Shop Vac for Steam Whistle

[Papster]

Hi All,

I would like to fit a steam whistle to my boat and have been trying to find a way to run it without steam. I appreciate that it does not appeal to the purists and steam has its own unique characteristics but as I don’t expect to be alongside a steam train at any time (for comparison) it is something I am willing to live with. I have looked into compressed air but I’m not sure that will work as I assume a steam whistle relies on volume rather than pressure. What are your thoughts on using a shop vac as an air source as they produce a lot of air quickly. My boat has a vintage engine so I don’t think the noise of the vac will spoil the effect and having a wet/dry vac is handy to have on boar for cleaning bilges.

If this is viable/possible then new questions will follow! I have been struggling to work out how to match whistles to air volume.

Cheers

[Flat Train]

I really doubt it would work, but maybe try it once to see if you get any sound at all, maybe you could make something similar work with a bigger pump.

[DreamScooter2006]

You would probably be best off with a tank setup that uses a regulator. This would allow you to run the whistle at what ever pressure you would like while the tank remains at a high pressure. Depending on what whistle you will run, you will need to decide what tank/compressor you should use. The regulator will also cut down on air consumption as well.

[Mafarnz]

A whistle uses a HUGE volume of air. A regulator would restrict the flue so much you probably wouldn’t get any sound. These normally operate off a 1.5” or 2” steam pipe, with steam that’s 200 PSI or more. Steam is denser than air so you’d need even more airflow than an equivalent volume of steam.

[Mafarnz]

Here’s a whistle on compressed air. Not very impressive.

https://youtu.be/3YiAcrxnu2E

[DreamScooter2006]

I was thinking of a smaller air whistle (Westinghouse T9997) and not a large whistle designed for steam. As Maddie said, there really isn't any good way to run an authentic steam whistle properly without a large boiler that is pressurized to 200 psi.