Screwy Nick

The JB Extreme cured very hard after being heated. Unfortunately after being subjected to water and steam, reverted to grey sand again, the Rutland faired no better.

Jerry, good advice for all adhesives. This Extreme Heat stuff was different than the usual two part JB products. Regular JB is good to 650'F, Kwik good to 450, this is supposed to be good to 1K. Came in a little container and just needed to be stirred. Unlike the other JB's it always seemed somewhat brittle, and it never hardened in the container, still usable. Going to dig it out of the trash, apply it so some metal, let it set and then heat it and see what happens. Used the Rutland on the ceramic burner, rock hard. EDIT; following up on above, have a piece brass spread with the JB Extreme sitting on the wood stove which is at a constant 400 - 500'F.

As described in the other thread, the burner performed well, but I think it can do better with a #8. This morning I replaced supplied ceramic with a piece of the Buddy Heater ceramic, noticeable difference in the flame, why??

Cleaned everything up and must add something about the Rutland high heat adhesive. I used it both on the ceramic burner and internal part of a turbine modification. The parts adhered for the burner are extremely hard, so the conclusion on that product is it must be heated to fully harden. Can't speak for the JB as I only used that near steam, and it too dissolved into grey sand. A true test would be handrails on a live steamer, JB Extreme on one side, Rutland on the other.

Learned several things yesterday, both about the burner and the turbine. The #5 jet is fully maxed out and opening the valve on the fuel made no difference, the jet was holding it back. The #8's should be arriving, “any day now”. It can be lit at the stack, wasn't sure. The high heat adhesive I used, while is good for hight heat at the burner, not good when subjected to steam. Totally disingrated into tiny grey sand particles. Same thing happened to the JB Extreme Heat. The turbine/generater: Steam tests show it starts producing power with less than 40lbs steam pressure, on compressed air starts at 50. Bad part is the turbine vane assembly expanded so much while on steam it started to drag on the housing, so that needs to be lapped to give a little more clearance. I rate today 1 step forward, 2 back. Not discouraged, how long did it take to build the Great Wall??? EDIT: tried to correct the titles, only messed them up.

Chuck, I'll know tomorrow after I clean up the cap. Will also send the steam to the turbine in hopes of getting better results than with compressed air.

Here is the BIX 14 with 1" removed to make it fit into the B3 boiler. This is using a #5 jet. I stumbled on this adhesive, on the shelf in utility room. I have been using this for many years on my wood stove, which is the primary heat for my house so it is in use all winter. JB Extreme heat is good for 1K'F and needs 24 hours curing time. This is no mix, air dry and in 30 minutes hardened and is ready for heat. Going to try to use it to stick handrails that came loose on a loco. I'm not a photo guy so attached is a video of the burner. None of the stills I took show the ceramic burner red only the surrounding flame???

Jerry, frankly I am more confused than ever, glad I document everything. Sean, Bug is in his house while all this is happening. The loud compressor providing the air pressure and the whine of the turbine doesn't thrill him. And I allowed him to sit on my lap ONCE while I was on the computer. He pawed the keyboard, and I spent 2 hours on the phone with Apple Support. --------anyway. Here's what I came up with today. 02/21: interesting finds this morning. Made a guard for generator sprocket, rubber bands kept flying off. Did extensive testing and found 1: the boost board adds to the drag on the generater to the point can get the same voltage without it using same pressure, but more mA to the motor. 2:Put the gears back on. Did the boost board with and without, definitely without. noisy as they are producing the best results so far. 3: The DUH moment: The belts are turning the generator in one direction and the gears another. Noticed that as I was switching things. The simpson, wire wound meter, started heading in the wrong direction. Got everything polarized. Then realized the generator produced more in the direction the gears were turning it than the oposite that the belts were turning it, same ratio. It has a favored direction?????? So many options, so many different results. Oh and one more: first run of each day takes almost 5 minutes to warm the generator and can hear it lesson the drag on the turbine and it is allowed to wind out. Did the same thing when I put the gears on and generater ran in the oposite direction. So glad I have documented everything, but still confused. Think I'll go dig a hole in the yard.

This is the other thought I had yesterday, making the most of the output, sending it through a boost board. Preliminary tests show I can almost double the output voltage without current loss. First meter you see is gen output, two side by side are boost board output. Negative indicator on the mA meter indicates polarity reversal, idiot proof.

The BIX 009 was for test purposes, length is far short of what could fit. Got a 14 burner from Mini and they recommend a #8 jet which is coming form Forest Classics in UK. Being impatient I wanted to see what it would look like using a #5. This is the initial lighting before any adjustments, like what I see. Since I have to cut off about 3/4 of an inch of this burner the #5 may do the trick when all is said and done.

Do my most productive thinking when asleep. Decided to try the rubber band with the cogs. Same results using 20lbs less pressure, the belt is substantially adding to the drag. Better keep eating broccoli and asparagus. Had another thought and will try that one later.

Adapted the two cogs for the belt to the turbine and generator. Like the quite so that is the way I'm going to proceed, just not this ratio as took 80 lbs of pressure to get things moving. The metal gears were 3.75-1, so going to look for something close or even a little over. EDIT: ordered two assemblies, 4-1 & 5-1. Figure by mixing them up should come up with the sweet spot I am looking for, be a bit before they get here.

Joe, thank you for the tip.

Since the adventure above the output has improved. Less pressure produces less voltage, but the mA seem to have risen. The wheels start turning at lower voltage and while the voltage only creeps up the wheels are spinning faster and faster, a good thing. I didn't realize how noisy open metal gears are. Here is the next thing I'm going to try. Compared to what is on there now, the drive gear is a little bigger and the driven is a little smaller, should be interesting.

At times was getting inconsistant output and could hear the turbine wind down as under a strain. Took it apart and found nothing rubbing and the bearing was still perfect. Then I applied power to the motor that I am using as a generator, with meters attached. Seemed to be running fine, then the V dropped and the mA jumped, drag is in the motor. As I ran the motor it happed with more regularity. Disassembled and found one of the brushes wasn't seated properly. I needed more hands than I have, so used alligator clip to help me. I broke one of the brushes, almost in half length wise. To my surprise the motor runs, and now using even less power. Problem is can't seem to find replacement brush assembly. It is a Pittman 9237C584 12V motor. This motor is no longer listed. Looking on line looks like several of their offerings use the same brush assembly. If anyone knows where to order one I would appreciate you posting. Thank You. Screwy Nick

The disclaimer in the add stated the holes “manually measured so may not be exact”: the large gear was 5+mm without a set screw hole in the collar, the smaller gears were 3.5mm. I have had some experience with Sintered parts before and they don't like to be altered. So instead of drilling out the holes made adapters so I could change easily and not loose exact 'center'. Mounted them and applied air to the turbine. The turbine spun and as it was winding up the screw holding the gear to the generator went one way and the gear another. I knew no locking washer was going to sufice, so using my old friend JB adhered two brass posts to correspond with the depressions in the gear, and away we go. Everything is aligned and spinning away using the smallest gear. This test was mostly to check the gear alignment, the power output was a surprise. Right after this the gear, screw and nut flew off the turbine, my fault as I only pressed the nut into the collar, secured it with a bit of my old friend. Going to let it cure over night and tomorrow try the next size up gear.

Sean, thank you. Just small steps but they all add up. Now back to the Turbine and the gears.

This test went quite well, and I learned something about ceramic burners. It was bringing the initial pressure up, glowing red then I heard a POP, it started to roar and the pressure stopped rising. To add to that a stream of smoke was coming out of the stack. 'now I done it'. Found that the burner flashed back and the flame was actually below the ceramic, and the puff of smoke was the paint burning off the burner housing. The view hole showed a very dim red. Shut the gas off momentarily then turned it back on, it ignited immediately. Shortly it did it again, so I adjusted for less air. The ceramic was still bright red, but I also had a few blue tips. Even with a steam leak at the hose it was able to maintain 40 lbs steam pressure, turn the turbine which turned the wheels on the power truck. Thought I had more water in the boiler and gas in the tank than I did so the test was short. Now to start playing with the gears on the Turbine. Thank You

I think I am going to call it a success. Decided not to wait till it failed during a real run, so resistance soldered the nut to the adapter. Cleaned it up some, lit it outside the boiler and slid it in. Only let it run for a little while as the JB High Temp needs to cure more. I believe this will supply enough continuous steam for the turbine.

Fashioned a cap adaptor to connect the burner to the boiler. Works when lit then slid into the boiler, not sure I can light it from the stack yet. It also has a small viewing hole to make sure the burner is lit and adjusted correct. Small nut on top for the securing screw, have my doubts about that holding. Soldered in hot areas and used JB Professional in the cooler area. EDIT: As with all things 'trial & error' got to expect some visits. Jet neck was out of alignment, so ground it out and repositioned it. This time I used JB Extreme Heat, supposed to be good to 1,000'F.

Yes, thank You. Next to see if it will function in the space the alcohol burner was. If necessary can round out the bottom to lower the profile.

They may have given up, but I didn't. Put the #5 jet they recommended back in. Drilled more holes to allow more air, cut a piece of the ceramic designed for the Buddy Burner and DO DA. Would like to open the air holes a bit more and seal around the ceramic. (gears came yesterday).

Very sorry, this is the response I got from Mini Steam, very disappointed. "Hello I have forwarded your email to the manufacturer. I am not sure I can get a different jet with different results. I think they had to find a new machine shop for the jets and that might be as good as it gets now." When I asked exactly what that means, I go no response. When I ordered the burner I found on Amazon a supplier for the ceramic used in the Buddy Burner which is a higher temp ceramic and ordered a piece, so have plenty to play with. Right now I am working with the air intake and gas distribution within the box.

Yes, have 2 projects going at the same time, but they are related. The video of the turbine on live steam can clearly hear the alcohol burner roaring. Can only compare it to an F4 revving up getting ready to be shot off the deck. Want the whine of the turbine to be heard. Purchased a BIX 009 burner and it arrived Friday. Set it up according to directions, and am very disappointed as can see. First tried another #5 I have, same look. Substituted the #5 jet that they recommended with the jet that is in the Brunel, that gives a beautiful bunch of blue tips, much better. i Sent seller info and pics, I'm sure we can solve the problem.

Here is a video of the turbine on cold air. The warm air was better on the lower pressures, 30 & 40, 50 didn't seem to be much different. Youtube rejected the video of room temp air?? so will do that again. BTW, the gears have been tracked to my post office, hope to have them in hand Monday, but of course I am last on the route so after dark. The rubber bands from my vegetables have just about had it.