Lawrie Builds a Tiny Steam Engine - but will it work?
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- Опубліковано 8 вер 2024
- Hello everyone,
Have you ever wondered how competent Lawrie is? Would you trust him to build a Steam Engine?
Well, the good people at Stirlingkit decided Lawrie knew what he was doing and sent him an engine to build!
We recommend having a look on their website at the amazing range they have - Lawrie wants basically all of it. If like Lawrie you find yourself wanted to buy things from the website, and want an extra 10% off, use this code: Rose10
The engine in the kit - FD-6 Mini engine: bit.ly/3Pgj8GN
Steam Engines on the website: bit.ly/3dt4G0S
Following the video Stirlingkit have send English instructions, which can be viewed here. docs.google.co...
If you do purchase the kit, remember 20ml water to 5ml fuel to be safe.
A video featuring, shot, and edited by Lawrie. Grade by Matt. Thanks to Charles for his editing suggestions.
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The engine in the kit - FD-6 Mini engine: bit.ly/3Pgj8GN
this is the kind of review I like, HONEST, and letting us, and, the manufacturer know how they might improve it
I enjoyed building it, but it could have been so much better
I was going to ask what happens when it runs out of water. Had thought this might just work to power a steamboat but I think it's an accident waiting to happen. The tree tells you when it's run out of water when the tree melts and bends over or catches fire.
Nothing really, worst case you'll just cause it to fail.
I like the book "British Railway Desasters" in the background as a hint for that little engine.
Yes it is 😂
Great review! The danger with running dry is that you weaken the solder joints by overheating. It doesn’t go bang this time, but may fail catastrophically on a subsequent run when it’s back to full pressure.
Yes that's entirely possible!
That's quite amazing how the led is driven abit like the wilesco d18
Hey Lawrie, I think the LED has no regulator that's why is flikering and failing. It will certainly fail after a couple of runs. It is a nice contraption but it need some improvements to work for a longer period
I agree. It could have been so much better
It's one of the most daft and ingenious ideas for a desk lamp, that's for sure. Would be nice to see it with a slower running piston to see more of the engine than a blur. I'm also wondering about the lifespan of the LED, as it seems to get the power from the motor/generator without any regulation beyond hopefully a resistor.
Other than that, it's intriguing, even if I don't get either why that palm tree had to be there :)
I'm very up for using it as a desk lamp!
I'm curious to see how long it lasts generally 😂
One of the least portable flashlights I've ever seen. 😁
Really Reminds me of the Wilesco D2, it Even has the same piston-assembly
Yes, they look very similar
Not tic tic boom, hiss & spit explosion. 😆
Hiss, spit, sput.
Looks like fun. You might be able to attach a heat sink to the LED light might help it not overheat. I have some high performance LED lights, they are mounted in heat sinks from the factory. I'm guessing they thought it would not be run for very long so why bother or that the heat sink would take away from the appearance. On the pulleys, machining brass or steel pulleys would erode the profit margin. You might be able to find or make suitable pulleys somewhere.
I don't understand why it works well on the first use, and not the subsequent
@@lmm Too much heat from itself, or as manitoba2445 says it needs a way to regulate current and to save money they did not put a resistor or current regulator or capacitor in the system.
I saw some offers of such tiny engines but I definitely preferred Wilesco D16 and recently Polish school engine from 1967, which I feed from the old electric coffee maker 😊
The little wilesco looks great, and the Polish thing sounds interesting!
@@lmm I like it because it has fully functional slide valve and centrifugal regulator. My setup looks just like that but with an electric coffee maker: ua-cam.com/video/w040aK2O9_c/v-deo.html
I'm going to add a manual regulator and a manometer 🙂
@@twkolejofil that is lovely!
LED I think s being ac pulsed on that small motor being used as a generator, also possibly over volted, best way to see is take a volt meter and check the dynamo's output given how its flickering on camera, most old models used incandescent so they had more wiggle room for voltages a simple fix is to put a resistor in circuit off the dyn you'd lose a little light but the led would be stressed less
The flickering is more because of the frame rate vs the pulse of the LED I believe
Quite twee, glad you enjoyed it! 🙏🙏
It was fun!
Nice little engine. I've been looking at their website of late, and thinking that these vertically configured units would make nice display pieces when not being played with. Possibly housed under a bell jar to keep the dust off.
On the lack of a safety valve, this wouldn't especially bother me. The ability of oscillators to "self-safety" has been recognised for more than a century, so I think it's pretty well established. Moreover, thanks to the engine and boiler being in unit, it's unlikely that the engine will be disconnected, and the boiler used to feed something else, which might not have such a feature. A potential issue with a Mamod style engine with an "inventive" owner.
I agree on the fuel capacity/boiler capacity mismatch. I thought it looked like an awful lot of meths when you filled it up. Given that a lot of owners will not have used a steam engine before, this should really be addressed in the instructions. Realistically, I suspect that the worst that might happen is that various soft-soldered joints (I would be very surprised if the manufacturers went to the effort and expense of silver solder here) would melt and fail. Disappointing, but not catastrophic.
Overall, though, a nice bit of kit, and very good value, considering what Mamods cost these days.
It's not bad, though it could be better. I think there are better things on their website though
Xmas present of the year: steam-powered USB charger!
It looks a mix between a blowtorch, a fondue heater, a desk lamp & a traction engine side pulley. Cool! Could you attach a belt onto the brass pulley to power another moving device? You could fix the vibration at 7:29 by sticking some shock absorbing rubber pads under the baseplate.
Depending on how much it puts out, you might be able to charge your phone with that (and if its not at the correct 5 volts USB charging needs, you can always get a little circuit to boost the voltage)
It says 3 - 5 volts, but I assume no amps
Exactly what I thought when I saw 5 volts. I love the idea of charging a smart phone with a tiny steam engine, but I think you would need at least 1 amp, which I doubt that tiny generator would produce!
Obviously exposing the firebox crown in a locomotive boiler is dangerous due to the pressure of the still-boiling water at the sides combined with the forge-like temperatures reached in a well-draughted fire. In this case however, you only have a methylated spirit flame that reaches about 480°C, and the boiler will be essentially empty once the water runs out. The worst case scenario is probably if the flame can successfully heat all of the metalwork past the ignition temperature of the wooden base, but I'm not sure how much of a risk that is in practice. I get the feeling it'll just get hot and maybe dry out the lubrication. Of course, if there are any soft-soldered fittings they might be damaged, depending on how hot everything gets.
As I said, unlikely to go pop, as there's no steam to pressurise. Most likely is loose any silver solder
I’ve just looked at the link and aside from the poorly translated description, the only one review which is 5 star, laughingly slates the model 😁. As you say Lawrie , buy one only if you know what you’re doing and heed your advice!
I saw that too and laughed.
It's not a bad thing, it just could have been so much better!
Excellent review
Thank you
Merry Christmas and Happy New year to all.
And the same to you!
The basic safety idea with these little engines is that they can't really over-pressurise because of the oscillating cylinder acting as a safety valve, that they can't go POP when running out of water because they've run out of water (and thus no steam to build pressure) and that te flame of the little methylated spirit burner isn't hot enough to significantly impact the material strength after it cools down again. So the biggest risk you run is if it overheats and you immediately pour very cold water into the little boiler again. That MIGHT cause thermal stresses enough to cause problems, but in the soft brass I'd be surprised if that happened. These sorts of tiny engines are also popular in the model engineering/home building live steam hobby and I've never heard of any of them ever causing a safety problem beyond things like burns from spilling burner fluid or touching hot engine parts.
Personally I like a dedicated safety valve, in the same way that a simple Mamod has the oscillating cylinder, but still has a safety valve!
The limited instructions state do not run dry, indicating that something could happen should you do it.
Could use it to run lights on a platform in one of your smaller set ups.
Yes, I probably could!
The Chinese do actually make some very nice models. I had a gas fired G-scale model Porter tank engine on my last garden railway. The boiler was filled with a large syringe and the full butane tank would run out before the water in the boiler, so it was designed with safety in mind. Like your model, however, the instructions were rubbish.
This was certainly different to your big engine videos, but I enjoyed it.
They do make some very good stuff - this isn't the finest example 😂
It would be interesting to see if this little steam engine would provide enough power to charge a phone up?
Only downside of this model is it is a chinese product that judging by the instructions may not have been certified for the UKCA standards. Overall great little thing.
It would not. As mentioned in the video that is indeed a downside
if they didn't bother manufacturing and supplying the tree... they could have made brass drive wheels.............................
You would have thought
One thing that I've been wondering. Does it generate enough power to run a hornby railroad 0-4-0?
Great video
Thank you!
Would you call it a steam punk flashlight? Merry Christmas to you and everyone at LMM!!!
That... Might not be a good title
Oh well...
Probably what happened with the LED, it was driven too hard and got damaged by the power coming out of that little (motor) generator. LED's have a specific voltage they like to run at and will "burn out" if too much power is given to it.
Which it really shouldn't do - surely it would be designed to take the max output from the engine?
@@lmm Nah, being a chinese construction they probably just took some random LED and shoved it in there, not a real big deal tho, probably costs pennies to include the little LED street light with it.
Might try a wilesco kit
I'd be up for that
I doubt the LLED lamp post has a current limiting resistor fitted, without one you run the risk of damaging it. i bet that generator is out putting more than 3 volts as well which will also damage the LED. If my suspicion is correctit would be an idea to fit a current limitingr esistor to the lamppost.
That would be a good good idea
My God, Trim the Wick; It not a Mushroom.
Generator bracket
KACIO 2022 model
Retro steam powered generator set
Bore diameter: 60mm
1742: 9.0MM
Weight: 290g
Voltage: 3V~5V
This is a thermal energy rotational energy steam generator set and popular science mechanical desktop ornament. The main body is made of pure copper CNC, exquisite and compact. The main body has been assembled, and players should bring their own (electric chromium iron, 1.5MM, 2.0MM hex wrench)
Before each operation, lubricating oil must be dripped on every friction point of the machine head.
Just add about a bucket of water, light the alcohol lamp and wait until the water boils, then gently turn the flywheel with your hand until it runs automatically. (If there is dullness, 1. The pressure is not enough. 2. The cylinder and piston are not lubricated enough. 3. The cylinder and piston are not running in place.)
·The new machine may be a little tight in the first two runs and requires more lubricating oil for running-in.
The cylinder spring fixation of this machine can be used to adjust the air tightness of the friction surface and also serves as a pressure relief valve.
Note: Do not dry the environment. Do not add too much water to avoid splashing and scalding. Wipe the water on the machine after each operation, and again drip lubricating oil on the friction area (car engine).
1:08/15:14
Nearly as much power as the Ruston :D
Almost!
Well, if the LED didn't light, just reverse the engine...
...and think about putting a resistor in series with the light to keep it from being overdriven...
The engine doesn't have any way to reverse it. It is a simple steam engine, when the cylinder lines up with the steam pipe it moves the piston, the whole cylinder moves, ejects the steam, and then the cycle repeats.
There is no external control over that cycle.
@@lmm Then couldn't you just spin the flywheel the other direction if it's that simple?
Wilesco steam engines are top notch
They really are
They should really have English instructions in the box or on their website.
So many companies fall down because they leave the badly written instructions when a simple job would be to do them properly.
If you check out the English instructions in the video description you'll see they're about the same as my Google translate ones!
Christmas steamer!!!
It is!
Now, the challenge is, can Lawrie power a set of LED Christmas tree lights off of it??!!
If I had like 100!
Do you think that would be able to power a model loco with it instead of a light, hook the wires up to a loop of 00 gauge track and see if the loco will move?
Not a chance! That's a tiny LED, model railways need much more power
I like the MG jacket
It's pretty good
My opinion is that it is a nice steam engine but you would be better off buying a Mamod or Wilesco live steam engine.
They are quite a bit more expensive.
But superior water capacity
Is the tree enough dampening to limit the vibrations?
Not at all!
Have you tried this engine to power a mamod accessory?
No, it would probably do it though!
so how did they manage to import it in to the country???
I assume its just because they just send it direct
If I had to guess the palm tree is perhaps a way of the chinese
manufacturer avoiding importation rules or taxes by claiming it's a box of "decorations" or something of the sort.
Oh that's possible
You assembled it incorrect, the tree goes over the generator. The light shines onto the engine😅
You'd have thought so, but the limited instructions do say it goes the way I did.
The groove underneath is correct to hide the wires this way round too!
@@lmm 🤔 weird ehh aha😂
I checked the ‘English’ version of the instructions. Horrible! Probably straight from translation software with no additional information regarding safety etc.
Yep they're terrible
😎😎😎👍
👍
Early gang
👇🏻
Good work!
@@lmm BROO THNKS FOR THE REPLY YOU MADE MY MY DAY DUDE THIS IS THE FORST TIME IVE BEEN ACKNOWLEDGED BY SUCH A BIG UA-camR THX MAN!
I could never be trusted with one of these because i own a 3d printer and know how to design models. Next you know, i would be designing a loco chassis for it.
That would be great!
looks a bit like a D2 to be honest
Though I think the d2 might be better
Hi Lawrie. I literally just found this video featuring a 15" Gauge Locomotive / Features & Construction. I immediately thought of you, and if you’ve seen this one : m.ua-cam.com/video/PXMFesNjeRA/v-deo.html
Steve in Minneapolis,Minnesota
Oh that looks quite good! I'll have a gander
I'd spend a bit extra and buy a Mamod or a Wilesco. Wouldn't touch Chinese crap like this.
There's some really good stuff on their website
B F D A MODEL KIT
Pardon?