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Author Topic: unusual small steam engine  (Read 2370 times)

Warspoils

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unusual small steam engine
« on: July 20, 2016, 07:43:56 pm »

Hi, some of you might have seen the tin plate torpedo boat destroyer I bought at a fair a couple of weeks back, it was old and crusty and  the propulsion unit (steam ?) was missing, yesterday at Ardingly fair I found a homemade boat made from tin and brass, that had a steam unit inside, the boiler looks to be a Mamod locomotive type, but it was the engine that intrigued me, the piston looks standard wobbler with a brass flywheel, the shaft then goes to a steel flywheel with centrifugal weights so will only drive the prop in one direction, there is another drive train above this with a steel flywheel with centrifugal weights with the shaft going into a small motor, when powered it will gear back to the prop shaft, anyone seen anything like this, I will make a small gear box to split the single drive, into counter rotating dual shafts




regards Jeff
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derekwarner

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Re: unusual small steam engine
« Reply #1 on: July 20, 2016, 08:17:14 pm »

Jeff..........the outboard drive train could be a field wound stator & rotor DC 'come home motor'

1. If it were a conventional DC motor with permanent magnets in the stator, this would be wasted energy overcoming the magnetic influence trying to drive this  [like a generator], however this drive line would provide an additional fly wheel dampening effect when the steam wobbler was working

It is also possibly pre radio control days .....so set the rudder......steam away....when the boiler is out of steam "somehow"  the come home motor engages & brings the vessel back??

2. The other interesting scenario is the motor drive back into and above the steam drive line is that the pinions longitudinal axis are shown out of engagement?.....if this is the case, the EMF created when the DC motor is energised may draw the motor shaft backwards and then engagement with the main drive line...again if this were the case, a conventional DC motor with permanent magnets in the stator could be used

A better image of the field windings may clarify things.....have you tried putting 6 VDC supply to the wiring? :o

Derek
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Derek Warner

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KevinM

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Re: unusual small steam engine
« Reply #2 on: July 20, 2016, 08:17:45 pm »

The boiler and firebox are older mamod stationary engine parts as you say.


The engine looks home made and im guessing the second gearing is to provide an electrical backup in case the steam gives up. 


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Warspoils

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Re: unusual small steam engine
« Reply #3 on: July 20, 2016, 09:03:07 pm »

Hi thanks for your thoughts,
Derek, I have steamed the engine and the top shaft does not spin the rotor, but if you connect a battery to the motor it operates the centrifugal clutch and spins the prop
Jeff
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TailUK

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Re: unusual small steam engine
« Reply #4 on: July 20, 2016, 09:23:18 pm »

Jeff..........the outboard drive train could be a field wound stator & rotor DC 'come home motor'

1. If it were a conventional DC motor with permanent magnets in the stator, this would be wasted energy overcoming the magnetic influence trying to drive this  [like a generator], however this drive line would provide an additional fly wheel dampening effect when the steam wobbler was working

It is also possibly pre radio control days .....so set the rudder......steam away....when the boiler is out of steam "somehow"  the come home motor engages & brings the vessel back??

2. The other interesting scenario is the motor drive back into and above the steam drive line is that the pinions longitudinal axis are shown out of engagement?.....if this is the case, the EMF created when the DC motor is energised may draw the motor shaft backwards and then engagement with the main drive line...again if this were the case, a conventional DC motor with permanent magnets in the stator could be used

A better image of the field windings may clarify things.....have you tried putting 6 VDC supply to the wiring? :o

Derek

Damn, that's ingenious.  Now if you could get the motor to act like a dynamo when it's running on steam you could charge the battery as well.  (please take into account I know nothing about electrickery)
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ballastanksian

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Re: unusual small steam engine
« Reply #5 on: July 20, 2016, 10:08:03 pm »

Could the motor be used to reverse the engine as well adn provide said safety feature? It sounds like a miniature dual power transmission like those Submarines had when diesel electrics were the norm, and possibly eralier when steam was still being tried for subs.

Love the TBD byt the way, even in its crusty state it looks a dazzler and I look forward to seeing your work on it  :-)) :-)) 8)
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