G'Day Peter, I was not knocking the fusible plug, but the report itself. I found it to be typical of a gov't report that has been written by someone who doesn't actually know much (if any thing) about the topic that they are writing about..... I saw it as Rich did. My comments were purely a facetious view of the report, and it's lack of saying anything worthwhile, while seeming to blame everybody..... Especially the driver who desperately needs his arse kicking for, not dropping the fire until the fusible plug had started melting, which he also failed to notice....... How bloody slack is that!!!!! I feel I must also apologise for my dry sense of humour...... As this could be taken the wrong way. On another serious note. Fusible plugs have the same chances of failing as RCD's and all other safety devices. Right now, I am trying to think of one that is completely failsafe, and can't. ( If anyone can think of one, then please tell me what it is!! ) What can make it hard for fusible plugs to work, is if they get a thick enough scale build up over the top of them...... This, while under test, has been found to hold back the steam in some circumstances. There is a very simple cure for this, and that is to replace the plug at every testing of the boiler as the minimum frequency. That seems to nail it for the hobby boiler very nicely. For the commercial boiler, they have to be replaced according to the relevant standard. Over here (West Aust.) it is annually at a minimum frequency. In the marine world, I believe it's at every inspection, which is (I believe) every 2 years.......? I can't remember now..... Regardless, they are the best safety device known to man so far...... I suppose we could invent a infer-red temp scanner that will read the temp's of all the firebox plates and set of an alarm if the plates get too hot..... And the best bit is that you need to measure the fire side of the sheets as they are much hotter than the water side...... So now it must withstand 1500°C, and would need to be calibrated annually to ensure that it is actually working... at the time of calibration...... Nothing is perfect, so we just have to do the best we can. Have a great weekend. Cheers, Phill. -------------------------------------------------- From: "The Sheppard Residence" <psbr20252@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> Sent: Friday, July 29, 2011 6:30 PM To: <modeleng@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> Subject: [modeleng] Re: FW: Rail Accident Investigation alert: RAIB investigation - Kirklees > On 29/07/2011 10:59, Peter Sheppard wrote: >> MODEL ENGINEERING DISCUSSION LIST. >> >> To UNSUBSCRIBE from this list, send a blank email to, >> modeleng-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the word "unsubscribe" in the subject >> line. > > Always blank from web-mail? > > This is what I writ! > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > > Phil, > > I'd rather they investigate a "near miss" before we have to investigate > why a boiler exploded! > > There are many examples in the safety world (in all industries) where if > people had noted the warning signs, the accident may not have occurred. > > I always feel that fusible plugs are a potential "weak point" (pardon > the pun) in the safety of a boiler. You have to hope that they work > when required, but then, you only know if they don't work when they > don't (if you see what I mean). You can't test them! You can test one > similar, but not the one in situ! (A bit like wire fuses). > > It may have only partly worked, the report will be interesting. > > Cheers > > Peter > > MODEL ENGINEERING DISCUSSION LIST. > > To UNSUBSCRIBE from this list, send a blank email to, > modeleng-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the word "unsubscribe" in the subject > line. MODEL ENGINEERING DISCUSSION LIST. To UNSUBSCRIBE from this list, send a blank email to, modeleng-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the word "unsubscribe" in the subject line.