Rider Ericsson set up help.

[lazylathe]

Hi All,

I have in my possession a very hard to find Rider Ericsson Hot Air Engine that was made in Guelph, Ontario, Canada.
I think it was made in the late 70's or early 80's.

So far i have only seen one other at the Steam-Era show a few weeks ago.
Never thought i would see one again.

Apart from having to take it apart to clean and oil it the condition is excellent.

However i cannot get it to run.
It will turn over a few times but then stop.
I have no idea on how to set it up correctly and get it running.

Any ideas or help would be greatly appreciated!!
I can take more pictures of the internals if required!

Thanks,

Andrew

 

[lazylathe]

Bump...
I know there have been a few builds out there.
Any help would be appreciated.

Andrew

 

[Stan]

It doesn't look like the couple of Rider Ericsson pumps that I have seen, or the models of them on the market. If the original was made by a small local company, there may not be many around. If it is a Rider Ericsson, do you have the original model number or name?

 

[lazylathe]

Hi Stan,

The decal is the only writing on the entire engine.
The company is not around anymore either.

If you have any model engineer magazines from the late 70's he had an advertisement in them.

I have no other info on it either.

Will keep searching and trying different options.

Thanks,

Andrew

 

[user 4756]

Hi Andrew,

I am in the (long) process of building a 1/4 scale Rider Ericsson.

They were a water pump and the engine relies on the water passing through the cylinder jacket to cool the top end, making the difference between the hot and the cool(er) air which makes it run.

Does yours have a water jacket? I can't see any sort of pump arrangement. It should be mounted outside the cylinder, connected to a longer walking beam than yours.

Is the piston loose in the bore? Air could be getting past the piston as the engine warms up. Are the linkages square to their bearings? Any resistance kills the engine dead.

Try asking some of the people who have built one already over on Mad Modders..but don't ask me; I haven't got anywhere near firing it up yet! :big:

Andy

 

[lazylathe]

Thanks Andy!

I will also post on MM, i forgot to do that...

No water cooler on this one.
Fit of all the parts is still excellent.
When i remove the piston there is a nice pop sound!

I will keep trying!!!

Andrew

 

[MikeR C]

When you say you took it apart and oiled it, did you also oil the piston?
Assuming you did, you might consider taking it apart and washing the oil off the piston and the displacer. Reassemble it and only oil the pivots with just the tiniest bit of oil on the displacer rod where it goes thru the piston. I use ethyl alcohol "Everclear" and fillup the little wick, adjust the chimney so there is a gap at the bottom, light it and after a bit of warmup it should run.
Somewhere around here I have the original instructions for mine and they warn of dire consequences if you oil the piston/cylinder

Thx
MikeR C

 

[lazylathe]

Hi Mike,

Thanks for that info!!!
I managed to get it running finally!

I was using Denatured Alcohol as the fuel source but apparently it prefers a hotter flame!
Not sure if i can get the type of fuel you use here in Canada...
Will experiment with a few other types that i have and see what happens!

If you find your copy of the instructions could i get a copy from you??
Scan if possible.
That would be greatly appreciated!!!

Andrew

 

[Stan]

Everclear is almost 100% ethanol sold in liquor stores. Denatured ethanol is almost 100% ethanol except for the small percentage of contaminant put in to make it unfit to drink. I can't find denatured ethanol in the hardware or paint stores in Alberta. It is what you need to thin shellac but they sell methanol and claim it is the same thing. Methanol has a lower burning temperature than ethanol.

You can get pure ethanol from a drugstore if you are known by the pharmacist.

 

[MikeR C]

You're right, I get mine from the Liquor store

I will look for the instructions, I haven't seen them in quite a while, and if I can find them I will scan them into a PDF.

I'm glad to hear it runs, it's very interesting to watch.

Thx
MikeR C

 

[lazylathe]

Found a link to some more info in the Craftsmanship museum site!

It is called the "Eco Stirling Engine"

Look about a third of the way down.

http://www.craftsmanshipmuseum.com/other.htm

Andrew

 

[Stan]

Now you know why I diplomatically commented on you calling it a Rider Ericsson.

 

[lazylathe]

Thanks Stan!
I called it that because of the similar linkage system used by both models.
The same but different! ;D

I was not sure what category to put it in or what to call it!

Andrew

 

[Groomengineering]

Cute little engine. And it does seem the designer was staring at a Ryder Ericsson while drawing it up. :big:

Maybe a Ryder Ecoson...... :shrug: :hDe:

Cheers

Jeff

 

[user 4756]

Glad you got it going Andrew,

There's a tip for when I finally get mine finished...more heat!

Andy

 

[Stan]

The original Rider Ericsson water pumps used very little heat. A very small wood fire in the fire box pumped a lot of water. They upped their efficiency a lot by using the water being pumped for cooling.

 

[lazylathe]

Thanks Andy!

I have the same kit that you are building coming to me in the next week or so!
I have been following along with your build in the curtains.
Just watching and learning!!

When i get around to it, i will need to find a friend that can turn the flywheel for me.
My lathe is not big enough...
Or maybe i need a bigger lathe!!! ;D

Andrew

 

[lazylathe]

The original Rider Ericsson water pumps used very little heat. A very small wood fire in the fire box pumped a lot of water. They upped their efficiency a lot by using the water being pumped for cooling.

Hi Stan,

Since this is just a "pretend" Rider Ericsson maybe that is why it needs more heat?
Also it's age is unknown, i would guess about 20+ years old and i do not know how it was treated by it's previous owner.
I do know that the displacer is discoloured so i presume it has been overheated in the past.

I just like it because it is rare and interesting and made in Canada!

Andrew

 

[lazylathe]

Got it up and running on a small denatured alcohol flame!

I love the action of this little guy!

[ame]http://youtu.be/nuZPgBht6Gk[/ame]

Andrew