Office of Steam Forum for Model & Toy Steam Gas & Hot Air Engines

  I just looked at the listing.  There are only three real photos of the item
out of 14 put up there (leave aside the video).  It does say the manual and
igniter are included. If you paid by credit-card tell them you want your
money back and the cost to return it.  If they will not, call your CC company
and start a charge-back case.  What they sent you was deplorable.  I'd be
sooooo mad.

Good Luck,
Wayne

And yes, Wayne, we all ordered these on faith. The running engine didn’t exist until they finally got the carb done two weeks ago. They waffled on the exhaust, and either the tractor muffler or straight pipe works, frankly.
I’ve got a half built transmission amd implements I intend to run off this engine sitting here for months as they were delayed, and I played happily along. This is totally unsatisfactory from competence and trust aspects

Yes.  I think there was a time when the two websites each had a different focus. That appears to still be the case with some of the stuff they carry, which doesn’t fully overlap.  But they’re moving mostly the same stuff, under their various brand names.  This engine alone has been hawked as ENJOMOR (same brand as the recent DOHC four which is also marketed as “HMANE” and “guangsu”, depending where you look), and the newly appearing MUSA brand on the cylinder head of the complete engine.  Another engine I own, their water cooled vertical hit and miss, is variously marketed under at least three brands and model numbers. It was apparently designed by office of steam member “Jin”, and sold on his personal microcosm website as well as enginediy and stirlingkit. He is brains behind several of their small engines, and had at least some involvement with modifying their impeller water pump to market with this engine as well.

A clue is the “about” information on each website. It’s essentially cloned.

A few specifics in the laborious customer dissatisfaction to satisfaction process. 

After reporting the missing oil pan (they call it “engine bottom” or “oil bottom”, depending on the writer doing google translate), as well as the parts deleted from the standard model after the sale and before delivery,  and getting brushed off by enginediy service, (not a new thing), I seethed until I decided to apply multidirectional pressure.

Yes, I went anywhere and everywhere, looking for help.  I got help when I sent links to the less than favorable YouTube videos and forum posts to the sister website, stirlingkit.  When the stirlingkit service person read my request and viewed the videos, she sent up flares, and in a matter of hours a rough, but eager set of instructions was written (it’s unconscionable to release a new product without them), and I got a very nice, perfectly written, American English reply over the enginediy serviceman’s email address, but I’m told it was written by the ceo, promising complete fulfillment of the sale as written at the time, restoring the now deleted ignition, as well as the drill start adapter, and the missing oil pan, gasket, and screws.
She invited comments on the instructions, and sent an unlocked pdf in hopes I’d edit or offer comment.

I read the typically clunky instructions, decided not to go red pencil crazy over the translation, and only marked up obvious, critical errors, such as reversed water cooling fittings, really obscure translations such as “ejector rod” for valve lifter, and a totally botched top oil (two stroke) additive direction of twenty five percent….   They got the engineer involved, adopted most if not all of the mark up, and as I suggested, they meant 30:1 to 40:1 on the top oil.

I’ve met their sincere efforts with kindness and tried to be helpful, as long as they were doing their jobs.  I suspect yon enginediy service rep is smarting where he sits. Let’s hope it taught him something.

I have not taken down the videos, but promised to replace them once I get the promised parts.

Meanwhile, I’m liking this version of the ETW designed whippet.  It features an exposed mechanical breaker system with a manual spark advance.  They ship it with the adjustment arm locked down at TDC, anticipating use of the new automatic spark advance type CDI box.  I’ve got one of those on the way, but discovered it’s easy to unlock the manual advance yoke, which might allow old timey “retard to start, advance to run” operation.  The yoke handle is an accurate pointer, with TDC matching twelve o’clock position of the handle. I note they are using the mechanical breaker system as designed to trigger the CDI ignition, and not a Hall effect switch.

I didn’t particularly care for their pricey belt drive water pump, so I’m repowering a “wobble drive” low volume coffee machine style pump from electric to round belt drive instead, using a junk drawer electric motor as shaft and bearing donor for the pump drive shaft.  A glass reinforced nylon bushing from the junk drawer threaded onto the small end of the crankshaft (1/4” fine thread) easily, after spinning it in the drill press and filing in a round belt pulley groove.  Instant water pump drive pulley.  I also already own a generator, the microcosm offering with the lift ring on top, so it will see service, providing dc power, and UBS by way of a postage stamp sized USB circuit board.  Theoretically it could end up charging the ignition battery while running, but most likely it’ll just provide accessory potential, as well as the unregulated dc off the generator  for whatever. The generator output will be switched, so the load can be added or subtracted at will, without removing the belt.

Also in the works is a reduction transmission with a belt clutch, running GT2 belt off the perimeter of the flywheel, with a pair of idlers to keep the belt tracking and provide throw out function.  I’ve got a couple of toys lined up to put it to real use.  The plan is a modular system to dock the transmission and the implements as needed, while retaining a relatively small display footprint with the necessities as well as the generator and switch box, with the transmission and implements removed.

So I’ve got plenty to do while waiting, and the escalation of the protest has resulted in a positive outcome for myself and for everyone who bought these engines in good faith from sister websites stirlingkit and enginediy.

I am fully aware the uproar wasn’t pretty on this forum, but the links to these posts, as well as the YouTube videos were effective in getting people who cared to clue in those with the power to fix things. With any luck at all, the next time I mention this engine will be when posting a run video.

What a damn shame you've had to go through such heartache and frustration.

What a pain to just get what you paid for! Looking forward to you getting it all together running your accessories.

Update, with at least some good news.

In so many areas of life, overcoming resistance may involve much heat before there is whatever light that may be generated.  Such was the case with the service representative at enginediy, and those associated on both that website, and the sister, stirlingkit.

Long, frank, sometimes unpleasant discussions burned through the boilerplate and diversion of responsibility, revealing humanity as well as weaknesses in the organization.  A mode of critique and suggest, though not initially accepted, (once shared upstairs and laterally) became accepted. Blunt criticism of errors, pointing out their consequences to both buyers and sellers yielded some good results.  Poor responses to issues, historical and current laid bare weaknesses in the business model, as well as potential enhancements for all involved.

The result is the development of goodwill on both sides, and sincere efforts to regain trust extended in good faith, sometimes beyond reason.

That it took an adversarial posture, promising public shaming at potentially great expense, exactly at a moment when the company is promoting several new engines is a defensive reaction compounding the damage when unaddressed, yet provided the necessary pressure to create an inflection point, a springboard to action.

The whippet still has great potential. The company still has growing pains, and in this instance, a botched rollout to overcome, but they are trying, and have already begun adopting suggested organizational and technical fixes.

Traveling hopefully. I can recommend the whippet to the technical among us.  It is not, perhaps never will be, a ready to go product.  It is shipped dry, having never been run, nor the carb ever been mounted, so that level of inspection is not forthcoming.  Here is hoping institution of blanket, rather than spot inspection in the assembly process will catch a higher number of errors, and more robust, proofread instructions will assist buyers.   This would make a great case study for industrial operations classes.

Two words, one person, TECHNICAL WRITER could go a long way developing in-house and customer interface products like instructions and checklists to insure the help people actually can, and reduce the need for nonsense like customers calling the ignition maker (rcexl is made by CH ignitions, btw) for wiring information not provided by the engine sellers.

I keep reminding myself this is a hobby. These are not ready to play toys.

Would that I could start over with them, I probably wouldn’t go for this adventure as it has unfolded. It’s not been fun, even though it will likely come out ok in the long run.  I long for a miniature engine of the type these guys are selling, made with the quality of say, a 1990s Japanese made ENYA  four stroke RC airplane engine……. One can only dream.