DEVICE FOR THAWING PIPES BY STEAM.

DEVICE FOR THAWING PIPES BY STEAM.

During the past winter a great deal of inconvenience and expense have been caused by the freezing of hydrants and service pipes. The unusual length and constancy of the cold weather was a continual source of trouble to the watertaker and superintendent alike. In some Eastern and Northwestern places, daily reports were received of the difficulties experienced of keeping hydrants and pipes thawed out, and the consequent expense of doing the work. In one Eastern town a subscriber wrote, stating that he paid $23 for having the service pipe of his house thawed by an electrical contrivance and that others in his town had to toe the same line or let the pipes burst. In Manchester, N. H., much trouble was experienced with frozen pipes, as the thermometer in that city kept a record of nearly four months of continuous freezing. As C. K. Walker, superintendent of waterworks there, could not find a suitable device in the market for thawing out the services, he had a special apparatus constructed, which performed the work in a most satisfactory manner. As the accompanying illustration shows, the machine consists of a vertical boiler mounted in an iron frame, with iron axles, on four wheels, arranged to be drawn by one or two horses. The boiler is of ample capacity to furnish steam for the required purpose, is twenty-seven inches outside diameter, forty-six inches in length, with 121 one and one-halfinch tubes, twenty-six inches long. It is covered with asbestos and wood lagging, and sheathed with planished iron. The top is fitted with a suitable smokestack. The boiler is fitted with firedoor and grates, steam gauge, gaugecocks, safety valve and injector. There are also fuel boxes on each side under the back axle. There is a water tank of sufficient capacity to furnish the water required for the boiler. Arrangement is made for a seat for the driver, with tool box underneath. The machine is also supplied with steam valves and connection to the hose for thawing out purposes. It has likewise one two-inch and one three-quarter-inch ejector, with suitable suction hose and foot-valve for lifting water out of trenches, when required. The total weight of the machine in running order is about 3.435 pounds.

During the past winter a great deal of inconvenience and expense have been caused by the freezing of hydrants and service pipes. The unusual length and constancy of the cold weather was a continual source of trouble to the watertaker and superintendent alike. In some Eastern and Northwestern places, daily reports were received of the difficulties experienced of keeping hydrants and pipes thawed out, and the consequent expense of doing the work. In one Eastern town a subscriber wrote, stating that he paid $23 for having the service pipe of his house thawed by an electrical contrivance and that others in his town had to toe the same line or let the pipes burst. In Manchester, N. H., much trouble was experienced with frozen pipes, as the thermometer in that city kept a record of nearly four months of continuous freezing. As C. K. Walker, superintendent of waterworks there, could not find a suitable device in the market for thawing out the services, he had a special apparatus constructed, which performed the work in a most satisfactory manner. As the accompanying illustration shows, the machine consists of a vertical boiler mounted in an iron frame, with iron axles, on four wheels, arranged to be drawn by one or two horses. The boiler is of ample capacity to furnish steam for the required purpose, is twenty-seven inches outside diameter, forty-six inches in length, with 121 one and one-halfinch tubes, twenty-six inches long. It is covered with asbestos and wood lagging, and sheathed with planished iron. The top is fitted with a suitable smokestack. The boiler is fitted with firedoor and grates, steam gauge, gaugecocks, safety valve and injector. There are also fuel boxes on each side under the back axle. There is a water tank of sufficient capacity to furnish the water required for the boiler. Arrangement is made for a seat for the driver, with tool box underneath. The machine is also supplied with steam valves and connection to the hose for thawing out purposes. It has likewise one two-inch and one three-quarter-inch ejector, with suitable suction hose and foot-valve for lifting water out of trenches, when required. The total weight of the machine in running order is about 3.435 pounds.