I knew a man who lived in East Berlin after WWII. He worked of a crew that was clearing the roads and destroyed buildings. East Berlin was under Soviet occupation. They needed a truck to help move debris but gasoline was highly rationed. What they did was convert a truck to steam power the same way this briggs and stratton engine was done. He said they used that truck until gasoline was available.
I'm pretty sure it was running on smoke. That's what I was told and when I researched it I find many people using smoke today to run their trucks and generators. It make more sense. It's a lot easier than you think.It's called a Gasifier. th-cam.com/video/yYGKn12Weu4/w-d-xo.html
You should pipe that exhaust back in to the water reservoir with a small coil. This would condense the used steam back into water to be used for steam againe. This would boost eficiancy and limit the amount of "re fueling" you need to do.
One of the best conersions I ever saw was made out of an outborad motor which had a rotating drum on top which acted as a rotary valve. The poppet valves in a gas engine suffer quickly when exposed to wet steam ,and as others have pointed out, the moisture gets down the side of the piston into the sump ,causing further wear, this is where an outboard differs , theres no oil pan to fill with water . If you got a smaller engine which you fed with the steam under pressure ,which then the fed the steam to your existing engine(with the cranks joined together) you would get a more efficeint use of the steam . Just a few thoughts.
It would really REALLY suck being you if you hadn't have come up with such an elaborate contraption to electrify your little 12 volt light bulb. Especially living so far out in them woods and all! Proud of you.
I'm pleased I saw this! So I got an old lawn mower engine with vertical shaft and wanted to make it into a horizontal shaft go cart engine, so I'd have to put the carb on at right angles. But being a crappy Techumesh engine the intake and exhaust ports are right next to each other meaning if I rotated the carb 90 degrees it would be in the way of the exhaust outlet. So that dream has gone but now I've seen this there maybe is life in the engine because I can still run it with a horizontal shaft steam engine :)
You can get extensions and elbows for carbs for things like that. But there is also many more steps you would need to take to address the oil situation. There are TH-cam videos on it that explain it better
Pretty neat, Jonathan! I have a couple of ancient B&S wrecks that I would like to try to make into one functioning steam engine. Bet that was fun project.
I love it,, actually thinking of putting one in an old boat for the river... Despite all of the knockers and perfectionists I think you have all of the ingredience for full and fun life
I was thinking the same thing. I'm building a homemade pontoon boat and one of these would be perfect to run it. I need to figure out a transmission of some sort so I can switch off the prop and still run other things off of it.
@@flynnt77 Many years ago I put an Automotive Automatic Transmission in a boat (behind a V8) it really worked great. A small manual trans from a car would also work no problems. If I was to build anything now,, I would go a couple electric motors/thrusters and a solar panel. Yes it has a cost but no maintenance or hassles
@@pjetenere1 _"If I was to build anything now,, I would go a couple electric motors/thrusters and a solar panel. "_ I would use an electric motor but I'd use a steam turbine to turn a generator. Since it's a boat I'd probably use propane to heat the boiler. For home power I would use dead trees for fuel and use maybe a Pelton type turbine to charge a battery bank. The industrial revolution used steam engines in the beginning to power their factories.
@@awaitingthetrumpetcall4529combining the old with the new. Steam and generators with batteries and electric. If the electronics fail, revert back to steam until fixed.
Be an amazing low Power Generator system for a backup to a solar or wind setup in the middle of nowhere. Lots of trees to burn and plenty of good ways to make a dedicated boiler system that won't freeze during the colder months. Would be cool to convert the engine to a two stroke system for power every rotation and see how overkill a boiler you can put onto it for long runs. I'd love to see a way to separate the water out of the oil for a long run to.
I did this exact same thing with a 3.5hp Briggs. The problem is that it is very inefficient. The valve is easily lifted of it's seat under pressure allowing the steam to enter the cylinder at the wrong time. You need a valve that isn't affected by pressure.
Plausible. Lots of sunlight where you are? The older rear projector tv screens have large magnifier in them . Fresnel or frenal lens,I believe they are called. Set wood on fire,quickly.
What problems have you encountered with lubrication? I assume you have oil in the crankcase but does water collect there also? If so how would you deal with it?
Wow after reading the comments I realized how many keyboard warriors are out there. Yeah this engine isnt doing any work, but think of the possibilities... If one has the ability to make a fire, they could generate their own electricity. Good job!
You don't have OIL changes with a steam engine,,The water would foul the oil,In stead you have a minute amount of oil constantly being added to the Crank case and Piston,,Or just squirt some in there every few Hours XD
If you go to 1:54 and watch the valves open and close you can see that the cam was modified (gears) for a 1 to 1 with the crankshaft, the cam it would have to be changed also to a even intake and exhaust lobe. Yes, you could get maybe 12 hp out of this BUT ONLY with tremendous pressure. I don't think the oil would hold up too long as all that steam would really condensate in a short time, however it wouldn't get near as hot as a regular gas engine either so.... NICE JOB Jonathan..
I was going to ask that, has the cam timing and lobe location been changed in order to make it run but that seems to be clear now! cool little engine nice job!!
Do you have a tutorial on how you made it? How has the engine held up with the amount of moisture going into it? This is an outstanding project and very interesting very well done sir
I'm very impressed with your success converting ICE to steam! I've been working on the same project for three years with little success due to valve problems. When I use the standard engine valves the steam pressure would float them. If I feed steam from the carburetor or exhaust port the valves fail after 40psi. My engine is Honda GC160 OHC engine and my boiler will produce 140psi constant steam...any suggestions?
Find some stiffer springs from another engine, the issue is the spring pressure being overcome by the steam side. For tests you could more or less up the spring pressure with stiffer springs, maybe a beehive spring from an race engine etc. Also big deal for certain engines isn't so much the raw pressure but getting more volume into the chamber to. Food for thought.
Tienes que modificar el arbol de levas para que trabaje con 2 tiempos, no 4 tiempos. Osea admicion y escape. Te funcionara bien con 40 psi. PD. un motor de 2 tiempos no vale.
Congratulations on making it work! My question is do you use it or is it for demonstration purposes only? How many hours can you go between oil changes?
I don’t think he has hardly any oil In it. You look at some angles you can see there is not an oil cap on it. In theory it could run for a while. You would have to watch the oil to make sure it doesn’t get too milky. Then again it’s spinning slow enough it could run for a while. If I had to guess the engine is probably pretty darn clean by running on steam.
Nice! ;) Have you done any real work with it? I mean besides the 12v Light from the magneto. Maybe pump water, or hook to a gen set? Also love the fact your using actual steam instead of compressed air. I'm subing and going back to see if you have any how to vids on your work. Thanks for the Demo!
Great stuff. You probably know what you're doing but you will need to fit some kind of water drain to the cases so you dont get compression lock and some other way of lubricating the bearings. If you put an oiler inline with the steam inlet it will stop the valves rusting up.
if you run the exhausted steam output into some say 3 inch tubing and connect to a radiator will the steam condense back to water to recapture and use again...for those with low water availability ?
I did some calculations now I have a Bran new rebuilt BS 1hp or 750 watt gas engine. I'm curious does it actually make more than that on steam vs gasoline? I'm only 30s in. Maybe this is demonstrated further along. What a fantastic idea! Oh Holy Sophia I love the way that sounds!
How do you keep the bottom end lubricated? Does the cylinder wash down after awhile? I was trying to figure what the life expectancy would be for a engine like this. I can see a lot of uses for making one of these.
Real cool, but do you have a video on how you converted the 12 hp engine to steam? I live off grid and think a back up power plant that runs on steam would be a great addition
i need a camera so you could see what i have dun same basic as you 3.5 hp junk snow blower now a valved 2 stroke 2 extra fly wheel from 10 hp brigs still got to make coil brackets but the thought is there i ran half inch line though from my boiler witch is a old air tank mounted on a rocket stove kinda thing works good once its running starting up my intake valve wants to stick open and on longer runs had some lube trouble if shes not running good n hot its ok but in the cold wants to seize you?
My guess is, you reground the cam lobes to make this run like a 2-stroke. I do conversions also, but I use either a slide or spool value running on a cam on the crankshaft.
Thank you for sharing. Can you get any productive work (charge batteries, pump water) out of it; or is this just "something to do to see if you could"?
I have an two cilinders engine. I tested it with compressed air. It works. Are your rings enough for the lubrication oil protection? Which size is your boiler.
Replace the fuel intake lines with plumbing and just boil water to produce steam. . make sure the water is under pressure and the plumbing is under pressure before the steam enters the pistons cause if you have the steam forming back into water you will lose efficiency. For a prolonged life span i would assume a 4 stroke car engine would be best as its fuel (in this case steam) and engine oil is separate where as a 2 stroke the oil must be mixed with the fuel and steam and oil will not mix unless it is under extreme temperature. I have never done it before but i cant imagine it been a complicated task. The good thing about this is if you live in a rural location you can have a stock of wood and if you ever have power outage you can simply start up a boiler (chamber to burn the wood and heat the water) and it would not take a long time, the water should be recirculated in a separate chamber thus you wont waste any water. . . try to use modern alloy engines to minimise corrosion compared to old steel engines. You could even replace the piston heads with a aluminium head from a CNC shop and you could run a steam engine with no real maintenance as corrosion would not take place in the cylinders.
HONORGUARD308 The one used to produce the steam that is powering the engine. The steam needs a source. I don't see how a hot bath could produce enough pressure to move a piston.
Do you have a problem with the intake valve starting to float with more pressure ? I think this stuff is so cool but my thinking is that the steam pressure could not be greater then the seat pressure of the inlet valve . Great ! :) the first 4 stroke I seen realy using steam
Pretty neat! Horse Power is a set amount of work over time, usually an amount of weight moved over time and distance. Steam Horsepower is measure differently, it is based on a set amount of water turned to steam in one hour and equals almost 10,000 Watts. Mechanical HP is 550 foot/pounds per second and equals about 745 Watts.That is over two million Watts per hour with steam measurement! Steam is different in power rating than gasoline and this conversion from gas to steam, depending on definition, could be greater than 12 HP by a large amount. Then there is Shaft Horse Power and Brake Horse Power. The large flywheel makes for up the lead and lag of steam.
question? you see the steam coming out that engine. Why don't you make a vacuum to take back that steam and use it back in your tank. to save water and it will be hot so less heating? correct me if I'm wrong?
Industrial steam systems usually use additives (such as sodium sulfite) to remove oxygen from the water, and maybe add a little alkali to get the pH to 9 or 10. Water at high pH with little or no oxygen won't rust steel.
there are steam engines that are really old and can still do large jobs like pump water and cut lumber, so id say its how well you take care of it, ive even seen engines buried in ground for almost a hundred years be brought back to life.. so id say steam engines can last a really really long time......shtf they will be a great tool to keep things going.
A larger fly-wheel would make the engine run smoother, also if you run it at a fast speed the steam will last longer due to the short duration the inlet valve is open.
I have only seen a few vids about conversion to steam, and know nothing about engines. my question is: What about the Oil? leave it in? or would the steam/water be enough to lube the engine?
the rod and main bearings don't care what's in the cylinder! they need lube no matter what. also, in real steam engines, there is a special oiler that injects oil into the incoming steam to lube the cylinder, piston, valves, and rings.
themadmailler mmmm? so could one create a oil injector. i am thinking yes yes one can lol. just curious i don't see myself trying to make a steam engine.
themadmailler ok never mind just seen a video, some one used a inline oiler for air tools. not really thinking today lol after i seen that i am going "Of course" lopl
Pretty darn cool...wish you would have shown more about told more about your boiler set up...I have no idea ..... Now, as you apparently burn wood or coal or trash for that matter and heat up a cylinder filled with water and then the steam is under pressure that goes to the pipe in the carburetor inlet....how does that work with the oil crankcase? I mean as you pressurize the piston, some of the pressure in the form of steam will bypass the rings and get into the oil.... Is that what happens and how do you overcome this....? Turn in off let the oil gas separate and then drain out the bottom? Just wondering...also did you ever make a video that shows it running a generator and maybe charging a battery bank? Tks
I knew a man who lived in East Berlin after WWII. He worked of a crew that was clearing the roads and destroyed buildings. East Berlin was under Soviet occupation. They needed a truck to help move debris but gasoline was highly rationed. What they did was convert a truck to steam power the same way this briggs and stratton engine was done. He said they used that truck until gasoline was available.
I'm pretty sure it was running on smoke. That's what I was told and when I researched it I find many people using smoke today to run their trucks and generators. It make more sense. It's a lot easier than you think.It's called a Gasifier.
th-cam.com/video/yYGKn12Weu4/w-d-xo.html
@@user-zx7tg4ph5r they don't run on smoke, it's woodgas. A gas that is produced when you heat wood in a closed container.
Good Lord Jon......this thing could run a lathe or circle saw, in the middle of Alaska...Great Job
Congratulations! Most people show there gas engine conversion running on air.
Nice to see the real thing.
You should pipe that exhaust back in to the water reservoir with a small coil. This would condense the used steam back into water to be used for steam againe. This would boost eficiancy and limit the amount of "re fueling" you need to do.
One of the best conersions I ever saw was made out of an outborad motor which had a rotating drum on top which acted as a rotary valve. The poppet valves in a gas engine suffer quickly when exposed to wet steam ,and as others have pointed out, the moisture gets down the side of the piston into the sump ,causing further wear, this is where an outboard differs , theres no oil pan to fill with water . If you got a smaller engine which you fed with the steam under pressure ,which then the fed the steam to your existing engine(with the cranks joined together) you would get a more efficeint use of the steam . Just a few thoughts.
Love these videos, but i would like to see more home built boilers and steam generators.
It would really REALLY suck being you if you hadn't have come up with such an elaborate contraption to electrify your little 12 volt light bulb. Especially living so far out in them woods and all! Proud of you.
Yes, this gentleman did that and all you have is this smart ass comment.
I'm pleased I saw this!
So I got an old lawn mower engine with vertical shaft and wanted to make it into a horizontal shaft go cart engine, so I'd have to put the carb on at right angles. But being a crappy Techumesh engine the intake and exhaust ports are right next to each other meaning if I rotated the carb 90 degrees it would be in the way of the exhaust outlet. So that dream has gone but now I've seen this there maybe is life in the engine because I can still run it with a horizontal shaft steam engine :)
You can get extensions and elbows for carbs for things like that. But there is also many more steps you would need to take to address the oil situation. There are TH-cam videos on it that explain it better
That is awesome. Old is better than new.
Pretty neat, Jonathan! I have a couple of ancient B&S wrecks that I would like to try to make into one functioning steam engine. Bet that was fun project.
It spins and makes noise for now ! Bravo !
I love it,, actually thinking of putting one in an old boat for the river... Despite all of the knockers and perfectionists I think you have all of the ingredience for full and fun life
I was thinking the same thing. I'm building a homemade pontoon boat and one of these would be perfect to run it. I need to figure out a transmission of some sort so I can switch off the prop and still run other things off of it.
@@flynnt77 Many years ago I put an Automotive Automatic Transmission in a boat (behind a V8) it really worked great.
A small manual trans from a car would also work no problems.
If I was to build anything now,, I would go a couple electric motors/thrusters and a solar panel.
Yes it has a cost but no maintenance or hassles
@@pjetenere1 _"If I was to build anything now,, I would go a couple electric motors/thrusters and a solar panel. "_
I would use an electric motor but I'd use a steam turbine to turn a generator. Since it's a boat I'd probably use propane to heat the boiler. For home power I would use dead trees for fuel and use maybe a Pelton type turbine to charge a battery bank.
The industrial revolution used steam engines in the beginning to power their factories.
@@awaitingthetrumpetcall4529combining the old with the new. Steam and generators with batteries and electric. If the electronics fail, revert back to steam until fixed.
I'd use it to drive an alternator and charge a rack of batteries.
Be an amazing low Power Generator system for a backup to a solar or wind setup in the middle of nowhere. Lots of trees to burn and plenty of good ways to make a dedicated boiler system that won't freeze during the colder months. Would be cool to convert the engine to a two stroke system for power every rotation and see how overkill a boiler you can put onto it for long runs. I'd love to see a way to separate the water out of the oil for a long run to.
I did this exact same thing with a 3.5hp Briggs.
The problem is that it is very inefficient. The valve is easily lifted of it's seat under pressure allowing the steam to enter the cylinder at the wrong time.
You need a valve that isn't affected by pressure.
Or stiffer vanle springs
Good job. That looks like Kentucky.
Please, at what pressure was that running,... Planning to run one with a solar concentrator... You think that is feasible ?
Plausible.
Lots of sunlight where you are?
The older rear projector tv screens have large magnifier in them . Fresnel or frenal lens,I believe they are called. Set wood on fire,quickly.
Perfect prepper engine. Just connect to generator. I would like to know more about lubrication? How does the oil runs??
Is it possible to capture the expelled steam, run it through a condenser then return it to the main water source?
I want to try this so my question is can you tell me step by step and how you did this and thank you very much because this is really cool
Nice little engine Jonathan, well done
Fascinating. can you put some oil in the water to prevent corrosion?
ALSO. It may not be cost effective but Dry Ice will run a steam engine . Very Interesting
This a very cool. I can't believe how many negative nancyies out there have nothing but criticism!
yes they did. thanks for the coment. do you have yours on youtube?
Perfecto viento en popa saludos mister Ford gracias por su trabajo feliz año nuevo mister.
You've given me a lot of knowledge.
What problems have you encountered with lubrication? I assume you have oil in the crankcase but does water collect there also? If so how would you deal with it?
Wow after reading the comments I realized how many keyboard warriors are out there. Yeah this engine isnt doing any work, but think of the possibilities... If one has the ability to make a fire, they could generate their own electricity. Good job!
Great conversion! Love to have such modified engine just for fun...
the same
You don't have OIL changes with a steam engine,,The water would foul the oil,In stead you have a minute amount of oil constantly being added to the Crank case and Piston,,Or just squirt some in there every few Hours XD
If you go to 1:54 and watch the valves open and close you can see that the cam was modified (gears) for a 1 to 1 with the crankshaft, the cam it would have to be changed also to a even intake and exhaust lobe. Yes, you could get maybe 12 hp out of this BUT ONLY with tremendous pressure. I don't think the oil would hold up too long as all that steam would really condensate in a short time, however it wouldn't get near as hot as a regular gas engine either so.... NICE JOB Jonathan..
thanks
I was going to ask that, has the cam timing and lobe location been changed in order to make it run but that seems to be clear now! cool little engine nice job!!
Thanks
+jonathan strong have you made any refinements to it or made and more videos of it in action?
That's pretty cool. I want to make one now
Do you have a tutorial on how you made it? How has the engine held up with the amount of moisture going into it? This is an outstanding project and very interesting very well done sir
nice job with the boiler and engine
I'm very impressed with your success converting ICE to steam! I've been working on the same project for three years with little success due to valve problems. When I use the standard engine valves the steam pressure would float them. If I feed steam from the carburetor or exhaust port the valves fail after 40psi. My engine is Honda GC160 OHC engine and my boiler will produce 140psi constant steam...any suggestions?
Find some stiffer springs from another engine, the issue is the spring pressure being overcome by the steam side. For tests you could more or less up the spring pressure with stiffer springs, maybe a beehive spring from an race engine etc. Also big deal for certain engines isn't so much the raw pressure but getting more volume into the chamber to. Food for thought.
Start with a 2stroke ICE first.
Tienes que modificar el arbol de levas para que trabaje con 2 tiempos, no 4 tiempos. Osea admicion y escape. Te funcionara bien con 40 psi. PD. un motor de 2 tiempos no vale.
Nice job!!! Any thoughts on how to use the existing fly weight governor that's on a lot of these Briggs? Maybe with a regulator???
Congratulations on making it work! My question is do you use it or is it for demonstration purposes only? How many hours can you go between oil changes?
I don’t think he has hardly any oil In it. You look at some angles you can see there is not an oil cap on it. In theory it could run for a while. You would have to watch the oil to make sure it doesn’t get too milky. Then again it’s spinning slow enough it could run for a while.
If I had to guess the engine is probably pretty darn clean by running on steam.
Can you show the boiler? What do you do for a water feed pump?
Is the steam being fed through the carburetor hole?
you using a garden hose for a steam hose?
The air compressor you have works great
wow, this is cool, but how do you keep the valves from scoring from no lubrication... whats the crankcase got in there, does water get in?
Nice! ;) Have you done any real work with it? I mean besides the 12v Light from the magneto. Maybe pump water, or hook to a gen set? Also love the fact your using actual steam instead of compressed air. I'm subing and going back to see if you have any how to vids on your work. Thanks for the Demo!
Great stuff. You probably know what you're doing but you will need to fit some kind of water drain to the cases so you dont get compression lock and some other way of lubricating the bearings. If you put an oiler inline with the steam inlet it will stop the valves rusting up.
Perhaps run it upside down?
Good Job.I never now it could be done
if you run the exhausted steam output into some say 3 inch tubing and connect to a radiator will the steam condense back to water to recapture and use again...for those with low water availability ?
I did some calculations now I have a Bran new rebuilt BS 1hp or 750 watt gas engine. I'm curious does it actually make more than that on steam vs gasoline? I'm only 30s in. Maybe this is demonstrated further along. What a fantastic idea!
Oh Holy Sophia I love the way that sounds!
nice,
have you had any durability issues with the steam, cast iron, and crankcase lubrication?
How do you keep the bottom end lubricated? Does the cylinder wash down after awhile? I was trying to figure what the life expectancy would be for a engine like this. I can see a lot of uses for making one of these.
Does the boiler hold the pressure with the engine running?
Is this just the engine without the spark plug just steam going in the outlet
I like the exhaust just belching out steam
good job. so, what power can you get out of it? How long does a one filling of the boiler lasts?
Is it powered by fire wood?
What camera did you film this on the distortion is hypnotic
It's TH-cam's anti-shake image stabilization, I hate it but there is no viewer option to turn it off, it is the uploader's choice.
Thanks for the reply I actually like it it reminds me of holograms, nice steam conversion too by the way ;)
That's slick. What's the lowest psi that it'll run on?
Interesting concept engine went from 25% to 5% in that conversion. I see you used a pipe flange cover as second flywheel
Real cool, but do you have a video on how you converted the 12 hp engine to steam? I live off grid and think a back up power plant that runs on steam would be a great addition
Very nice. It would have more power if your supply line were bigger so it could pass more gas. This is a project I may attempt at some point.
hello how good does it work under load? thanks
i need a camera so you could see what i have dun same basic as you 3.5 hp junk snow blower now a valved 2 stroke 2 extra fly wheel from 10 hp brigs still got to make coil brackets but the thought is there i ran half inch line though from my boiler witch is a old air tank mounted on a rocket stove kinda thing works good once its running starting up my intake valve wants to stick open and on longer runs had some lube trouble if shes not running good n hot its ok but in the cold wants to seize you?
Do you have a video or link to what all you did to the motor to make it work right?
Get lots of water in the oil?
wow cool engine I built one out of a R/C plane engine and put a drill Chuck on it for mounting a drill bit
my question is , is there a safety blow off valve on the boiler tank at the highest point of the tank ??
how did you figure out size of counterbalance on Briggs.
Can you pop the exhaust back into the tank and put a check valve in line keep reusing the same water to the boiler?
Good idea
@@jstrong67 condenser engine
stuff like this is so awesome. if this world actually made sense, we would be completely enabled and encouraged to produce our own electricity.
My guess is, you reground the cam lobes to make this run like a 2-stroke.
I do conversions also, but I use either a slide or spool value running on a cam on the crankshaft.
Does its lubel oil remain clear?
Must the carter water drain?
Thank you for sharing. Can you get any productive work (charge batteries, pump water) out of it; or is this just "something to do to see if you could"?
I have an two cilinders engine. I tested it with compressed air. It works. Are your rings enough for the lubrication oil protection? Which size is your boiler.
How do you keep it lubricated?
How did you do this and it is so cool that I want to try this
Replace the fuel intake lines with plumbing and just boil water to produce steam. . make sure the water is under pressure and the plumbing is under pressure before the steam enters the pistons cause if you have the steam forming back into water you will lose efficiency.
For a prolonged life span i would assume a 4 stroke car engine would be best as its fuel (in this case steam) and engine oil is separate where as a 2 stroke the oil must be mixed with the fuel and steam and oil will not mix unless it is under extreme temperature.
I have never done it before but i cant imagine it been a complicated task. The good thing about this is if you live in a rural location you can have a stock of wood and if you ever have power outage you can simply start up a boiler (chamber to burn the wood and heat the water) and it would not take a long time, the water should be recirculated in a separate chamber thus you wont waste any water. . . try to use modern alloy engines to minimise corrosion compared to old steel engines. You could even replace the piston heads with a aluminium head from a CNC shop and you could run a steam engine with no real maintenance as corrosion would not take place in the cylinders.
I'm going to try this just need a step by step instructionsif you could
HONORGUARD308 How safe is the boiler?
Matt de Oliveira What boiler ??
HONORGUARD308 The one used to produce the steam that is powering the engine. The steam needs a source. I don't see how a hot bath could produce enough pressure to move a piston.
Did you do any modifications to the valves?
It is simple and easily duplicated. What I want to know is how big a gen set can you run off of it?
How is the check valve activated ??
Do you have a problem with the intake valve starting to float with more pressure ?
I think this stuff is so cool but my thinking is that the steam pressure could not be greater then the seat pressure of the inlet valve .
Great ! :) the first 4 stroke I seen realy using steam
how did you build you're boiler and safety valves?
Pretty neat! Horse Power is a set amount of work over time, usually an amount of weight moved over time and distance. Steam Horsepower is measure differently, it is based on a set amount of water turned to steam in one hour and equals almost 10,000 Watts. Mechanical HP is 550 foot/pounds per second and equals about 745 Watts.That is over two million Watts per hour with steam measurement! Steam is different in power rating than gasoline and this conversion from gas to steam, depending on definition, could be greater than 12 HP by a large amount. Then there is Shaft Horse Power and Brake Horse Power. The large flywheel makes for up the lead and lag of steam.
Do you only have that steam piped into the valves?
question? you see the steam coming out that engine. Why don't you make a vacuum to take back that steam and use it back in your tank. to save water and it will be hot so less heating? correct me if I'm wrong?
you are right yes, lots of modern steam engines recondense the steam into water for that reason.
+Luke Schofield how much psi is it running with how much hp?
+Mohmed Adam sorry mate can't help you there, I wasn't involved with building the engine I was just answering your question.
what about water consumption?
How long would it take for the internals to rust over? How can it be prevented?
Industrial steam systems usually use additives (such as sodium sulfite) to remove oxygen from the water, and maybe add a little alkali to get the pH to 9 or 10. Water at high pH with little or no oxygen won't rust steel.
there are steam engines that are really old and can still do large jobs like pump water and cut lumber, so id say its how well you take care of it, ive even seen engines buried in ground for almost a hundred years be brought back to life.. so id say steam engines can last a really really long time......shtf they will be a great tool to keep things going.
How did you keep the valve from lifting off its seat from 50 psi steam. Did you use a valve spring with higher spring pressure or... Good job btw.
A larger fly-wheel would make the engine run smoother, also if you run it at a fast speed the steam will last longer due to the short duration the inlet valve is open.
@TheDave570
Can that flywheel GET any larger?!?! haha He needs to take that big ass thing off for more power.
I have only seen a few vids about conversion to steam, and know nothing about engines. my question is:
What about the Oil? leave it in? or would the steam/water be enough to lube the engine?
the rod and main bearings don't care what's in the cylinder! they need lube no matter what. also, in real steam engines, there is a special oiler that injects oil into the incoming steam to lube the cylinder, piston, valves, and rings.
themadmailler mmmm? so could one create a oil injector. i am thinking yes yes one can lol. just curious i don't see myself trying to make a steam engine.
themadmailler ok never mind just seen a video, some one used a inline oiler for air tools. not really thinking today lol after i seen that i am going "Of course" lopl
Why a piston? What happens if you try to turn steam pressure into rotational motion using a turbine?
what kind of hose is that carrying the steam from the boiler to the engine? seems like rubber and PVC would melt.
you are right, the rubber hose melted so I went with copper tube
jonathan strong You can buy rubber hose made for steam service. The copper is probably less expensive, though.
Russ Lehman Radiator hose would work well I bet. The sound of a steam engine is just so satisfying!
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Did you convert the engine to a two stroke before you added the steam? Doesn't the compression stroke cause problems for the engine?
Couldn’t that steam be recaptured and recycled?
Have you verified horsepower output on this or hooked it to a generator head to see electrical output?
Dude bad ass how did you convert it
is there oil in the sump if not how do ya oil the crank?
Pretty darn cool...wish you would have shown more about told more about your boiler set up...I have no idea ..... Now, as you apparently burn wood or coal or trash for that matter and heat up a cylinder filled with water and then the steam is under pressure that goes to the pipe in the carburetor inlet....how does that work with the oil crankcase? I mean as you pressurize the piston, some of the pressure in the form of steam will bypass the rings and get into the oil.... Is that what happens and how do you overcome this....? Turn in off let the oil gas separate and then drain out the bottom? Just wondering...also did you ever make a video that shows it running a generator and maybe charging a battery bank? Tks
To maximize power and efficiency, as well as keep water from condensing in the block you should insulate everything.
Smart and good lookin😉
How did you make the boiler? Did you have to modify the cam shaft?
How do you run this safely without risk of an explosion?
Did you modify the cam? A steam engine only needs to be a 2 stroke so if you use the stock cam you're not doing any work on two of the strokes.
Do you somehow have instructions on how to convert such an engine? and which are the best to start out with? thanks
You would have to alter the cam, intake on down stroke, outlet on up stroke and no compression or power stroke. In other words , 2 stoke.