Q88 
 
 QRIMGHAW 
 

 ^ DEPARTMENT OF 
 
 ass 
 
 IjXBT^AKY OX' 
 
 # University of Illinois. 
 
 # — 
 
 ^ Kooks arc* not to he* taken from tlic^ Library Room. 
 
 : sgr : 
 
The person charging this material is re- 
 sponsible for its return on or before the 
 Latest Date stamped below. 
 
 Theft, mutilation, and underlining of books 
 are reasons for disciplinary action and may 
 result in dismissal from the University. 
 
 University of Illinois Library 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 in 2017 with funding from 
 
 University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Alternates 
 
 https://archive.org/details/kitchenboilerwatOOgrim 
 
THE KITCHEN BOILEK 
 
 AND 
 
 WATEE PIPES. 
 
 A FEW WORDS ON 
 
 THEIR ARRANGEMENT AND MANAGEMENT ; 
 
 MORE ESPECIALLY 
 
 THEIE TREATMENT DURING FROST, AND HOW TO 
 AVOID EXPLOSIONS. 
 
 BY 
 
 H. GRIMSHAW, F.C.S., 
 
 LATE DEMONSTRATOR IN THE LABORATORY OP THE OWENS COLLEGE, MANCHESTER; ASSOCIATE 
 OF THE OWENS COLLEGE ; MEMBER OF THE MANCHESTER LIT. AND PHIL. SOC. ; 
 
 JUROR AT ANTWERP EXHIBITION, 1885. 
 
 SECOND EDITION. 
 
 E. & F. N. SPON, 125, STRAND, LONDON. 
 
 NEW YORK: 35, MURRAY STREET. 
 
 1887. 
 
THE KITCHEN BOILER 
 
 AND 
 
 ITS MANAGEMENT, 
 
 The kitchen boiler being so common a convenience 
 in these days of improved appliances, even in houses 
 of comparatively low rental, and the inconvenience, 
 not to say danger, attendant on any defect or dis- 
 arrangement of such a piece of apparatus, more 
 especially during the prevalence of frost, being so 
 universally acknowledged, the writer considers that 
 a few plain and simple instructions on the arrange- 
 ment and management of the boiler and its water 
 system, may be found of some utility. 
 
 Immediate reference to the accompanying diagram 
 will be the readiest way to make the reader ac- 
 quainted with the leading features of the hot and 
 cold water pipes of a house. The illustration repre- 
 sents a common and good, though not perfect, pipe 
 system in a house of modern erection. Let us 
 commence with the entrance of the water into the 
 premises. In the cellar or basement we find on that 
 side of the house nearest to the watermain in the 
 street, and therefore almost necessarily the front, a 
 
 i>, 2 
 
 \'b 
 
( 4 ) 
 
 lead pipe of tolerably large dimensions, which enters 
 through the wall at three or more feet below the 
 level of the ground outside. Three feet is the least 
 depth at which the water regulations allow pipes to 
 be laid, on account of the possibility of their being 
 affected by the frost at any less depth. On this 
 pipe, which we will call the supply pipe, is placed 
 close to the wall the stop tap, which serves to turn 
 on or off, that is, connect or disconnect the whole 
 system of pipes from the main. In badly arranged 
 houses it is sometimes the case that the only discon- 
 nection from the main is by turning off a stop tap 
 common to several houses, say a row or a portion 
 of a row, and in this case it is often placed outside. 
 This is an arrangement altogether to be condemned, 
 as involving delay in finding it, from its being 
 possibly buried in a garden or frozen up, and also 
 inconvenience to adjoining tenements should repair 
 or leakage render the turning off of the water of any 
 one house necessary. 
 
 Having made a long ‘^stop” at this particular 
 tap, we may proceed along the flow of the water 
 supply. The supply pipe proceeds in a more or less 
 direct line along the walls, imbedded in the plaster 
 thereof, to the kitchen, and upwards to the cold- 
 water cisterns at the top of the house. In the 
 diagram the pipes, &c., containing cold water are 
 coloured hluo, and the Ao^water • pipes red. The 
 branch from the supply to the cold-water tap at the 
 sink runs along above the ceiling, behind the flue of 
 
( 5 ) 
 
 the kitchen range. At the top of the house the 
 supply branches into two and feeds, by hall taps, the 
 main cistern on the right, and the small water-closet 
 cistern on the left. It is scarcely necessary to ex- 
 plain that the hall of these taps floating on, and 
 resting with the water, turns off the tap as soon as 
 the level reaches the overflow pipe, and vice versd. 
 With the small cistern containing the apparatus in 
 connection with the W.C., we need not concern our- 
 selves at present, and I merely mention that it 
 should for several reasons always he quite separate 
 from the main cistern. This latter-mentioned 
 cistern is the source from which runs the water to 
 every other part of the pipes represented in the 
 illustration, and the force of the descending column 
 of water in the pipe attached to the bottom of the 
 cistern, causes the rise of the water to any tap 
 below this level, the whole system, so long as there 
 is any water in this reservoir, being filled up to that 
 level, as is represented by the dotted line at the 
 water surface. The water from the cistern descends 
 in the first place directly to the cylinder. This is 
 invariably made of stout copper, and placed in as 
 near a place as possible to the kitchen fire, which 
 heats the boiler. The cylinder is connected at its 
 lower part with the boiler by means of two pipes, 
 which, like all previously mentioned, are made of 
 lead, whilst the boiler is of cast iron,* arched under- 
 neath. The cold water at the bottom of the cylin- 
 
 * See Appendix. 
 
( G ) 
 
 der flows to the boiler by the lower pipe, whilst after 
 it is heated, and therefore becomes lighter, it 
 returns through the upper pipe, the directions being 
 indicated by arrows on the diagram. The cold 
 water therefore constantly remains at the bottom of 
 the cylinder, and circulating through the boiler col- 
 lects at the upper portion of the cylinder where the 
 hot-water supply pipe, which, by its bfanches, feeds 
 all the hot-water taps in the house, is attached. In 
 the case we are considering these are simply the 
 hot-water tap over the kitchen sink and the hot- 
 water tap to the bath, but it will be understood that 
 the hot water would rise to a tap placed anywhere 
 below the level of the water in the cistern above. 
 The cold-water tap to the bath receives its supply 
 from the down pipe from the cistern. This is a 
 good arrangement, as a small supply of cold water 
 is ensured, in case anything should happen to stop 
 the tap on the pipe direct from the main. 
 
 The upper extremity of the red pipe in the 
 diagram is the safety pipe from the cylinder, up 
 which steam and a little water will escape when 
 the boiler is working too energetically, which is 
 generally indicated by a loud, bubbling, rumbling 
 noise in the cylinder, a noise which, by the way, 
 generally infects the servant maid with the convic- 
 tion that she is straightway about to be blown to 
 pieces. This too rapid boiling may be stayed by 
 cooling the cylinder by drawing at one of the taps 
 a couple of gallons of hot water. 
 

 
 7 
 
 
 
 
 '1 -i 
 
 
 
 V;. 
 
 \ 
 
 
 li : 
 
 ^r: 
 
 f ' * 
 
 • -‘ r' ;. / 
 
 '/■ - • • ,'■'. 
 
 1 - 
 
 \ 
 
 }. 
 
 tr V • 
 
 f' . 
 
 1 
 
 \ 
 
 P;.. 
 
 
 In-- 
 
 M 
 
m ^ 
 
 Old Fashioned and Dangerous arrangement 
 
 (Without Cylinder) 
 
 E&FjM S p on, London &Nev\^YorK . 
 
( 7 ) 
 
 This is perhaps the place to explain the use of the 
 cylinder. The object of this apparatus is to pre- 
 vent the water in connection with the boiler being 
 entirely drawn off or boiled away. It is a compara- 
 tively modern addition, and previously the water 
 descended directl}^ from the hot-imter cistern^ and ran 
 back through the boiler by another pipe to the 
 same hot-water cistern, which was placed alongside 
 the cold cistern, both often being placed outside the 
 house and connected together at the bottom of each 
 by a pipe. This old-fashioned dangerous plan is 
 illustrated on the adjoining page. In this arrange- 
 ment the hot and cold water cisterns could both by 
 carelessness or otherwise be drawn quite dry, and 
 no water but the small quantity in itself and the 
 pipes left to keep the boiler filled. Accidents then 
 commonly occurred through the boiler becoming dry, 
 then red hot, and suddenly, whilst in that state, re- 
 ceiving a portion of cold water which either cracked 
 it, or whose sudden expansion into steam exploded 
 it, fortunately generally the former. With such a 
 cylinder as has been described the boiler never can 
 be run dry, for the exit pipe from the cylinder being 
 at the top of the cylinder, it never can be emptied, 
 although the cistern may be entirely drawn^ofif. 
 The cylinder being full of water, the boiler will 
 not boil dry for several weeks if not fired very 
 heavily. 
 
 This much having been said on the arrangement 
 of the kitchen boiler and its pipes, we may have a 
 
( 8 ) 
 
 few words on their management. In the first place, 
 I may say that during the greater portion of the 
 year, spring, summer, and autumn, no “looking 
 after ” is required, or none to speak of, the arrange- 
 ment being automatic or self-acting. A tap may 
 stick a little or break, an overflow pipe become 
 stopped up, but nothing serious is ever likely to 
 occur requiring urgent attention if the fitting has 
 been done as it should be. Attention may be here 
 called to the desirability of avoiding the placing of 
 any kind of tap between the cistern and the cylin- 
 der, or between the cylinder and the outlet of the 
 safety pipe, as such taps are quite unnecessary, and 
 only serve to render a stoppage by an accumulation 
 of rust or dirt more likely to occur. Should, of 
 course, the two pipes just named become stopped by 
 such means there is just as much danger as if the 
 outlets were frozen. It is in the winter when King 
 Frost holds his revels and binds up the liquid water 
 into transparent ice, that terror and dismay and 
 unearthly noises assail the domestic circle. In all 
 places exposed for a sufficient length of time to the 
 cold external atmosphere, the water in pipes is con- 
 verted into solid ice, completely filling them up, as 
 the water in the act of freezing expands ; indeed, 
 so much greater is the bulk of the ice than that of 
 the water from which it is formed, that the pipcg 
 are often bursted ; which bursts, however, do not 
 show themselves until the thaw comes, and the water 
 finds its way out of the leaks so made. King Frost 
 
( '9 ) 
 
 “sows” the harvest of the plumber, but it is 
 gathered in the “ thaw.” 
 
 Now, how are we to encounter this insidious 
 enemy ? I will say to begin with that it would 
 very seldom indeed happen that there would be any 
 freezing of pipes at all if the precaution were taken 
 in buildings to avoid outside walls in laying the 
 pipes, and never to place the cistern against the 
 roof. Make the cistern smaller if necessary, but 
 contrive to place it beneath the ceiling of some room 
 or passage, not close under the slates where the 
 temperature is very little higher than that of the 
 open air. The cold supply might perhaps have an 
 attack of “ frost ” just were it enters the cellar, but 
 some cloths laid along the pipe, wetted with very 
 hot water, will put this right in a very short space 
 of time. Should the plumber be compelled to fix 
 the cistern between ceiling and roof, then the next 
 best thing is, as shown in our diagram, to place it 
 and its connecting pipes in close proximity to the 
 chimney breast. This is shown by the “ shading.” 
 
 But suppose this is not so, or in spite of it the 
 pipes “ will ” freeze if let alone, what must then be 
 the course of proceeding ? Well, say in respect to 
 the cold-water supply first. One method which 
 the water authorities do not approve of, and which 
 is also a very uncertain preventive, is to “leave 
 the tap running ” day and night, the motion of the 
 water preventing the cooling in the pipes and for- 
 mation of ice crystals. Another, the best way, is to 
 
( 10 ) 
 
 empty the pipes at night, seeing during the day 
 tliat the water in them is frequently kept in motion, 
 as it generally will be by the usual demands on the 
 taps. The pipes are emptied at night by seeing 
 that there is a tap in the cellar at a lower level 
 than the rest of the pipe system, and connected to it 
 by a straight pipe without any bends. Last thing 
 in the evening turn off the stop tap, open all the 
 cold-water taps in the upper regions, and then open 
 the run-off tap just described. The consequence of 
 this is that the water siphons out of all the pipes, 
 there is none left in to freeze during the night, and 
 all is right when the water is turned on again in 
 the morning. 
 
 And now ! to keep the pipes in connection with 
 the boiler safe. How can I keep my hot- water pipes 
 from freezing ? said some one. LTc^water pipes 
 cannot freeze, so keep them hot. This is the best 
 plan : keep the usual fire in the kitchen range, draw 
 off at intervals a little hot water, then all the hot- 
 water pipes will be kept at least warm^ the cold- 
 water pipes from cistern to cylinder will be kept in 
 motion, and the ball tap and pipe also. At night 
 damp the fire down with “ slack ” and ashes, slightly 
 wetted, so that it will keep in till morning or nearly 
 so, and after damping down run a quart or so of hot 
 water from the tap to give a final “ move ” to the 
 pipes. With a cylinder in the circuit of the pipes, 
 as T have said, there is no danger of the boiler 
 becoming dry, and such an accident happening as 
 
( 11 ) 
 
 previously described ; explosion can only result from 
 all the pipes to and from becoming blocked up. 
 This will never be the case so long as hot water can 
 he drawn, as there can be no flow without the feed- 
 pipe from the cistern being open. Therefore, keep 
 everything warm, and should even the ball tap cease 
 to act, keep a foot of water in the cistern by hand ; 
 a few buckets of water from the nearest tap w ill do 
 this (letting hot water be used if there is any sign 
 of the exit pipe being frozen), and then at all events 
 the inconvenience of “ no kitchen fire ” need not be 
 suffered, and the escape pipe from the cylinder will 
 always be open, and contain hot water, rendering 
 explosion impossible. Should the fire inadvertently 
 remain out for any length of time, and the pipes to 
 the cylinder become frozen, so that the hot-water 
 tap cease to run, the fire should not on any account 
 be relighted until the thaw or application of heat to 
 the pipes has opened them so that these taps are in 
 action. 
 
 It may be thought that even such a brief de- 
 scription as the above pretends to be, should con- 
 tain some mention of the safety valves which are 
 constructed for kitchen boilers. There are several 
 excellently made valves for this purpose, but I 
 prefer not to complicate the subject by describing 
 them here, but advising my readers, should they 
 adopt such an appliance, not to allow the knowledge 
 that the boiler or cylinder is furnished with a safety 
 valve to lead to a neglect of the taking in time of 
 
( 12 ) 
 
 some of the simple precautions which have been 
 alluded to, and which are really, if intelligently 
 performed, less trouble to take than to read. 
 
 In conclusion, I would certainly impress upon 
 the householder that it is very well worth his while 
 before entering a new house to endeavour to ascer- 
 tain something about the water arrangements in 
 connection with the boiler, &c., and in winter to 
 see that at the commencement of a frost, some of 
 these simple precautions are taken, that is, of course, 
 if he wishes to enjoy his ‘‘ otium cum dignitate 
 whilst the frost lasts. 
 
( 13 ) 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 On^ after consideration it has seemed advisable to 
 add a few explanatory words upon some points con- 
 nected with kitchen boiler arrangements. 
 
 Material of the Boiler , — The usual material, as I 
 have stated above, of which the kitchen boiler is 
 constructed, is cast iron. The principal, indeed one 
 might say, the sole reason why this material is used 
 is its cheapness, and in most circumstances this will 
 decide its preference. Its chief disadvantage is its 
 inelastic nature and brittleness. From the former 
 cause, should the water in the boiler become entirely 
 frozen, the expansion will probably fracture the 
 cast iron, and the brittleness of this material renders 
 an explosion very destructive. These risks it has 
 been proposed to meet in various ways. (1) To 
 make the boiler entirely of sheet copper, which is 
 a very elastic and tenacious material, and would 
 ‘‘rip” under pressure, and not “fly” into pieces. 
 This plan will be found very eflective but expen- 
 sive. (2) To use instead of the entire copper boiler, 
 a safety plate of copper sheet or similar metal, say 
 block tin. This will be as effective as the first plan, 
 and very much cheaper, as there is needed simply 
 
( 14 ) 
 
 a small “ manhole ” on the top of the boiler, over or 
 under which is riveted a sheet of one of the metals 
 named ; this being of such a thickness as will cause 
 it to give way to a pressure somewhat over that of 
 the column of water from the cistern overhead. 
 This may be calculated as about half a pound to a 
 vertical foot of water. (3) The other means of 
 meeting these risks has been already mentioned, 
 and is that of a safety valve^ and should a valve be 
 applied, it ought to be a dead-weight valve, or one 
 in which the weight acts directly, not by means of 
 a lever or other medium. 
 
 Safety Valves , — The dead-weight safety valve is 
 now made specially for kitchen boilers, and should 
 be fixed directly on the top of the boiler into which ' 
 it is screwed. It is advisable that a small iron 
 framework and door should be set in the back of 
 the range immediately opposite the safety valve, so 
 that it may be easily got at if necessary. 
 
 Vacuum Valve . — This is a valve so constructed 
 as to act in the opposite way to a safety valve. 
 That is to say, it will open inwards, but not out- 
 wards. Its office is to prevent the collapse of the 
 copper cylinder in case it should become empty or 
 partly empty through the escape pipe being stopped 
 up and the steam in the cylinder condensing. In 
 cases like this a partial vacuum is formed in the 
 cylinder, and the pressure of the atmosphere may 
 become so great as to crush in the cylinder, and 
 render it useless. 
 
( Ifi ) 
 
 The vacuum valve prevents this by admitting air 
 into the cylinder whenever the internal pressure 
 becomes lower than the ordinary atmospheric pres- 
 sure of 15 lbs. to the square inch. 
 
 The Safety Plug . — This is a plug of very fusible 
 alloy, inserted in a hole near the lower part of the 
 boiler, which on the latter becoming dry, or nearly 
 so, is melted, and the aperture thus formed prevents 
 the accumulation of pressure. A safety plate of 
 block tin, as mentioned, would render the plug 
 almost unnecessary. 
 
 Run-off Pipe . — It has been recommended to 
 attach a pipe of iron or copper to the side of the 
 boiler, close to the bottom, and bring this through 
 the brickwork into the kitchen and place a good 
 tap on the end. This is intended to clear any 
 sediment away by running oj the water by this 
 pipe. 
 
 Separate Flue . — In all cases where it is possible 
 — and it can scarcely occur that it should be other- 
 wise — the kitchen boiler ought to be heated by a 
 distinct flue controlled by its own damper, so as to 
 be worked quite independently of the flues proceed- 
 ing to ovens, &c. If the flue is so arranged, then, of 
 course, more or less heat can be applied to the 
 boiler, or it can be entirely cut off, as may be ad- 
 visable. Where there is no damper a very great 
 waste of heat and fuel is caused by more fire than 
 is necessary finding its way under the boiler. 
 
 One of the latest attachments for the kitchen 
 
( 16 ) 
 
 boiler is a mercurial indicator and safety valve 
 combined, which is fixed upon the wall in the 
 kitchen, or other convenient room, and attached by 
 a pipe to the boiler or hot-water pipes. It is con- 
 structed on the principle of the barometer tube, the 
 rise and fall of the mercury indicating the height of 
 the water in the supply cistern. Should the pres- 
 sure in the boiler become excessive the mercury is 
 insufficient to balance it, and the steam escapes at 
 the top of the tube. 
 
 It has been thought necessary to briefly mention 
 the above contrivances, but none but a separate flue 
 does the writer consider absolutely indispensable. 
 If inclined to “ indulge in improvements ” he would 
 adopt simply a block-tin safety plate, or a good 
 safety valve, and reiterates that with ordinary care, 
 and the arrangement represented in our diagram, 
 there will be no danger of explosion and no need 
 for complicated appliances. 
 
 LONDON: PRINTED BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, LIMITED, 
 STAMFORD STREET AND CHARING CROSS. 
 
UNIVERSITY OF ILUNOI9-URBANA 
 
 3 0112 072904292