This is the engine that was converted from an old special tilt piston air compressor. This is the exact same principal from a certain type of “Air Hogs” plane engine. In the opener the engine was running at 35-50 psi and the second start was around 75-80 psi. Top RPMS so far is 1700 at 110 PSI. The timing still needs some work. Solenoid Valves with a Reed Switch and a Magnet are great ways of testing air/steam engines to perfect the timing. A slide valve will eventually be needed as the solenoid valve is rated at 100000 – 1000000 cycles. This engine would wear it out in a day. The flywheel is wafer board (simple easy but not balanced or perfected). Not shown, top voltage from a permanent magnet motor (tread mill) 21 volts, top load 75 watts. The belt started slipping and the timing was hard to get back to perfect for the load. This engine will run 4 minutes on a full 10 gallon tank of air. The last minute is slow around 500 rpms to 50 rpms.
This video shows the new dead simple linkage that activates the displacer piston. The crank pin is from the pedal of an old excercise bike. It has ball bearings at both ends of the tube so it has no problem with the side loads caused by the offset at the the top of the conrod. As you can see it is still very much a work in progress but I am very impressed so far – it still does not have a cooler and you can see how far down the heat has spread. Imagine how well it could run with a propperly insulated burner assembly and a water jacket at the bottom! You will have to excuse the noise – I temporarily wired a block of steel to the flywheel to help counterbalance and rattles and ‘dings’ Hope it was worth waiting for, subscribers. Im sorryit took this long to update. (if you havent already go and see my other vids and the evolution of my engines) Thanks.
No steam around so I used an air compressor. 3/32 to 1/8 gap, 1 inch mouth, 11 inch bell, 3/1 ratio with 4 inch id pipe, 3/16 inch wall. The small tank was being supplied with air from a compressor to recharge between toots. I just looked at other whistles and some website and started build it. Not bad for my first whistle. www.fonema.se is the site I got the best information on.
I got another Briggs and Stratton engine at the Stanton Trade days that I was able to use the fuel system from to fix the air compressor. Also, the air compressor engine had seized somehow but I took the head off and was able to get it going by lubricating the piston and valves with PB blaster penetrating oil.
This month we have a cracker of a DVD for you as Roothy heads off to LandCruiser Mountain Park with a bunch of keen Forumites. Located near just a short drive from Brisbane is arguably one of the most renowned 4WD designated parks in the country with tracks to suit all levels. Mark Allen shows us three awesome custom trucks, including an insane HiLux you might have seen in the competition circuit, a well kitted out Jeep Cherokee and a touring Toyota LandCruiser 100 Series. I help you save some of your hard earned cash in a DIY vehicle pre-trip preparation guide plus he have a look at buying a used HiLux. Roothy cooks up a storm in the bush from the back of Milo plus we have a look at tyre tips, exhaust jacks and air compressors. Our new format DVD’s have something for everyone, so your whole family will thank you for that!
Another youtube DIY gas turbine jet engine comes to life. I just tig’d up the frame today and couldn’t wait to spool the engine up in its new home. I’m notoriously impatient with projects like this so I threw together some PVC pipe and pressurized it with my air compressor to feed oil to the turbo. Future oil system will be a power steering pump driven with a 12 volt motor with a fan and cooler. I also plan to design some type of electic motor starting mechanism as the shop vac drowns out the best sounding part of a jet engine – the startup! Why did I build it? Practice makes perfect and this is a chance to do a ton of Tig welding. I’m going to turbocharge my 87 Iroc and will be building my own headers for it. Plus it’s just fun to make a lot of heat and noise.
My father-in-law and I fire up the 12.5HP gas engine compressor and test it out with a set of three Cunningham Air Whistle boat horns. It’s a beast of a machine! Later this summer, this compressor will provide air for the huge Tyfon 425 ship horn seen in my other videos