Well. I have spoken to the man himself, John Hemmens. He has offered to have a look at the system and get it working. Rather than post the unit to him, he has agreed for me to visit and get it running. We will see what he has to say.

Sorry to be a pain. I have just fired up the burner and it has no hint of a yellow flame, so that seems ok. Thanks

I meant the ceramic it's self. It might just be the way my phone is displaying the photo but it looks like there is evidence of soot there..

I have now filled the boiler with a descale solution and will leave it for a week, as I am going on holiday. Thank you again for your support. Will resume when I get back. Regards Andy

Sooty??? (with respect). The baseplate you see is where it has got extremely hot. There is also a photo of the wooden bench the boiler was on when lit, which has really burnt.

Looking at the burner photo, it looks a bit sooty, which suggests too much air. Have you blown the jet out? Don't try and poke anything in the tiny hole unless you have a proper pricker...

In theory, I should have enclosed photos

Originally the boat came with 2 x water tanks, 1 long one that feeds via pump action on the engine (I think) and the smaller one as you have suggested to be and oil separator. I have now removed the larger tank, so just relying on the boiler volume (looking at sight gauge) and the separator tank.

The jet should still be adjustable somehow. Have you undone the locking nut and tried moving the jet assembly? A photo would help. Easily done, click the add photos button, select photos and upload....

RE the 'water tank' it is more likely to be an oil/water seperator. The engine exhaust feeds in to the seperator tank, the oil condenses out of the steam along with a little water, allowing clean exhaust steam to be piped up the chimney. It is also a good idea to get your gas tank hydraulically tested at the same time as the boiler, that way you will be starting with a clean slate..

I understand what you are saying. Mine is a different type and does not allow for the jet to slide back and forth as you are showing. There is only a tube with 11 holes (3 on top, 3 on each side and 2 on the bottom) around the inlet and the jet fixed with a 'locking' nut.
With reference to pipes being blocked, all except for the internal pipes in the boiler have been removed or replaced.

Re burner. The jet will be mounted on a tbne that slides in and out of the main burner, (the jet is missing from the photo, I just dropped it and it is now under my bench somewhere!🤣) you need to aim for little blue flames dancing around just above the ceramic. If the flame is yellow, the gas/air mix is too rich (in air). Moving the jet in and out alters the gas/air ratio. N B do not be tempted to adjust jet when the burner is alight, let it cool down, make a small adjustment the try again until you get a flame as shown in the photo.

Hello Dave. Very good advice. Looking at the way the model has been built, I think the last thing that will have been done is maintaining the power unit. On the assumption that the boiler pipes are scaled up, before taking the unit to the 'expert' (wherever there is one), I will try filling the boiler with a descale solution and see whether there is evidence of any scale. Thank you again. Regards Andy

Hi Andy
I have to agree with Nickthesteam on his comments re your boiler and engine.
Steam plants do need regular maintenance and if in a similar condition to the Lady Jane there is a real possibility that most of the pipes will be blocked and need dismantling and cleaning. The boiler is likely to be heavily scaled inside and you should not attempt to steam it until it has been checked and cleaned and then water Pressure tested by a registered boiler tester. For your own safety please do not attempt to steam the boiler until this safety test has been completed. The fact that the water tank was full of solidified gunk suggests the previous owner was not cleaning down after use. The Hemmens units are well made and usually perform very well if used as designed.
Hope you can resolve all the issues and get the unit into working condition.
dave976

Firstly Nick, I really appreciate you taking time to discuss the issues. There is a ceramic burner approx 75mm dia at the base of the boiler. When I first stripped the boiler, I found that the ceramic burner was not sealed and the fire cement had disintegrated. I have the burner assembly out now, so I will fire that up away from the boiler and see what is happening. My thoughts are to take the complete unit to an expert and get tested and replace all the seals etc. If all else fails, buy a complete new system. Ahhh!!!

I never do air testing, Hydraulic test every time! there is little stored energy so if you get a failure all you get is a leak, no sudden release of energy etc. Re the burner, do you have a nice blue flame? Have you tried adjusting the position of the jet in the burner tube?

Hello Nick again. As a new member to the site, I am not familiar with posting photos or a video.

Thank you for your reply. I have spoken to someone and they are going to carry out an air pressure test. The only evidence of leaks is at one of the 'V' cylinders when they rock. I have totally stripped the engine and blown out all the ports. The water tank was seriously half full of solidified oil. That has now been cleaned out now. The pressure gauge is not showing any pressure. I also build Roundhouse locos, so have swapped one of my gauges and nothing. Lets see the reults of the air test.

First off I would get a hydraulic test done on the boiler. Remove the burner and give it a good visual inspection, check gor loose unions and make sure the jets are tight. Turn on the gas and check for leaks and if all good light it to check the flame is correct. If I remember correctly, the Hemmens boilers use poker type burners as opposed to ceramic. PLEASE REMEMBER THAT PRESSURE VESSELS CAN BE DANGEROUS, so get that test done before attempting to raise steam, especially if you do not know the boilers history. Safety first at all times. Re the engine, if it has been laid up for years chances are the gland packing will have dried or 'O' rings will have perished. Give everythinf s good dousing with oil and try and turn it over by hand, if it is stiff, find out why, don't force it. Only after doing all the above you can then try and run it. Photos/video would help...