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Flame eater questions

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lazylathe:
WOW!!!! :jaw:
Just seen that this post has some activity!!!

Great additions guys!!
Love the look of the flame likker you are building Geoff!!! :bow:

Just an update on my find!
I did get it all shined up and running like a champ!
Takes a bit of heat to get it warmed up before it will run but then it runs till there is no more fuel.

Here is a link to a short clip of it running:


Keep up with the updates Geoff!!!
I would love to see a video of it running in the future!

Andrew

PS: I have recently acquired another basket case flame eater...
Also a non runner, just not had enough time to look it over carefully.
Here is a clip of it:

geoff_p:
Sorry Chaps, there is little chance of a video - I don't have any means of taking one: my phone makes phone-calls only, and my camera takes still photographs.  However, if I can get this beasty to run, I will try to borrow a moving-pictures machine.

Meantime, back in the jungle ....

The following is a lash-up!  I'm not inclined to use the brass-bar I have on suck-it-and-see parts, and cardboard just won't stand being near the flames.  But I do have a sizable sheet of 1/2mm brass and a pair of tin-snips.

Hopefully the photo-titles will make sense so here goes..

And, by the way, the flywheels are now filled with lead and together weigh about a kilo.  With the port held open, the thing will spin on for perhaps 30 to 40 revolutions, showing there is little friction.
The raggedy sheet of brass at the back is a windshield because my workbench is outdoors.

All suggestions on a new Royal Mail first-class stamp, please.

Geoff

geoff_p:
Oops!  I forgot to mention, the spring (in top-view of bell-crank) presses the valve onto its face and, by Newtons Law of reaction, also 'encourages' the cam-follower to "Follow that cam!"

I originally had a separate spring pulling the cam-follower but it fell off and I realised it wasn't doing much good.

Geoff

NickG:
Well done Andrew, yours looks excellent and runs superbly now!

Geoff, it sounds like everything is nearly there - I don't know what else to suggest now except going back to that blow torch flame when you felt it kick - play around with the timing with that setup and you might get some joy. If you've got low friction & good seals that's half the battle but there are many other factors too. It's hard to say past that as my 3 engines were proven designs so I already knew the basic parameters worked i.e. bore, stroke, port size, flywheel size etc.

Have you tried lighter flywheels? They may be too heavy for it to turn over under its own power. The only other thing to note is your piston and cylinder materials aren't ideal, although at least they are the same so differential expansion shouldn't be an issue, but it might be worth trying to measure them hot just to rule something else out. I tried an alloy piston in my first one and the whole thing locked up solid when hot but that was with a cast iron cylinder.

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