RIP Tom Dillander of Palomino Record Pressing...

[piaptk]

Dietrich just told me that Tom Dillander died when his boiler exploded. I did a lot of jobs through Tom, and he was hands-down my favorite to work with. Always accessible by phone, always willing to explain stuff to me, great communication if a job was delayed. Talking to him was always such a pleasure and I really feel an absence knowing that I'll never hear his instantly-recognizable voice again. What a loss. Be careful out there.

http://hosting-23044.tributes.com/show/Thomas-G.-Dillander-95238691

[Steve E.]

Terrible.



He posted here as PALOMINO.

So sorry to hear.

[mossboss]

Not good at all
I have spoken to the man a few times over tech stuff ..
Nice man loved what he did
Condolences to friends and family
C.

[Angus McCarthy]

Wow. That's a danger I honestly hadn't even considered.

My condolences.

[Aussie0zborn]

Very bad news. From his posts here, he seemed like a nice guy.

[tragwag]

he helped out a lot of friends of mine, and I constantly directed others to his site for info.
so sad to hear of his tragic passing.

[Steve E.]

Also: https://www.lathetrolls.com/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=3823

[petermontg]

Thoughts are with everybody who know Tom and family. Terrible news.

[13yo]

this is very strange, I am a certified boiler operator (really), its hard to make a boiler explode, in fact this is the first one I have ever heard of (although I've been out of the business for over 20 years and was only in it for 10),

any details on how this explosion occurred?

_m

[Serif]

We are still in shock over the news of this sudden loss of a record-making veteran. I researched online and found that Wikipedia have a thorough entry on the modes of pressure boiler explosions:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boiler_explosion

I liked the name, Palomino, was aware of their low-key web presence and that they offered various colored vinyl, not out of step with the painted horse concept. Kentucky is horse country, of course... Shepherdsville is close enough to Cincinnati that I had intended to reach out to them in comraderie, if nothing else . This puts more than a damper on that.

Palomino were like many vinyl making businesses - running vintage equipment apparently mostly for the love. I don't know if the problem was a stuck relief valve or a firebox ignition. More details would be of interest, since no one wants to have this happen at his place... As for blame, no one can say much other than Say it isn't so... The captain went down with his ship - no crew were lost. A hero for truly Dangerous Music. Boilers are dangerous. Presses also are very dangerous. May God rest his Soul.


- Serif

[powerstrip]

:lighter:

This is not good. Too much irony here.

Why can't Kanye West or someone like that get killed in a boiler explosion?

Do we have to lose all the good people!?

[piaptk]

Apparently it wasn't an explosion, the boiler cap came off and sprayed him with 300 degree steam. Which, is actually probably worse, becuase I think he survived for a few hours in unbelievable pain.

[dietrich10]

Tom was a great guy. As honest as anyone I have ever met. Great phone coversations.
In @ 5am there until??
cutting, plating, pressing, printing, shipping and still 'calling' on weekends!

he will be missed
terrible he suffered as he did

[Angus McCarthy]

You hear horrible stories like this passed down from 100 years ago during the age of steam, but seldom do you hear about it happening these days. Indeed, stay safe everyone.

[13yo]

hi pressure (over 15 psi) steam boiler installations have to be inspected and certified to legally operate, often annually, depending on the territory and application,

every boiler inspector I've ever met is a serious professional from a marine/naval/industrial background with decades of experience, and they do not muck around and let things slide,

they have the authority to shut down your business if the unit is not up to regulation

at this point I'd guess the inspector for Palomino's area is in a "world of shit" - to quote a famous movie phrase,
there will be OSHA investigations, and probably investigations by a National Boiler Safety Commission, (don't know the correct American body name, to be honest, I can't remember the Canadian one either)

I'll be interested to see how this plays out

[piaptk]

This was a blog post from shortly after the accident:

Update on Tom Dillander
Thanks so very much to all who have written and called about Tom. He made it through the night but the next 72 hrs are critical. Please continue to pray for him and his family. The boiler in the press room at work was inspected on Monday, as required by law. It was building up steam when a plate/valve let loose filling the room with steam. He opened the door to see if he could fix it and gotsteam on his upper torso. Please continue to pray for him and his family.

http://dir.groups.yahoo.com/group/KSDAclubcalendar/message/1748

[Angus McCarthy]

That Inspector's in for a world of trouble if that's the way it happened.

[Serif]

Ghastly either way. Here's how the initial story in the local news read, "SHEPHERDSVILLE - A cap blown off a boiler left a local business owner in critical condition."

Although not a fiery explosion, this now sounds more like a mechanical explosion of pressure which is any rupture caused by pressure.

The cap might have been poorly secured for the static pressures, or a "water hammer" could have blown off an otherwise secure cap in a sudden surge of runaway pressure.

The 300 degrees would have been not as hot as the steam inside the still closed boiler right up until the cap blew?

Not that anything will restore the departed to us.

RIP, Palomino Tom

- Andrew

[mossboss]

This is most unusual I dont think that we can guess what has transpired by the meager information available what really happened
Un attended boilers are inherently safe as there are literally 100's of thousands of them installed worldwide
At about 150 HP they need to be attended by a certified boiler attendant in some countries but not in some others
Over pressure over temperature low water high water are all monitored with a combination of electronics as well as mechanical devices usually doubled up so as to ensure redundancy
High pressure will be released through one or two safety valves always on top of any boiler out to the atmosphere
Other malfunctions will cause a boiler shut down by the various safety devices installed
On the side of any boiler at human height level there are water level indicators as well as the water level sensors in some boilers older designs later designs have these at the top so in case of a these allowing steam to escape it will be directed upwards
The water level glass sights are 1/4-3/8" in diameter they are at human height level,however if they let go there is insufficient volume of steam so as to cause major injury
Even though and assuming these water level sensors where side mounted I personally doubt the mountings let go as
These are inspected annually also since the inspector was there a few days earlier it can be discounted
If the end cover was blown off as is normal with oil fired boilers, it would have dumped water and steam in a few seconds, again no one would be able to go near it
It seems that a steam delivery pipe to the plant after the boiler itself let go at the top which dumped steam at height level due to an elbow or steam was diverted by hitting something in its path
We know that inspection did take place the boiler would have been passed in itself as it was deemed safe, most likely it was
The piping associated with the installation is not inspected as it is the plants responsibility to ensure its soundness normally executed by a certified boiler installation man as well as a certified boiler welder
It is not unusual for pipes in any plant to corrode leak steam or the flexible hoses which take the steam to the molds letting go or even steam valves letting go filling the place with steam
Nothing unusual really, burns from steam pipes or scalding from steam leaks are quite common in any pressman's life Whatever happen there, it is very very rare
I am sure we may get the full story once the authorities investigate and release their reprot which no doubt is happening right now
On the one hand one can speculate of what has transpired, unless we know it will be speculation
It cannot be considered as a warning to others steam boilers are safe, installations after the boiler may or may not be safe
At the end of the day this accident has caused the death of a nice person with untold grief for family and friends
In our small community world wide it is a wake up call, to loose one of our little "family" in the plant through some steam related cause its bad, very bad, since plants are few and far between we do feel the loss as one of us is no longer around
Nothing to cheer about
C