The Unofficial Mamod and Other Steam Forum

L.North · Posted: Sun Nov 01, 2009 11:30 pm Post subject:

I bought one. Was not impressed. I removed the boiler and I'm looking for a small upright engine to use them on a 15" boat. I will get about 5-6 mins run time. But that's ok since it is for my small wading pool.

dampfmaschinenjoe 1967 · Posted: Tue Nov 03, 2009 9:21 pm Post subject:

I own one and it runs well out of the box , B U T for a little money more you can get a really well engineered and much more sophisticated D 6 and these engines are the best value for your money I can think of in the lowcost region of steam engineering.

cheers Joe

scorpion2nz · Posted: Wed Nov 11, 2009 8:13 am Post subject:

well i was a good boy and I got my D3 today (birthday pressie from other half)
it did run straight out of the box eventually I have a video but it is going to take over 4 hours

to upload to You Tube and it is now 9.00pm so will have to do it tomorrow night as soon as i get in from work

jakesm · Posted: Wed Nov 11, 2009 8:25 am Post subject:

the things we do for fun!

happy birthday!

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2nd childhood-this is my 1st! (with money)

jakesm · Posted: Wed Nov 11, 2009 8:25 am Post subject:

so metalhead-what do we do to make it go better?
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2nd childhood-this is my 1st! (with money)

scorpion2nz · Posted: Fri Nov 13, 2009 8:59 am Post subject:

Well I finally got video uploaded had to do it in 2 parts

In general not that great
It looks the part but let down by construction
the burner holder scrapes on the base when trying to insert.
the piston feels like it is scrapping when it is being turned over
and i also think the boiler is to small for the piston/cylinder as it appears to run out of steam pressure very quickly but this maybe because it also leaks very badly between the cylinder and the pivot block

jakesm · Posted: Fri Nov 13, 2009 10:57 am Post subject:

yupp, that is about right!

again

i ask-

metalhead how do we make this thing go better?!
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2nd childhood-this is my 1st! (with money)

Burnmafingers · Posted: Fri Nov 13, 2009 5:39 pm Post subject:

Man, the engine in that video is terrible

I would find it hard to get any pleasure from that. a shame as it looks quite cute.

Wandering-Willie · Junior Member Joined: 12 Jan 2009 Posts: 177

theyve put a too larger cylinder on it, thats the obvious falt!!!

Keith S · Posted: Fri Nov 13, 2009 6:44 pm Post subject:

Well, everything needs to be run in. Granted it seems to represent pretty minimal effort on the part of the manufacturer, but realistically, even these little oscillators must need a good few runs before they reach their potential. Look at the troubles people have with the mamod locomotives. If the fuel load is only one esbit tablet, it's going to run out pretty quickly, and after all the trouble it took to get it running, I think it might have been fair to put a fresh tablet in there to represent its potential a little better. It has obvious faults, but I'm going to reserve judgement until he has it run in a little and then hopefully posts a video then.
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Wasserstand beachten

hansdampf · Posted: Fri Nov 13, 2009 7:44 pm Post subject:

buy one and don't drive it one Esbit but one gas or meths it's a good runner, like mine. Allow her to get run in and you won't be disappointed...
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panta rhei!

scorpion2nz · Posted: Sat Nov 14, 2009 2:30 am Post subject:

Whether i run it again or not is the big question the point of the video was not to run it in but rather show it straight out of the box with it's obvious faults run as per instructions and the water was warm from the jug .

Wandering-Willie · Junior Member Joined: 12 Jan 2009 Posts: 177

the big question on everyones lips (well, maybe just mine), how do the gauges work on this, they are wierd compared to anything ive seen before,
cheers
allen

SlideValve · Posted: Sat Nov 14, 2009 6:43 am Post subject:

"it also leaks very badly between the cylinder and the pivot block"

You might need to increase the spring tension to make a bigger seal, and if you can't increase the tension in the spring, you might need to take the spring off and put a longer one on, or stretch the original one to get a better seal. I've also notice the bearings look very bad, and don't a very good job. The cylinder looks like the size of a d6 cylinder, and the boiler looks the same size or maybe a tad bit bigger than a d6 boiler, just looks like poor build quality to me

steamgranny · Posted: Sat Nov 14, 2009 1:23 pm Post subject:

Yes, that parallels my first ever steam up of D3 !

And had to tinker a lot with the compression spring before finding correct tension plus the towel to soak up mess!

Get (or make) one of these special D3 meths burners, although it will fry the logo!

http://dampfbrenner.de/html/praxisbeispiele.html

It’s still just as noisy but has run in a lot better since & much to my surprise managed to power my sawmill accessory!

As previously mentioned, I do eventually intend to improve on the engine part of this machine or use boiler for something completely different…
You simply peer into the 2 round water level gauges. Top one = max water level. Bottom one = time to take burner out if water down to that level!

Hardly defending this very second-rate piece of machinery but it can be made to work....sort of!