Flame Licker "Jan Ridders" not working

[Blogwitch]

Michael,

If you see my previous posting, showing the two cylinders and a bit of brass bar, well the cylinders are made from cast iron, and the same material is used for the pistons. The brass bar was the lapping bar I used for the cylinders, ended up with both cylinders and all four pistons EXACTLY the same, and with a piston at the top of the bore, just past the flame hole towards the bottom, I could put my thumb over the bottom of the bore and not one of the pistons moved unless I took my thumb away, the pistons were less than 0.001" than the bore.
There is a reason for this, no lubrication is allowed so cast iron is self lubricating because of the carbon it contains and both the cylinder and piston expand at the same rate, so hopefully the gap between the two stays constant as well.

I think it all depends on which version you have built. The first version (mine) calls for cast iron cylinder (or stainless steel) and piston whereas the later version calls for a stainless cylinder with graphite piston. Which version is yours?

A quote from Jan about the first version.

[FONT=&quot]Some specifications.
[/FONT][FONT=&quot]-The piston and the internal head valve are made of cast iron. The most important reason is that that this material has a low coefficient of expansion. This avoids jamming of the piston and/or the head valve in the cylinder. Furthermore, cast iron is more or less self-greasing, even at high temperatures caused by the high degree of carbon, it is wear resistant and working out is rather easy. For the cylinder I used cast iron to, but one can use good and rust free steel as well. The bore in the cylinder must be exactly cylindrical and smooth. The diameter of the piston as well as the head valve must be very little smaller than that of the cylinder bore, so that they can move without friction and yet sealing well against the open air.
- The pusher for the head valve is made out of two pieces steel wire with a diameter of about 2 mm. They are silver-soldered together, sharp squarely. This rod can simply move in a bore through the entire length of the cylinder wall. The short part of the rod drives the head valve with some space in the pin that is screwed in the head valve. This to avoid possible wriggling. On the opposite site of the pusher the small accessory is attached against which the piston strikes in the utmost right position to close the hole in the cylinder. I call this "the striker" (?) further on. This striker can be adjusted and fixed with a 2mm screw. This screw has a small knob on it so it can be easy untied by hand. With that it is easy to dismantle the rod, the piston and the head valve, f.i. to clean this parts and the inner surface of the cylinder.

[/FONT]
John

 

[Journeyman]

Perseverance is the answer with this engine. I built one over a year ago and on seeing this thread I tried again to start it. I found it needs to be hot, the flame large and the wick set some way towards the rear of the engine (see end of video). When I first finished the engine it refused to run for more than a few seconds. My original pistons were from cast iron which rusted and gummed up very quickly. I remade brass pistons and these seem to work well with the stainless steel cylinder.

I made a quick video (first effort with iMovie) which proves the design works, even though my flame port is too big (mixed up centre distance with overall length). There are some close ups at the end which may help with burner placement. [ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJBlCyv66nA"]Jan Ridders Vacuum Engine[/ame]

Cheers John

 

[orangeray]

with a piston at the top of the bore, just past the flame hole towards the bottom, I could put my thumb over the bottom of the bore and not one of the pistons moved unless I took my thumb away, the pistons were less than 0.001" than the bore.

Okay I tried to do the same with mine and the pistons started slowly running down and falling out, even though my thumb was covering the hole.

I think it all depends on which version you have built. The first version (mine) calls for cast iron cylinder (or stainless steel) and piston whereas the later version calls for a stainless cylinder with graphite piston. Which version is yours?

What is the difference between the first and later version, despite the material that is used for the cylinder?

There are some close ups at the end which may help with burner placement.

Beautiful little engine you've got there! What kind of fuel did you use, until now I tried it with "burning sprit" which I think isn't the right choice is it?

What do you guys think about the position and length of my wick? And by the way thanks for your answers:thumbup: It really helps me because I'd love to get that engine running!

Michael

 

[Journeyman]

Hi Michael
Looking at your burner I would guess that the wick tube is too high and that some cool air is entering the port from the bottom. All of the engines I have seen, there are loads on U-Tube, seem to have a long wick that starts something more than 6mm below the port and extends the same distance above. The wick needs to be straight and fit flat to the port face. It is very temperamental about positioning. It took me ages to find the sweet spot.
The fuel I use is Bio-Ethanol, which I got from Amazon. Sold by garden centres as well. Claims to be 95% Denaturized Ethanol. It is clear, no dye, and burns very cleanly you can hardly see the flame. As you can't see in the video! Notice that every time I move it the speed alters as the flame moves about.
Good Luck, John

 

[Cogsy]

What is the difference between the first and later version, despite the material that is used for the cylinder?

I think the bore size was originally 18mm but the second version has a 22mm bore. Not sure about the first version but for the second it was recommended to use graphite for the pistons, which is what I used. Here's a video of mine. It was my first engine build. See how the speed changes from a very slight adjustment of the flame about halfway through the video.

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

 

[Blogwitch]

Like everyone else has said, you need to lengthen your wick and get it lower and closer. The killer for these engines is allowing cold air to be sucked into the engine, you need to smother that flame inlet with flame, and nothing else.

BTW, I use glass fibre for my wicks, it lasts much longer than cotton wicks and can usually be obtained from department stores that sell the spirit based garden lights.

John

 

[orangeray]

Hey

So it finally happened, yesterday I had time to run the engine again, I remade the pistons with brass and adjusted the wick as you said and it worked on its own for some time:thumbup: (The position of the flamme really is all this engine's about)
Afterwards I wanted to show it my dad but I couldn't get it to work anymore, so I guess from now on I'll have to do some fine adjustements here and there but I hope I'll get it to run smoothly as yours do.

Thanks again for your help, I'll post a video as soon as I'll get it to run smoothly.

Michael