The operation of a tilting trap (see Figure 10-36) is intermittent in nature. With this type of trap, condensation enters a bowl and rises until its weight overbalances that of a counterweight, and the bowl sinks to the bottom. As the bowl sinks, a valve is opened, thus admitting live steam pressure on the surface of the water, and the trap then discharges. After the water is discharged, the counterweight sinks and raises the bowl, which in turn closes the valve, and the cycle begins again.
In 1946 I fired a steam crane used an injector to add feed water later we acquired a small steam pump. The other day I ran into a fellow who told me that he worked at a laundry that had a fire tube boiler that ran on 100 psi. and the feed water was supplied by a tilt trap in a cupola above the boiler. Is he right if so how did it work?