Hi,

A group of volunteers has been doing work on 819 for the past month. They're at an obstacle, the boiler needs to be ultrasounded before any thing else can happen and they don't have the machine currently. There is a fundraiser going on right now for getting the machine.

http://friendsofthe819.com/fundraiser

I'm here to get the word out. I figured this would be a good place to start. I'm not affiliated with the group, I'm just the messenger. Apologies if there is topic about this already.

They can be leased pretty inexpensively......

dave

Seems they want to buy one for $2,500.

Not really strange. If you are planning on keeping the locomotive under service over a long time, you are going to be called to test the steel periodically. Owning your own tools is far more convenient and ready at hand when you need them, where you need them.
I expect we'll do the same.

A basic thickness UT machine costs in the $200 - $400 range. They are available including EBAY.

I am not sure exactly who or what arrived at the $2500 figure, about $1500 had been tossed around as the price that was paid for the original UT machine back in the late 90s. Supposedly it died and I mentioned we could most likely get a modern machine for what it would likely cost to repair the antique. I wanted to avoid the ebay chinese 'clone' machines and go for one that would be repairable.

The original UT readings vanished so there has been some push to get it done again so at least we're not further behind then 14 years ago. But I guess that is what they mean by 15 year inspection.....it takes 15 years?

Robert Longhofer
Project 819 volunteer

The next time you will need it (15 years, let's say) whatever UT machine you buy today will be long obsolete and much better machines will be available. You'll just have to buy one again, because by then, your 2014 machine may be so badly outdated that you can't even get parts or supplies for it.

..

Hi Guys, do you have a place to run the 819? Is UP letting you loose on the system? D

From the FAQ on 819 website:



Take a look at the steps in boiler certification. It would seem that a source of catastrophic failure is likely to be caught somewhere in the chain of steps.

Also, you say the readings "vanished", but most photos I see have the readings chalked on the boiler itself. Did someone go around and erase all the marks on the boiler?

Plus, honestly the "expensive" machine probably achieves a level of accuracy far beyond what is required for a boiler. I am guessing (comment here guys) that acceptable tolerance is +/- 0.002. I Googled a picture of Sierra 28 with ut marks, and its boiler plate is over half inch thick. There you are worried about half inch plate rusting to 3/8 inch plate, so even an inaccuracy of 0.010 inch (2% error) is probably still "safe" from an inspection point of view.

But just for argument, guys, what would happen if someone used a totally inaccurate machine, would FRA catch the error?

p.s. 819 has a lot of big expenses coming up. If you have a "fundraiser" now for the UT machine, what does that say about your next budget item? Are you going to fundraise individually for every purchase item? Look at NW 611. You really have to propose the whole budget and "fundraise" that.

Agreed.

If you want donors to give "Big", ask "Big".

If you "nickel and dime" your donor pool to death with repeated small donation requests, you risk having them start asking "didn't we just give you some money"?

So ask BIG, but let your donors know that every little bit helps, so as not to alienate the smaller donors.

Jeff

p.p.s.

This is a classic example that is seen too often on RYPN. Someone starts moving on a decision AND THEN comes here with an announcement or request for help. This board is full of really experienced people who quite frequently offer their advice freely and promptly (and are willing to back it up with their real name).

If you are out there contemplating some task, why not ask for guidance here first?

A lot of effort already went into 819's call for donations for the UT machine (website, public image), and here we are all picking it apart. That is a lot of wasted effort.

.

Would it not be possible to do a calibration check of any ultrasonic tester by using a piece of plate of known thickness as a gauge? Go find a piece of steel plate, clean the surface, mic it and then see if the UT's reading matches the micrometer reading. Every so often do another UT of the gauge plate and make sure that the tester is still reading properly.

The cheap testers on ebay are around $130 including shipping. Get a cheap one and use it until it no longer registers correctly, then replace it. If you are 12 feet off the ground and the machine slides off the running board and hits the floor exploding into a million pieces, its a lot easier to just do a "Buy it Now", pay $130 and have another one delivered than it is to try to explain how you just broke a $1500 piece of equipment that you had to mount a campaign to buy.

I'm going to buy one of the ebay cheapies for the J&L 58 project, and pull a piece of plate out of the scrap bin to use as a test gauge.

.