waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay of topic but there still freakin awesome...

microflitedude wrote:I am a HUGE fan of air powered engines. Stirling, CO2, steam, etc. And I own none of them.

What kind of condition is it in? Is testing it possible?

Never modify the pressure valve. Most of them run on little dry fuel tablets called "esbit" tablets.

i only got to look at it a little bit, it looks okay to me, i just need to clean up the steam engine and the little tray that holds the esbit tablets, and the white paint on top of the truck body, ill be picking it up from the antique store in a couple of hours (i didnt have $130 on me yesterday, so they're holding it for me)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6dQ5w7ZnToA

110V,,no mess with fuel, just add water and a couple drops of oil.

Kinda kills the authenticity without the fuel,,but you can order them with it if you so choose.

I've just done what I should have done in the first place, and looked at the video! Didn't realise it was a Mamod, most of the safety advice I gave you is totally unneccessary!
Mamods are as near to totally safe as it's possible to be, they have been producing steam toys longer than I can remember, I even had a couple myself in my younger days. I have NEVER heard of an accident with one, the boilers are too small to pose any danger, in fact I think your biggest worry may be burning your fingers on the fire tray!

Just check the safety valve works, which is not easy to do because it's impossible to get the boiler pressure high enough to trip it!, make sure it's clean and functions OK and you'll be fine.
The ones I had ran on methelated spirit (Don't know what the US name for that is) which COULD be dangerous, but they changed to solid fuel many years ago, the only problem used to be that the fuel ran out very quickly, you'd no sooner started running around when the fire went out!

Here, as promised, is a steam powered model aircraft...........



Anything is possible!

Also, have a look at the website devoted to steam flying

http://www.flysteam.co.uk/recent.htm

PV Pilot wrote:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6dQ5w7ZnToA

110V,,no mess with fuel, just add water and a couple drops of oil.

Kinda kills the authenticity without the fuel,,but you can order them with it if you so choose.

thats pretty darn cool, thanks for the video, i think they sell this esbit stuff at "rei" a local camping supply store in my area, it says they burn at 1170 degrees farenheit, is that to hot for this engine, should i get other fuel

heres a link for that fuel they sell at REI
http://www.rei.com/product/653344/esbit-solid-fuel-tablets

mitchg95 wrote:

PV Pilot wrote:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6dQ5w7ZnToA

110V,,no mess with fuel, just add water and a couple drops of oil.

Kinda kills the authenticity without the fuel,,but you can order them with it if you so choose.

thats pretty darn cool, thanks for the video, i think they sell this esbit stuff at "rei" a local camping supply store in my area, it says they burn at 1170 degrees farenheit, is that to hot for this engine, should i get other fuel

yup, REI should have the Esbit as well as the Sterno style camp fuel. grab one of each Mitch, not real spendy. No, that temp wont hurt it. Thats the surface temp of the tablet burning. You have a couple inches it looks to were the flame licks on the boiler.

I switched to the Sterno because I kept having to clean the soot off of the boiler and the Esbit stunk up the house. The Sterno is a much cleaner burn,,basically jellied alcohol. Check your tray as well, it needs to be sealed on the edges for the Sterno because as it burns it puddles in the tray.

PV Pilot wrote:

mitchg95 wrote:

PV Pilot wrote:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6dQ5w7ZnToA

110V,,no mess with fuel, just add water and a couple drops of oil.

Kinda kills the authenticity without the fuel,,but you can order them with it if you so choose.

thats pretty darn cool, thanks for the video, i think they sell this esbit stuff at "rei" a local camping supply store in my area, it says they burn at 1170 degrees farenheit, is that to hot for this engine, should i get other fuel

yup, REI should have the Esbit as well as the Sterno style camp fuel. grab one of each Mitch, not real spendy. No, that temp wont hurt it. Thats the surface temp of the tablet burning. You have a couple inches it looks to were the flame licks on the boiler.

I switched to the Sterno because I kept having to clean the soot off of the boiler and the Esbit stunk up the house. The Sterno is a much cleaner burn,,basically jellied alcohol. Check your tray as well, it needs to be sealed on the edges for the Sterno because as it burns it puddles in the tray.

cool thanks for the suggestion, i might have to get the esbit,sterno and the steam oil, tomorrow, as of today I'm going to be cleaning it, and trying to figure out how it works

I suspect in Europe (not sure what Brit, Irish, and Scotsman prefer to be refered to) "methelated spirit" refers to methonol, denatured alcohol, or any of the alcohols that have been renderd non potable by some additive. My assumption is simply the words coupled with the fact my first "steam" engin was fired by denatured (rubbing) alcohol and later by the tablets. IIRC my dad helped me soak cotten balls in the alcohol and put them in the small fire box. Later he got a box of the tablets and he prefered them becaus the spilled alcohol burns too clear and you can not see the flame on you hands, table or any place you dripped or spilled the alcohol. The Tablets burned real clear also but the dry fueling operation never created a drip or spill

i just got back from the antique store with the steam wagon, it need's some work, but other than that it looks pretty good.
i need to get a retainer for the front left wheel, and a nut so the the steerable wheel assembly in the front wont fall out when i lift the steam wagon, and oh yeah, it needs loads of cleaning

fredvon4 wrote:I suspect in Europe (not sure what Brit, Irish, and Scotsman prefer to be refered to) "methelated spirit" refers to methonol, denatured alcohol, or any of the alcohols that have been renderd non potable by some additive. My assumption is simply the words coupled with the fact my first "steam" engin was fired by denatured (rubbing) alcohol and later by the tablets. IIRC my dad helped me soak cotten balls in the alcohol and put them in the small fire box. Later he got a box of the tablets and he prefered them becaus the spilled alcohol burns too clear and you can not see the flame on you hands, table or any place you dripped or spilled the alcohol. The Tablets burned real clear also but the dry fueling operation never created a drip or spill

Yes, thanks Fred, it would be denatured alcohol I believe, British or UK is prefered by most, despite what successive governments would have us believe we aint part of Europe!

yay, i got it running, it runs great! i got the esbit tablets, distilled water, and steam oil i needed

Ivanhoe

You know after spending 5 Army tours in Germany you would think that I should know that ...especially as I was "there" whent he EU was formed and thought silently "good for you" when the UK decided to not play in that experiment.

Sure wish I had taken the time to visit Ireland and Scotland. One of my bigger regrets really as I do love the spirits both countries produce...grin

mitchg95 wrote:yay, i got it running, it runs great! i got the esbit tablets, distilled water, and steam oil i needed

Very Cool!.

PV Pilot wrote:

mitchg95 wrote:yay, i got it running, it runs great! i got the esbit tablets, distilled water, and steam oil i needed

Very Cool!.

yep runs like a champ, i just need to get the rear wheels to turn so that it can drive around like its supposed to

Take your time and dissasemble carefully, some of that Mamod stuff is very hard to find and spendy when you do.

I can't help but mention that saftey pressure valve again Mitch. Be certain it is in good shape. You don't want to split the seams and get sprayed.

PV Pilot wrote:Take your time and dissasemble carefully, some of that Mamod stuff is very hard to find and spendy when you do.

I can't help but mention that saftey pressure valve again Mitch. Be certain it is in good shape. You don't want to split the seams and get sprayed.

ok, i think its just the drive belt, which can be easily obtained online because the steam wagon is still in production, and i do believe the safety pressure valve is in good shape, it looks fine to me, the spring action that it has still works, it did not activate last night when i was steaming it up last night probably because i was impatient and wanted to run it really bad and just started the piston at the first sign of steam coming out of the smoke stack

Ok, wasn't sure if that wagon was in production still.

Very good on the valve. It will sound like a commercial truck setting the air brakes and then quickly snap closed again. You don't want it to ever open, but if it needs to, it's good to know that it can. Really sucks when it does because it kills your head of steam and you usually have to cool down, reload with water and start all over again,,lol. They pop open between 10~45 PSI depending on the model.

The o-ring belting if needed can be aquired at a hydraulic repair shop. On mine it was a 2mm o-ring that I cut and glued together to the right length. Since your's is still in production, there is probably a part number available still.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_6z1OmUWGY

I read a old book on when these first appeared. Funny stuff. Chickens and animals would tip over and seize in fright. Back when steam machines were massive iron beasts.

PV Pilot wrote:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_6z1OmUWGY

I read a old book on when these first appeared. Funny stuff. Chickens and animals would tip over and seize in fright. Back when steam machines were massive iron beasts.

lol thats awesome

mitchg95 wrote:

PV Pilot wrote:

mitchg95 wrote:yay, i got it running, it runs great! i got the esbit tablets, distilled water, and steam oil i needed

Very Cool!.

yep runs like a champ, i just need to get the rear wheels to turn so that it can drive around like its supposed to

Minor detail!

i think its just that the drive belt in the wheels has to much slack, so ill have to figure out how to fix that, if i cant, it still looks great just running in place