The Unofficial Mamod and Other Steam Forum

mc_mc

I received my latest ebay purchase today (£24 inc P+P) it's a dinky little thing based on a old mamod boiler and piston with a replacement fly wheel and firebox. It also came with a 'homemade' wick type meths burner.

Here are some pictures:

Homemade burner:

I unwrapped it and everything looked fine, flywheel and cylinder all moved freely. I was struck by the thickness of all the brass fittings, it's a weighty item in spite of it's size, it's got a nice heft to it when held in the hand (if you know what I mean). The firebox is made of 1.5mm brass plate and then painted black on the outside. The safety valve was screwed in very tight and I had a hard job getting it out, there wasn't much room to grip it easily. I did eventually manage to get it out and then tested it's action and watched the top washer just crumble to dust. But it should be a simple job to fit a rubber 'O' ring instead. So in the mean time I used my brand new one that I bought a few weeks ago.

I put the kettle on and got it filled up with boiling water, I didn't want to mess around with the wick burner straight away, so got an evaporation burner from another engine and soon had it steaming up. But then disaster... I saw a pencil-lead thin jet of water spraying from the boiler steam line joint where it mates with the port face. Fortunately it was aimed downwards and I didn't get a face full of boiling water. The water soon turned to steam and I was rewarded with a steady hiss instead. Much to my surprise giving the fly wheel a tweak did cause the engine to run albeit a bit slowly, so the hole can't be too bad. I was very pleased to see it run after I saw the water jetting out.

Location of the leak:

It's difficult to see from the picture but it looks like some of the solder around the pipe has 'chipped' off round the bottom of the joint (just where it's hardest to get at!). So it looks like I'm going to have to have my first attempt at engine pipe soldering very soon.

Here's a video of the running engine:

I'm sure once that leak is fixed it will run much better.

I turned my attention to the burner and it's very well made but the fabricator forgot to put any vent holes in it, so if you run it with the plug screwed in the flame works well at first but soon goes out. Unscrewing the plug and it seemed to work much better (not sure how safe that is, but the house is still standing). The farthest wick probably needs replacing as it's a bit short now.

I spilt some meths whilst filling the burner so thought I better set light to it!

Inspite of the problems I'm very happy with my new purchase, the build quailty is much more superiour than my other two more modern engines. If I can sort out the dodgy solder joints I'm sure it will run very well.

Steve_S · Posted: Wed Feb 14, 2007 11:42 pm Post subject:

Great stuff... it has a very solid look to it. I'm sure the solder joint will fix quite easily, then it should fly! The burner looks well made, and you could drill a small air hole in the filler cap or in the top of the burner itself.... it only needs to be very small. Are you going to make a base for it? A flat base would be easy, or, as its non-standard anyway, a wooden one could look good. (The purists wouldn't like it of course!

)

mc_mc · Posted: Wed Feb 14, 2007 11:45 pm Post subject:

It certainly needs some sort of base sorting out as it was 'wandering' a bit when it ran even with the steam problems. Wood would probably be the easiest material to work with for me at the moment.

The brass looks very thick on the burner, what's the best way to create a pin hole in it?

Steve_S · Posted: Wed Feb 14, 2007 11:51 pm Post subject:

Mamodman123 · Posted: Thu Feb 15, 2007 12:05 am Post subject:

Hand drill it! You can always stop if its going wrong then!

you'll have it running well i'm sure! Bit of soldering here and there

Has a nice beat to it though!

Nice old mamod safety valve aswell

A good buy!

_________________
Solid Fuel tablets explode

You could get a nice flatbase for that

EAGLES!!!!

SPOKESMAN · Guest

A nice little engine - will look lovely on a red Meccano base.

yosa · Posted: Thu Feb 15, 2007 10:15 am Post subject:

Cracking little engine mate.

_________________
He who keeps his head while all about him are losing theirs, doesn't know how serious it is.

SPOKESMAN · Guest

STill think that flywheel looks from a Cyldon! Looks good on it though!

yosa · Posted: Thu Feb 15, 2007 10:55 am Post subject:

All brass too, can't be bad. I've been thinking about it, and I think a nice, properly edged timber base would look good.

_________________
He who keeps his head while all about him are losing theirs, doesn't know how serious it is.

SPOKESMAN · Guest

mc_mc · Posted: Fri Feb 16, 2007 11:32 pm Post subject:

Well I had a go at soldering the pipes where there was a leak (my first ever attempt). It didn't look right when finished, three round blobs connected to each other. (I wish I took a picture now) I fired up the engine and they may no difference at all, water was leaking everywhere. And then they just fell off! I did laugh though.

No damage done and I will have another go in the morning. I think I didn't get enough heat into it, had just enough to melt the solder wire and form a blob but not enough to make it flow with the flux into the hole and then bond properly.

I'll let you know what happens tomorrow, this time I'll probably melt the whole engine into a puddle of brass.

James · Posted: Fri Feb 16, 2007 11:54 pm Post subject:

Is it a flatbase one?
_________________
Forum Founder, Owner and Admin.
Yan, tan, tethera, tethera, pethera, pimp!

Lincolnshire!

mc_mc · Posted: Fri Feb 16, 2007 11:57 pm Post subject:

James · Posted: Sat Feb 17, 2007 12:03 am Post subject:

Looks like one. Barrel cylinder and flat ended piston rod.
_________________
Forum Founder, Owner and Admin.
Yan, tan, tethera, tethera, pethera, pimp!

Lincolnshire!

mc_mc · Posted: Sat Feb 17, 2007 12:04 am Post subject: