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Author Topic: Fun with D5 (Low-N-Slow on solid Fuel)  (Read 497 times)

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Fun with D5 (Low-N-Slow on solid Fuel)
« on: September 09, 2021, 11:21:46 pm »
I have accumulated some solid fuel(from engine purchases) that I normally do not burn...but tonight for fun I wanted to see if my Black D5 could run on 1/4 of a Esbit tab or 1/2 of a round Mamod tab and it Does!
   I dice up my solid fuel tabs with an Exact-o knife and the fuel tab sitting on a soft towel.
  I DO have a light (ink pen spring) on my steam plate pin pivot that I use with good results running on my 2.3 psi aquarium pump...it is leaking a little running on "Small Fire" steam, so I will source a little stronger one. The "stock" spring is Really stout on current production units.
  I can run continuously on 1 tab cut into 4 parts...as the engine slowed, I just pull the fire tray 1/2 way out and drop in a fresh chunk, the last little bit of the previous tab lights the fresh tab....it is a bit of "fire tending" but I enjoy that and also enjoy the sounds of my D5 running between 80 and 275 RPM rather than Racing.
  The "WiTabs" sample that comes with a new Wilesco seem not as smelly as the old Esbit....but now I want to Fab my own small single wick Meths burner to duplicate this slow run on Meths.
  I should have timed it, but I estimate I ran for 40 min on 1 complete WiTab + 1 complete Mamod round tab(total)...I estimate the water level dropped Less than 2mm in boiler in that time!
  I did pre-heat my water to near boil temp in microwave...so I only need to wait less than 2 min for my "Small Fire" to make steam.
  Of course it will not do much work at this level, but it would power small low load accessories, or more power than many of my Stirling engines.

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PS: the D5 IS running in photo.
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Re: Fun with D5 (Low-N-Slow on solid Fuel)
« Reply #1 on: September 10, 2021, 02:15:29 am »
Interesting attempts you have made. Unfortunately, as you said, you can't put a big load on the engines at these near authentic speeds.
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Jürgen
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Re: Fun with D5 (Low-N-Slow on solid Fuel)
« Reply #2 on: September 10, 2021, 02:32:49 am »
Neat little experiment!

You really need to get a YouTube account going, would love to have seen it "live" :)
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Jan
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Re: Fun with D5 (Low-N-Slow on solid Fuel)
« Reply #3 on: September 10, 2021, 10:05:44 am »
Thanks guys, I believe the "secret" to running on only 1/4 of a tablet is the soft ink pen spring, I could not get my new D5 to run on the 2.32 PSI output of my aquarium pump Until I did the soft spring mod. It's nice because if I want to go back to "big" fire, it only takes a minute to swap springs.
   As I view the water in glass window, it does not even appear to boil like with a full load of Esbit tabs, the water is still and the boiler is not so hot....I must be at a super low simmer temp.
   Based on how the engine acts compared to running on 2.32 PSI compressed air, I suspect I am making somewhere around 2 to 3.5 lbs of Steam.
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Re: Fun with D5 (Low-N-Slow on solid Fuel)
« Reply #4 on: September 11, 2021, 03:10:03 am »
Thanks for pointing out the "soft spring". I'll give that a try when I get the chance.👍
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Jürgen
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Re: Fun with D5 (Low-N-Slow on solid Fuel)
« Reply #5 on: September 11, 2021, 01:18:56 pm »
Quote from: Dampfopa on September 11, 2021, 03:10:03 am
Thanks for pointing out the "soft spring". I'll give that a try when I get the chance.👍

It's also worth mentioning: I purchased this engine New as I liked the different color scheme vs the bright blue base standard D5....However, it was a poor runner bone stock. When I pulled the cyl to install the "soft" spring to run on low PSI compressed air, I also polished the flat face of the cyl. That mates with the "steam chest" on a PC of flat glass and 800 grit sandpaper. This polish job showed a significant high spot around the tapped hole that was cause a gap between the cyl and steam plate....it took less than 2 minutes to polish it nice and Flat, BUT this GREATLY increased the running performance of this little D5!
   I get a lot of fun out of this little low cost engine, and the polish dead flat is so easy to do, I think any occillator type steam engine that I add to my collection will get this treatment, new OR used.
  When I first started into "steam" I was avoiding the Occillator types...but there simplicity has a certain charm all of its own.
   I am toying with the idea of upgrading the bearing towers next....possibly the Wilesco type with oil cups or maybe even go flanged roller bearings....
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