boilers. I removed the water level gauge from the Water Tank and the piping between the bottom of the condenser to the tank and steam cleaned the inside of the tank. I also used a solvent in the condenser and removed all oil. After doing this I wanted a way to clean the condenser without draining solvent back into the tank. What you see is the bottom of a 1-1/2 three-way valve, one way it goes to the water tank, the other way to a drain valve so I could drain and clean the condenser any time with out a lot of work and blocking solvent back to the water tank.
Shortly after about a year I switched to using Mobil one 634 synthetic gear oil instead of steam cylinder oil. It’s an ISO 460 oil same as the steam cylinder oil. I never had to clean my condenser again.
Rolly

Hey Rolly,

I am very curious about that Mobil One 634 synthetic gear oil.

When it gets to the feed water tank, does it rapidly separate from the water and then float on top, thus escaping the feed pump inlet?

Has your water millage, that is condensation efficiency, decreased, remained the same or improved with the Mobil One oil as compared to the more standard steam cylinder oil?

Likewise, I have heard that the engine runs better with the Mobil One synthetic gear oil, have you found this to be the case?

One last question, have you tried to recover the oil off the top of the water tank and reuse it?

Pardon all of the questions, but I have heard rumblings for years about said oil and am curious about how well it really works.

Caleb Ramsby

Caleb.
634 synthetic separates almost instantly from the water. Floats on top of the water in the tank. Fill the tank before it gets two low and you will never get it into the pumps and boiler.
I did not run the car all that much before I changed over to the Derr boiler maybe one or two short tours, the original boiler had many tubes plugs, it was an original welded steel tube boiler. I can’t say weather the water mileage improved or not but the condenser was very clean.
I still use 634 in my 1906 EX with no problem. When I first started running my EX I went back to Steam cylinder oil as I had 10 Gal on hand, but the pump and small 3/16 oil line gave me a lot of trouble. I broke a valve rod on my first tour. No oil. I switched back to the 634 and have had no problems since. It’ pumps through the lines a lot easer.
Recovering the oil I never tried.
If your running a condensing car it will never get oil into the boiler. I don’t think you will notice any difference other then a clean condenser and boiler. The only problem is you can’t see it in the winker. Brent Campbell started using it and added a die to darken it so it showed up in the winker. My 1906 EX has no winker, I never added one. I think the first one came out in 08. [www.stanleysteamers.com]

Rolly

Hey Rolly,

Thank you ever so much for answering all of my questions.

Likewise, thank you for the winker and "pump-ability" information.

Caleb Ramsby