Q. What should you do if the glass water gauge breaks?
A. Turn off the gauge cocks above and below, the lower one first so that the hot water will not burn you. You may put in a new glass and turn on gauge cocks at once. Turn on the lower or water cock first, then the upper or steam cock. You may go on without the glass gauge, however, using the gauge cocks or try cocks every few minutes to make sure the water is at the right height, neither too high nor too low.
Q. Why is it necessary to use the gauge cocks when the glass gauge is all right?
A. First, because you cannot otherwise be sure that the glass gauge is all right; and, secondly, because if you do not use them frequently they are likely to become scaled up so that you cannot use them in case of accident to the glass gauge.
Q. If a gauge cock gets leaky, what should be done?
A. Nothing until the boiler has cooled down. Then if the leak is in the seat, take it out and grind and refit it; if the leak is where the cock is screwed into the boiler, tighten it up another turn and see if that remedies the difficulty. If it does not you will probably have to get a new gauge cock.
Q. Why not screw up a gauge cock while there is a pressure of steam on?
A. The cock might blow out and cause serious injury to yourself or some one else. Make it a rule never to fool with any boiler fittings while there is a pressure of steam on the boiler. It is exceedingly dangerous.
Sometimes a gauge cock gets broken off accidentally while the boiler is in use. If such an accident happens, bank the fire by closing the draft and covering the fire with fresh fuel or ashes. Stop the engine and let the water blow out of the hole till only steam appears; then try to plug the opening with a long whitewood or poplar, or even a pine stick (six or eight feet long), one end of which you have whittled down to about the size of the hole. When the steam has been stopped the stick may be cut off close to the boiler and the plug driven in tight. If necessary you may continue to use the boiler in this condition until a new cock can be put in.
Q. What should you do when a gauge cock is stopped up?