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No Fuel, No Electric what do you do? A very Cool Steam Engine

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AmaxB

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Very impressive engine. (I worry about the flexing left of the pistons.) Don't forget to build the shredder.

Bob

Mr. Bob
The ball joints (feed tubes on back of pistons) did cause a wear problem and were eating the brass fittings, I'll be changing those. The pistons will connect to spherical bearings I'll be making a few other changes to.
 

AmaxB

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I bought a 10 foot coil, starting from the inside ring working it by hand to a little over 7 inches. Using it as a guide I worked the rest by hand to the end of the coil. The pipe it will fit into is 8 inches so as long as all the rings in the coil are less then that it is good to go. They are not all identical but that is OK as long as they fit in the pipe. This coil will join to 1/2 stainless corrugated tube via flare fitting in the end I should have about 85 feet of 1/2 inch tubing and 20 feet of 1/4 inch tubing in the boiler.
 

deluxestogie

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Back in the late 1970s, my house in Berkeley, CA, had a copper coil water heater that had been installed at the beginning of the century. The house was built in 1903. I could run the hot water non-stop, and it only got hotter. In retrospect, it demonstrates how inefficiently modern water heaters transfer their energy. That old water heater, though about 5' tall, was only about 18" wide on the outside, so it couldn't have had much insulation.

Bob
 

AmaxB

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Things in the past were made to do the job and last today it is all about the money. Make it cheaper, make it faster, and build in a lifespan. This is why I love my old Johnson Outboards.....
 

ProfessorPangloss

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Things in the past were made to do the job and last today it is all about the money. Make it cheaper, make it faster, and build in a lifespan. This is why I love my old Johnson Outboards.....

+1

i spent a ridiculous amount of time and effort this summer on a 1995 vintage Troy-Bilt self-drive push-mower for that exact reason. We got it new and it's still good, even if the wheels are trod (treaded?) with a mountain bike tire.
 

bonehead

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if you sell something and it lasts 30 or 50 years or more you don't get repeat customers. appliances are now made to last 5 to7 years. if you have a good appliance ( IT IS OLD) and they say sorry the parts are not available. i know i used to engineer shet.
 

AmaxB

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OK then Hum here we go moving along with this steam / electric project. The construction of the boiler (a must have for the steam) I stitched a number of clips that were made as I built the boiler to create this video. It is from start to finish and may be of some small help to folks who would like to do what I am doing. Also there will be more coming stay tuned I'm up to no good as usual.
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Old things are good! Better made then many things today, HeLL I'm old and have not been replaced yet all though I may need some new parts before to long don't know where I'll get those!
 

Bex

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Back in the late 1970s, my house in Berkeley, CA, had a copper coil water heater that had been installed at the beginning of the century. The house was built in 1903. I could run the hot water non-stop, and it only got hotter. In retrospect, it demonstrates how inefficiently modern water heaters transfer their energy. That old water heater, though about 5' tall, was only about 18" wide on the outside, so it couldn't have had much insulation.

Bob

This is actually how I live....now. My heat comes from a solid fuel Rayburn 'range', where I burn turf (peat) or wood blocks in it. There is a back boiler in the fire box of the range, that heats the water, and then sends it via pipes to the copper coil inside my copper water cylinder. The hot water in those pipes heats the surrounding water in the cylinder, for hot water for me to use. Of course, the problem with all of these systems - and I believe the steam system here included - is that you must be present to feed it when necessary. Going out for a few hours can become problematic. I have had my fair share of coming home to a cold house on a winter's night, after being away for the day.....
 

AmaxB

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My intent is not to heat the house but to charge batteries. If it were to be a primary another method of firing the boiler would be used. At this point for me this is a big experiment to learn from.
 

AmaxB

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OK so the boiler above had a few short comings the primary was it didn't make steam fast enough! Here is my new boiler.... base on the LynxSteam videos..
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AmaxB

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A simple working circuit to control water feed......
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Could be used for many things just change the sensor (probe / spark plug)
 

bonehead

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that is some neat stuff. i am not sure but would you be able to do the same thing with a 12 v solenoid switch used for automation or automotive uses. i know some have adjustable time delays. i don't know enough to be sure, only enough to be dangerous. do you think you will get some current flowing through your wood if it gets damp? i always like your projects. they make me think.
 

AmaxB

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The circuit is a switch water creates the connection or breaks the connection. The spark plug and water could be replaced with light and photo sensor or any of the many types of triggers out there. Not sure where wet wood would play a part in this, but current could travel through the water on the wood. Yes it could operate a solenoid. My water for the boiler will be pumped from a 5 / 10 gallon reservoir to the boiler. The steam created by the boiler after being used will be condensed back to water and returned to the reservoir. Any water loss will be replaced via float valve and water line. I could use a hose / water line with solenoid valve instead of the pump and reservoir. The thing is water pressure the water line may not have enough pressure to push the water into the boiler. The pressure must be greater than the pressure allowed to build in the boiler so a pump is better.

Lets say I wanted to water my tobacco and had no house water or power. I could use a solar charger for battery and natural water source with this circuit, pump, and timer I could water my tobacco.
 

AmaxB

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An in depth look at my boiler how I put it together, the control valve is nothing more than a ball bearing, spring and screw to place pressure on the ball bearing regulating steam flow to control pressure build up in the boiler.
I'm a bit clutsy in the video but we can over look that....
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AmaxB

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Good for the old Kiln???? Make ya think....
Completed the 2nd half of the Circuit for the flash boiler this evening. You can view the 1st half at post #33 this thread it covers a spark plug as water sensor and a simple circuit that functions as a switch when the gap of the plug is void of water. This causes power to be sent to a device energizing it for service. This circuit alone is not suitable to run the boilers water pump automatically the pump would turn on and off rapidly causing failure. More control is needed the water level in the water tube must drop to a point well below the spark plug location in the water tube. The pump motor must be delayed from starting to allow this to happen. To achieve this I added a FRM01 multi-function timer relay board the boards cost was about $11.00 shipping included. The board has 18 functions I'll be using function #3 it allows for a start delay of .005 seconds to 270 hours I'm setting it for 59 seconds for testing. After the 59 seconds times out it will allow power to the motor this is also .005 seconds to 270 hours I'll be setting it for about 3 hours. The water will reach the gap of the spark plug long before the 3 hours is reached, in which case the power flowing through the entire circuit will be lost and the cycle will repeat once the water has left the spark plug gap. I'll post a video with the completed circuit working in the next day or two.
A quick note: this could be applied to crock pot or water reservoir in a kiln using a fish tank pump :)
The board is made in china so instructions really suck... but no problem rewritten instruction can be found here http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:703067/#files did some searching to find these and downloaded them as a PDF zipped.
At the time of download they were virus free but if you grab them be sure to scan with your anti-virus before unzipping the file - just to be safe... :cool:

Brent
 

AmaxB

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The complete Circuit for my water pump can be used for many things. I am using it to automate adding water to a boiler for a steam engine. the video is a demonstration of it's function. Post #33 this thread is part one of this video. The circuit could easily be used to automate keeping a crock pot full for the Kiln.
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