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[KNO3]

Please tell more about the camera set up to monitor the engine and boiler. What components do you use?

[DBS88]

At the beginning of this topic the chances of mistakes being made was mentioned, well its happened. Earlier we discussed the prop size, well I ordered a nice new 80mm Steam Prop from Prop Shop. Simon Higgins cast and polished it beautifully, then threaded it 2 BA to fit the prop shaft, packaged it well and posted it promptly, so imagine my excitement as I went to fit it.
So entirely my fault and inexperience or just plain stupidly I did not think that the centre hub might be longer or about which hand the prop was. So the outcome is I have a right-handed prop that fouls the rudder, so will remove the rudder and carve a notch in it so the rudder passes easily over the props centre boss, then I will have to deal with the issues arising from the forward now being reverse and reverse being forward? Any way I am here to learn and share experiences so hopefully this will help stop someone else from making a similar error.

[rhavrane]

Bonjour Dave,
I have also bought a large number of propellers to Propshop then Protean design and have had the same problem :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vutlswFW4X4
But between you and I, why could not we cut the end of the propeller protruding with a metal lathe as on the old Propshop?
PS : Reading Mark's answer, i know now that is is possible, thank you Mark

[Mark T]

Hi Dave - I had the same issue with the prop on my Anteo from Simon.  The centre boss was so long that it fouled on the rudder.  I simply ground the boss down to a flat until the rudder had enough clearance.  Much easier that altering the rudder.  Mark

[Baldrick]

  That's what I did with my Cervia , gave it a snip with the hacksaw






.

[DBS88]

Thank you for sharing your experiences with longer prop bodies and for the advice on how to overcome the problem. I just couldn't bring myself to take a hacksaw to such a nice prop, so tonight I went for grinding some of the rudder away with a dremel type tool. In my case the rudder was very easy to remove and to hold in a vice so heres the result.

[KNO3]

Notching the rudder is what I would have done too, the prop is too nice to cut.

[DBS88]

Friday was the first opportunity I have had to take the Lady Sarah out for her first trial run. Now before the run I had changed the gas jet and gas piping, the original jet was a number 12, but it was burning poorly, the fumes from the funnel smelled and could be lit with a lighter, so incomplete combustion and far from ideal. The jet was changed for a number 8 and all seemed ok. Interestingly, I tried a number 5 however, the flame would not settle on the burner, it was as though the gas velocity was too high.
The weather forecast suggested it was the best day of the weekend so I went for it. I left with blue skys, then drove through the gloom and rain to find the rain had stopped at the lake so happy days. A bus with local children was in the carpark, the kids were excited, they wanted to see the boat running. I talked to them briefly about steam and so off they went for a walk while the boiler was lit and steam raised. Then the heavens opened, it rained, not lightly but proper rain. So I was there steam was being made so I went for it. I nervously put Lady Sarah on the water and off she went, the black gates v twin purring away, a gentle hum from the boiler and a glorious plume of steam hanging in the cold damp air. I did a short circle, brough her back in, checked reverse, the boiler pressure was ok about 25 - 30 psi and the water level was high, so off we went a bit further and faster. Now that new prop is a revalation, allowing nice slow engine revs and a great turn of speed the the revs were raised. The boiler is a massive 1.2 Litres so I knew it would provide a decent run time. Next time I brought the boat by to physically check, the boiler pressure was down a bit to about 20 psi and the gas tank covered in frost. I then guided the boat over to where the kids were waiting and did a few laps for them to see the steam and to take photos - they after all will hopefully be the future members of the club. Now I have heard about frosting but never seen it, since the gas tanks on my other boats are in the engine rooms and stay fairly warm. Anyway the reduced gas pressure resulted in less boiler pressure and reduced performance, but still ok. I am pleased to say Lady Sarah ran for 25 minutes before I brought her in, having checked the gas and water levels she could easily have stayed out for a lot longer. Most impressive was the lack of leakage from the balackgates v twin, there was nothing to clean up after running all that time, whoever built the engine obviously did a marvellous job on it. So What did I learn - I need to keep the gas tank warm and I need to experiment more with the gas jets and settings to keep the gas pressure up and also the boiler pressure up just a bit higher at 30 - 35 psi would be ideal for this engine. Here is a link to a video of Lady Sarahs first run https://youtu.be/ejQ9Jpjdl0c

[KNO3]

It looks beautiful on the water with that plume of steam.

In your case there is an easy solution to the gas tank freezing. Simply movee it close to the burner, even so that they touch. You can play with the distance or use a piece of copper as a heat transfer bridge.

[derekwarner]

Well.... we could hear that gentle hum draft from the boiler.......congratulations.......wish we had more than 29 seconds of video


From your posting notes....all went well    ...and that 1.2l boiler is a good reserve


Looking forward to more video clips


Derek

[Mark T]

How lovely does that boat look on the water - very elegant 

[davejo90]

That looks great DBS 

[KBIO]

Hello!
"Steaming in the rain!" says the song , no ?!
She is beautiful and behaves well !

[DBS88]

Whilst steaming (singing) in the rain - I also was experimenting. Normally I try to do one thing at a time, so this run was all about getting the boat running as it should, however, I also set up a remote camera inside the cabin, with a transmitter and battery. The aim was to trial remote real time monitoring of the boiler pressure gauge and the water level in the boiler, to see if it works. Great news, proof of concept achieved, both gauges could be seen and the system was fine with the boat off in the distance. Now truthfully, I didn't spend much time looking at the monitor, because I was concentrating on the first run and enjoying the steam plume hanging in the rain. So what did I learn? Yes it works, yes it can be moved from one boat to another, What could be improved? I will rig the reciever monitor up next time so that it is attached to the rc transmitter, that way I will be able to see it easily whilst operating the boats controls.

Here is a link to a short video showing the monitor in use [size=78%]https://youtu.be/ZAwxLlX6Cv0[/size]
Here is a link to a very brief video of Lady Sarah moving a bit faster [size=78%]https://youtu.be/NKJmme2S-1A[/size]


The camera, the transmiter (5.8G 48 Channel) and receiver monitor were all bought cheaply to experiment with, no doubt they could all be improved however the transmitter and receiver do have a range measured in kilometres, so not sure of any lakes near me that it would be an issue. Battery life for the monitor receiver is about 2 hours so that seems fine.
Hope you find this little diversion of interest. I have decided that this boat could be a good place to experiment with things and develop them for my long awaited new build.

[KNO3]

What brand & model of equipment are you using for video monitoring?

[DBS88]

Hi the camera and transmitter are unbranded (not purchased by me, off eBay about £10 each), the receiver monitor (5.8G FPV Monitor 4.3 inch 48CH 480 x 22 LCD Wireless Monitor) £30 new off eBay. The camera needs a hefty battery, a 3 cell limo, which surprised me. The original idea was to use a receiver connected to a mobile phone, a simple and great idea, however, the software companies conspired to make it very difficult, it couldn't be done on my iPhone, nor any of the low end Android phones that I tried (would not accept the drivers needed). So concluded that a stand alone monitor was the safest way to go to ensure it worked. The receiver could have been a small watch type or a lot larger monitor, so went for a smallish monitor with the view of attaching it to the models rc transmitter. As an experiment it works, it all connected easily and worked straight away, will now play with it some more to see how it can be used and developed further. Its all exactly as in the attached photo.

[rhavrane]

Bonjour dAve,Your motivation is impressive, navigating in the rain... but this boat deserves it and you have a good autonomy.
About heating the tank, kno3's suggestion is the one I apply as soon as I can.
And just for fun, I almost lost one of my boats https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4bEiOUfpRV0 because it went in a corner of the large pond and I had not looked in which direction it had disappeared. Hopefully, a pond is easy to explore 

[DBS88]

As previously mentioned here is another mistake or should that be a learning oppourtunity. I don’t believe there is any good served by just sharing the good bits so here goes. Following on from the last outing with the Lady Sarah, I hoped the time it was taking for the boiler to get up to temp and pressure could be improved and also that the pressure would be maintained, so thank you for the advice re frosting of the gas tank.


Before doing anything with the gas tank I revisited the burner and gas jet sizing in a bid to get more heat into the boiler. I refitted the No 10 jet and on the bench it definitely gave more heat so I fitted it back to the boiler. I ran it in the boiler and on start up it was not burning cleanly, you could light the exhaust fumes, so with an open basement door I persisted and found that as the boiler got hotter and the gas tank got colder, the burning settled down so the fumes could no longer be lit and the boiler heated up quickly making good pressure. So i thought that would be ok, that I had a workable solution so I  took the boat out for a run today.


The only differences between running at home and on the bankside were that I topped the boiler up with water to the top of the sight gauge and  refilled the gas tank. It was warmer today and dryer that the last time Lady Sarah ran. The boiler was lit and began with a low howl, it had not done so before, and after 30 mins the boiler was not up to pressure so frustrating. I checked the flame, it was a good colour although not that fierce. I reduced the water level in the boiler and went again, it still took ages before the pressure rose to about 30 psi, by which time the alarm on my transmitter was going crazy saying it had low voltage agghhhhh!!! I had charged it the evening before and it was not left on so I guess the battery has died. The tank did not frost today, it ran for an hour, it just didn’t develop the same heat it did the day before?


I did take the camera back in the hope of getting some better photos of it in operation, sadly the only view today was from the decking on the bankside, hopefully this photo gives you a better view of the sight glass and pressure gauge for live time monitoring of them.


All in all a bit of a disaster this morning, whilst I did not get the Lady Sarah on the water, I did go and drink coffee socially distanced outside the cafe instead, reflecting on the joys of steaming. I will now move the tank close to the burner as suggested and then go back to the No8 jet and see how things go. I have to say, today was still a useful learning experience and it gave other club members, the yachtsmen and electric boats, a laugh as they were already taking the micky about how long it would take for me to brew the tea! Anyway I had the last laugh, at least the boiler was giving off enough heat for me to keep my hands warm!!!!

[KNO3]

There's a delicate balance with gas burners,  jets,  air holes and boiler flues, as you found out. Besides,  a burner behaves one way when burning outside the boiler and another when  inside the flue. That's why it is better to adjust the burner in the boiler.

[KBIO]

Hello!
Looking at your set up, there is no reason why you shouldn't get 30/40 PSI within 10/15 (max) minutes.
Some time, this is just the jet which is partially plugged by a debris . it looks like if it is fairly burning , but it is not ! That makes a hell of a difference in delivering heat!
Having a warmer gas tank with some pressure inside will improve the gas supply to the burner too.
Don't worry, you'll make it.
Personnel recommendation based on personnel experience :-" Go steam , only when the beer is at good temp !" 


Regards.

[DBS88]

Its been sometime now since I updated you and did any work on the Lady Sarah. Having decided to use her as a test bed to try things and learn from them ready to eventually include in my new build, I thought it was time to get on and do a bit more. Having had a problem with the burner last time out, and thinking the current burner looked small compared to the boiler I thought I would try a new burner that had been waiting patiently to be fitted. I set it up on the bench and tried No5, No8 and No10 jets on the bench, found a setting for the primary air for each and selected the No8 as working best. I installed it in the boiler and turned it on, oh my what a noise, the howling was the worst I have ever heard it was so loud. I tried again and moved the gas jet in to reduce the primary air (probably completely the wrong thing to do in terms of complete combustion) but the howling did stop so I ran the boiler for a bit then the gas ran out. Now I know that a full gas tank and a near empty one do affect howling - I assume its to do with pressure and the speed of the gas leaving jet and the amount of primary air entrained into the mix. Any way things were much better with the full gas tank, I moved the gas jet in and out of the holder listening for a good flame and checking the results by trying to light the exhaust - great news no blue flame and the exhaust didnt smell awful. My next task was to install a radio controlled cut off valve for the gas and an attenuator so that I could gain experience from using one. I am experimenting with one of the small servos to operate the gas valve. Now I find a great deal of pleasure in messing about with this but it can also be so frustrating. The pleasure came from bending the pipes and doing some more silver soldering, some joints were better than others, more practice required. The frustration,  whilst the boiler was sat on the bench I noticed a drip of water from the bottom fitting holding the sight glass, tightening it made matters worse - so that's it for today - now need to investigate and fix that problem before I can test the new gas supply arrangements.

[TheLongBuild]

Are you sailing it or launching it into space 


Reminds me of Steam-Boat-Phils burners.

[SteamboatPhil]

Have your eye brows grown back now Larry 

[DBS88]

With the boiler out of action for a while awaiting parts I have started installation of a boiler feed pump so that I can learn how to set one up and gain experience of taking water direct from the lake rather than from an on board tank. The reason for this is with the new build weight is tight and I am aiming for longer run times so carrying a litre of water (1kg) in a tank that is then used is likely affect the way the boat (potentially top heavy) behaves on the water, so using water from the lake would save 1kg and I would not have the problem of loosing weight low down that was counter acting the top heavy, shallow draft nature of the model.
Thank you to fellow Mayhemers for your support with this project, your advice and help with the burners, pump and other matters is both invaluable and appreciated

[Geoff]

i would be wary of taking water from the lake as its of unkown quality and you could easily draw contaminats intpo the boiler. \an on bioard smaller tank would be better. Very nice model.


In my steam models I position the oil seperator so its touching the gas tank so it keeps it warm and helps maintain pressure. Another way is to use the exhaust steam to warm the gas tank.


Cheers


Geoff