Author Topic: Our Heinrici resto….  (Read 2470 times)

Offline Alyn Foundry

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Our Heinrici resto….
« on: December 27, 2022, 03:22:44 PM »
I thought I’d share a short video of our Reeves of Birmingham Heinrici replica we finally got running recently.

I bought the model some 25 or so years ago from Jonathan ( scalemodel ) Vincent being the intermediary between us.
Knowing the Achilles heel of this model, the displacer piston, I stripped off the hot end to find a massive Brass piston and connecting rod. Having got so many “ Irons in the fire “ the model was shelved.

When Jo presented her rescued ETW prototype and then a “ rouge “ set of Aluminium castings that had been sold on eBay, it prompted us to have another peek at our engine. Just for clarity I say “ rouge “ because I had bought the patterns and sole rights to produce from the original owner. Jo’s set of castings must have been sold before this happened.

Our engine was pretty roughly built. The flywheels were a very poor fit on the crankshaft. We decided to sleeve the shafts and bore them to fit the now oversized dimensions. The sleeves were Loctited in place. One of the bearing standards had been over tightened and had cracked. We prepped the crack using a Triangular file and then used an Aluminium solder to join the broken parts together. I was really surprised by the strength of this, new to me, filler rod and it held up to being reamed out to the new size of the crankshaft.

We now turned our attention to the displacer piston and rod. This IS the problem area that most builders who follow the drawings end up with a non runner. The design is way too heavy and being made from Brass tends to conduct the heat very quickly to the cold end. The answer is quite simple, we used an empty aerosol deodorant canister. Once relieved of any further propellant you can pull out the plastic valve with a pair of pliers. We used a short length of 5 mm Brass rod and pushed it into the hole where the valve had been. Suitably roughened at the joint and a healthy glob of Epoxy resin to both hold and seal the assembly. Whilst the glue was setting we made a small PTFE bush that was a press fit into the much larger Brass bushing.

Being the impatient type that I am the new bush was slipped onto the displacer rod, pushed home through the top cover before the rod being squadged flat in the heavy duty machine vice. We could now rotate the assembly and gently adjust the piston to make it concentric with the hot end tube. With the crankshaft set at TDC we could then line up the rod with the short conrod to drill the pivot hole.

The bearing standards were then re placed on the top cover and checked for alignment. Once everything was turning smoothly we checked for leaks. It turned out that the bottom of the hot end was leaking. It had been made from Steel tube with a disc Silver soldered into it. This isn’t a very good idea at all because the direct heat will definitely melt the soldered joint. My solution was to turn up a Steel “ U “ shaped cover that came partially up the sides of the tube. After a thorough roughing of the tube the whole assembly was flooded with Silver solder, Tenacity No 5 being the flux of choice. Once cooled we checked again with the soapy water and this time no bubbles formed anywhere.

The engine had come fitted to the familiar fabricated Steel base so we refitted it and used a little camping gas stove to provide the heating. After several attempts with zero results we rigged up a small submersible water pump and put on a cooling reservoir. The engine ran almost immediately after heating.

Not the best of restoration’s but an interesting exercise non the less. I’ve attached a couple of pictures of the process.

The last photo is of the cast Iron base that I got with the original patterns all those years ago.

 :cheers:  Graham.
« Last Edit: December 27, 2022, 03:46:45 PM by Alyn Foundry »

Offline Alyn Foundry

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Re: Our Heinrici resto….
« Reply #1 on: December 27, 2022, 03:32:03 PM »
It seems I forgot to add the YouTube link but I can’t find the additional bits on the forum that AdeV was referring to.

                  #Invalid YouTube Link#[/youtube]

Ah, I think I’ve found it…..

 :cheers:  Graham.

Offline Alyn Foundry

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Re: Our Heinrici resto….
« Reply #2 on: December 27, 2022, 03:34:07 PM »
Help….

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FE6fXQAL6vk" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FE6fXQAL6vk</a>

Offline Admiral_dk

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Re: Our Heinrici resto….
« Reply #3 on: December 27, 2022, 03:38:56 PM »
Still not working ....  :killcomputer: ....

You could place the address as text just for the rest of us to Copy & Paste  ;)

Well the good news (from you) is that you got it running now  :ThumbsUp:

Per

Offline RReid

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Re: Our Heinrici resto….
« Reply #4 on: December 27, 2022, 03:39:54 PM »
You have to delete the" https://youtu.be/" part and insert only the remaining code into the forum button.
Regards,
Ron

Offline Alyn Foundry

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Re: Our Heinrici resto….
« Reply #5 on: December 27, 2022, 03:42:34 PM »
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FE6fXQAL6vk" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FE6fXQAL6vk</a>

Yeyyyyy…. Thanks guys.  :ThumbsUp:

 :cheers: Graham.

Offline RReid

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Re: Our Heinrici resto….
« Reply #6 on: December 27, 2022, 04:01:38 PM »
Runs nicely! I like that it still looks like an old engine,  not over-restored. :ThumbsUp:
Regards,
Ron

Offline Jo

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Re: Our Heinrici resto….
« Reply #7 on: December 27, 2022, 04:12:30 PM »
 8)

Must find some time to have another flick over of mine  :-X

Jo
Enjoyment is more important than achievement.

Offline Dave Otto

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Re: Our Heinrici resto….
« Reply #8 on: December 27, 2022, 05:11:07 PM »
Hi Graham

Nice to see another one running,  :ThumbsUp:

So I'm a bit confused it appears that Reeves is still selling a Heinrici casting kit, is this different than the one that you own the patterns and rights to?
I have a reeves kit that I purchased from a friend may years ago, it is all cast iron except for the main cylinder which is aluminum. We may have chatted about this in the past.
I was hoping to be able to get one of your iron stands for it but not sure where you ended up with them? If they all got sold that's ok.

Dave

Offline Alyn Foundry

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Re: Our Heinrici resto….
« Reply #9 on: December 27, 2022, 07:41:07 PM »
Hi Graham

Nice to see another one running,  :ThumbsUp:

So I'm a bit confused it appears that Reeves is still selling a Heinrici casting kit, is this different than the one that you own the patterns and rights to?
I have a reeves kit that I purchased from a friend may years ago, it is all cast iron except for the main cylinder which is aluminum. We may have chatted about this in the past.
I was hoping to be able to get one of your iron stands for it but not sure where you ended up with them? If they all got sold that's ok.

Dave

Hi Dave.

Yes the patterns I have were done by a hot air engine fanatic some 30 years ago. I was so busy with life that apart from duplicating them in Aluminium ready for production nothing else was done.

I don’t know when Reeves changed from Iron to Aluminium but there’s definitely been some pattern adjustments, see attached picture. Ours has defined inlet and outlet bosses for the water cooling system whereas my friends engine has an “ all in one “ pattern which makes moulding much easier. I’m really surprised that the power cylinder is Aluminium on yours, in fact it’s almost a complete swap over.  :headscratch:

I still have your base, with your name on it, so don’t worry.  :)  Sadly I seem to be getting frequent viral infections that keep stalling my endeavours.

 :cheers:  Graham.


Offline Dave Otto

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Re: Our Heinrici resto….
« Reply #10 on: December 27, 2022, 08:03:58 PM »
Thanks Graham

I may not have been clear, my power cylinder is cast iron. It is the Displacer cylinder that is aluminum with a cored water jacket.
I dug my castings out and snapped a photo of them. Thanks for saving a base for me, when it works out, lets see if we can get it headed this way. I'm in no hurry.

Dave

Offline Jasonb

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Re: Our Heinrici resto….
« Reply #11 on: December 27, 2022, 08:12:20 PM »
Dave, do you have the "jacket liner" (iron) casting that actually forms the cylinder wall and fits inside the aluminium outer jacket ? Or are you saying you have a fully cored jacket that doe snot need a separate liner.

Offline Dave Otto

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Re: Our Heinrici resto….
« Reply #12 on: December 27, 2022, 08:26:52 PM »
It is fully cored, unlike the ones that they show on their web site. I'm not sure if that is good or bad?
I have had these castings for close to 30 years.

Dave

Offline Admiral_dk

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Re: Our Heinrici resto….
« Reply #13 on: December 27, 2022, 10:16:58 PM »
Runs very well  :ThumbsUp: - but it's a LOT bigger than I thought  :o

Thank you for showing the Video :cheers:

Per

Offline Alyn Foundry

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Re: Our Heinrici resto….
« Reply #14 on: December 28, 2022, 12:46:13 AM »
Thanks Per. Not that big, I think the flywheels are 125 mm in diameter.

Dave. Those castings were probably done professionally by one of the great founders in and around Birmingham. I do know that their standards dropped in later years. As Jason has pointed out my “ cold “ end is a composite of 3 castings.

You might like to consider using a scrap telescopic damper/ shock absorber for the hot end. These can be had from any garage that changes them when worn out. You just cut off the eye from the bottom end and then either screw cut a thread or Silver solder a flange at the open end to fit the cold end casting.

You might have noticed in the opening photos we used a thick section Viton O ring to make the thermal barrier and seal.

 :cheers:  Graham.

Offline Alyn Foundry

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Re: Our Heinrici resto….
« Reply #15 on: December 28, 2022, 12:18:10 PM »
To conclude this article.

I know there have been many failures with this engine over the years but a couple of modifications can make a mountain of difference. If any readers are contemplating a build, don’t hesitate, go for it…. The castings are available from Reeves of Birmingham.

Find a suitable aerosol deodorant can to make the displacer piston from. Either Steel or Aluminium. The Steel is much slower in heat conduction but a little heavier in weight. The hot end material chosen is the other major factor. In the original ME text it suggests Copper or Nickel alloy. Both these are good conductors of heat, sadly in the wrong direction. We need a concentrated spot, right at the bottom end but with poor conduction via the material. As stated above worn out shock absorbers make ideal hot ends with no risk of leaking air.

There’s two methods of fixing the hot end described in the ME text. The screw on method is the least desirable. Any heat will be directly conducted into the cold end. The use of a flange with studs and nuts with a nice thick juicy Silicone or Viton O ring between will greatly reduce heat transfer. And why so many studs, in the original text? I would suggest a maximum of 3, the smaller the better. It’s not a racing engine, an injured Gnat develops more power. No need for all those extra fixtures.

Many of the smaller, original Heinrici engines were actually air cooled. The cold end being just a tubular Iron casting. They worked very well. Because the replica cold end is made from Aluminium it will tend to absorb heat much more quickly so this is why a water jacket is essential.

 :cheers:  Graham.

Offline Jasonb

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Re: Our Heinrici resto….
« Reply #16 on: December 28, 2022, 01:11:37 PM »
Graham, what would you suggest for the likes of Dave who have an all aluminium cylinder? I would be inclined to bore it out an fit an iron one much like the current offering from Reeves combined with a lapped iron piston.

Interesting thought about the screwed attachment as I think the original engines used a threaded flange, concentric ones certainly did.

Offline Alyn Foundry

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Re: Our Heinrici resto….
« Reply #17 on: December 28, 2022, 01:40:54 PM »
Graham, what would you suggest for the likes of Dave who have an all aluminium cylinder? I would be inclined to bore it out an fit an iron one much like the current offering from Reeves combined with a lapped iron piston.

Interesting thought about the screwed attachment as I think the original engines used a threaded flange, concentric ones certainly did.

It was me that started that confusion Jason. Dave does have all the components in Iron, apart from the cold end.
If the power cylinder had been done in Aluminium then yes, I would definitely sleeve it and lap finish. The cold end doesn’t need any fastidious work as it’s a clearance fit to the displacer piston.

The real problem is stopping the heat being transferred up to the cold end and this is why I suggested the stud and nut method. With a decent gasket between the two halves the heat can only travel through the fixings.

 :cheers:  Graham.

Offline Admiral_dk

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Re: Our Heinrici resto….
« Reply #18 on: December 28, 2022, 05:16:19 PM »
OK - so it is an photo illiusion that made me think it was much bigger  ;D

I suggest using Stainless-Steel for the Studs - as it is a poor heat-conductor .... unless someone claims that this will result in corrosion of the other parts ....

Per

Offline scalemodel

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Re: Our Heinrici resto….
« Reply #19 on: December 28, 2022, 07:37:27 PM »
You made a lovely job of that graham I know where to come when I can't get my rider running lol

Jonathan

Offline Brendon M

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Re: Our Heinrici resto….
« Reply #20 on: December 29, 2022, 12:46:37 AM »
Great engine, thank you for sharing :)
(This signature intentionally left blank)

Offline Alyn Foundry

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Re: Our Heinrici resto….
« Reply #21 on: December 29, 2022, 02:02:34 PM »
8)

Must find some time to have another flick over of mine  :-X

Jo

Indeed you should Jo….

Here’s a link to your thread.  https://www.modelenginemaker.com/index.php/topic,10005.0.html

Blimey 2 years ago now. :o

Having re read, you left it after finding the air leak between system and cooling water. Did you try to fix the problem at all?

These engines are amongst the safest to play with IMO even solo. I’m looking forward to the conclusion.

 :cheers:  Graham.

 

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