Using my espresso maker to power my engine?

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CaptSensible

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So I just built my first engine, link here...
http://www.homemodelenginemachinist.com/index.php?topic=11893.0
and want to power it with my espresso maker as I don't have a compressor available right now. Will this be really bad for it? I plan on making a setup that has a bypass that will release if the pressure goes over say 3-5 psi. A screw in a rubber fitting that I can pull out with about that amount of force is what I have set up now. Another added safety feature is that the tubing is not all that tight that runs the steam to the engine, so if it reaches any substantial pressure that will come off.

Anyway I guess I will try it once and see what happens... If I don't post results I guess things went pretty badly (knocks on wood).
 
Interesting idea. do you have a means of injecting oil into the steam line?

R
 
I put some vegetable oil in the line before starting. It did not work, but it was hilarious to see the engine sputting water out the back and it showed me where the engine seals are not right. Lets just say my worries over safety were unfounded, my setup was leaky and while the pressure was not impressive the mess it made was :big:

It was a fun experiment and I think with a real solid closed link to the espresso's steam attachment that is shorter and less prone to cooling the flow it could work. But the engine got very hot and I was concerned for that. I have not finished the exterior and part of that is the cooling vanes so the cylinders are big rectangles of metal that get hot and stay that way for quite a while if I use steam.

I will post the vid later, its kinda funny
 
What amount of pressure and volume is available from your espresso machine? You'll need both (yes, I know they're two sides of the same coin, but the coin's gotta be a large enough denomination to make the ride go)
 
You could try a can of air made for air brushing. they have valves for them. A pare tire for the car or a portable car compressor air brush compressor etc.
Tin
 
HUMMMMMM :idea: a spare tire engine :idea: vetty interesting
 
We had the same sort of thing a while ago, but using a pressure cooker.

It caused uproar when it came to the safety side of things.

My suggestion would be to close the post down quietly before the same thing happens again.


Bogs
 
Bogs...

I am not sure I am seeing the dangers clearly, I want pressure for my engine and it seems like it would be 'neat' so maybe I am not looking at this from a good angle.

My own head was having quite the discussion over whether it was a good idea. My thinking was that the boiler in an espresso maker is made to a standard to be sold for home use and used in the home, so as long as my connection to the engine doesn't change anything on the espresso maker and will fail or disconnect by design at a low pressure then it would be safe.

I am using clear polyurethane tubing that fits over the air feed tube to the engine with about 8-10lbs of force, if it gets hot its even less tight and would come off with less then 3lbs of force, so not much pressure can build up. The engine will run on 3 psi and this setup so far wont push it through a cycle so I am starting with low psi and adjusting the rig to produce slightly more. I would like to dis-assemble an espresso maker and convert the chamber to be a real boiler but realize it would need to be low pressure. Probably no more then around 8psi. It would certainly require finding out exactly what the safe limits of the original parts are in the espresso maker.

A knowledgeable coffee addicted fellow I know once stated that my espresso maker was crap because it wont make the same kind of pressure as a real one, its simply a boiling chamber with smaller tubing for the steam line and then a nozzle with a pinhole outlet to compress the hot water to steam right as it leaves the system. There is no way to actually close the system on the machine, the hot water/steam ether goes through the coffee making part or the steam attachment.

Is it still just a bad idea? I am a fairly safety conscious person but I sometimes miss the glaringly obvious.

I hope its OK to just discuss this. I am not planning on trying again with a better but more pressure retaining rig until its really thought through, if at all.
 
CS,

Yours is the sort of replies that happened, and I don't want to get involved in such a discussion, as I will just get blamed for doing something wrong, and upsetting people.

I was just trying to bring it to peoples attention, rather than dragging the same old thing out again.


Bogs
 
OK then, moderators please close this thread.
 
Capt Sensible

The concerns about safety - especially with steam - are paramount to a forum such as this.

Sometimes the concern for safety can be lost in a poorly worded post.

Sometimes a person is just plain ornery for a personal reason or they have misplaced their happy pills.

Thanks for your actions editing your post.

This topic is now closed.

Best Regards
Bob
 
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