air compressor engine?

[pacman101]

i recently found a broken auto air compressor in the dumpster today:

the compressor mechanism just seemed to look like an engine to me:

so on further inspection I found that it has most of the parts that a steam engine has. I found that it has:
a piston

a cylinder

a crank shaft

and so on...
about the only parts this compressor does not have is a good flywheel which I already have (got it from an old tape player):

any advice for this build?
p.s. sorry for the lousy pics all I have is a $20 webcam

 

[Tin Falcon]

First of all post an introduction in the welcome area .Tell us about yourself your shop and your experience/interest in building model steam engines.
knowing a little bit about you and the shop will help us help you.

the first thought that comes to mind in using those parts in valving. what type of valving does the head have cane you reverse things to run as an engines or do you need to redesign a new head and valves.

Look at various engine plans and come up with a plan that uses the parts you have. your stroke is set by the crank dimensions and looks like you have a piston and cylinder. that mates. you will need a base but that should be easy.

As far as pics no worries . they may not end up in a New York Gallery but they get the idea across.
Tin

 

[pacman101]

I have made a thread in the welcome area.

the compressor uses a half sphere of rubber and a spring as each valve and I probably will change the valves to work like this:
http://www.animatedengines.com/co2.html
p.s. would that even work for a steam engine?

 

[skyline1]

Hi pacman101

Steam Engines have been built that operate on this principle and are known as uniflow engines have a look at this
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uniflow_steam_engine

The length of the spigot on the piston to operate the ball valve would be pretty critical though to get the right valve opening and timing and a sprung ball valve might not work too well with steam at the high speeds needed in an engine of this type.

Another problem might be the materials the various bits are made from. This compressor is, like all compressors, an engine in reverse, you are applying mechanical force to compress a fluid and thus increase it's energy rather than the other way round. The problem is the fluid is air in this case and some of the materials might not take too kindly to having hot steam applied to them.

It's an experimental idea at best but whackier designs have been made and found to work. So as you have nothing to lose you could give it a try.

They thought Charles Parsons was slightly bonkers when he made a Steam Engine without any pistons and look how they turned out. Google him it's interesting reading.

Regards Mark

 

[pacman101]

I think I will be using a bike tire valve as the engines valve, the engine will operate on air not steam sorry for the confusion

 

[pacman101]

so far this is what I've got (the flywheel is not attached):

the original cylinder head is not going to cut it, so I'll make a new one:

now to find some aluminum
as of now I have spent $0 on this engine
note to self: the head needs to be 1/4 in. thick\