Barrett Lives - steam car boiler stabilises at 1500 psi

Barrett Steam Car being fired, and making steam pressure (1500 psi) for the first time since Greg Walker (UK) acquired the vehicle from the estate of Peter Barrett (CA, USA).

Category:

Autos & Vehicles

Tags:

• Barrett
• Steam
• Car
• Greg
• Walker
• monotube
• boiler
• VW
• SACA
• SCCGB

[AngryVGFur]

So the steam generator's essentially like that of the later Doble steamers? Now that's classy

[rtdgreg]

@AngryVGFur yes, very similar. Tubing is stainess finned tubing - half inch outside diameter. I think Doble uses soft iron, about one inch OD, but much thicker side wall.

The fin tube gives a much greater surface area per unit volume. Barrett gets a 300 kilowatt heat exchanger into about one cubic foot. Doble gets an 800 kilowatt heat exchanger into about ten.

There's quite a lot of anecdotal evidence that stainless is not such good material - tends to pin hole leaks springing out.

[fernandesilyt]

What''s the type of your boiler?

[rtdgreg]

Some would argue it's not a boiler, it is a steam generator. It is of monotube construction, consisting of about ten layers of spiral pancake coils. The lower ones are 10mm, the upper ones are 12mm fintube - the fins reaching out to 25mm. All stainless steel. Total enclosed volume - about a litre. Fire is at the top. Down draft exhaust gases - driven by electric blower. Water enters at the bottom. Steam delivered at the top.

[galinneall]

Nice vid! The on-screen comments are a good touch. It looks like you started the fuel supply at around 0:20 and began steaming at 1:20, so you've got pressure after about one minute? Was the water pre-heated, or did you use a pilot light of some kind?

[NOBOX7]

i just read the title does this mean you

did not build i thought you were mr barret

eather way great vid and thanks for the responce to my comment

[NOBOX7]

very cool set up i live for complex set ups like this and 1500psi wow ,,your a brave man how many inches thick is that boiler

,lol ,you probly have a tube system for pressure that high despite the apperance

of the tank ,nice work it must be like operating a space ship or flying a harier jumpjet lol, im not nocking your work

im refuring to the complexity of the controls of a set up like that,,, i love it ,,,