Search results

With respect to different materials, especially different materials for mating parts, for model engine builders attention should be paid to -- wear characteristics, -- chemical compatibility (Certain metals in contact promote corrosion & wear) -- Thermal conductivity -- Thermal expansion The...

It has been a while but since last I was here I did experiment with a different piston material hoping to get a closer fit when the cylinder was hot, I tried brass but it was just too heavy and did not work well so I machined a new valve-piston to a tighter fit and while it did not seem to work...

The reason it might just work is that particularly if CPVC pipe components are used, the heat is not all that high. and a Newcomen engine should work best if the steam is barely hot enough to be steam. The Newcomen engine is actually an atmospheric engine which uses steam to push the air...

I was just wondering if anyone has heard of building a newcomen steam engine using PVC or ABS plastic pipe and fittings for the cylinder and other components. Using 6 or 8 inch pipe components, significant small engine power might even be achieved. It also has the advantage of very low...

Well I have not gone off and died but I have been tied up with many other things. I got back to thinking about the poor performance of my engine and came up with an idea. I am thoroughly convinced that the engine is stopping because of "heat death" That is to say that the engine runs only...

With respect to fuel, I have used mostly Ethanol, denatured alcohol, however I have experimented with some cigarette lighter fuel. The ethanol is very corrosive to my aluminum burner and the ligher fuel solves that problem but I still believe that I need to get a hotter flame. I have tried to...

Well from a thermodynamic point of view any heat engine can only operate when there is a temperature difference between a high temperature (in this case the flame) and a low temperature (in this case the temperature of the cylinder wall) The greater that difference the higher the maximum power...

So far a maximum run time of 2 minutes is less than satisfactory, so I am looking at the issue of the flame. I am getting a mostly yellow flame from my choice of burner and fuel. That implies a cooler flame than if it was blue. I did increase the wick height and that helped me get to the...

Well, after getting a more satisfactory wick, I went about getting the heat shield that I talked of. The local O'Reilly's autoparts provided me with a 10"x10" sheet of exhaust gasket material for about $9. I settled on attaching it with silicone gasket maker since it is rated at 600 degrees F...

With respect to wicks. Following the how to make your own instructions on the site noted above. -- The wick was made with two lengths of "cling" gauze bandage material and opened out to a single thckness -- The two pieces were layered together -- The two layers were rolled into a wick that...

And that source would be ...... ????? Is it a source readily accessible to the rest of us. So If I need a 1/4 inch wick that shold mean that I can make 1ft of 1/2 inch wick into 4 feet of 1/4 inch wick. It would seem that a loose bundle of fibers would be prone to splay apart a whole lot, or...

Thanks for that. Two issues, the wicks illustrated are flat and I need round, With a name like Flourascent I would be concerned to know if the wick is scented or merely intended so named because they also sell scented oil. If the wick is scented that could be a conaminan, but more importantly...

As a matter of fact the make your own site was referring to making wicks for just such a purpose. Well yes but the nearest store with a reasonable likelihood would be in Springfield MO about 70 miles from here. Or possibly Lake Ozark Area 40 miles from here. Calling ahead is not all that...

Tying to address the wick issue. I ran across the following web page about wick making. http://www.ehow.com/how_5004463_make-homemade-kerosene-lamp-wicks.html Once you have found a source of cotton, (that really is cotton, and not some polymer blend that might gum up your engine) you can make...

Actually there are a lot of different and very satisfactory approaches. In my own case, since I lacked silver soldering capability I chose to make the crankshaft out of brass rather than steel because, A. I had it on hand, B. I could easily solder brass with lead free plumbing solder. C. The...

I e-mailed Jan Ridders and he confirmed my valve adjustment assessment, but he said that an aluminum cylinder should not be a problem because several have made the design successfully using an aluminum cylinder. His suggestion was that the engine needed cleaning because it was probably...

Mike thanks for the suggestion. I replicated your calculation of the formula (L)x(delta alpha)x(delta T) and came up with 0.0007 expansion of the cylinder bore over the the piston diameter of 22.0 mm. However the clearance specified in the design is for about .0012 inches. I achieved a very...

In order to meet the 7mm dimension specified for the top of the wick tube to the bottom of the flame port that was specified by Ridder's, I had to mill a bit off the bottom of my fuel tank and then off the top of the wick tube. A favorable influence on the action of sucking flame in was...

Well, Ridders drawings gave the last detail to the fuel tank / burner, so there is more likely to be innovation. That is the case for me. My first attempt failed because I had difficulty with sweat soldering. My second attempt is shown below. I milled it out of a solid block of aluminum...

A tip of the hat and thanks to a few people who gave me some pointers on machining graphite for the pistons. Specifically, that a Surface Feet Per Mminute of 100 seemed to work just right, and multiple who advised about the evils of graphite dust, its mess and its abrasiveness, and an advisory...