Freelance 3/4” traction engine

[Team ricky]

Just tried a quick stream up on gas

I found out combustion is combustion!! On gas it will need a blower assist to get up to temperature as at the moment the gas flame struggles for air when there is no chimney draw, as soon as the blower can be opened the gas works great 👍🏼 But wasting steam and heat to get going is a big of a struggle..

If anyone knows of a fan (small) that would be handy I think it will be fine with that

Water top up was relentless due to having the blower open so much, The water gauge isn’t the best so I kept topping up until a little priming happened so that’s ok

Tomorrow I’ll hook up the steam supply to the cylinder and connect the lubricator and run the engine on steam !!

[samc88]

Would something like this work? Seems cheap enough to experiment with
 https://www.amazon.co.uk/Bireet-4000mAh-Handheld-Rechargeable-Portable/dp/B0F8QKZPVB?asc_campaign=2b5a785186b501c352c95398a3440b1b&asc_source=01HGDYH4RNM2XCDDM3YKD5BH6D&tag=snxgb279-21

[Team ricky]

Hi Sam,

Yes I think it might 🙂, If a y piece was used vertically then the hot air would not go through the fan …..

I have since made the meths burner assembly to the drawing, All went well except I’m not too happy with the cotton wicks , They burn a little then clog up and the flame goes low ! It might be just right when steam has been raised but my gut feeling is it would take too long to raise good pressure especially 60-70 psi…

I have ordered some glass fibre wick material which should do the job a lot better ..

It currently burns for 22 mins on a tank of fuel


Also I have set up the steering column, Worm bracket and chain worm , I used Wilesco gear for this to save a bit of time

All fits well and smooth , The wheel is plastic so temporary solution!

Next jobs are the water tank filler cap and a new water pump outlet pipe is needed to clear the new meths tank , On the bench about cylinder lagging , draw bar attachment .

I think that’s about it !!

[MJM460]

Hi Ricky, before you go to too much trouble with fans, it is worth trying using a piece of suitable pipe to extend the chimney.  Not too hard to hold in place and easily increases the draft considerably without power supplies or worries about overheating components.  I find a significant effect with two or three times the original chimney length, same diameter.

Nice job on that burner.  If it does not burn as strongly as you would like, I wonder if the cotton is packed too tightly.  Does the tank cap have a vent?  It will be interesting to see how the fibreglass wick works. 

Good progress on the other parts of the project, it is coming together very nicely.

MJM460

[Team ricky]

Good idea

I did make the chimney a slip fit on a thin wall sleeve for maintenance etc of the blower pipe or exhaust if needed , So it’s absolutely possible to slip a long pipe on in leu of the chimney and heat it with a torch to get things going ….Yes the cotton is a tight fit currently and I did wonder if that could cause issues!

I think I’ll try the glass fibre quickly and see what’s best and or open up the holder diameter

The steering chains arrived so I’ll get that done today

[Team ricky]

Just in conclusion …

I did re make the chimney with a bigger scale tapered bore which in combination with the glass fibre wicks gave a good steaming model luckily!

It’s now possible to light the wicks and just leave the model to raise 20 psi, Then open the steam blower to get to 40 psi then it’s fine to run the engine and it holds around 30 psi from thre exhaust draft

Cheers R