Encabulator build

[steamer]

Rof} Rof} Rof}

 

[Ken I]

Since you asked....

I would make that in a 4 jaw - starting dead true turn O.D. and trepan large groove / bore I.D. - push over 0.115" one set of jaws to dial gauge - trepan second groove and boss O.D.

Remove to mill to remove remaining "moon" portion. You could of course do the same thing with a 4 jaw on a RT and mill it.

2c Ken

 

[Captain Jerry]

Ken

That's a very good suggestion. It had rattled around in my head at times but I never took the time to draw it. Looking at your illustration, it may not be necessary to remove the crescent. It would never cover any of the ports. Thanks for taking the time to show that.

Jerry

 

[Captain Jerry]

Yes, I'm still fiddling around with this thing. The previous video shows the valve in operation but there are no pistons installed and no attempt at valve timing. This next video goes to the next step. Both valves installed and timed with the piston motion, both of which are installed. The pistons are 90 deg out of phase to give 4 equally spaced power strokes and the two valves, at opposite ends, are 180 deg out of phase. This is a test of the mechanical stability and geometric accuracy of the design.



I am reasonably satisfied with this test. The action is smooth and the machine seems well balanced. BUT! That slight knocking sound needs to be resolve. I cannot be certain that it is totally associated with the spurthing bearings. I suspect that at least some of it is from backlash at the ball joint in the piston. I need to disassemble (again) and inspect.

Jerry

 

[Ken I]

Probably brachiation of the frangible spurthing bearings.

Ken

 

[Captain Jerry]

Good call Ken. That would be an easy fix. 3922

Jerry

 

[Captain Jerry]

Victor Borge', one of the funniest people to have ever lived, used to tell a story about an uncle of his that no one ever heard of. This uncle had experimented with citrus flavored soft drinks and had introduced a product to market called "1-UP" with no success. But he had continued to work hard and introduced several follow Up products. "2-up", "3-UP", and "4-UP" were introduced and had the same poor reception. He slowed down a bit but he did try "5-UP" and then several years later tried again with "6-UP" but that was all that he had the heart for, and so he closed up his lab and took a job selling ladies shoes.

Its hard to know when to quit, when to give up, when to admit defeat. The uncle had surely given it a good run. Still.....Maybe.....Just one more try.

There was once a guy that tried to build a compressed air powered Encabulator. It occupied his time and his shop for almost six months. And yet success eluded him. It seemed that the final victory was just around the next corner. But after turning so many corners and solving so many design and fabricating and assembly problems, he was at last at the finish. It looked like this:

The one remaining problem that is as yet unsolved is.

I DOESN'T RUN!

Now what? There are people that can design and build an engine in less time than it has taken me to find my socks. Beautifully conceived and executed designs. But that's not my style. I will just keep on whipping this horse. I will not suffer the same fate as Victor's uncle.

Jerry 4026

 

[steamer]

I'm rooting for ya Captn!

Machine that sucker right into submission.....sorry Dean, I think that's your line ;D


Dave

 

[Ken I]

Somebody said that it couldn't be done,
But he with a chuckle replied
That "maybe it couldn't," but he would be one
Who wouldn't say so till he'd tried.
So he buckled right in with the trace of a grin
On his face. If he worried he hid it.
He started to sing as he tackled the thing
That couldn't be done, and he did it.

Somebody scoffed: "Oh, you'll never do that;
At least no one ever has done it";
But he took off his coat and he took off his hat,
And the first thing we knew he'd begun it.
With a lift of his chin and a bit of a grin,
Without any doubting or quiddit,
He started to sing as he tackled the thing
That couldn't be done, and he did it.

There are thousands to tell you it cannot be done,
There are thousands to prophesy failure;
There are thousands to point out to you, one by one,
The dangers that wait to assail you.
But just buckle in with a bit of a grin,
Just take off your coat and go to it;
Just start to sing as you tackle the thing
That "cannot be done," and you'll do it.

It Couldn't Be Done
Edgar Guest

 

[Captain Jerry]

If this thing doesn't run, I'll be terribly embarrassed. And I hate that, so It WILL run. The problems are not mechanical. It turns freely. If I flip it with my fingers, it will coast fo 4 or 5 revs. If I put my big test flywheel on it , it will coast a bit longer. The valve timing seems to be right, or alt least close enough to run poorly. Yhe problem seems to be air pressure flow so it could be valve seating or sealing or air passages. The thing leaks air everywhere but I have seen some very leaky engines running. Still, the day was spent cutting and fitting oiled paper gaskets. I didn't get it reassembled so no test results.

Jerry 4120

 

[steamer]

squareness on that rotary valve will be important....

Dave

 

[Captain Jerry]

squareness on that rotary valve will be important....

Dave

I understand what you mean Dave, and there is a lot to it. There are two valves, one at each end. They face in opposite directions. That means that the two valve face planes must be parallel. They should be. The valve face is square to the shaft because the face was turned and the shaft bore drilled and reamed without moving the part in the chuck but since the two faces are on separate parts that are 3 inches apart, they depend on the shaft to stay square to each other. The design calls for the rotating valve part to float on the shaft slightly so that it can mate with the valve face. relying on air pressure to hold it against the face just as the D-valve body floats on the cross bar and relys on air pressure to mate with the valve face.

This valve is similar to the rotary slide valve on Elmers 3 cyl radial but structurally different. Elmer's valve passes exhaust air through it so it does not rely on air pressure for sealing. Elmer's valve relies on the pressure of the top cover to press the valve body to the face and must form a seal with the top cover as well as the valve face.

I may not be getting the desired action but I can't be sure without devising some way to test the pressure in each cylinder head. If there is something preventing the valve from floating, I would expect it to be the fit with the drive dog. If that proves to be free moving and non binding, then I may have to provide some means other than air pressure to hold the valve against the face. I'm thinking of a flat spring washer.

Thanks for the comment. It made me think about this some more and writing this post helped me work out a plan of action.

By the way, I can't do it the way Elmer did. Elmer's valve does not allow a shaft to pass through so Elmer's engine only has a single output shaft. This engine needs a valve at both ends so using Elmer's design would mean an engine no external output! What a concept. But then maybe that would be appropriate for an
Encabulator. All input...no output. If you think about it that way, it IS working!!!

Jerry

 

[steamer]

;D


I know you went to great lengths to get the valve disk bore square, but is the valve seat square?

If you can "float" the valve disk so that it can freely seat on the seat, it might help....this of course assumes it's leaking....something I have NO evidence to substantiate...just a hunch.....

Dave

 

[Captain Jerry]

Today was spent fiddling with the valve in an attempt to verify that it is working. My first approach was to just remove the heads and see if I could tell anything but after a few inconclusive results, I decided that I had to isolate the valve so that the valve was the only thing being tested. This is a pic of only one valve, set up so that air pressure enters through the regular pipe and the shaft can be rotated by hand.

By placing a finger over the air passage that leads to the cylinder, I could tell when the valve opened and closed. The results were disappointing. The output would seem to be correct for a few revolutions and then would hang open and air would blow out of both cylinder ports for several revolutions, indicating that the valve was lifted off of the face.

To shorten the story, the cause of the problem is the drive dog. The fit of the dog teeth in the slot on the valve is not correct causing the joint to hang and prevent the valve to be unable to float. A temporary fix, filing and fitting seems to do the job.

The valve now operates reliably. With my thumb over the cylinder port, I can detect pressure through about 130 degrees on each of the two cylinder ports. This video shows the test. You can't feel the pressure but by only partially covering the port, the resulting farting sound gives a good indication of the valve opening and closing. Watch the video.



The fix is temporary because the dog needs to be redesigned. The cast iron that I used is showing some rust and that could be part of the problem. Brass, bronze or stainless would be better.

One other observation. When I apply air pressure there is increased resistance to rotation. With no air, the sahft will spin formore than 10 rev with a finger snap. When the air is turned on , a finger flip gets only a few revs. I think that this is an indication that air pressure causes the valve topress more tightly against the face.

I may get there yet.

Jerry

 

[steamer]

Hang in there Captn...you'll steer her to safe harbor yet.....

Dave

 

[Captain Jerry]

Video upload complete.

 

[malcolmt]

Captain Sir

If i might suggest (from a complete novice's viewpoint) that the true problem here is that you have designed and built a VERY advanced possibly even ahead of it's time Encabulator for which the actual Modus operandi is not possible at this time, obviously at some point in the future this does become possible otherwise you would not have been able to get this far with the prototype of the future successful Encabulator. Whilst i realise this doesn't solve your immediate issues i think there is a Doctor (Eng Wc & Chain) "WHO" that will be able to save you a great deal of further development time and therefore cost. Although i don't have his contact details i would imagine that a Google future time search would get you this information and hence the answers you seek. As i say i am a complete novice in this area so please consider this a layman's (although i am fully certifiable) thoughts rather than a definitive answer.

Kind regards

Malcolm

 

[Captain Jerry]

Malcolm

The doctor has been a constant but unacknowledged collaborator. He is difficult to contact on a regular basis due to some negative bias towards cell phones.

Jerry

 

[Rickard]

I'm Sorry I must have missed it what is the Base Plate Made From ? I hope you're using an Allen/Bradly PLC to contol it. Verry Cool Project

 

[Captain Jerry]

Richard

Thanks for stopping by and making a comment. I was unable to find a local source for prefamulated Amulite for the base so it will be sent out for famulation after completion. Allen/Bradly hasn't returned my calls.

Jerry