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[knoby]

opps forgot to add

[knoby]

A while has passed since my last post on the conversion, this was due to a technical malfunction of the engine or to put it another way; i dropped it & bent the b*****y thing. Fortunately SteamboatPhil came to my rescue & its running sweetly again..

Everything is now installed in the boat & I have fired it up a couple of times to set up the automatic boiler control & sort out the teething troubles. A few leaks due to not wanting to overtighten anything & strip threads were easy to cure. Only the main Steam valve needed re soldering, which wasn't too bad.

The new ceramic burner proved a little troublesome, its body proved to be too close to the water gauge sensor & was going to overheat it if something wasn't done.  I had the old blow lamp type burner from the boiler which was tried & found to be better. Although it doesn't put as much heat,  so far it seems sufficient  Maybe a bigger jet will help, but thats to be decided when the sailing trials start.

The gas control side of the ABC worked well, but the water gauge sensor didn't work. Don't know if its the sensor, the ABC box or the wiring causing troubles there, but it will all come out tomorrow & hopefully the problem can be sorted.

The water pump didn't circulate the water, but seemed to prime itself OK. One of the leaks was on the output from the pump & this speeded up with the engine, so it appears to be pumping. There is a way to suck the water up the water tank return pipe, which I will try next time.to see if it works once the whole system is full.

The servos were left disconnected for first few tests so as not to overcomplicate things.There seems to be some leaking of steam past the throttle control lever which, whilst not enough to run the engine, seems to be making the reversing lever much harder to move & I'm not sure a servo is up to this. The Gemini engine also revs much slower than the old electric motor, so a coarser prop may be required.

Considering the pump wasn't refilling the boiler, the plant still managed to run the engine for around 15 Min's before the water level fell too low. The engine wasn't under load & should use less steam when it is, as i was running it fast most of the time.The side tanks hold around another 2.5 boiler fulls of water, so I'm hopefull to get a reasonable sail time from the set up. The water/ oil trap was very effective, as not a single drop of water was expelled out of the funnel.It also transfered  heat to the gas tank nicely, just keeping it slightly warm to the touch. & no pressure drop was apparent during the runs.

Not to many issues really for initial tests, only the ABC system worries me slightly as its not possible to replace a faulty control unit. The other problems are easier to fix, & this is the bit I enjoy about steam anyway.
its not just a bolt in & away you go type of propulsion, making it run well is the interesting part for me, & the satisfaction comes from achieving that.

Cheers Glenn

[derekwarner]

Look good Glenn  ....but for a steam boat it sure has a lot of wires  & potential electrons running around      Derek

[knoby]

Its been too long since I last worked on this project, life has a habit of getting in the way of your hobbies, but I am finally back on it.

The boiler control system was causing problems last time, after testing the sensor & the unit, it turned out to be a fault with the unit. So it looks like I am going to have to live without the boiler water level part working for now.

I have installed two fans in the superstructure to pull air into the hull & hopefully help push the hot air out of the boat through the open portholes & vents. I had to drill out the large cowl vents, & although I was extra careful, they still broke in half. Fortunately, it was possible to line them with a suitable piece of brass tubing, which also helps to increase their strength & provided a good way to mount them. The two fans are 12 v computer fans of 30mm diameter, one under each vent. These seem to suck enough air on the bench, but only time will tell if they prove effective on the boat.

The main steam feed pipe has been rerouted to attach to the dryer tube through the flue. Previously it went via an elbow in to the side of the boiler, but after removing & refitting it a few times the stress on the elbow joint proved to much & it started to leak, the new route allows a bend in the pipe & does away with the elbow.

The engine has now been run on both air & steam for about 2 hours. Its much looser, but still seems to require abound 50 psi to get good speed. It also runs considerably faster in reverse than forward,. I think I am going to have to accept this & buy an opposite handed prop.

Decides to abandon the idea of using the ceramic burner in favour of a blow lamp, as it didn't produce enough heat to keep the pressure up in the boiler. Now its a case of swapping heads & jets to find the best possible combination. By the way if anyone knows where you can get gas blowlamp parts that are interchangeable could you let me know??

Finally, sorted out the water pump problem. It wasn't filling the boiler last time i tried it, but that was traced to a blockage in one of the pipes. I believe it was silver solder flux residue & was damn hard to shift, but now all seems well.

Don't have a camera at the moment, so i will take some pictures soon  & post them. Hopefully it will get its maiden voyage very soon, & who knows, might even get it to mayhem weekend this year.

Cheers Glenn

[kno3]

Waiting for pix 

[KBIO]

 
Isn't it nicer with steam???
Very nice and challenging KNOBY! 
We are waiting to see more.
Cheers!

[pugwash]

JUst discovered this thread - very interesting even though I have no knowledge of steam power or any intention of ever fitting one.
I will be waiting for the photographs to see the outcome.  I very neat job

Geoff

[knoby]

Thank you all for your kind comments. Have now steamed her up several more times & all seems well, on the bench she steams for around 30 Min's before I need to empty the oil separator & top up the boiler. The water pump doesn't seem to pump to the boiler, although it clearly circulates the water back to the tank. I assume this is an air lock but haven't figured out a way to bleed it successfully yet. Any suggestions greatly received.

The new burner can hold the pressure at 50 psi whilst running the engine, but the safety valve is large enough to not let the pressure go above 60 psi even with the burner going flat out. The ABC unit keeps the pressure nice & even, although the bye pass valve is proving a little little tricky to adjust. I think thats down to the gas pressure, as the tank runs lower, I keep needing to turn the valve up in order to stop the flame going out. Hopefully it wont prove to troublesome once running.

So i guess its time to bite the bullet & get the thing in the water this weekend. Always a certain amount of trepidation with any model, but even more so with a steamer.

Last few pictures show the new mod to the burner & the repositioned steam feed pipe going down the flue. The mods seem to work much better.