Putting my model engine to work pumping water

rdean

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I love to watch model engines run but if they are doing some work it is even better.
I finished my vertical single I/C engine a couple of months back and when I made the mounting board for it I left it intentionally long so I could add something for it to run.
I decided on a water pump with a pump jack attached to the engine.
This is the type of pump that I am talking about.
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And here is one with a pump jack and motor attached.
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The water pump is not complicated and has been in use for centuries and maybe longer.
Here is how it works.
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These are the main parts I made for the pump.
The base plate with a check valve (1/2" steel ball)
The main cylinder.
The piston is 1" in diameter with a check valve at the bottom and 4 holes drilled in the top side for the water to escape There is also a 1/4' rod that screws into the piston top center.
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And that ended up looking like this
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The water inlet is through the base and below the bottom check valve.
The diameter of the cylinder above the piston's upper stroke (1" stroke) needs to be larger to allow time for the water run out of the spout between strokes.

On to the pump jack
This is what the jack part looks like installed on the pump.

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And here it is attached to the motor base for a trial run.
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This photo shows the driven pulley with a gear reducer hidden in the aluminum mount.
The gear reducer started life as a D/C motor driven gear box assembly which I cut open and removed the motor parts except for the main shaft and it's small gear.
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The overall gear ratio is 48 to 1 which makes for a nice slow stroke.

This is a video of the first pumping test.

Thanks for looking
Ray
 
Very cool Rdean! Nice job
 
When I grew up on the farm we had a full size hand pump that had been converted to run on an electric motor for filling the cattle tank.
One of our neighbors had a small hand pump mounted next to the kitchen sink for the only water source in the house.
They had a big tub that was filled with hot water heated on the cook stove for taking a bath.
Their out house was the only toilet.

We had running water and an indoor toilet at our house that was installed 2 years before I was born so I didn't have to use the outhouse.

Thanks for the replies
Ray
 
Awesome job Ray. Like the fact that the pump stroke is nice and slow.
 
Most pre-electric farmhouses had a pitcher pump on the counter next to the sink that was connected to a cistern. The house O grew up on didn't have that convenience. The pump was on a shallow well about 100 ft. from the house. No pump jack. One of my jobs, summer or winter, was to fetch water for the daily household needs. Those included drinking water and cooking, as well as baths, hand washing, doing dishes, and washing clothes once a week.
I would put on a heavy coat, during Summer to hold back the deerflies and a during Winter to stave off the sometimes -20ºF temperatures. In the Winter, you had to take out a kettle of boiling water to thaw the pump out before you could pump water.

Winter excursions to the outhouse were interesting too. We finally got indoor plumbing when I was a teenager, in preparation for the birth of my youngest brother. We were the the first family in our neighborhood to do so. We got a telephone too. Rural life in 1950's Wisconsin.
 
I do remember having to prime the pump with a shot of water if the leathers were getting old or dried out. Very important to pump and save some extra water for the next time.

Thank you all
Ray
 
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