Y14 fails boiler test

Y14 to be withdrawn early from service following failed boiler test

The Society regret to report that the Y14 has been withdrawn from service before the expiry of its ten-year boiler certificate, and plans will be developed and finalised now as quickly as possible to organise the engine's full overhaul.

During a routine scheduled boiler test earlier this month an engineering surveyor identified a potential problem with a number of firebox side stays such that further examination and testing was required.

Keith Ashford, the Society’s Chief Mechanical Engineer followed up this report by arranging for the Head of BES's Special Services to come to Weybourne Sheds where they conducted further examination and testing which confirmed the likelihood of failures associated with these firebox stays. Recognising the potential impact of these defects it was agreed that an independent non destructive testing (NDT) specialist should attend at the Works, to measure the stay lengths using a calibrated ultra-sonic device.

The NNR engineering staff had already established that the suspect stays were made from monel metal, as were all of the side stays along the top rows on each side of the firebox, so a comparison of the measurement readings of the top stay rows would confirm one way or another if the five suspect stays had broken inside the water space.

The NDT Company undertook the measurement on 21st May and regrettably, their readings indicated a total of eight firebox stays significantly shorter than the rest

Given the number of stays that appear to be confirmed to have broken, and that stays on each side of the firebox are adjacent to each other, the boiler has to be considered a failure.

Given the amount of work that would be involved, and the cost to undertake the replacement of the defective stays, weighed against the time remaining on the ten-year boiler certificate, which expires in July this year, it is not considered a viable proposition to carry out a repair.