Just put in a replacement oil boiler in my house. The old unit is a RSA110 -- welded steel -- which has suffered from a puffback, causing a few leaks in the sheet metal components (i.e. flue hood), and extensive destruction of the combustion chamber refractory. But it still heated the house for a few (watchful) days, till the new unit arrived.
I was thinking of a few ceremonial funerals for this before relegating the (parts) to the trashman. The idea I'm stuck on is:
- Fill boiler 3/4 or so full of water.
- Plug / cap every opening to the boiler, incl relief valve.
- Get a really long extension cord and a position > 200' away from people or structures in a large backyard.
- Feed it a 1/2 gallon or so pail of #2 FO.
- Plug it in and enjoy a few beers (behind large trees! ) while theorizing on what will happen next.
Whatd'yall think will happen? I see the boiler blowing a welded seam at an incredibly high temperature and pressure. Then the superheated water will flash into vapor. Spectacular noise, large white puffball, and airborne boiler. I suppose there are other less fun failure modes, such as orfice-like small leak that creates a 3 minute steam whistle, or the such.
Anyone know of this being done before? What results?
We've also contemplated the idea of a dry-run till it melts / ignites, but that is not sounding quite as dramatic (i.e. loud).
It's been a while since I had fun like this. I'll post the you-tube link when complete! T