Flame eater help

[lazyLathe]

Hi All,

I recently picked this engine up on fleabay for a steal!


It seems to be in pretty good condition, jut needs a good cleaning and polish.

I am having a hell of a time trying to get it to run!
The original spring steel valve(?) did not cover the whole inlet port so i made a new one that fits a lot better and actually gives the engine
a bit of compression.


It has a graphite piston.
The only ball bearing is the one that runs on the cam.



I am wondering if the return springs tension is too high.
It takes a lot to spin it over.

I have tried lots of different flames, sizes and positions but no luck.
I have also read through all the builds here and tried a few of the mentioned fixes to no avail...

Any help would be greatly appreciated!!
My fingers are aching from flicking over the flywheel for the past 2 hours....

Andrew

 

[joebiplane]

hence the ' STEAL" .... perhaps..... ::coffeesmiley::

 

[Tony Wells]

I'm assuming that the valve timing is correct so that the flame is sucked in to warm the air in the cylinder, then as it cools off the air in the chamber "shrinks"(valve closed) and atmosphere pushes the piston back up from outside the cylinder. Right?

I don't know too much about them, except they can be quite finicky.

 

[lazyLathe]

Hi All,

I have received quite a bit of help from other forums on this issue.
Contacted the original manufacturers of the engine and they also provided some insights.
It is a very early PM Research engine, possibly before the first prototypes were released.
Have a look here about 1/3 of the way down:
http://www.craftsmanshipmuseum.com/other.htm
If you look closely you can see a few differences.
Mine does not have the crankshaft oil holes, the valve plate is a different shape and the way the valve connects to the con rod.

This is the new one you can buy:
http://www.pmresearchinc.com/store/product.php?productid=3095&cat=5&page=1
Also quite different.

Anyway i have ordered some spares for the engine and will see if that helps it out.
They should arrive in a few days time and we will see where we go from there!

Apart from that i polished it back up and it is nice and shiny again.
Also cleaned out the cylinder with some alcohol as it has some black grime in it.
Possibly from being run from cold and the condensation causing the graphite to stick to the cylinder wally.

Tony: The valve timing is ground into the back of the flywheel so you cannot adjust that...

Will keep you up to date!

Andrew

 

[lazyLathe]

It's alive!!!

Well here it is!!
Added the spares and made a few adjustments and away she goes!!!

While i was waiting i polished her up to look like new again!

[video=youtube;NzqPSAqdpvA] http://youtu.be/NzqPSAqdpvA [/video]

Andrew

 

[lazyLathe]

This is what it needed to get it up and running.

I bought:
1- A new valve spring
2- A new valve plate
3- A new camshaft

Turns out i did not need the new camshaft as the old one works perfectly!
The valve plate is a graphite plate that covers the port and the valve spring holds it securely against the port opening.

I had to mess around a bit with the spring tension, it was way too tight.
Once i had that right it burst into life!

I think there was some moisture in the air as it seems quite sticky...
Will have to take apart and clean with alcohol.

I will have to remember to warm it up with a flame before trying to start it next time!

Andrew

 

[Galileu]

This is great looking engine. I didn't even know these engines existed.

José

 

[lazyLathe]

Thanks Jose!
They are very interesting engines!
Have a look here:
http://www.model-engine-plans.com/

He has some great plans there!!

It is on my list of engines to build one of these days...

Looks like i am heading away from steam engines and heading into the hot air engine territory!
I have a 2 1/2 inch bore Rider-Ericsson kit waiting in the sidelines too...

Andrew

 

[4R8]

Glad to hear it all turned out!

These sort of engines fascinate me, along wit stirlings, the concepts are just amazing