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Author Topic: "Adventure's" with my First Mamod Stationary Engine!  (Read 185 times)

ShadetreeMotorcycle

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"Adventure's" with my First Mamod Stationary Engine!
« on: September 27, 2021, 04:40:19 pm »
I took delivery of the "Last" Mamod (Stationary) engine Ministeam shows in stock today...it has been an Adventure!

First, the box was in perfect shape on delivery...BUT...when I opened, the overhead frame was only held in place by the steam line AND it(entire overhead frame) was about 15 degrees out of square!...at first my heart sank because I knew Suzann did Not have an engine to replace it with...as shipping from UK is cost prohibitive at this time.
 
However...upon closer evaluation I discovered Mamod no longer rivets the frame to boiler, it is held by a Single screw and washer that had worked it's way Out during its very long journey...I found the screw and washer in the bottom of the box and it was easily put right in no time!...1 screw is kind of skimpy ( holds entire overhead assembly) BUT I much prefure a screw to a rivet for maintenance to engine.
 
  No amount of my tinkering would allow the SP2D to run "stock" on my low output 2.32 PSI aquarium pump, so I pulled the Cylinder and found the machining on the Cylinder and steam port plate was superior to my Wilesco (in this friction point area ONLY) but I lapped it flatter with 1000 grit paper for good measure.
  I found it Will now run nicely on 2.32PSI BUT only by removing stock spring and replace with 1 "ink pen spring" cut in half.

Photo: running nicely on Aquarium pump

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You may be able to see the "stock" spring in front of the black funnel.
  Also the black plastic handle ( burner tray) handle is not present in this photo...it slipped off and bounced off my house shoes to under the kitchen cabinets....I need to go on a search and rescue mission for it ::)

ShadetreeMotorcycle

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Re: "Adventure's" with my First Mamod Stationary Engine!
« Reply #1 on: September 27, 2021, 05:14:43 pm »
I have all ready run it on Steam, I filled the boiler with VERY hot water, then put (1) Wilesco WI tab in burn tray but laying flat....The engine willingly came to life after only about 1 minute of fire...but would not run the Dynamo with the "WI" tab laying "flat"....I just ran the engine "only" for that tab and noticed if I stopped the engine for 20 seconds (to build more steam)it would sort of try to power the Dynamo...I had lots of water left in boiler so I started (1) new "WI" tab, this time with the tab on edge like in photo in my first post...this makes the tab burn faster and hotter, now she will easily spin my Dynamo, but no light at the lamp bulb....I had planned to re- locate the bulb any way, so I will investigate if there is wire damage or a bad bulb.

ShadetreeMotorcycle

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Re: "Adventure's" with my First Mamod Stationary Engine!
« Reply #2 on: September 27, 2021, 07:09:20 pm »
To my eyes, the SP2D is quite an attractive engine...having said that, it is not without "issues"
    To my mind, one of the biggest issues is the Flywheel axle seems to be made from Very soft metal, this combined with the Flywheel bore reamed oversize AND the Flywheel being fixed by a set-screw means my Flywheel has a run-out of .020 inch....the loose bore cause the set-screw to push axle to one side, so I get a "hop" as well as a wobble.
   I have read some fix the wobble with "thick" super glue...if you get it true before glue sets, this could work, but when I get back to a machine shop, I would rather upgrade the axle as a proper fix.
   Also the machine work on OD and sides of Flywheel are very ruff...but this is easily polished.
   Also the bearing holes in overhead frame are about .008 oversize....So there is a bit of work before mine will be running like the one Nick had.
  Still, with all the flaws, I like it!....I suppose similar to a beautiful woman, I may put up with a bit of "drama" if She is not hard to look at 8)

St Paul Steam

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Re: "Adventure's" with my First Mamod Stationary Engine!
« Reply #3 on: September 27, 2021, 07:14:19 pm »
Tis a fine looking plant Ben , I always admire how you strive to get each new acquisition running the best its able to . I admittedly know very little about Mamods, but I'm sure you'll get it performing well.
Bruce, St. Paul Indiana, USA
"Originality thrives in seclusion free of outside influences beating upon us to cripple the creative mind."
  Nikola Tesla

ShadetreeMotorcycle

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Re: "Adventure's" with my First Mamod Stationary Engine!
« Reply #4 on: September 27, 2021, 08:50:11 pm »
Tis a fine looking plant Ben , I always admire how you strive to get each new acquisition running the best its able to . I admittedly know very little about Mamods, but I'm sure you'll get it performing well.

Thank you Bruce. I don't think I will collect "Mamod" per say, my steam collection does not really have a theme...but...If I look at what types of engines I have the "most" of so far? It would be the smaller "entry" level engines with a small footprint. I enjoy trying to refine the budget minded engines,(even just a little) and I also like Really small engines.
   The Aquarium pump has been a game changer (for me), I like to hear a small engine idle in the background almost like a mechanical clock ticking, AND if I can get an engine to run on low air pressure it Really runs Nice on low steam pressure!
   I was drawn to the SP2D because the "SP" series does not have all those small holes in the red base, and I like the slender black cast chimney. The SP2D is a bit larger in person than I had imagined, Now I am kicking myself for not grabbing that SP1 that I was complaining went for more $ than I thought it would :-\ ....it is the little brother to this engine and I will keep an eye out for a clean one.

CBWho

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Re: "Adventure's" with my First Mamod Stationary Engine!
« Reply #5 on: September 28, 2021, 07:26:39 am »
 I admire your goal in getting the engines to run smoothly. like at the vintage shows, I admire the stationary engines that tick over the slowest

I noticed that I like over types (locomobiles, etc) quite a lot. I think the way that Mamod has packaged the engine is very clever with the light in the chimney.

In regards to it not lighting 💡,  keep in mind that the power of any engine is proportional to the fuel input. 1 cube probably won't do?

For me, I always try to get the engines to run quieter while running equipment. So using clear plastic shims/washers from left over food containers or using plastic floss can reduce the slop.


ShadetreeMotorcycle

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Re: "Adventure's" with my First Mamod Stationary Engine!
« Reply #6 on: September 28, 2021, 10:58:16 am »
I admire your goal in getting the engines to run smoothly. like at the vintage shows, I admire the stationary engines that tick over the slowest

I noticed that I like over types (locomobiles, etc) quite a lot. I think the way that Mamod has packaged the engine is very clever with the light in the chimney.

In regards to it not lighting 💡,  keep in mind that the power of any engine is proportional to the fuel input. 1 cube probably won't do?

For me, I always try to get the engines to run quieter while running equipment. So using clear plastic shims/washers from left over food containers or using plastic floss can reduce the slop.

I took the Dynamo out of the engine....I freely admit that "voltage" is not my strong point... But I did a little trouble shooting.
  The wires are Very fine gauge from Dynamo to lamp, I suspected a broken wire or connection, However I hooked the Large Red LED bulb to single AA battery and the bulb is good but not very bright.
    Next I connected the AA battery to the Dynamo and it Runs as a motor Just fine!
    So I removed the brass pulley from Dynamo and chucked the motor shaft in my cordless drill and spin the Dynamo with the Drill in high gear.....NO light at all!
  I think my drill runs about 1600 RPM on high....it seems like that would do the trick?....I feel like I am missing Something.....
        I agree that (1) tab does not spin the Dynamo Super fast, also when I ran the red bulb on AA battery, I had to dim the lights so I could tell it was lighting up.....I suppose the light may have been burning when I ran the engine, and I should have turned out the kitchen light to see better.


Photo: the Dynamo and test equipment, ...I need to find my volt meter for projects like this!

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If the Mamod Dynamo Needs to be spun very fast to get volts?...I think I want to replace it....I have this small Dynamo that came with my D100E kit, it's not decorative "looking" but that's ok because it will be hidden in the base of my chimney...what I really like about this unit is it makes usable volts at low RPM, you can actually get a small white LED bulb to flicker just by spinning the Dynamo pulley smartly with a flick of your fingers! Wilesco actually cautions that if you power this unit with a larger engine it may burn out bulbs but I believe there are instructions in the D100E kit on how to protect the LED bulbs from over voltage.
   If this does not fit I will take the stock unit to my hobby shop, I would like to find a motor with the same face mount bolt pattern to avoid drilling new holes in my Mamod.

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ShadetreeMotorcycle

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Re: "Adventure's" with my First Mamod Stationary Engine!
« Reply #7 on: September 28, 2021, 08:59:19 pm »
Update:

CBWho was Absolutely correct!....I was very much Under Driving my Dynamo!
  I went to the hobby shop today and found (2) DC motors with the same bolt pattern as my stock Mamod unit, the far left motor will light my LED bulb Brightly on a 1.5 Tabs fire....the stock. Center Mamod will only make the LED faintly flicker on 1.5 Tabs fire and the short motor on right will not light the bulb at all.
  None of these perform like the little Wilesco Dynamo on small fire, so I need to source a couple of the Wilesco units or similar.



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CBWho

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Re: "Adventure's" with my First Mamod Stationary Engine!
« Reply #8 on: September 29, 2021, 08:40:02 am »
You probably know this already... Keep in mind the polarity matters. So you have to swap the wires depending on motor spin clockwise or counterclockwise.