To superheat or not to superheat. That is the question...

[kipford]

This guy on Ebay makes superheaters for all scales. No idea if they are any good, but the price make it not worth making your own.
Superheaters

Dave

[darrene]

May 6, 2021 16:14:02 GMT kipford said:

This guy on Ebay makes superheaters for all scales. No idea if they are any good, but the price make it not worth making your own.
Superheaters

Dave

Thanks for the heads-up Dave. Yes, I'd spotted that listing and thought the same thing a couple of weeks back. No reply to the message I sent, sadly but they have good feedback.


Out of curiosity and because I know next to nothing about the subjecr, do the returns on the superheaters in those pictures look odd to you? They seem very pointed where I'd expect the elbow to be quite curved, to ease the passage of the steam...Perhaps it's just the welding which makes them appear that way?

Darren

[uuu]

Here's a link to Roger's Speedy thread, where he's welding his spear-point superheaters. Roger's thread

Wilf

[springcrocus]

Why don't you have a go at making your own? It's not that difficult if you choose the "return bend" type rather then the spear-point as there is no welding involved. Both Chris (coniston) and I covered making superheaters in our respective threads.

Chris's one starts HERE on page 6 of his A3 rebuild thread (page 7 of General Chat) and mine starts HERE on page 59 of my Britannia diary (page 13 of General Chat).

Both use 1/4" dia stainless steel tube and only need fixing to their respective header blocks.

Regards, Steve

[darrene]

Many thanks Wilf and Steve, I will spend some time digesting the threads tonight to understand what's involved. It sounds as though it could be a good job to tackle myself

[coniston]

May 6, 2021 16:14:02 GMT kipford said:

This guy on Ebay makes superheaters for all scales. No idea if they are any good, but the price make it not worth making your own.
Superheaters

Dave

I have bought three of these for my Super Simplex to be rebuilt sometime this year (maybe). They arrived within a respectable time and communication from seller was good. They do look to be of acceptable quality but as yet not made the assembly or fitted so no practical experience. I just thought for the price it was worth a punt.

Chris D

[darrene]

Thanks very much for the feedback Chris. I've dropped Andrew a link via his email address this time rather than ebays messaging system, to see what he quotes.

[smallbrother]

The guy has a 100% positive rating on Ebay which is always a good sign.

Pete.

[cplmickey]

May 10, 2021 9:10:50 GMT smallbrother said:

The guy has a 100% positive rating on Ebay which is always a good sign.

Pete.

I don't disagree Pete but I wonder how many of us (me included) give feedback based on speed of delivery or how nice the item appears long before actually trying it out. I've had several items where I've given positive feedback and then Ebay has asked me to rate an item and I think "hang on, I haven't even used it yet". Ian

[darrene]

That's very true. On a couple of occasions I've based my feedback on the transaction rather than the item itself when I haven't had a chance to evaluate it. Entirely my fault for an obsession with clearing emails, feedback, etc as soon as I can.

The feeback is a useful starting point though. I must admit I don't tend to consider sellers with less than 99.9% feedback or higher. In this sort of instance I try and get a feeling for the persons character through general communication. If I'm able to get a testimonial from previous customers so much the better.

It's ultimately a higher risk than approaching a company especially if the company comes recommended through word of mouth, but in other respects easier to evaluate feedback across all of their customer sales

I've established contact with Andrew from the eBay advert. He's based in Lincoln and is very approachable and helpful. His prices also seem extremely competitive. He's happy to supply a fully fitted superheater - The main Tig-welded superheater tubes along with the wet and dry headers silver soldered in copper to make fitment and removal more practical and with everything pressure-tested.

He can make the majority to spec and then build the connections to fit whilst I wait if the boiler and bottom end are delivered to him. Given he's only a couple of hours away, I may take him up on this service. I'm opting for full length spears but probably 4 larger diameter pipes rather than the 8 in the design. I don't really see the point in having more, smaller diameter tubes; it's going to increase cost and I can't see the four, full-length tubes not doing a good job.

The boiler isn't ready until Q4 this year so I'll expect to go and see about the superheater then. I'll be sure to report back with some pictures!

Darren