Help identifying this boiler possibly early stuart turner centre flue design?

[renners2025]

Good morning every one and thank you in advance for any help given.

I have recently joined this form for help in my builds and give support if i can in the future.

I bought a 5ft steam tramp cargo ship from eBay roughly 5 years ago in the hope to restore it and putting a steam plant in it, originally i was going to build one using my grandad’s lathe past down. however things have not panned out yet to get my workshop up and running. so i have recently bought a engine for the boat. and i was going to buy a new boiler etc.

Its worth mentioning when buying the boat the pictures were not great and i did not know it had a boiler already in side. i was told the boat was passed down though the sellers family and sold after the uncle passed away. Originally built around 1960s. as SS Magic, how ever the ship has different features so still doing some research on this.

Now we get to the identification of the steam boiler. it does not look to be home-made more manufactured and after doing some research on the internet i have found a page called "Stuart Turner steam.com" the tab "centre flue launch boiler" caught my eye. and was wondering if some one on here has any more information on these boilers and if this is indeed one of the boilers they made? as there is limited information i can find.

The dimensions of the boiler and gas tank.
Boiler length 17cm total including flue 23cm
diameter 9cm (more 3.5inch)
centre flue diameter 4cm (more 1.5inch)
I can see 6 tubes in side in a star configuration but there may be a 7th.
notes worth mentioning
the safety value looks to be of a early Stuart Turner design, the boiler feed inlet is in the right place for the Stuart Tuner centre flue design. however the pressure gauge is a Bassett Lowke 0 to 100

The gas tank.
diameter 6.5cm
lengh 10.5cm
notes worth mentioning the gas tank fittings look to be early Stuart Turner in design.

also came with a oil displacement lubricator again looks to be early Stuart Turner.

would I be to fit a modern day gas burner to it and use it in the boat? or would it be best to sell on and buy a new boiler with a pressure certificate. i am planning on useing a Stuart turner double D10 that has a water feed pump attached as well as forward and reverse lever fitted. (all ready purchased)

if anyone could shed some light on this boiler i would be grateful. i have also attached a picture of the boat, I do know Bassett Lowke did manufacture boats but i am doubtful this one of them, but still will be a great project when i finally get round to it.

Thank you.

 

[GreenTwin]

Welcome, glad to have you.
I am familiar with boilers, but not in miniature.
I would like to build a trawler one day, and run it on steam, or perhaps a small gas engine.

Perhaps someone will chime in with assistance.
.

 

[Jasonb]

My go to site for old stuart stuff is this one, certainly has the general layout of their ctr flue. Other boiler under the heading at the top of the page.

http://stuartturnersteam.com/Boilers/centreflue/centreflue.html

 

[Steamchick]

Hi Renners, and Welcome to the Madhouse - sorry - HMEM group.
I have no idea. Just guesswork. May be a Bassett Lowke complete model?
This link is to another model, attributed to B-L, with Stuart engine, boiler, etc. so it suggests yours may be similar?
https://www.charlesmillerltd.com/au...d-to-bassett-lowke-circa-1925/?lot=15565&sd=1
All I know from my own experience is that Stuart were very good at putting ST on all castings where practical. But with no engine, showing in your photos that is pure guesswork.
IF the boiler is copper, then it may be recoverable, but "Modern" certification usually requires known details of the original design, etc, so ORIGINAL marking. I.D. number, etc. on the boiler itself would be necessary. IF the boiler is Brass, then you are unlikely to get certification as Brass does corrode - De-zincifies - when left with water for a long time (a couple of decades will do). It looks like it may be silver soldered copper, but needs a good clean - maybe "oven cleaner" with a toothbrush, or other caustic can remove the "black" in the firetube, then a citric acid pickle to de-scale the copper so joints can be examined by eye? - An Ultra-sonic cleaning bath may also be very helpful! Of course this means paint has to be removed - paint stripper for this! Lots of rubber-glove and safety protection needed (eyes especially!) for all these chemicals and scrubbing!
UK Federation regulations changed in 2018, and recently I have had to add stays to a Stuart boiler as without historical documentation it had to be certified as a "new" boiler, and although Stuart sell them for 60 psi, the inspector insisted it be limited to 30psi NWP with new stays fitted, as the material thickness was inadequate for anything higher, according to our measurements and calculations, within the 2018 Federation rules. Of course, if the boat (Engine) needs higher than 30 psi to run you need a new(certified) boiler capable of more. Where are you in the UK?
Your local Boat club may help, as ours is full of "boys" who remember these models (and probable still have the odd one or more!) and can help identify stuff. Worth meeting them. But locally, to run steam plant on the pond, I needed to join my local Model Engineers, who mostly have and run steam locos etc. on a 1/4 mile track. The local boat club have no expertise or insurance for steam boats, but the M.E. club does. These clubs share the same boating lake, built for "the sons of Gentlemen to sail their model boats". ("a Gentleman is a man who is polite, well-educated, and has excellent manners." - We are all "sons of Gentlemen").
The fuel tank looks typical of tanks for pressurised paraffin feed for a "blowlamp" type burner. Nowadays these probably require a pressure gauge, and safety relief valve just the same as a boiler, so I should save the brass fittings and NOT USE the fuel tank. Modern practice is using a butane/propane burner and appropriate high pressure fuel tank. (A commercial certified tank is the sensible option! - And an appropriate burner from Stuart or other manufacturer.). You could of course "go electric" to sail the boat, but make sure it is watertight first!
The oiler looks good, but will probably need a clean (Paraffin or whatever you choose), as the remaining oil will have deteriorated with age. If the oil within has water entrained from its last run, then after decades the brass could have de-zincified... and crumble like a digestive biscuit! So check, check, check!
The pressure gauge and pressure relief valve on the boiler are probably OK, but will need a clean and re-checking/setting by the Boiler Inspector.
The water level gauge (glass) will probably be OK, unless brass has de-zincified, but the seals on the glass probably need replacing with new silicon rubber O-rings as seals.
Hope there is something useful here?
Cheers!
K2