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Posted: Wed Jul 01, 2009 9:44 pm Post subject: Videos of a boat ... the Hobbies Arrow
This is a new chapter describing the story of the boat ... but in video.
Tonight, I steamed her up for the first time albeit in the dry dock that is my garage. I want to do a few dry runs of the engine before she takes sail just to make sure everything is working ok.
Everything appears to be ok apart from ... the propeller keeps unwinding itself from the prop shaft and dropping off! Not sure why.
I'd rather not have this happen when the boat is in the middle of a lake ... unless Mo could be on standby (only kidding mate ).
So, here is the first of what I hope will be many videos to come over the next few months. Enjoy.
Is the prop shaft turning in the right direction? Just a thought _________________ Regards
Roly Williams
"The weather is always weird somewhere" (Gregg Easterbrook)
Runs great Pete....drop of loctite will sort that prop out. Maybe Roly's right though....your prop may have the wrong directionality for the turning direction of your engine. In that case, you may need a different prop (they come in LH and RH flavours). _________________ Nid wy’n gofyn bywyd moethus,
Aur y byd na’i berlau mân:
Gofyn wyf am galon hapus,
Calon onest, calon lân.
Does the boat go forward???? I bet it doesnt
You probably have the wrong prop.
Isnt there a seperate nut to lock down the prop? _________________ In the words of Oddball " Why Dont You Knock It Off With Them Negative Waves ?"
Good the prop didnt come off in the middle of a pond That is a beautiful boat and the engine purrs. I so like that one a lot _________________ Non Impedite Raditioni Cogitationis
Hmm ... I didn't think about the prop turning the wrong way ... thanks. I'll check tonight.
Don't forget, the steam engine may run the wrong way round as well
If you have some milimeters on the thread of the propside on the shaft to spare just put a brass nut on and counter it to the prop, thatway you will not loose it.
It could also be that you have a left turning prop. That is a bit counter productive with a right turn thread . _________________ Cheers
I think I see a way to fix your problem without buying anything.
Change the gear on the engine, instead of on the side you have it, place it on the opposite side. This will reverse the rotation of the prop shaft. This is how outboards go into reverse so this should work with the same principle. I think..... _________________ In the words of Oddball " Why Dont You Knock It Off With Them Negative Waves ?"
I think I see a way to fix your problem without buying anything.
Change the gear on the engine, instead of on the side you have it, place it on the opposite side. This will reverse the rotation of the prop shaft. This is how outboards go into reverse so this should work with the same principle. I think.....
Thanks, I'll try that.
I think I know what might be happening. When I start the engine, I tend to flick the flywheel backwards in the direction of the boiler. This causes the prop shaft to rotate anti-clockwise when looking towards the stern of the boat (imagine you are standing in the engine bay).
Now imagine you are under the stern looking towards the bow. The propeller screws onto the prop shaft clock-wise. The prop shaft is turning in the same direction as screwing on the propeller.
When I hold the propeller and turn the engine over ... the propeller un-screws.
When you shifted the flywheel from one side to the other, you must have just left the gear in its original place which would have been right if the flywheel was on the other side.
I really hope that it you get the probelm solved soon, I want to see the thing in the water _________________ In the words of Oddball " Why Dont You Knock It Off With Them Negative Waves ?"
The important thing is first to clarify in which direction the prop produces thrust. I think you expect backwards so that it will power your boat forward.
You need to look up the prop's pitch.
You said that if you hold the prop and let the engine turn the prop unscrews. This would indicate that the engine is running in the wrong direction. As others have diagnosed here before. _________________ Cheers
Hurry up muckin about mate , we wanna see the big wake happening
btw , i would suggest a dob of 222 loctite as insurance even after your direction probs are sorted . it helps reduce the possibilty of thread wear over the years . _________________
The important thing is first to clarify in which direction the prop produces thrust. I think you expect backwards so that it will power your boat forward.
You need to look up the prop's pitch.
You said that if you hold the prop and let the engine turn the prop unscrews. This would indicate that the engine is running in the wrong direction. As others have diagnosed here before.
Hi Klaus,
Below is a detailed photo of the engine and prop coupling. It is 99% the same set up as in my Seahawk (bottom photo). In the Seahawk, I start the engine but flicking the flywheel backwards towards the boiler which turns the prop shaft anti-clockwise. This way of starting the engine causes the boat to move forward.
Arrow:
Seahawk:
Actually ... what I said earlier about holding the propeller and turning the prop shaft anti-clockwise makes perfect sense as it will cause the propeller to un-screw ... in exactly the same way as if I hold the prop shaft stationary and turn the propeller anti-clockwise. In both cases, the propeller is turning anti-clockwise relative to the prop shaft.
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