Hi Steve, ...nice work on the steam plant and motor...great to see a clean instalation...I have sorted a few Mamods were you could not see a thing from so much gunk, with pliers bent steam pipes...this one is a jewel.
Now to sort the problem...thanks for checking all the questions I posed... I will have to ask you a few more... 1. Does the motor get all jerky when steam is applied slowy? Regardless I have never had a lockup from water being trapped...slide valve engines yes...if the slider cant get off the face it will lock up something terrible...I sorted one that would lock up so bad...and with 50lbs on the clock unquartered the wheels. Usually when a steam engine works good on air they work "Great" on steam... unless some sort of steam issue is taking place causing swelling...that is why I asked is it jerky...steam obstruction on the inlet side of things just makes the steam motor slow and no power but will NOT be jerky...it is when the obstruction is on the exhaust end of things that lock up and jerky sets in...so the first question I asked is a big one. One mamod that I sorted ...the little "O" ring under the retaining disc that is under the reversing trunion was not installed properly and when the exhaust pipe was pushed in it was trapping the "O" ring and 3/4 blocking the pipe...under air fine but when steam was applied the "O" ring swelled and blocked off the exhaust... Just pull out the exhaust pipe and try under steam...ya I know the reversing trunion is miserable to get at...there is allways something driectly in the way of your screwdriver. Get up to steam and without the exhast pipe in the block try it...it will make a mess of things ...but a minute of running will give you a clue. Your design is exactly the sane as one I have in a steam powered tram...in one of the pics I sent, you can make out the motor in the background...my trunion bolt has gears in front of it...to work on the reversing valve out come the gears...your set up is similar in that you have a spacer just under the bolt head. That is the easy one... It would never run on air if the timing and bottoming out of the pistons was wrong. The throw looks right from the pics...I have seen them when turning over by hand you could feel the piston tapping one end or the other...and the person wondered why it did not run...in your case I think that geometry is fine. Have ever noticed how the gasket inbetween the clyinder block and the frame have very different drillings? 2....pull the cylinder assemblys completely off and check to make sure the gaskets look exactly like my attached photo...The whole works of this design is hinged on the gasket for steam distribution...steam really has to move around behind that cylinder block...straight air can get by if the gasket is slightly askew or cut wrong or not the right profile...hard to discribe the picture is worth...more than a thousand words...as you can see the steam relies on the gasket to be fed and exhaust steam...very critical. Give that a try...I still have some other stuff to try...Tony ----- Original Message ----- From: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "Small-scale live steam discussions" <[email protected]> Sent: Tuesday, November 01, 2005 8:04 PM Subject: Re: [SSLiveSteam] Reassembling I.P. Engineering Jane/Mamod Cylinders > Here's some photos of the engine, piping, burners, and boiler. From these > can be seen the cylinder configuration, lubricator, and all. The cylinder > cranks are set at 90 degrees. Lubricator is pass-through. Gaskets I cut > myself from paper, but I forget what kind. There's a vertical exhaust pipe > behind the engine that comes from an oil separator on the steam outlet. A > drain pipe leads from the separator down through the deck. > > The boiler is also an I.P.Engineering Mamod retrofit item. I bought it way > back and used it here as a quick way to get a functional boiler. The > burners match the Jane's in size and use fibreglass tape for wicks. Fuel > tank is at the same level as the burners. Chicken feeder is planned for > later. The firebox side cover has been removed for the photo. The firebox > is fitted with baffles to keep the flame close to the boiler. > > I am pretty sure that the cylinders do not trap water at the extremes of > travel. I believe that the pistons stop short of the steam ports. I will > check this, however. The engine runs about the same in either direction. > On air I had it turning over at about 60 rpm. > > Hope the links work. If not, I'll try a different way. > Steve > > http://1stclass.mylargescale.com/SteveShyvers%5CDunkirk%5CEngineSideView.jpg > http://1stclass.mylargescale.com/SteveShyvers%5CDunkirk%5CBurners.jpg > http://1stclass.mylargescale.com/SteveShyvers%5CDunkirk%5CPiping.jpg > > > > __________________________________________________________________ > Switch to Netscape Internet Service. > As low as $9.95 a month -- Sign up today at > http://isp.netscape.com/register > > Netscape. Just the Net You Need. > > New! Netscape Toolbar for Internet Explorer > Search from anywhere on the Web and block those annoying pop-ups. > Download now at http://channels.netscape.com/ns/search/install.jsp > _______________________________________________ > SSLiveSteam mailing list > Send messages: [email protected] > Cancel subscription: http://postfix.45mm.com/mailman/listinfo/sslivesteam > Rules: http://www.45mm.com/sslivesteam_guide.html > > -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: IPstuff.jpg Type: image/jpeg Size: 30984 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://postfix.45mm.com/pipermail/sslivesteam/attachments/20051101/5b828446/IPstuff.jpg _______________________________________________ SSLiveSteam mailing list Send messages: [email protected] Cancel subscription: http://postfix.45mm.com/mailman/listinfo/sslivesteam Rules: http://www.45mm.com/sslivesteam_guide.html
