10/98 engine

[racket]

Close up of starter ..............just slide forward to engage , I used the original solenoid with a toggle switch and 40 Amp relay to activate it .

With some LPG preheat fuel being added , the starter can pull the rotor up to ~8,500 rpm, still with full oil pressure , full oil pressure increases rotor frictional torque considerably, from ~1/16th foot pound without oil pressure , to ~1/2 ft lb with

The LPG can be ignited at full "motoring rpm" of 7,000 , but prefers to be ignited before activating the starter , same as with FM-1 and 9/94 engines .

Gave the lube pump a 30 minute test run yesterday , maintained 60-65 psi of pressure into the engine whilst only warming to ~40 - 45 deg C at the end of the test .

There must have some slight lube bypassing of the seals as post the LPG tests there was a light oil film on the inside of the jetpipe/nozzle but no lube out of the combustor drain thankfully .

Its looking good for a first spoolup in the next few days , just need some more playing around to get familiar with things .

Cheers
John

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[scuferrari]

Hello John.
I haven't talked with you for a while, I stopped by DIY GT and found some info on this new site and stop in for a look. New motor is looking great last time we talked you where still working on the FM-1. Did you ever build a free power turbine for it? Cant wait to see this new one run (You are going to make a video).
David

[racket]

Hi David

Good to see you on the new Site :-) much better setup than Yahoo .

Yep , got FM-1 sorted , those bearing problems were all to do with air pressure loads on the rear wall of the comp producing excessive axial thrust loads , fixed by adding an axial labyrinth seal against the back of the comp .

Since FM-1 theres been the 9/94 engine , 9 inch case with a TV94 comp and turb www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Y8jpaDTkEY but the 9 inch dia casing made construction a little "tight" and required going to a 10 inch casing once I change over to using "brass bush" bearings instead of ball races .

Yep a freepower and transmission have been manufactured , they're already mounted in a YZF750 bike frame waiting for this 10/98 engine to power them , its currently got the 9/94 engine partially installed but we decided to wait for this more "robust" engine .

Yes there will be vid :-)

Cheers
John

[racket]

Hi Guys

Finally got the courage to give her a spoolup www.youtube.com/watch?v=1PgRa0xGDOo
not successful though , only able to get to 15,000 rpm resulting in a hung start .
The vid shows me stuffing up big time , forgetting to stop the starter before reapplying it to a stationary turbine comp nut :-( whilst trying to blow out the flames from preheat LPG that was still entering the engine, will need to lower lube pressure if its to spoolup with this starter , its only a 1.4 Kw starter, the engine has 0.5 ft lbs of torque drag which equates to ~1.5 hp at 15,000 rpm ..................more development needed

Cheers
John

[racket]

Latest update , ............. lube pressure lowering only produced a few hundred extra rpm , lube heating much the same :-(

Added an extra 12V battery , 24 volts into the starter produced 13,000 rpm with cold oil ( 10 deg C ) and 75 psi oil pressure .

Spoolup attempt made , failed the first time, but second attempt successful www.youtube.com/watch?v=NR0rsTbkOS4 .....enjoy

Cheers
John

[racket]

A video of the engines gauges

www.youtube.com/watch?v=lrLN7idx2V8

Cheers
John

[ernie wrenn]

Way to go!!! How much thrust is it making?

What starter did you end up using? Richard might need one on his Huffer.

[racket]

Hi Ernie

Just idling at the moment to make sure nothing heats up and starts rubbing , but hoping to do some higher power runs soon .....................the theory gives a conservative thrust of >125 lbs , but more importantly, at least 150 shp once its hooked up to its Allison C20 4th stage freepower turbine wheel .

Starter off a Toyota Camry , a Nippon Denso unit , probably a 1.4Kw unit , Richard might not need that sized unit as my "brass bush" bearings have a lot of inherent spoolup drag which required the 24 volts to overcome

Cheers
John

[Richard OConnell]

Richard might in fact need that sized unit as his engine has been sitting under a trailer in Ernie's yard for 10 years and probably out somewhere else for another 30 or so. Finding leaves and soil are among the least of my concerns... I really wouldnt be surprised if a fox has made its home in there.

[racket]

Hi Richard

LOL.....you may need something even larger in that case :-)

Took the 10/98 up to 100% today , got lotsa "numbers " , just need to get them together and I'll post them tomorrow

Cheers
John

[racket]

Thought I'd better have a look inside the engine as the rotor was a bit stiff to turn after cool down following yesterday excellent test run, a slight problem found with the flametube inner wall

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[racket]

The shaft tunnel had its heat shielding damaged as well , I was wondering where the glass beads in the outer can came from , might account for the oil temperature rising rather rapidly during the test run

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[racket]

Might account for the accretions on the backsides of the turbine tips

A bit of work required methinks .................and it was running so well

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[saiello2061]

Looks like there may have been an oil leak from that compression coupling ( pressure gauge? ), theres a suspicious black spot near it...?

[racket]

Hi Sal

That pipes a scavange bleed air supply line , not hooked up at present , its vented into my catch tank , only a few drips of oil coming out of it , theres an O'ring seal around the shaft tunnel where the diffuser bolts on , and a O'ring seal on the oil gallery between diffuser and shaft tunnel , it shouldn't have any leaks , nothing came out of her after a full oil pressure 30minute lube pump test run

Cheers
John