The Big Stuff large technology conservation community webinars are intended to get us all talking. We will have a short talk to introduce the topic and get things started, and then the “floor” will be open for you to share your thoughts and experiences.
Climate systems and Big Stuff: efficiency in a Big Space
Date: Monday 24 April, 13:00 UK time
Free registration link: Climate systems and Big Stuff: efficiency in a Big Space
Controlling the climate in a Big space for Big Stuff is a tricky deal. Firstly humans, objects and machines don’t always agree on their fave climate. And secondly you may have an aircon system that has acquired … quirks.
Nicola Grahamslaw spoke at last year’s Big Stuff conference about all the fun she’s had getting the parties in the SS Great Britain’s air handling systems talking nicely to each other, and the Big benefits of everyone learning to get along. So Nicola will start us off talking about the things that can go wrong AND right in a Big system, and then as usual we will open the floor for your experiences….
Join us online at 13:00 UK time on Monday 24th April for a Big discussion of energy efficiency, saving money and keeping things comfortable.
Previous Webinars
Previous webinars are listed below, with transcripts of discussions and other resources for you to delve into.
Presentation – Is historic working machinery up to 21st century sustainability demands or are we stuck in time?
In lieu of the webinar this September, we feature Rachel Rimmer’s talk from the Big Stuff 2022 conference in Lisbon.
This follows on from the September 2021 webinar, when Rachel first brought the Manchester Museum’s challenge to the Big Stuff community for discussion.
Webinar 3 – Changing Objects: Changing Futures
Conservation guidelines and practice in the twentieth century focused on preventing change. But Big Stuff – heritage machinery – is all about change: traditional practices in this area are centered on movement, maintenance, refits, updates and adaptation. These traditional practices will be essential to cope with twenty-first century changes, as we adjust to new fuels, new regulations and new audience expectations for our Big Stuff preservation and displays.
Viewing objects through the lens of change opens the door to the development of a new field of conservation expertise, one focused on the challenges and opportunities presented by an object’s changeable qualities rather than by its original materials, mechanisms and field of use. But it is a new space, requiring new ideas, new ethical approaches and new alliances. Led by speakers Alison Wain and Kornelius Goetz, this webinar provided an opportunity to ask rebellious questions and go shopping for radical new options. Webinar was held on Monday 25th April at 22:00 AEST.
Webinar 2 – The pros and cons of wet steam lubrication
In 2021 the UK’s Science and Industry Museum, Manchester (part of the Science Museum Group) asked the Big Stuff community to help them work out an innovative plan for operating their steam engines in their new Power Hall. As well as creating a display that is exciting and informative, they wanted to create an environmentally friendly display. However, their steam engines use large quantities of water which get contaminated with lubricating oil and have to be jettisoned as waste. So they were looking for a solution that would keep the engines running AND make them more environmentally friendly AND keep maintenance costs under control. Would wet steam lubrication, often used in ship engines, do the trick? The answer that emerged was – it’s complicated! Check out the discussion from 27.09.2021 here.
Webinar 1 – Inhibited dewatering fluids for preventing crevice corrosion
The first webinar was held on 12 April 2021 on the topic of coatings for corrosion protection, starting with a presentation by Eva Wentland on her research into the potential of dewatering fluids with calcium sulphonate inhibitors for protecting areas of crevice corrosion. A summary of the discussion is available here.
