Well the maiden voyage I was belt slip limited, the second wingfoot lake I was seaweed limited, and this 3rd trip I was just getting up to pressure, maybe 100-150psi, and then snap.SL Ethel wrote:One striking thing I noticed in your narrative is "plenty of steam". Many, if not most, of our plants, have engines that can swallow more steam than we can produce - essentially we're boiler limited. If you are only turning 60 RPM and can keep steam pressure all the way up, you definitely have room to develop more horsepower and (probably) speed. I would think about 200 rpm as a comfortable slow cruising rpm for your engine, which is probably comfortably capable of at least double that. If you have enough steam for 200 rpm, you'd approximately triple your power output. Something to think about when doing the belt replacement - maybe adjust the ratio a bit at the same time and see if it gives you another knot.
The second wingfoot lake the safety valve had to pop maybe 10 times because we couldn't use all the steam we were making! Exercising your safety valve at least once a day is a good idea in my book, but after that it is a big waste of steam.
The current plan is a more heavy duty belt and pulleys. The drive ratio is not going to be quite as aggressive as it was this time. Right now it is 1:3.43. I'm thinking between 1:2 and 1:3 is probably what I'd be happy with. It would be very interesting to have a variable transmission or a gearbox with a few options right now. But I have a feeling that you would just find your favorite and stick with it.
What broke: L Series Timing Belt, Trade No. 660L100, trapezoid 1" width, 0.375" pitch, neoprene,
Thinking of this replacing it with this:
High-Strength HTD Timing Belt
Gates PowerGrip GT3
Width 50 mm
Length: 2m Curved Teeth
Pitch: 8 mm
Material: Neoprene
Reinforcement Material: Fiberglass
Trade No. 2000-8m-50
Thanks are much appreciated! Glad it's entertaining.SL Ethel wrote:Please keep the updates coming. It's been great getting to watch your boat come to life.
-CB