UK sourced engine test stand

getback wrote:I like the simplicity of the design and ease of use , my stand is old and castor soaked in some of the wood ,makes me scared to use it on anything over .25 size engines and the wing nut comes loose sometime Were in UK did it come from ?

West Yorkshire Eric.  North central UK.  A good deal north of Ian I would think.  

I am thinking about sealing it with something like Thompson's water seal before I use it so it wouldn't get fuel soaked, but I'm not sure how that would react to the fuel.  

I bolted that stand down to the base, it's not going anywhere and that rail makes moving it around easy.  Thinking about facing the 2X4 with a 1" board to enclose the fuel containers more fully.  

Bob

Concerning sealing,

I ended up sealing my newest engine test stand with polyester resin, it is extremely fuelproof and wipes clean easily.  It is the liquid part that you use with fiberglass, just leave the cloth out.  They make gas tanks out of fiberglass so I tried it and am satisfied after about a year's use.

The second-best was spar varnish but raw fuel would slightly attack it.  

Good Luck!

Great stand Bob, If I remember well, I sprayed PU varnish on the plywood.

Lieven

West Yorkshire may be 200 miles North of London but I was born and raised in Yorkshire and that is where I am building my new workshop.

I have had one of these stands for years and it has has hundreds of engines fitted to it. I would have no hesitation in recommending it but I do have a few observations from experience,

For larger engines there is no problem - I have loaded this with a 10 cc diesel running on a 15/6 propeller.

As the engines come down in size - and there is no definite size for this - the engine has to be brought forward in the mounting and the holding bars and allen screw can interfere with the NVA and silencer.

Is this Medallion a fit?



No. It is mounted on a plate. If you look closely you will see that the needle valve would clash with the clamp. Now although the engine could be brought further forward - the silencer would clash with the allen screw. The Medallion her is mounted on a plate held by the clamp.

Now here is a 1.5cc diesel - because it is RC - the NVA clears the bars. This is just an example of me degumming an engine and freeing the contra piston. So it is a boring video but shows the clearance needed for the bars.



Now all engines can be moved forward - the stand is very versatile - here is a DC Sabre being degummed. (Boring!). It fits comfortably but here you have to take care!

The lugs of the engine are just behind the front allen screws but now the rear allen screws are a long way aft. It is easy to over or under tighten here - strain the bars or not tighten down the lugs enough because the bars end up at an angle.



Do not be tempted to fit a smaller engine by bringing it even further forward so that the lugs are to the side of the allen screws.

I really like this stand - quick and easy to use - just remember that it is at its best with larger engines and keep the clamping bars as parallel as possible with the base.

I enjoyed all three videos Ian, but I sure would have liked to see those diesels run.  

I guess "degumming" means removing the preservative used on new engines, or removing the old buildup of fuel on used engines.

I found interference of the NV required positioning this Enya .29 at the extreme forward part of the stand, right up against the hold-down screw.  I have one from MECOA that Mark Boeson uses coming for the other end.  I notice that you have multiple stands too for your other engines.  

I really want to test this Perry pumped Enya next.  My open tanked fuel supply precludes the use of muffler/case to tank pressure using just a supply line.



If it works I may incorporate it permanently into the test stand.

I have one of these mounts and was considering counter sinking the heads on the bolts to provide a little more room for the smaller engines. Ian, I really enjoyed the Radian Medallion video. I have a Hiscott unit that looks like it is the same thing. I still haven't run it on an engine. It is nice to see that it is effective.

Here it is the medallion and Hiscott mounted to a Nighthawk



and flying (sort of - RTP with RC throttle and elevator control)



moved to a KK Radian with flaps




and flying