My steam needle setup

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MaineGeezer
Posts: 1711
Joined: Wed Aug 13, 2014 12:14 pm

My steam needle setup

Post by MaineGeezer »

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.
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Diane Kauffmds
Posts: 3246
Joined: Sun Mar 09, 2014 8:13 pm

Re: My steam needle setup

Post by Diane Kauffmds »

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.
Diane Kauffmann
Country Roads Guitars
countryroadsguitars@gmail.com
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