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TIL most boiler explosions in the 1800s were from low water, not high pressure
I was reading a history book on early steam power and it said over 70% of recorded explosions were due to low water levels causing the crown sheet to overheat. I always thought it was just pressure relief valves failing. Does anyone have old safety manuals that talk about this?
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jordan_webb495mo ago
Always blamed pressure valves myself.
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dakotal165mo ago
Know what you mean, @jordan_webb49, but pressure valves are usually a symptom, not the root cause. The real issue is often a bad pressure regulator letting the system pressure get too high in the first place. That's when the safety valves start popping off because they're doing their job.
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