Author Topic: RLE questions!  (Read 30172 times)

Offline Manorfarmdenton

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Re: RLE questions!
« Reply #150 on: March 19, 2018, 04:15:49 PM »
I still can't start it by hand - it seemes to want to be going a lot faster than that before it fires.  When runnning its like clockwork though.

I've posted a video to Youtube   <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yGfUU7FRUcU" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yGfUU7FRUcU</a>
John Fearnley

Offline Alyn Foundry

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Re: RLE questions!
« Reply #151 on: March 19, 2018, 05:07:54 PM »
Sweet as a nut!!

Well done John.   :ThumbsUp:

Now it's time to " tame the beast ".... I feel she's running a little too fast at the moment. The remedy is a couple of lighter springs between the governor weights or if you threaded the weight rods bring them out a little further.

I'm still a little perplexed about the " power " starting, how well are you " choking " ? Usually a good flood of the intake allows a hand pull and away.

All said and done though, a lovely job and thanks for sharing your experience with us all.

Cheers Graham.

Offline Manorfarmdenton

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Re: RLE questions!
« Reply #152 on: March 19, 2018, 05:08:58 PM »
Two more very short vids.

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3QBcCO9M4sw" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3QBcCO9M4sw</a>
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H4yqIGFrD38" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H4yqIGFrD38</a>
John Fearnley

Offline Jasonb

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Re: RLE questions!
« Reply #153 on: March 19, 2018, 05:24:31 PM »
Have you checked that the non return valve is keeping fuel in the vertical pipe, may be that it is draining back between hand starts so needs the drill or a running engine to keep the fuel up.

I have not used a drill or electric starter on any of my hit & miss engines, some are a bit better started from cold with a starting handle but hand start when warm, others will go straight away with a pull of the flywheels. The R&V I posted the other day was just hand pulled.

Offline Manorfarmdenton

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Re: RLE questions!
« Reply #154 on: March 19, 2018, 05:25:44 PM »
Thanks for the kind comments Graham.  You're right, its running much too fast.  I'm puzzled too about why I need to spin it so fast to get it running.  I tried removing one of the fly-weight springs - I know, lopsided! -  and it did run more slowly, but I still couldn't start it by hand.  I get the feeling its using too much fuel too, but haven't tried to quantify it.  Yes I choke it as you suggested.  I turn it until its about to suck and then put a finger over the air intake.  That sucks up a lot of fuel - it spreads all around the top of the tank!  I've tried advancing and retarding the ignition timing while its running, and also altering the mixture, and it seems to be on optimum settings in the vids. 

I'm still convinced that I've made the high compression option though, so I think I'll try Jason's suggestion of making a distance-piece to go under the cylinder head.  There's nothing lost apart from a little time if it doesn't help.  One thing though - higher compression version or not, its still a lot easier to turn over than the Red Wings are.  I'm just wondering if the rings aren't as good as they might be - it was my first attempt at making them after all.  Both Red Wings have wonderful compression, but I used the rings they supplied rather than making my own.  I have noticed in the brief time I've run it that the oil from the wrist-pin lubricator is going everywhere rather than just lubricating the bore - an indication of blow-past perhaps?  I think I'll run it in a bit more before I do anything drastic?

John.
John Fearnley

Offline Manorfarmdenton

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Re: RLE questions!
« Reply #155 on: March 19, 2018, 05:32:20 PM »
Jason - even after choking, with fuel running about all over the tank top, it still doesn't give a peep when turned by hand.  In fact with the DeWalt 3-speed drill I'm using to spin it, I need to use the middle speed - low gear isn't fast enough.   The first few revs it doesn't fire when spun, then there's a bang and its away.  Its a good starter, but only with lots of revs!  Re. the NRT, yours is a very sensible suggestion but I've tried to eliminate that by filling right to the top of the filler neck, which is more or less level with the jet orifice in the carb!
John Fearnley

Offline Alyn Foundry

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Re: RLE questions!
« Reply #156 on: March 19, 2018, 06:49:30 PM »
Well....

We all know the drill.... Fuel.... Spark.... Run....

Sounds like you've fuel, so what about the " sparks " department? A very old dodge was to set up a " fly button " spark gap. You put one hole from the button onto the plug thread and wound the HT wire through the other creating a gap for the spark to jump across. Using this method you'd be able to see if you have a spark at low RPM and if the plug is dodgy the gaps high resistance ensures no leakage and a spark at the electrodes.

Regarding too much fuel, I don't see any black sooty exhaust so I wouldn't think so.

Cheers Graham.

Addendum.

I recall reading that she heats up the water rather rapidly, suggesting a lean mixture or far too advanced, or both! Try further opening of the fuel needle until you produce Black sooty smoke then work backwards John.

G.R.C.
« Last Edit: March 19, 2018, 07:30:26 PM by Alyn Foundry »

Offline Manorfarmdenton

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Re: RLE questions!
« Reply #157 on: March 19, 2018, 10:57:38 PM »
Graham - in the past I've had a brand new Honda ATV plug that was faulty, so the first thing I did was try a second new one, but it didn't make any difference.  I'll definitely investigate the spark at low revs, although the little Minimag box is flashing its light.  That may well not mean the plug actually sparks though?

Fuel-wise, I've tried altering the mixture both ways but it only runs reliably where I've got it.  The exhaust is quite wet, so I don't think its running too lean.  The wetness is black though.  Its quite possible I've put too much WD-40 in the Coleman fuel - its about 10 parts Coleman to 1 part WD-40, with a dollop of ether to make it a bit more volatile.  I've erred on the generous side with the WD-40 ever since one of my Red Wings ran dry and I had to make another piston for it.

One interesting point - I would have said that my fuel tank is at least as big as the ones I've seen in photos but there's no way it would run all day on a tank full.  I think an hour would be the very longest I could expect.

Having said all that, the compression is improving every time I run it. 

John.
John Fearnley

Offline Jasonb

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Re: RLE questions!
« Reply #158 on: March 20, 2018, 07:29:44 AM »
I just run neat colman's, your drip oiler should be lubricating the cylinder/piston.

Black is likely to be the rings bedding in, wet could be fuel being drawn in and not burnt before the engine fires, how long does it take to start on the drill?

Offline Manorfarmdenton

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Re: RLE questions!
« Reply #159 on: March 20, 2018, 09:12:35 AM »
The drill spins it up to speed and then it fires immediately then I withdraw the drill and it slows down a bit and always carries on running.

The oil from the drip oiler seems to be all ending up on the outside of the block/frame rather than going into the bore.  On the oiler I have used - a Red Wing one - there's an open sight window in the stem and the oil seems to be blowing out of that.  There was one with the castings I bought but its huge - totally out of scale - so I didn't use it.  It might have had glass tube to see the drip through like a full-sized one has - I'll look.
John Fearnley

Offline Alyn Foundry

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Re: RLE questions!
« Reply #160 on: March 20, 2018, 11:40:04 AM »
Good morning John.

Hmmm, " special  " fuel?

Might be a good idea to try some Petrol!

We all have a tendency to " over " lubricate these machines, worried about our hard work going " South " , but the simple fact is with a cast Iron piston running in a cast Iron bore, correct clearance between, seizure is highly unlikely.

What material is the Red Wing piston made from John?

The lubricators I used to supply were known as 1" by 1/8" or one inch diameter glass by 1/8 inch BSP thread, and made in the Far East.

Regarding the fuel we discovered that a particular brand performed way better than others, on Martin's   
" Moffat " a twin piston common bore engine, you could actually hear the difference! That particular fuel was actually removed from the market due to it causing engine damage.

The R.L.E. was designed to run on either Petrol or Propane, perhaps John, just try some Unleaded?

Cheers Graham.

Offline Manorfarmdenton

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Re: RLE questions!
« Reply #161 on: March 20, 2018, 12:26:46 PM »
Graham - You're right of course, try some unleaded!  The main reason I buy Coleman fuel is that the Red Wings are sitting on a chest of drawers in our sitting room and get started to show to visitors whether they want to see them or not  :)  The Coleman fuel seems to make less smell than unleaded, although both engines are happy to run on the latter.  And I quite like the faint whiff of ether..... :)

Its a cast iron piston.  I had a spare bit of cast round that I had used for the Red Wings so I made the piston from that, and the rings came from the bit of cast that was amongst the stuff I bought on eBay.

I've been doing other things this morning, but after lunch I'll investigate the low-revs spark before I do anything else.

Thanks for the suggestions!  John.
John Fearnley

Offline Manorfarmdenton

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Re: RLE questions!
« Reply #162 on: April 03, 2018, 08:11:58 PM »
Update!  I started it by hand this morning for the first time.  Successive runs when started by drill have resulted in the rings bedding in and the compression coming way up.  Its still running a lot too fast because I haven't got round to fitting weaker springs to the flyweights, but that's something I can fiddle with later.  Its still on the Coleman fuel based mixture too - all our vehicles are Diesel and I haven't been to a garage to buy unleaded petrol.

John.
John Fearnley

Offline Alyn Foundry

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Re: RLE questions!
« Reply #163 on: April 04, 2018, 11:04:05 AM »
Great news John.

You'll have to get a video together when you're happy with how she runs.

Cheers Graham.

 

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