My first effort. I followed the "Tin Can" plans quite closely. The power cylinder is cut from a 12" copper repair coupling from ACE Hardware. (id is 7/8") The piston is epoxy. Everything else is pretty close to plans. A one ounce lead weight appropriately placed on the "walking beam" keeps it pretty smooth. With a single tea candle it runs 60-75 rpm.
Pretty cool and I'm jazzed that the darned thing runs!! Thanks, Darrell. With only an inexpensive drill press and your plans my first effort is a huge success.
Now I have all kinds of ideas about the next step - better bearings, better power piston/cylinder, etc.
Dale.
I'm not experienced at uploading stuff - so hope my video is attached.
IT RUNS!!
Re: IT RUNS!!
Ok, turns out my video is too large. Wow, only 16 sec. long and still too large. So here's a picture instead. Alright, I give. the picture is too big also. I'm not going to mess with resizing it tonight - probably very simple but it's late.
Re: IT RUNS!!
Well, I went ahead and created a YouTube account so I could share my engine with you. The link is:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=61Gtlm-GXEw
I hope this works. Since recording this video I have added a drain to allow me to empty the water jacket without turning it upside down!
Dale.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=61Gtlm-GXEw
I hope this works. Since recording this video I have added a drain to allow me to empty the water jacket without turning it upside down!
Dale.
Re: IT RUNS!!
Well done. Nothing quite like that moment when it runs on it's own power the first time.
Re: IT RUNS!!
Hey, thanks for acknowledging. I don't know if you checked out my video or not. I put another video up. I built a second displacer/power cylinder and attached it to the same flywheel and beam. I increased the diameter of the displacer piston so that the clearance is less than 1/8" all around. It's not quite scientific because there are some other differences but the RPM's more than doubled to about 175.
My other hobby (RC sailplanes) are gathering dust at the moment! These engines are so interesting and the guys in my A/C class are intrigued by it as well. If I can learn how to make this into a cooling unit maybe the school will pay some of the cost!? Not likely. That's OK, when education and fun go together it's all good.
My other hobby (RC sailplanes) are gathering dust at the moment! These engines are so interesting and the guys in my A/C class are intrigued by it as well. If I can learn how to make this into a cooling unit maybe the school will pay some of the cost!? Not likely. That's OK, when education and fun go together it's all good.