Office of Steam Forum for Model & Toy Steam Gas & Hot Air Engines
Builds, Repairs, Show Your Machines! => Restorations => Topic started by: Stoker on February 12, 2021, 06:28:13 pm
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Well now I thought that today I would take off from all my current projects and just go back a couple of months and do some needful catch-up here on the Forum, with posts that I'd left dangling .... especially this big Sipp. Promised Jim I'd give him a heads up on an idler pulley set-up for his Baker fan, and I did that first thing this morning, but that is all I managed to get done in that way today. Shortly after getting that done I got called out to a new Graffiti site near our community, so I hiked out to check on that, and while there a major wind event set in so that my remediation experimentation was cut a bit short, but wasn't likely to be very successful in any case. Not too long after returning home the SCE decided discretion was the better part of valor, and shut off the local power grid in what is known as a Public Safety Power Shutdown (PSPS) because the wind and weather conditions created an extreme fire hazard situation, so I was without power, or internet for most of the rest of the day. Power came back on just an hour or so ago, and what with fixing dinner and resetting clocks, the day got away from me without attending to most of what I'd hoped to do.
My excuse is that Friday the 13th came on a Tuesday this month ...... and my Lord and Master Murphy made full use of it!!!
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Thanks for the update Daniel.
We all know it is in good hands.
Regards,
Charlie
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Thanks for the update Daniel appreciated mate. And I know myself and can probably speak for all....we love to see what you're working on.
Its a shame the big beast had some serious internal issues, I'm sure when you can give it some dedicated time you will overcome the majority of them.
A consolation is that at least its a nice looking engine to look at!
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Not a lick of progress on it lately Jim. But I'll certainly have to be getting back to it before too much longer, as it sits on my workbench and takes up entirely too much space! Really can't even reload around it!!!
I had it all apart at one point early on, discovered all of its deep dark secrets (read as problems), made some minor but needful repairs and adjustments, then reassembled just in time to run it a little at the GPU. It needs to be completely disassembled again, and some real work done on it, but in point of fact it does have issues that will preclude it ever being a first class engine, so the motivation is not strong to do too much work on it at this point.
I have been totally occupied with a few other projects, that I should probably do some more documentation on and post up here, but in fact have found little time for adding that documentation project to the other projects list.
There is really a wealth of things I should be sharing here these days, but just can't seem to sit at the computer long enough to do that. I'm always astounded by how some of you folks manage to put up amazing things on what seems a daily basis. If I were trying to do that I'd never get anything else done ..... and believe me, I'm getting little enough done already, without any of the photography, loading and typing to slow me down! ;c)
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How's the progress going on this beast Daniel? Any head way?
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Let's call it a day on the valve linkage / steam chest side of this beast, and head back up to the flywheel / crankshaft assembly. With the valve linkage fully disconnected, the noticeable bind in flywheel rotation was still present. So my next move was to disconnect the crank rod from the crank and see how that might be affecting rotation.
Sure enough, rotation smoothed out almost completely with only a slight and fairly even resistance felt through 360 degrees of rotation. Whew!
With just a very slight loosening of the cap screws holding the bearing clamps in place, the flywheel spun easily through several rotations coming to a slow and even stop that bodes well for the shaft and bearings I think. With the bearing clamps in this ever so slightly loosened condition I tried to wiggle the crankshaft and felt no noticeable movement. This seems real good ... perhaps too good to be true?
Along the way, I thought I'd take the time to check for any bend in the crankshaft, with the shaft still cradled in its bearings. So I got out an indicator set-up and with the tip set as close to the hub of the flywheel as I could manage, took a set of rotational readings that gave me less than .002" runout, and some of that could easily be due to old varnished oil, though probably not.
[attachimg=1]
In any event, it is now apparent that the drag/bind issue was going to be found in the piston/cylinder/crosshead-slide/ linkage system, and not with the crankshaft or bearings ..... again, WHEW!!!
I should add that perhaps surprisingly, the connecting rod's holes at both ends seem fairly well centered, though not perfectly, and both the crosshead-slide and crank arm holes while not too well centered, are both adequately so, as to have plenty of "meat" around them, and should offer no problems. The crank end of the connecting rod has a set of brass bearing inserts that will need some adjustment as there is a little slop on the crank arm bolt (crank pin), and the adjusting screw for that bearing set cannot further tighten, so the edges where the two bearing halves meet will need to be filed back ever so slightly to allow further adjustment range.
[attachimg=2]
[attachimg=3]
[attachimg=4]
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Yes , thanks for the update , following along closely here .
Ditto :)
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Thanks for the story - the tuning will be closely overviewed
perfect the lapping...
Arnold ;D
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Yes , thanks for the update , following along closely here .
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Thanks for the pictorial update Daniel.
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All righty then kids .... back to this ongoing mechanical adventure, and sorry for the extended delay. Likely to be more of the same before this tale of woe is complete, but no hurry anyway as it isn't going anywhere under its own power anytime soon!
So last post I was inside the steam chest, and while I found the D-valve and port face to be fairly flat, albeit with somewhat rounded edges and corners, and not entirely smooth, I decided that I'd do a bit of lapping and also try to clean up and square the ports themselves which were a bit out of square with some wildly irregular edges. Turns out that took a fair amount of time as the casting inside the port channels was pretty rough, and even though I didn't do a true clean-up of all of that, I do believe the steam flow will now be somewhat enhanced and the cut-off should be a bit crisper as well, however I was unable to truly "square" the port edges, and they actually seem to slant slightly to the motion of the valve. Perhaps they are supposed to as a means of phasing the open and closing of the port? Probably not, and it is just another weird artifact of a poor build, though this one does seem to be cast in and nearly irremediable. Should run better now in any event!
[attachimg=1]
[attachimg=2]
There is also a noticeable casting flaw in both the D-valve and port face surfaces that would take really serious lapping, or even milling to get past, as would the rounded edges and corners on both faces. For now I'll not go that far,and likely never will, but it could be an option if it turns out to be necessary.
I should add that the other end of the valve linkage seems pretty okay just the way it is. The eccentric seems reasonably well made and fitted with shims that will allow for adjustment with wear. Although the linkage rod is "S" bent, and it likely wouldn't have to be if the eccentric cam had been put on the other way around, there really isn't any problem with it done this way, and I have now seen photos of at least a few others done this way as well.
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Thanks for the pics and the update Daniel.
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Thanks for sharing the good and bad details here Daniel, and well done on getting that clevis head properly fixed to the rod.
Do you intend to eventually fix the misaligned holes as well?
Probably not Jan ... at least not at this point. There is so much that could be done, but for now I'll just concentrate on what must be done to get this big boy up and running at some reasonable level. Perhaps then I can go back through it and fix some of the more egregious issues that don't necessarily impact its ability to function.
I originally suggested, back before I made the drive to get it, that what I was buying was just a "pig in a poke", and that is exactly what it turns out that I got. I'm actually far ahead of what my postings here show, so I know full well at this point what the big picture is, and it isn't any too pretty. Still, I have faith that it can yet be turned into a decent runner as most of the key machining was likely done by the factory, so it is just the ancillary work that has problems .... for the most part anyway.
In the end, this engine should prove fully capable of all that I will ever ask of it, which won't be much, as I don't have much in the way of providing it with the steam, or even air power, that it truly needs to work properly. I do believe, now that I really know what I have, that I will be happy with this engine, even with all of its obvious problems and poor machining, if for no other reason than I would never likely have parted with the money that an truly good 1/2 hp Sipp should properly bring!
Hey ... if nothing else .... it has a nice paint job!?!?
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Thanks for sharing the good and bad details here Daniel, and well done on getting that clevis head properly fixed to the rod.
Do you intend to eventually fix the misaligned holes as well?
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If it was just smeared on the valve linkage rod as shown in that prior photo, it would have been no problemo! However .... that stuff was fully packed in under the packing gland compression cap nut, and all along inside of the rod guide tunnel, so there was in fact a substantial amount of the gunk to be dug out from inner recesses.
It was pure joy to be sure!!!
Do note in that same photo, there are only just barely a full 5 threads on the end of that rod, and they are pretty chewed up, which doesn't make for a very firm grip or solid alignment, nor does it allow for much adjustment. The clevis head that screws on there only had four threads in it, so couldn't even go on that far, even though it had an I.D. depth capable of taking a full 10+ threads with a bottom tap. So I did go ahead and tap it to full depth, and took a die to the rod and gave it a full 14+ threads so that I could also mount a jam nut to lock off the clevis position!
[attachimg=1]
[attachimg=2]
Yes ... that hole is not very well centered either, but at least there is plenty of "meat" around it!
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Dang, that is some nasty looking stuff.
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So now to continue this tale of woe (sorry Tommy),
I must confess to being very glad to see some actual liquid oil upon opening the steam chest, as up to this point all the lubricant that I'd come across was either gummy or solid varnish, so seeing some that could actually perform the proper function, especially in such a critical place, was encouraging and even a bit reassuring. At the same time I'll have to say that upon opening up the valve linkage packing gland I found no solid substance at all, where there should be a few winds of graphite yarn or a Teflon O-ring or something of the kind, all I did find was the most sticky, jet black, get on everything and impossible to wash off, tar like compound. Alcohol doesn't touch it, Acetone does little better, Gasoline sort of works it with a lot of mechanical action and any soap short of Lava is hopeless! Even GoJo had a tough time with it!!!
No problem Dan. For that black stuff, did you try Zippo lighter fluid? Mom always had it in the house for when
we tracked in tar on the linoleum. Goof-off is pretty good stuff too but I think you have to watch the paint with
that one.
I did not try lighter fluid, and yes, when I was growing up my household used lighter fluid as a sort of dry cleaning fluid for various purposed, besides keeping the folks Zippos topped off. I did eventually get it cleaned up using the methods and materials I described, but it was a lot of mechanical wiping and re-wiping to get it done. Of course I ended up wearing more than my share along the way, so personal cleanup was a time consuming followup challenge as well.
Here's the offending GUNK:
[attachimg=1]
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Very exciting report. I have restored a few big model steam engines and
have seen many issues. The Screw underside of the Cylinder may be an
inspection hole for perfect adjusting the position of the piston or it is just a
train hole if you storage for longer time. Often these old engines have
all steel Cylinder, Piston, Connecting Rod and the rust is not far away
if there is not a perfect maintenance after use. The Slider must be free
floating and will be pressed to the surface by the steam - never mount too
tightly. Im am sure, that the rough run comes from inaccuracy of the Piston,
Piston rings, Cylinder, Stuffing box and Connecting Rod and TIMING. All others
like bearings etc. are not so important. Straightforwardness is the solution.
Hope you will get it to a smooth running - after all the engine is in a good
condition to restore. The Cylinder cover has to be made from scratch - that will
be an other nice job.
good luck, Arnold
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So now to continue this tale of woe (sorry Tommy),
I must confess to being very glad to see some actual liquid oil upon opening the steam chest, as up to this point all the lubricant that I'd come across was either gummy or solid varnish, so seeing some that could actually perform the proper function, especially in such a critical place, was encouraging and even a bit reassuring. At the same time I'll have to say that upon opening up the valve linkage packing gland I found no solid substance at all, where there should be a few winds of graphite yarn or a Teflon O-ring or something of the kind, all I did find was the most sticky, jet black, get on everything and impossible to wash off, tar like compound. Alcohol doesn't touch it, Acetone does little better, Gasoline sort of works it with a lot of mechanical action and any soap short of Lava is hopeless! Even GoJo had a tough time with it!!!
No problem Dan. For that black stuff, did you try Zippo lighter fluid? Mom always had it in the house for when
we tracked in tar on the linoleum. Goof-off is pretty good stuff too but I think you have to watch the paint with
that one.
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Hi, very interesting restoration project. You seem to have a lot to correct that was badly done in the first place, but with some effort it should turn into a beautiful steam engine.
I had a similar project (but on a much smaller scale), an oscillating antique engine with many hand made parts that never were right, and ended up having to build several new parts to get it to a good running condition. But it was worthwhile and I learned a lot in the process.
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The builder wasn't too great at drilling holes accurately
(Attachment Link)
I am wondering if the casting was a little off because the 3 holes at the top all line up near perfectly in relation one another if you lay a straight edge on your screen at the bottom of each hole. Or is that a camera created illusion?
The hole locations in the steam chest cover all seem quite acceptable. The only issue really is the top center stud is loose in its threads. The stud location is fine, it just droops a bit, so I suspect that hole was wallowed out a little when drilled, or perhaps it was originally started to be taped at an angle and needed to be re-taped at a different alignment. I'm not too worried about it, as it just needs to be lifted slightly when putting the cover on, and it cinches up fine. I think the old bit of copper wire trick will tighten it up just fine when I go for final reassembly.
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Hi Daniel, a big CONGRATS on a fine acquisition for your collection.
Perhaps a bit of timing will help. 60 to 80 psi ought to be downright scary on one of these without a work load and without a governor.
I couldn't even get the D-valve to seat, so all the air I was putting in was just blowing out the exhaust!
Most, if not all of the issues with this engine will be revealed in due course .... so stay tuned!
Hi Daniel, It is a bit clutzy but with a Sipp you can often lift it up on edge from the flywheel side with air going in and gravity in combination with air will seat the D Valve. Another solution if the engine is well worn is to pull the outside part of the D-valve rod away from the engine frame. If it is loose enough it can force the D-valve onto the port face.
Gil
Actually did try both of those techniques Gil, and I did find the D-valve wedged between the jam nuts once I did pull the cover off, so there was a clue.
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The builder wasn't too great at drilling holes accurately
(Attachment Link)
I am wondering if the casting was a little off because the 3 holes at the top all line up near perfectly in relation one another if you lay a straight edge on your screen at the bottom of each hole. Or is that a camera created illusion?
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Hi Daniel, a big CONGRATS on a fine acquisition for your collection.
Perhaps a bit of timing will help. 60 to 80 psi ought to be downright scary on one of these without a work load and without a governor.
I couldn't even get the D-valve to seat, so all the air I was putting in was just blowing out the exhaust!
Most, if not all of the issues with this engine will be revealed in due course .... so stay tuned!
Hi Daniel, It is a bit clutzy but with a Sipp you can often lift it up on edge from the flywheel side with air going in and gravity in combination with air will seat the D Valve. Another solution if the engine is well worn is to pull the outside part of the D-valve rod away from the engine frame. If it is loose enough it can force the D-valve onto the port face.
Gil
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The builder wasn't too great at drilling holes accurately
[attachimg=1]
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So now to continue this tale of woe (sorry Tommy), I'll follow the valve linkage back into the steam chest and see what there is to see in that locale.
I should add here that with the steam valve linkage fully disconnected from the eccentric, and free from the crankshaft and flywheel, the bind/drag/stiff spot in the rotation is still there, so its source must be elsewhere, which is good information even if not immediately helpful to resolution.
It was with some trepidation that I removed the six nuts from the steam chest studs, as I really didn't know what I would find, having had the air I tried to run the engine on just blow straight through and out the exhaust, suggesting that the D-valve was not seating. Certainly relieved to find that things actually looked reasonably okay in the steam chest. Did note that the top center stud was loose, so I'll be fixing that one with a bit of shim material to tighten it back up. Both the D-valve and port face seem acceptably flat, and only a bit scored, so some judicious lapping should be all they need, but only after a little file work to dress the actual steam ports, which though not too bad, could certainly use a bit of squaring up and deburring.
[attachimg=1]
[attachimg=2]
I must confess to being very glad to see some actual liquid oil upon opening the steam chest, as up to this point all the lubricant that I'd come across was either gummy or solid varnish, so seeing some that could actually perform the proper function, especially in such a critical place, was encouraging and even a bit reassuring. At the same time I'll have to say that upon opening up the valve linkage packing gland I found no solid substance at all, where there should be a few winds of graphite yarn or a Teflon O-ring or something of the kind, all I did find was the most sticky, jet black, get on everything and impossible to wash off, tar like compound. Alcohol doesn't touch it, Acetone does little better, Gasoline sort of works it with a lot of mechanical action and any soap short of Lava is hopeless! Even GoJo had a tough time with it!!!
A bit of a mystery, this engine has plenty of them, is the two holes in the top flange of the steam chest cover that are on either side of the center stud. They do also appear in the cylinder casting, so I suspect that they were used with pins to properly locate the steam chest cover on the side of the cylinder casting for properly locating and drilling the steam chest studs. Can't really think what other purpose they would have?
One other issue noted was that the end faces of ears and channel that surround the valve linkage rod have a slight taper that might be why the D-valve wouldn't seat for me, as the jam nuts on either side of the D-valve to locate and traverse it may be just a little too close together such that if the D-valve falls away from the port face it could get wedged between the nuts instead of "floating" between them, so perhaps I'll chuck that up in my mill and square those two faces to be parallel, even though they are only tapering by a bit more than .006".
[attachimg=3]
[attachimg=4]
I'm glad to report that although still showing evidence of a poor build, at least the steam chest seems to be readily redeemable, and not requiring any too much work.
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I'd guess he just put a drill bit up against the piece and let it walk to wherever it started actually cutting, which is where the hole is now!
Trust me ..... there is much more like this to come. 8<O
Oh oh...
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I'd guess he just put a drill bit up against the piece and let it walk to wherever it started actually cutting, which is where the hole is now!
Trust me ..... there is much more like this to come. 8<O
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I think you will have some trials and tribulations getting this to where you want it, but the end effort will be rewarded with a fantastic engine.
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Very roughly approximately this is where it would have been centre marked for drilling -
[attachimg=1]
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Daniel that's so off center....I wonder how it could be THAT off center by accident? Could the builder have meant to drill it like that for some reason ??? ???
(Attachment Link)
Kinda of my thought as well, maybe he was adjusting for other issue's.
No real reason why it needed to be like that, as there is plenty of built in adjustment along the valve linkage train. This is just reflective of the level of quality of this build I'm afraid. Actually worse is the hole you see on the left, which is wallowed out about 15-20% bigger that its bearing shaft requires, is also well off center, and in the opposite direction of the mating shaft hole (the middle one) which is well off center to the lower left. Oddly perhaps, both of these latter two holes are very nicely sized and centered at the other end of their respective bores, so that is obviously (maybe) where he started drilling from?!?! The off center condition of these bores at their mating interface results in the two boss faces being offset from each other, which in the long term would wear poorly, but in the short term makes for an offset that looks poorly.
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Daniel that's so off center....I wonder how it could be THAT off center by accident? Could the builder have meant to drill it like that for some reason ??? ???
(Attachment Link)
Kinda of my thought as well, maybe he was adjusting for other issue's.
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Daniel that's so off center....I wonder how it could be THAT off center by accident? Could the builder have meant to drill it like that for some reason ??? ???
[attachimg=1]
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Thanks for the update Daniel , I've had engines that looked absolutely horrendous but ran beautifully , And engines that were showroom gorgeous and ran very poorly (if at all). I haven't a clue what that plug could be for other than it might be an access port for the connecting rod/piston somehow ?
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Next oddity that I noticed on this engine is on the underside of the cylinder casting, at about 7 o'clock if looking from the rear, and right up near the packing gland end. It is a rather large diameter plug with a lot of exposed thread, but must logically be drilled and tapped into the inner cylinder as well.
As seen here:
[attachimg=1]
What the purpose for this plug could possibly be, totally escapes me, unless if functions in some way to hold an end plate into that end of the cylinder bore, which would be a very strange setup if you ask me?
Certainly having a valve in this position would make some sense, for draining off condensate from in front of the piston to prevent hydraulic lock situations from occurring at startup, until the cylinder gets warm enough to obviate this issue. But this plug can in no way be used in this manner!
Weird ...
From this point, I started "feeling" the engine to see how it turned through its full revolutions and instantly found that it had a noticeable bind/drag when the crank pin was near 12:00 o'clock, continuing around to almost 9:00, and my first though was ... Oh No, a bent crankshaft.
But the crankshaft on this beast is truly substantial, so I didn't quite buy into that being the issue just yet.
Thus I started to take down the various motion parts on the engine, starting with the valve linkage, and immediately found some rather discouraging evidence of bad/sloppy machining ... as seen here:
[attachimg=2]
Note that the valve linkage toggle arm bearing shaft hole in both the fixed mount bracket and the boss of the toggle arm itself, are noticeably off center in roughly opposite directions, and the hole in the latter has been wallowed out oversize to facilitate a fit. Also note that the hole in the valve cam linkage arm head is also nowhere near centered as any good machinist would have striven to make it!
Interestingly, this is only true of the holes on the mating surfaces of the toggle arm and mount bracket, while the axle bolt head and nut, or opposite ends of those same bores (outside exposures) are both reasonably well centered.
This all leads me to believe that this engine was bought as a set of castings, probably pre-machined for the most critical work, and then finished up by an amateur likely using hand tools rather than machine tools.
These issues could be remedied with a lot of work, but it is actually a fairly non-critical situation, such that as long as these parts are all free to move through the required range of motion, they should do their job just fine as is. But it does look shabby, so maybe someday I'll get around to over-boring more centrally, and then sleeving those bores to obtain a proper fit.
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I am staying tuned Daniel.
I'm here as well...
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I am staying tuned Daniel.
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Hi Daniel, a big CONGRATS on a fine acquisition for your collection.
Perhaps a bit of timing will help. 60 to 80 psi ought to be downright scary on one of these without a work load and without a governor.
Well the video the seller had of it running did show it "jumping around" pretty badly, but I think that was mostly due to the wobbly table he had it set up on. Even though he said his compressor was giving him 60-80 psi, I doubt that the engine was actually seeing that much, as it would also depend on the volume of air, and not just the pressure of that air, that was making it into the engine. With that said, I will add that much of what I have found so far would definitely preclude this engine running on any "reasonable" amount of air or steam. Large volume and substantial pressure is the only way this engine is likely to turn over in it's current condition, as you will soon see with further postings.
Certainly my little airbrush compressor at 25 psi would not budge this big brute, even though I believe the pressure should have proven adequate (just), but the volume was lacking. I couldn't even get the D-valve to seat, so all the air I was putting in was just blowing out the exhaust!
Most, if not all of the issues with this engine will be revealed in due course .... so stay tuned!
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That is a very nice looking engine.
I don't recall ever seeing that style/brand before.
.
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Following vicariously along with you Daniel, I'm going to thoroughly enjoy this thread and watch this biggun' being restored.
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Hi Daniel, a big CONGRATS on a fine acquisition for your collection.
Perhaps a bit of timing will help. 60 to 80 psi ought to be downright scary on one of these without a work load and without a governor.
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Wow , 60-80 psi , that should have flung itself to the floor as big as that brute is and the weight shifting displacement it can achieve, my knowledge of Sipp engines is that most were kits that were often included or offered as an option in new metal lathe sales as on easy 1st build, I imagine a 2 sided brass cover could be fabricated for it.
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Well okay Bruce ... let's get started down this road, shall we!?!?
As mentioned above, in the video provided by the seller, the engine looked to run really rough, and it seemed that a lot of pressure (subjective judgement that proved correct) was being used to get it to run at all. When I picked it up, the seller told me that they were using 60-80 psi from his compressor in the video, and it sure wasn't running smooth and fast like it should have. Besides that, it was immediately obvious that the cylinder lagging cover was not on the engine, and that is perhaps the most visually conspicuous and iconic part of a Sipp engine. Furthermore there was a bolt sticking up out of the top of the cylinder that simply had to go all the way into the inside of the cylinder. This is not a normal feature of a Sipp, and was likely used to put a little oil on the piston from time to time when running on air, though it wouldn't do much of anything to oil the D-valve.
Both of those features, or lack thereof, are seen here:
[attachimg=1]
So this much I knew before I committed to buy it, and drive down to pick it up! But was still hopeful that these were perhaps the only real issues.
Other issues of note that became obvious upon seeing it in person, and getting it home for proper study, showed that it never had that iconic cylinder lagging cover mounted, as the photo also shows the witness marks for locating the cover mounting screws that are cast into the top of the cylinder, have never been drilled and tapped. Furthermore, you can just see from the above photo that the inside walls that project above the ends of the cylinder are not square, but rather tapers toward the top of the photo, which would make mounting the cover difficult at best, and a proper mounting has the cover edges set square and parallel.
Fact is I do believe that this was not a factory finished engine, but was rather sold as a set of partially machined castings, which was an option back in the day.
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I'll be right here waiting for your updates Daniel, thanks for including us in your journey.
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Hummmm .... where to actually start this thread?
Perhaps a link to the original thread of my epic trip to go pick it up, as seen here:
https://www.officeofsteamforum.com/general-discussion/12-hp-g-sipp-in-the-bag/
So, as the tale just linked makes clear, I risked life & limb, and possibly some sanity as well, to go get this big brute, and even though it was an impressive bargain, there are reasons that might help explain just why that was the case.
I have now taken it down far enough to have a pretty good idea as to what issues are at play here, and although none are wholly irredeemable, there are several that suggest that this will never be a first class engine, unless totally rebuilt to a standard that would be difficult to achieve given the material at hand. I believe somewhere I made reference to this engine as being a case of buying "a pig in a poke", and as it turns out, that was a rather prescient observation.
Yes, the seller showed a video of this engine running on air. But, it ran poorly, jerkily and I sensed it was requiring very high air pressure to accomplish that, thus I really didn't like what I saw then, so was some suspicious right from the git go, and those suspicions have now proven correct.
Still, I think having it in my collection now is good, and I do believe I'll be able to make it run reasonably well, even if not superlative. Yet it will never be a prime example of the type or anything like it, no matter what I do to give it the help it definitely needs.
But, at the end of the day, it was one hell of a bargain generally, and it does look very well beside its little brother the 1/4 hp Sipp, so I'll do what I can for it, and settle for whatever I actually end up with here.
[attachimg=1]
I'll add photos & descriptions of what I have found at issue with this engine in following posts.