large vacuum engine

[crueby]

The   ball bearing conversion  went great,  I'm sure you will  get the rest sorted out too.   

[Kim]

That sounds frustrating, Michael.   But as Chris said, I'm sure you'll get it sorted out shortly!

Kim

[dudeface]

That is indeed a big vacuum engine! Looks nice.

[Michael S.]

Hello everyone,

Unfortunately I can't report any success with the engine.
The thing doesn't want to run.
I think I've tried everything. All parameters changed and tried. It's not working. Not even a little.
I'll put the engine on the shelf for now and maybe try again later. Maybe new ideas will come later 💡.

I will now continue working on my last steam engine project.

Greetings Michael

[RReid]

That's a shame, Michael. It sure is pretty though.

During each build, I always try to prepare myself for the possibility that I'm building a static model with moving parts. That way, when it actually runs it feels more like a bonus, and less like a loss if it doesn't.

[Michael S.]

It's not a big catastrophe that it doesn't run.
I was aware from the start that there could be difficulties.
Unfortunately, you only notice this at the end, when the last part is attached.
But I'll let some time pass and at some point the engine will go back on the workbench.

Michael

[Zephyrin]

such a beautiful model on a shelf won't look out of place, but surely in time you'll look at it with fresh eyes and ideas to test...

for me, only 2 parameters matter : a very, very free movement (the expected power is miserable) and the best possible sealing (the power relies on the atmospheric pressure only),  so you have to really feel the compression bouncing around very freely, Once you've got that, the cam settings flow naturally with testing.

[bent]

Nice work, Michael! 

"Vacuum engines can be bitchy divas."  LOL!  Too true.   I've only built one, but it took a lot of fussing to get it to run.