Plumbing Parts Engine

[cfellows]

Nick sums it up pretty well... thanks Nick. The latest Ridder design calls for the air inlet tube to end above the fuel level so that any accidental blowback into the fuel tank will not spew fuel out the air inlet tube. I only extended it down into the fuel so I could see if it was bubbling on air/fuel intake. I will likely shorten the tube now so that blowback from the engine will now spew fuel out of the filler cap.

I also have a design in mind which will greatly simplify the additional air / fuel mixture adjustment.

Chuck

 

[Longboy]

........Thanks Nick, Chuck. We await your application of thread sealer. With automatic intake valves controlled by atmospheric pressure, when the piston starts its compression stroke and the valve is returning to its seat, that short time period back to seat could be the bubbling source. It would only be visualized with a fuel line drawing vapor instead of being liquid filled and being below the tank surface as in the Hit Miss video. If this is the case and thread sealer makes no change.......gotta be the norm!
Your brass fitting opposed valve block assembly is a great innovation of ordinary hardware items. When this is proven and shown in a video it will be used by other modellers . I'm a little more interested in I/C this year and started with the valve block for the Joe Webster engine. A good choice for a newbee. If I could cut little 1/4 inch valves and finish this assembly, that helps my confidence. I have made the valve block and will continue. Its different than Stirling and I appreciate the build logs here...........now on to the Ridders web site! Dave.

 

[NickG]

Longboy,

Good point about the atmospheric inlet valve.

My next engine project (if I ever get a flame gulper working) will be an i.c. engine too and I was considering the webster. it was the first engine I found plans available on the internet for and I have only studied it and some of Jan Ridders engines in detail. I still like the webster. With a glow plug and a vapour carb it could be pretty simple to build - is a glow plug cheating though?!

Chuck, like wise, can't wait to see this beauty spring into life for the 2nd time, witha different fuel!

Nick

 

[cfellows]

Theoretically, the spring on the inlet valve should close it somewhere near bottom dead center on the intake stroke. I don't get any blowback on my hit n miss engine with the ridders tank, so hopefully it won't be a problem on the plumbing parts engine.

Chuck

 

[cfellows]

Well, yet another cylinder head. I decided to gussie it up a little bit by making this head out of brass. The valve block will be similar in construction to that used on the Wesbster Engine.

Chuck

 

[cfellows]

Got a little more work done on the valve block this evening. Here's a couple of exploded views of the assembly.

Chuck

 

[NickG]

Looking good chuck, hope this method works out better, it looks it.

Nick

 

[cfellows]

Finally got it to run, kind of. The video is uploading to YouTube as we speak. Here are a few photos taken after I took the video.

Closeup of the new valve block assembly with fuel tank hooked up and ready to go.

Front view of the whole engine:

And a side view:

Will upload the video as soon as it finishes processing on youtube.

Chuck

 

[Deanofid]

It looks so neat and "ol' timey". The brass head is a surprisingly good contrast to plain cast iron.
Waiting for your video with great anticipation, Chuck!

Dean

 

[cfellows]

It's in the photos and videos section:

http://www.homemodelenginemachinist.com/index.php?topic=7604.0

Chuck

 

[cfellows]

Well, now the igniter has stopped working. So I'm going to make a few changes to see if I can make it run (a lot) better. I'm converting to points and a coil for the ignition. Then I'll remake the piston, first to get a better fit, and second, to make it longer to increase the compression ratio.

Chuck

 

[Deanofid]

I watched the vid, Chuck. Didn't know it was in the other section.
It's so great!

Dean

 

[NickG]

Chuck,

That is absolutely fantastic - well done! I hope I can make something that good one day.

Nick

 

[NickG]

Chuck, I have just noticed that the ligher I use for lighting my meths burners must have a piezo electric trigger. Do you think these would be powerful enough for an engine? When Iwas in the pound shop the other day I noticed that you can get about 10 for a pound!

Seems to have given up the ghost pretty quickly though, did you have any idea why? It would be nice as a sort of stand alone unit without a coil, battery etc.

Nick

 

[Bill Mc]

Hi Chuck - Tickled pink to see this engine up and running on fuel instead of air. I still haven't taken the plunge and started my Henry Ford's First Engine (still have to order the special tubing for the cylinders and a few other bits and pieces), but your engine has me all fired up. Reading back on your posts it says that you have built Henry Ford's First Engine. If this is true is there any way that I could see some photos of it? Congrats and Happy New Year 2010 - Billmc

 

[cfellows]

Hi Bill,

Must have been somebody else that built the original version. This plumbing parts engine is my first attempt, and it's not actually a replica since some of the parts are widely different than the original. I do have the plans for the replica and used them as a reference for scale, etc.

Chuck

 

[cfellows]

I've made about as many improvements to this engine as I can with it's current configuration. I installed points, a condenser, & a coil and now have a reliable spark. I also increased the compression by adding some length on to the piston and put in a larger O-Ring. It now has good compression, but just won't keep running, even though it does fire pretty consistently.

So, I've decided that it just doesn't have the power required to keep it running. The other problem is that it gets hot pretty quick since there is no cooling system. I'm probably going to have to make another cylinder setup using 3/4" plumbing parts instead of the 1/2" currently used. This will increase the bore from .65" to about .82" which would give me almost a 70% increase in displacement. I'm also going to have to figure out some kind of cooling system. Think I'm going to put this aside for now and concentrate on my opposed, 4 cylinder.

Chuck

 

[ozzie46]

Thats a good idea. Some times its good to put things down and take a breather. Sort of refresh the old gray matter.

Who knows maybe you'll figure it out in your sleep or working on another project. But I have no doubt that you will succeed.

Ron

 

[Brian Rupnow]

Chuck---Very good effort, and well docummented!! Congratulations. If you are going to consider a new, larger cylinder, with better cooling----give some serious thought to using an automobile master cylinder. The cylinder bore can be had in 3/4". 7/8" or 1" depending on which one you use, and the reservoir which holds the brake fluid can be filled with water to act as a cooling chamber, like the old hit and miss gasoline engines.---Brian

 

[cfellows]

Well, couldn't back away from it just yet. Sometimes, when you know what needs to be done, you know how to do it, and you have the needed materials, you just jump in.

So, this is the next biggest size plumbing tee, a 3/4" whereas the old one was a 1/2". I turned a pocket (not sure if that is the right term) inside the tee to form a water jacket around the cylinder sleeve. Then I turned and bored a sleeve out of cast iron. The sleeve will be a press fit in the pipe tee. The bore on the new cylinder will be .812 whereas the old one was .650". The stroke will be the same. However the cylinder sleeve will not extend beyond the back of the tee like the old one since the new, larger tee is already as long as the smaller one plus the old sleeve. That should add to overal appearance. I never did like that short section of pipe nipple sticking out the back of the smaller tee.

Here's the new, larger tee and cylinder sleeve:

Chuck