Poppin by El Gringo

[el gringo]

Video and some pics of my ''poppin' build...

some deviations from original plans;
-- 2" dia flywheels
-- one piece crankshaft
-- aluminum cyl
-- graphite piston, slotted and cross drilled for wrist pin
-- typical style conrod of 2024 aluminum with no bushings.
-- wick is a rolled up piece of an old cotton shirt

note: the cyl needs to be slightly preheated (in my cold shop) at initial start because the piston expands before the cylinder has a chance too, causing undue friction. Guess I didn't allow enough clearance but I expect the fit to improve.
Ray M

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FhfXnPnCidM[/ame]

 

[Herbiev]

Congratulations on a great engine. Thanks for sharing

 

[rlukens]

Nice work. Nice build.
I like the simplistic design... and it runs great.
Nice music too... zzzzzzzzzzzzzz

 

[Brian Rupnow]

Way to go!!! Congratulations.---Brian

 

[Cogsy]

Very nice. What sort of running time do you get with the aluminium cylinder before it gets too hot and stops?

 

[el gringo]

I have three flame type engines with graphite/aluminum and they have never stopped due to expansion...they run out of fuel first. The larger one,Duclos, gets too hot to touch but continues to run...I think th graphite expansion of ~5 helps versus the aluminum of~11. I haven't done the numbers but my guess is with a 1" piston the expansion differential is around <.0005?...I shoot for .0002 +- initial fit.
I haven't checked run time but my guess is ~ 10 minutes.

Ray M

 

[el gringo]

Cogsy,

does your ridders flame eater run ok? I,m thinking of building one but have heard they don''t run well.
Ray

 

[Cogsy]

Right now it's sitting on the shelf all gummed up with dust and crud and would take some time to get running again. When it was running, it never ran fast though it did run consistently, but it took a very long time to get it to run the first time. Here's a video of when it was running :

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RsqjzybN9Pc[/ame]

 

[el gringo]

Right now it's sitting on the shelf all gummed up with dust and crud and would take some time to get running again. When it was running, it never ran fast though it did run consistently, but it took a very long time to get it to run the first time. Here's a video of when it was running :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RsqjzybN9Pc

sure is pretty... do you have a feel for its possible inherent design problems?
Ray

 

[Cogsy]

It's probably somewhat the builder (this was my first ever engine of any sort) and apart from that, maybe the extra force/drag having to move the quite large valve piston and valve activation rod assembly. You can hear the mechanical clonks and clunks which means there's a fair amount of energy being wasted. However, I've seen them running better than mine and I may have another go at it at some point, to see how much better I can make it now. It's definitely an impressive thing when it's operating and I'm glad to have built it.

 

[el gringo]

It's probably somewhat the builder (this was my first ever engine of any sort) and apart from that, maybe the extra force/drag having to move the quite large valve piston and valve activation rod assembly. You can hear the mechanical clonks and clunks which means there's a fair amount of energy being wasted. However, I've seen them running better than mine and I may have another go at it at some point, to see how much better I can make it now. It's definitely an impressive thing when it's operating and I'm glad to have built it.

thanks Cosby...