I just made a steam needle setup from assorted parts. I got the hypodermic tubing and high-temperature hose from McMaster-Carr. The hose is pressure washer hose. It's not rated for steam, but I am hoping it will hold up in this application, since there is very little pressure and consequently the steam temperature is only slightly above boiling.
I made a fitting to adapt the hypodermic tubing to the hose.
I also made a pressure regulator/safety valve. I'm connecting the hose to the top of a pressure cooker where the pressure regulating weight normally sits. By doing so, there is no longer any safety valve in the system. My engineering background makes me all twitchy about a steam vessel with no safety valve, so I duplicated the setup on the top of the pressure cooker and put it inline in the hose. It's a block of aluminum with 1/4" NPT threads at the ends of a hole through the block, with an intersecting hole coming down from the top for a duplicate of the regulating weight spigot to thread into.
Is it really necessary? Probably not, since the hose and needle are free-flow, but I feel better having it. At full boil the weight does lift at 5 psi, and it will take care of the case of the needle getting clogged.
It works. StewMac sells a needle and hose assembly for about $46, I thnk. That would be a lot easier, though it doesn't have the regulating/safety valve.
My steam needle setup
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My steam needle setup
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Don't believe everything you know.
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When things are bad, try not to make them any worse, because it is quite likely they are bad enough already. - French Foreign Legion
Anything is possible if you don't know what you are talking about.
When things are bad, try not to make them any worse, because it is quite likely they are bad enough already. - French Foreign Legion
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- Posts: 3255
- Joined: Sun Mar 09, 2014 8:13 pm
Re: My steam needle setup
That's a really great setup Steve. I need to make a steam needle setup for my steam machine. I'm glad you posted the photo.