Fireworks and archaeology

 

There is little to report on at this time, as the weather has not been conducive to car building activity. 

I was surprised that, when trying to power up the car, flames were appearing from under the passenger's seat.  I have nothing against potential passengers which would tempt me to launch them; unlike James Bond's Aston Martin.  It appears that the hot gasses in the smoke hood had escaped through the opening for the water inlet  and converted the seat into charcoal and then ignited it!  My cure for this is to fashion a piece of mild steel to cover the opening, while packing the thermal insulation tightly around the offending opening.  I am also using flame retardant plywood to make a new seat platform.  My wife was alert and promptly diverted her plant watering onto the inflamed woodwork.

As the car is nearing completion,  I have conducted an archaeological exercise in the layer of detritus which has accumulated on the garage floor, with the intention of finding anything which should be attached to the car and is not! I have found some woodscrews and M5 bolts, and am hoping to find a scriber.

My grandson has inspected the car and wonders how the power of the engine will be transmitted to the wheels - the chain met with his approval.  He also wants to know how seat belts will be fitted!

Red-lining

 I have plugged all the leaks I can find and taken the boiler up to its working pressure and beyond.  The safety valve operates at about 10% over the 'red line' and is able to keep the pressure down while the burner  works at full blast.

I could not check the pressure control switch as I had to use domestic mains to power the burner; the inverter supplied could not provide the current drawn by the burner.  In trying to get it working, I have applied a carbon conductive grease to the battery terminals.

STEAM!

 

I have turned on the burner and taken the boiler up to about 5 bar.  The video shows the result (even if some idiot left the blowdown valve open!). I had first to remove the airlock in the fuel feed, caused by the fuel filter being mounted too high up, and then primed the burner pump. Although I have used the battery to power the burner, I used the mains so as not to drain the batteries. The manual water pump works, but slowly; I put water into the boiler through the opening next to the non-return valve.  I have added some conditioner to the boiler water, hoping to avoid corrosion and water scale.

It has been said that one of the satisfying tasks with maintaining a steam vehicle is finding and fixing steam leaks.   Judging by the picture, I have plenty to keep me busy and satisfied. 

Towing the Lykamobile

Some time ago, I decided that, as the Lykamobile has a fully functional set of wheels, then putting it on a trailer would be  a waste.  So, I designed  and built an A-Frame for towing.  The base of the A-Frame clamps onto the front axle, with the side arms meeting at a towing socket fitting to the car tow ball.  When being towed, the steering castor angle should keep the wheels pointed in the direction of travel. The towing arrangement needed testing; here is the result.

I needed to know:

• Can it be readily attached?
• does anything loosen or fall off?
• will it tow in a straight line, without swerving?
• will it behave nicely when turning a corner?
• Can it be pushed in reverse?
• Does the safety link stay in place?
• Does it cope with speed reduction bumps?
• Will it accelerate and slow down going up and down hills?

I selected a local route for testing, which included straight and level sections, up and down hill and speed bumps.  For the test, the A-Frame was attached and the tiller removed.  I have used cotter pins and R-Clips for these.  The diesel and water tanks were loaded, but not full.  The Lyka brakes were not in operation, so I checked the car manufacturer's data which says 750kg is acceptable for an unbraked trailer.  A separate towing/lighting board was used.  Attaching to a towing car is not easy.  There is some movement possible by turning the steering wheels.

Nothing got loose, or fell off.  This includes the safety link which stayed in place.  PS: I did re-discover the breather hole in the fuel tank, which showed itself as drips of diesel fuel when standing facing uphill on a slope.

It tows nicely without swerving or oscillating.  There is some bumpiness, probably because the Lykamobile has no shock absorbers.  Speed bumps are handled, but not well.  The absence of shock absorbers in effect limits the speed for comfortable towing; I took it up to 40mph.

It follows the towing car round a corner.

Reversing is not easy, as the Lyka steering wheels are forced to one side or the other and could be damaged.  This is to be expected with the castor angle being effective.

When going uphill, performance is reduced, as could be expected after attaching half a tonne to the car. A lower gear was selected.  Slowing down was not a problem!

In conclusion:  A screwjack and wheel would help with hitching and reversing.  The screw jack would have to cope with the load on the front axle.  Not much can be done about the absence of shock absorbers to make towing less "lumpy", other than reducing speed while towing ( A UK legal requirement anyway).

OOPS!

 A successful test is one which identifies problems to be fixed.  I have had a successful test!

The burner has been fitted, and electrical connections seem to be good.  

I then decided to put water in the water tanks and test for leaks.  This test was the 'successful' one, giving me the opportunity to emulate Noah.  A long time ago, I assembled the parts, but did not go on to seal the joints properly - after the test I am having to dismantle and then re-assemble the leaky joints properly.  Working on plumbing in situ is more difficult than doing the same job on the work bench. 

I am also trying to work out how to use the additives which will:

• prevent 'diesel bug'  and 
• keep the boiler clean.

Does it reflect on the steaming community that the correct concentration of water additives are described such that the water has the appearance of bitter when correct, whereas the appearance as of Guinness or lager indicates that the additive is too strong or too weak.

Weights and measures, and plumbing

 I have weighed the car.  Each wheel in turn was lifted just off the ground surface, using a screw jack on some old bathroom scales as a load cell.   It weighed in at about 479kg (including the towbar).   That means it can be towed legally in the UK, by a vehicle which can pull an unbraked load of 750kg.  There is more mass at the rear of the car (280kg on the rear wheels).

Pressure gauge.  I was surprised that the gauge registered 2.2bar when not connected;  This doesn't seem quite right, but STW think that the offset is to ensure that the gauge is correct at around the working pressure.

Plumbing.

I have no experience of making copper pipes fit into a plumbing system. Although I have not kinked the pipes, my efforts to bend them have not been pretty.  Heating up the pipe has effected some annealing, which helped.

Now that the pipes are fixed in place, some pressure testing should be possible:  cold water first, then compressed air.

Progress

 When it is cold, dark, wet and windy, not a lot gets done to the car. I usually give up when I can't feel my fingers or what they are holding. I am gradually doing the little assembly tasks which will end up with a completed vehicle.  This includes putting sealant (Steam Seal) on threads which have to keep in 200psi water and steam, not to mention  putting it on my fingers.  As I have noted before, the sealant sticks well to fingers.  I have assumed that the flare fittings are good to over 200psi without sealant. The copper pipes have been bent where necessary, taking care not to put in any kinks.

With thanks to those who have posted pictures, I have succeeded in mounting the throttle and its cable, safety valve, mounting bracket, cylinder drain valve, pressure gauge, boiler water gauge and valves, cylinder oil pipes (with non-return valves the right way round), pump outlet pipes, etc.  I gave up on trying to fit the pressure gauge pipe into the chassis - it will have to be secured to the outside of the chassis.

I shall have to tackle the burner, brake bleeding, painting, water tanks, towing arrangements, steam pressure testing, and so on.