At 06:03 PM 8/20/01 +0100, you wrote:
>In the UK we have to have any boiler with a working pressure of 30psi
>& over, & a capacity of over 1 UK pint tested every two years for our public
>liability insurance,
Small scale live steamers should be aware that in the U.S. many
(but not all) state boiler codes (laws), most of which are based either
entirely or in part upon the A.S.M.E. Standards for Pressure Vessels,
contain clauses which exclude boilers below a certain volume or grate area
from compliance with state regulation or having to be built to "code"
standards. (A copper boiler cannot be "code" no matter how it's built.)
The majority of these exclusions were negotiated by large scale live steam
clubs to make running miniature (read "model") boilers legal. (The
A.S.M.E. definition of "miniature boiler" and our meaning of the term are
different.) Those model boilers which can be built to "code" (steel) are,
those which can't (copper) are in most cases excluded. Based upon
this, garden gauge boilers in the U.S. will almost certainly be excluded
and there is not as yet, as far as I know, a hard connection between
testing and certification and insurability in the U.S. There will probably
come a time when changes in our society will force more strict and
comprehensive regulation upon us, but for the moment we have our cake and
can eat it too, that is why some of us feel it's important to preserve our
record of 100% safety.
Cheers,
Harry
