3B1: one payment for lifetime access, timed mocks, weak units first

One payment, no subscription. 3B1 sits in 3rd Class Part B at $89. Both parts are $149, $29 less than buying each part at $89. Timed mocks follow the 100-question, 3-hour paper. SMART Quiz puts your weak units first, with worked explanations. 3B1 is the boiler and plant equipment paper: boilers, controls, feedwater, pumps, welding, and pressure vessels.

What this paper covers

The boiler block covers boiler types, construction, settings, heat-transfer parts, superheaters, reheaters, economizers, air heaters, sootblowers, and boiler fittings such as gauges, safety valves, low-water cut-offs, and drum internals. After that come boiler control systems, including water level control, combustion control, flame failure detection, and steam temperature control.

The paper then moves into feedwater treatment and internal boiler water treatment, pump theory and pump types, welding processes and inspection, and pressure vessels. It is a paper about keeping the plant safe, reliable, and within code in normal work and upset conditions.

• Boiler structure and fittings are a major block.
• Water treatment is examinable in detail.
• Pressure vessels and welding are not side topics.

Exam format facts

3B1 follows the standard 3rd Class format: 100 multiple-choice questions, 3 hours, and 65% to pass. Keep your pace steady and do not spend too long on a single code or calculation question.

• 100 MCQ
• 3 hours
• 65% pass mark

What trips people up

People often know the boiler parts by sight but not by function. The exam asks what a component does, why it exists, and what happens when it fails. Control systems are another common miss, especially the difference between water level, combustion, and steam temperature control.

Water treatment can also bury marks because the terms sound similar. External treatment, internal treatment, carryover, blowdown, corrosion, and scale control are related but not interchangeable. In pumps, the trap is head, cavitation, priming, and the difference between reciprocating and centrifugal behaviour.

• Know purpose, not just names.
• Keep water treatment terms distinct.
• Practice pump calculations with the right setup.

How to study it

Study boilers in the same order the plant does. Learn the boiler body and fittings first, then controls, then water treatment, then pumps, then welding and vessels. That keeps the content anchored to equipment you can picture. Use diagrams when you can, because this paper rewards visual memory.

Add a few timed blocks each week where you answer mixed questions and then explain the answer out loud. If a topic is weak, isolate it. Boiler control and water treatment are worth their own review sessions because they come up as separate skill sets on the paper.

• Work from boiler hardware outward to controls and treatment.
• Use diagrams and labelled sketches.
• Separate weak topics into short focused drills.

How SteamTicket covers it

One payment buys lifetime access to the 3rd Class Part B course, no subscription. Part B is $89. The 3rd Class bundle is $149 for Part A and Part B, $29 less than $89 each. Timed mocks follow the 100-question, 3-hour paper. SMART Quiz puts weak units first, with worked explanations. Part B is 813 questions across 3B1 and 3B2. Part A is 794. The bundle is 1,607.

Try 50 free questions on 3B1 and 50 on 3B2. Pricing has the one-time options. The sample runs on the web and on iOS, and once a course is open it keeps working if your signal drops mid-session (you need a connection to open a course).

• 50 free questions on 3B1 and 50 on 3B2.
• Worked explanations.
• 813 questions in Part B, 794 in Part A, 1,607 in the bundle.

Common questions