Micro 12VDC Generator with a Cox .049 Sure Start Diesel Engine

Installed a 25W,50 Ohm rheostat potentiometer which was very big. Had to fully disassemble and reassemble the potentiometer to remove one of the two big nuts, then to install on the generator and then use only one nut on the top.

Need to install some connectors more. The rheostat potentiometer is between the ampermeter and the voltmeter, in series to the load and acts as an electric clutch and transmission allowing to decrease the load and slowly increase preventing a momentary high load to the engine.

It's the same as kerosene
I forgot to translate it correctly

robot797 wrote:It's the same as kerosene
I forgot to translate it correctly

This is a powerful mixture. You will get a good power and will start OK because you use electrical start.

I have to do the opposite because the new crankshaft and newly reset piston have not been broken in. I will only run the engine without the dynamo with 20mL fuel. Then I will use Ether rich mixture to start easily with the dynamo. In the future, I will see.

Please, note : although I have an electric start, I do not have a powerful source such as a car battery. Also, the dynamo which I use may not be powerful enough to rotate the engine even with a powerful source but will be OK toassist a start as well as an initial high load switch.

As far as the Teflon gasket is concerned, I like this and this works even when the gasket is burned and thinned but not shattered. However, I like the idea of Copper gaskets which I may use in the future. For now : only by the book.

my copper was to thin
it just teared
but now with the aluminuim it runs great

robot797 wrote:my copper was to thin
it just teared
but now with the aluminuim it runs great

The problem is we do not know what pressure the engine and the gasket can withstand. The Teflon gasket has been designed to shatter at pressure lower than the pressure at which the engine can be damaged thus protecting the engine. In case you put too thick and strong Aluminium, you do not have a protection. In case you put too thin Aluminium, you do not get power.

To measure the Aluminium is impossible in normal conditions or risky to the engine. This is because the Aluminium gasket is mechanically supported by the counterpiston and only the edges can fold with the rest in tact. Thus, much thinner Aluminium than the maximal compression required Aluminium must be used. How thin is unknown and may be established by testing by people who want to destroy their engines in the name of science and technology.

Again, the beauty of the Teflon gasket is this shatters easily and does not fold. The support of the counterpiston plays some role but not as much allowing for more counterpiston force independent maximal pressure shattering.

Also, because the counterpiston is wide, very unlikely is for the Aluminium to fold the edges unless immensely thin without maintaining the compression.

Thus, after a given thickness, whether you put 5mm gasket ( without counterpiston : the thick gasketocounterpiston would do the job of the two ) or less makes no difference because the engine would break down before the Aluminium folds to release compression.

I am not sure whether the cans are thin enough to deform before the engine breaking point. You may also want to consider a possibility to have Aluminium circle with the same radius as the Teflon gasket positioned on top of the Teflon in between the Teflon gasket and the counterpiston. This would improve your compression as well as strength. Will affect the shattering point of the Teflon gasket too. Hopefully, not as much although unsure.

With this configuration, in case of huge integral compression ( either a single huge compression or a sequence of big compressions ), the Teflon gasket would hopefully shatter before the engine. Hopefully, the edges of the Teflon gasket would break too ( not extremely likely, though ). Then, with the Teflon gasket shattered, there is a distance between the cylinder gasket seating and the Aluminium. In case of Teflon gasket edge shattering and clearance, the compression would either decrease or decrease to a negligible amount which can be considered practically a 0 compression, thus the engine would either continue to work at low compression or would stop. The problem is, however, in case the user manually turns the compression screw and increases the compression by pressing the Aluminium circle to the seating. This would undo the protection. However, in case the user does not do so after the initial maximal compression, the two gasket system ( Teflon and Aluminium ) may provide a better protection than Aluminium only.

Regardless, as I have been saying, I like the idea and the application thereof of the Teflon gasket and I would always be happy to use such with or without extra copper seating gaskets.

In case one wants to try the opposite configuration : cylinder seating, than Aluminium ( extremely thin ), than Teflon gasket, than counterpiston, one is welcome. In this case, the Aluminium would protect the gasket. Must be extremely thin to allow the gasket to shatter. Danger : may melt in case touching the engine. The same applies for Aluminium only gasket : The cylinder and the piston are NOT made of Aluminium as far as I can tell or may be made of Aluminium alloys in some cases. The engine can run very hot which would probably be close to the melting point of Aluminium of 660.3C. The piston would be hotter than the rest.

I am not very sure one would gain an advantage of replacing the Teflon gasket except slight enlargement of the chamber which has positive and negative effect ( difficult to start, lower compression at maximal settings ). Although Aluminium does have some memory ( elasticity ), this is not very high. Thus, Aluminium may bend too.

The aeroplaners may gain an RPM or two by enlarging the chamber ( may even construct a special hemi or cylinder with walls shape ) at the expense of protection. For what I do, I do not seem to care so much of whether I would get a mW or two more power. Take into consideration the dynamos and alternators have so lousy efficiency, nothing what the engine does makes any difference in comparison. 70% is considered a masterpiece which is garbage as compared to the 90% to 99% efficiencies of other systems and devices.

The system has almost fully been reassembled. The tank cap is to be done. Electrical tested and working. Ready for engine break in in aeroplane mode ( engine working without the dynamo ).

For all of you interested, I have received an email from Cox in regards to the availability of Cox original KB crankshafts.

These have not yet been received by Cox from the manufacturer in the USA. The manufacturer would use a different technology to ensure even stronger crankpin. Then the crankshafts will be thermally treated.

I do not know when they will be shipped to Cox but I think they will soon be available, hopefully, before July, 01.

Please, note : the purpose of this post is purely distribution of information which may be useful to those who may wish to purchase a new crankshaft who would soon have Cox International as an option and is not intended to be against Davis Diesel or any other manufacturer or distributor. As mentioned, Davis Diesel crankshafts look OK as well as the materials used. The two companies : Davis Diesel and Cox International have an excellent service and ship within the hours after purchasing using the inexpensive regular mail ( USPS and Canada Post ). As I have mentioned earlier, Davis Diesel crankshaft has been very highly regarded by the Internet. Although I have seen different opinions in regards to Cox International, I am a great supporter of their crankshafts which, as mentioned, I have been heavily abusing for four months. Other than visual estimate which I have clearly said speaks highly for the Davis Diesel crankshaft as well as the information Davis Diesel crankshaft is 100% compatible with the engine as far as assembly is concerned, I am unable to express any other opinion because I have not yet started the engine with the Davis Diesel crankshaft.

As usually, I will provide status reports.

P. S. For the record : I call all thermal processing of anything " tempering " which, I think, is the correct scientific term. However, some people involved with metal processing call tempering the process of heating and SLOWLY heating down the metal to soften or to remove high level of hardness. They do not call the process of heating and FAST heating down in order to harden the material " tempering " whilst I do. This clarification is in case I have ever mentioned something alike.

The internet says everyone can soften their crankshafts by heating to 250C for 2 hours until red hot and then leaving in the air. I am not sure whether the amounts are in favour. Any HARDENED OR HARD metal, heated to red hot and put in the air to stay and heat down slowly would soften unless previously even softer. However, the amount of " softening " depends on how hard the metal originally is, what kind of metal or alloy, to what temperature the metal is heated and at what temperature the metal is put to stay. Some may prefer to heat up to a given temperature, then to put the metal at another, lower temperature and so on until put to stay in the air. In other words, hardening and softening depends heavily on empirical data.

The internet says the said method is OK for softening some crankshafts. Please, refer to robot797 for more information. Also, please, be advised, the Cox Original crankshafts as well as the Davis Diesel crankshafts are extremely inexpensive, between around $13US and $20US and one may wish to purchase these instead of softening old ones. One may prefer to soften an old one and use until broken but a broken pin may bring other consequences. In contrast, crankshafts for cars are extremely expensive and one best machine an old, bent, crankshaft instead of purchasing a brand new third party one. An original one from the manufacturer may cost more than a brand new car.

System reassembled. Ready for beaking in and run. Hope I can do these now. Will post.

The medical Castor Oil which I use clogs the fuel intake. Had to blow and suck for the fuel path to open. The Castor Oil is also very thick, much thicker than the industrial one Cox sells. Should have purchased Cox Castor Oil. Big mistake.

Will try 20% and would lower even more in case of another problem. The viscosity should be the same as 25% or even 30% of Cox Castor Oil. Hope this would help.

Started the engine in aeroplane mode. Once started, runs perfectly. Difficult to start. Hopefully the reason is the thick oil. When intake clogs, the rest of the suction and fuel delivery through the half pipes ( flutes ) into the cylinder is affected too.

Cannot say anything on the Davis Diesel crankshaft except works perfectly well once the engine is up and running. Cannot blame the crankshaft as the clogging is very consistent and happens quickly as well as the hole fuel becomes very thick and difficult to move. The same clogging happened with the previous crankcase and the effect was very similar.

Blew fuel with mouth and primed with Ether. WAITING FOR 6 MINUTES AFTER BLOWING FUEL AND ETHER INTO THE CRANKCASE WAS IMPERATIVE. Does not start without waiting. I think the reason is once fuel is settled well into the crankcase, the crankshaft can more easily deliver the fuel into the cylinder through the half pipes ( flutes ) and the delivery is more intake clogging independent.

Used less than but around 42% Ether, 28% Kerosene, 24% Castor Oil, 5% Cetone Booster. After start, worked perfectly although I have only run the engine at low RPM and rich. Performed a break in for a few minutes and burned around 10mL. Will try 45% Ether, 30% Kerosene, 20% Castor Oil, less than 5% Cetone Booster ( the amount of Kerosene was decreased ). May also try the original mixture just to see the whether starts and works the same. Will definitely lower the amount of Castor Oil to 20% and, probably, even less.

Was through hell again. Also broke another spring. Must never attempt so many starts and never so many full spring starts otherwise will continue to break springs.

The plastic spring nut must be well seated onto the drive plate, otherwise gets damaged and screws up the propeller rotation. Even when well seated, the propeller screw best not be tightened too much. Just enough not to get unscrewed during start up. The reaction of the propeller keeps the screw tightened when the engine works.

Tried to replace the 25% Medical Castor Oil with 12.5% Medical Castor Oil and 12.5% Nautilus Synthetic Two Stroke Marine Oil. No clogs detected. But, did not run. Puffed once or twice and nothing. Same as previous attempts to use this and other oils. Seems like Ether and or Kerosene react with the synthetic oil and loose power.

Some kind of information from this failed attempt : The Davis Diesel crankshaft is amazing and strong like a rock. Attempted forceful non slippery powerful 3000 RPM electric drill with a heavy flywheel effect propeller ( self made ). Got some, hopefully, compression resistance from the engine. Overcome. Afraid for the crankpin. Perfect. Withstood the heavy abuse. Also tried with a slippery tool. Also rotated OK. The crankshaft is perfectly OK. Disassembled the cylinder and the head to inspect. Looks perfect.

Tried a double stage priming. First, primed the fuel line through the unscrewed Fuel Needle Valve with fuel which contained everything like the normal fuel without any Medical Castor Oil ( replaced by synthetic ). Second, primed the air intake with pure Ether. Should not have put synthetic in the first primer. Would work OK under normal circumstances ( normal fuel ).

Remembered I have never been successful with the Medical Castor Oil except the first attempt when I used so and this maybe because I started the engine for a few seconds with only a couple of spring starts. After this, managed to start once or twice with enormous efforts. Pretty sure the Medical Castor Oil clogs and screws up. Will not use any more. Will purchase Cox original when I purchase other components, mainly, one of their new crankshafts when available.

The other good news comes from the total clean up of the engine. Blew all of the remaining fuel through the unscrewed Fuel Needle Valve. Blows OK now.

Anyway, would suspend any efforts until July when I got the Cox Castor Oil which worked OK before.

Will try to purchase assemble a slippery electric drill starting tool. Hose or thick rubber from truck or car tires may do. There will be a circle and a hole on the side which engages the engine and a protruding bolt through the rubber with a half hole on the engine side to hide the bolt. Nuts and washers as normal.

I know they use Amil Nitrate as a booster but, I think, a very powerful explosive liquid, usually Nitrate based, can be of a great advantage to these engines. This will make the start settings insensitive. Obviously, to sustain, fuel is still necessary. However, once the engine starts, mainly at low compression or oil air ( rich start where retardation of advanced liquid is necessary ), the engine is not a sensitive to the settings. Start is hell, though. Hence the necessity of a starter fluid ( primer ). These are available and easy to make but no one does. This will also introduce temperature ( ambient and fuel ) and propeller insensitivity too. To do this, Amil Nitrate may not be strong enough. Something much stronger is needed which would provide a lot of energy and be able to start from one compression, even the weakest and slowest one. Usually, these are either dual liquid ( or multi ) arrangements or a liquid which becomes very unstable when exposed to oxygen and even a finger touch would make this explode like a press of a key. I would put a nuclear bomb inside the cylinder in case I can.

The interesting thing is I have been able to master the start within a few seconds with spring start ( not full ) and I am now back to square one : starting just the engine with nothing attached.

Any ideas, please, give a shout.

When Ether is stored in an air tight container, other than the manufacturer's can, the container must be stored in the freezer. Otherwise, Ether evaporates and, when the airtight contaoner is opened, the fumes escape. There is a huge loss of Ether.

Also, a syringe has to be used instead of pouring because part of the poured Ether evaporates when thin liquid touches the air.

Once the wanted amount is taken, the container has to be immediately closed and immediately put back in the freezer. The fridge is not enough. Must be in the freezer.

Also, I think I have been doing something wrong. I have been trying to slightly increase the temperature of the fuel by dunking a glass into another glass filled with hot water. Although only for seconds, Ether may evapourate. I have been doing so to disolve Castor Oil better. This is wrong. Best mix the freezing ether with the rest of the fuel and mechanically shake. Because the other fluids are at room temperature, the redulting fuel will not be so warm and, hopefully, Ether would not evaporate. Must be loaded in the tank as soon as possible.

During starts, the fuel temperature will increase because of the ambient. Best start quickly.

Because the piston was reset AND the Teflon gasket was assembled dome up, the Teflon gasket was untouched and in perfect order after the run.

Again, the piston comes not reset originally and needs resetting. Resetting may be necessary after the first few runs. This is not only better for the gasket but for the crankshaft too.

I have searched the Internet for a while but I have not been able to find the tool.

I am looking for something made of rubber or silicon which :

1. Has a drill mandrel on one side which goes into an electric drill
2. Has a rubber or silicon cylinder on the other side with a hole in the middle where the nose of the airplane goes in

When the drill spins and the rubber touches the propeller screw nose, the friction drives the engine to start.

Does anyone have something alike? Has anyone heard of such a thing? I have seen one of these on YouTube where someone started the airplane engine this way but I do not know whether these are available to purchase or the person has fabricated one of these.

In case anyone has fabricated such a tool, please, share the ideas and materials. I have been thinking of a possibility to use a hose with an appropriate inner and outer radius as well as a thick piece of rubber from a truck tire.

A better idea I have is to use a large rubber cork cap ( a replacement for standard wine corks ). I think I have seen these in one of the automotive shops around. I have to check the available sizes.

Another idea is to cut from a hockey puck. Sure these are largely available in Canada.

Any other idea, please, inform.

How about this, Steven:

Sullivan Hornet 1/2A starter
http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/WTI0001P?I=LXCLY7&P=8


Replacement silicon starter cone
http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXFT94#tech


Rusty

Here is a link to Roddie's electric starter, that I plan to build someday:
https://www.coxengineforum.com/t5624-red-neck-049-elec-starter

the reason why i think your fuel is clogging becaus castor oil forms crystals when it gets frozen
i had 1L of it destroied becaus it froze overnight

i also use medicinal castor oil but i never have clogs with it

and my fuel is stored in a plastic bottle in my garage

(i had 3 year old diesel fuel in the same bottle and that still worked)

my advice stop freezing your fuel
and put it in an airtight container (that should stop the evaporation of the ether)
and place it in a room temperature room

robot797 wrote:the reason why i think your fuel is clogging becaus castor oil forms crystals when it gets frozen
i had 1L of it destroied becaus it froze overnight

i also use medicinal castor oil but i never have clogs with it

and my fuel is stored in a plastic bottle in my garage

(i had 3 year old diesel fuel in the same bottle and that still worked)

my advice stop freezing your fuel
and put it in an airtight container (that should stop the evaporation of the ether)
and place it in a room temperature room

I only freeze Ether. The rest is at room temperature.

You have an electric start with which everything is easy and nit so much fuel dependent.

Thanks for the info, though. I can't imagine the fuel would last for so long.

To put Ether after all other fuel components is a good idea. This way, CastCasOil would not be exposed to the frozen Ether so much. I also think Castor Oil canbe frozen and does not disolve well as well as may form crystals. Industrial Castor Oil such as Cox should be more immune.

RknRusty wrote:How about this, Steven:

Sullivan Hornet 1/2A starter
http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/WTI0001P?I=LXCLY7&P=8


Replacement silicon starter cone
http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXFT94#tech


Rusty

Thanks. Can you remove the drill very quickly, so the engine continues to work? What RPM drill do you use for diesel?

Marleysky wrote:Here is a link to Roddie's electric starter, that I plan to build someday:
https://www.coxengineforum.com/t5624-red-neck-049-elec-starter

Thanks. Can you remove the drill very quickly, so the engine continues to work? What RPM drill do you use for diesel?

well i also used it in my mk17 engine (russian diesel)
and that has only flip start
ran great
but becaus i never used it
i cut open my hand on the prop

that was around 3 months back

and for the evaporation
once it is mixed with the other components it does not evaporate as fast anymore

StevenStanleyBayes wrote:

robot797 wrote:the reason why i think your fuel is clogging becaus castor oil forms crystals when it gets frozen
i had 1L of it destroied becaus it froze overnight

i also use medicinal castor oil but i never have clogs with it

and my fuel is stored in a plastic bottle in my garage

(i had 3 year old diesel fuel in the same bottle and that still worked)

my advice stop freezing your fuel
and put it in an airtight container (that should stop the evaporation of the ether)
and place it in a room temperature room

I only freeze Ether. The rest is at room temperature.

You have an electric start with which everything is easy and nit so much fuel dependent.

Thanks for the info, though. I can't imagine the fuel would last for so long.

To put Ether after all other fuel components is a good idea. This way, CastCasOil would not be exposed to the frozen Ether so much. I also think Castor Oil canbe frozen and does not disolve well as well as may form crystals. Industrial Castor Oil such as Cox should be more immune.
 

robot797 wrote:well i also used it in my mk17 engine (russian diesel)
and that has only flip start
ran great
but becaus i never used it
i cut open my hand on the prop

that was around 3 months back

and for the evaporation
once it is mixed with the other components it does not evaporate as fast anymore

StevenStanleyBayes wrote:

robot797 wrote:the reason why i think your fuel is clogging becaus castor oil forms crystals when it gets frozen
i had 1L of it destroied becaus it froze overnight

i also use medicinal castor oil but i never have clogs with it

and my fuel is stored in a plastic bottle in my garage

(i had 3 year old diesel fuel in the same bottle and that still worked)

my advice stop freezing your fuel
and put it in an airtight container (that should stop the evaporation of the ether)
and place it in a room temperature room

I only freeze Ether. The rest is at room temperature.

You have an electric start with which everything is easy and nit so much fuel dependent.

Thanks for the info, though. I can't imagine the fuel would last for so long.

To put Ether after all other fuel components is a good idea. This way, CastCasOil would not be exposed to the frozen Ether so much. I also think Castor Oil canbe frozen and does not disolve well as well as may form crystals. Industrial Castor Oil such as Cox should be more immune.
 

True. Mixing reduces evaporation but does not stop.

Ether disolves plastic and best be stored in a stainless steel airtight container. May make oxidation on Aluminium and Copper.

As far as evapouration of pure Ether is concerned : I punched the bottom of a John Deere can and waited for the propellants to escape. Than I poured the Ether into a stainless steel canister, airtight. Than, when the canister is not in the freezer, the Ether will evaporate inside to create pressure so hogh so unscrewing the canister cap is difficult. This happens after every closing and opening of the canister on more than 10 occasions. Therefore, not propellants but Ether evaporation creates the Ether gas and thus Ether losses. When kept in the freezer, yhos does not happen.

As far as mixing is concerned, I have two measurement glasses anf, althoigh I mix the components accurately, the mixture is less than the sum of the components. This can only be caused by evaporation over a few seconds only which is not as severe as the pure Ether evaporation but is not insignificant either.

Got a puck to make a starter. Also interested in purchasing. Thank you for the links.

Such also can be made from toilet plungers and furnature casters. May be too big, though.

i dont know what ether you are using
but i have 100% medicinal ether
it does evaporate but not as fast to creat pressure
and mine does not eat plastics
i mean i bought a liter ether and it came in a plastic bottle
and it is stored in my garage
and it still has not poped the bottle in shape (i squeezed it to get some out to mix fuel (it deformed))