Hit and miss

[delphParticipant @delph]

Dear all,

having had a go at most things RC from robotwars to rock crawling I like a challenge ! anyhow to the point, has anyone come across the Microcosm M19 hit and miss engine ? its a bit of an investment at £230 ish but would defiantly fit in some type of boat and looking at it running on U-Tube its peaked my interest.

Chris

[Richard SimpsonParticipant @richardsimpson88330]

I’ve always thought of the ‘Hit and Miss’ engines and the ‘Hot Air’ engines as interesting little table top engines to study how they work and enjoy having a play with them.  As to whether they have a realistic amount of power to be used to drive something such as a model boat I wouldn’t like to say, but I strongly suspect they won’t be powerful enough.  As you mention it is not an insignificant amount of money to spend to find out it isn’t man enough to push your boat.

Unless you can actually find someone who has been brave enough to try it and can say definitively that it works I would tend to stay with tried and tested engine types such as a small oscillator.  The same chap does a number of oscillator engines which come inclusive with lubricators and control valves and for a good bit less money so they are the ones to consider for a boat.  This is perfect for a model up to around three foot long or perhaps a little more:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/152259137370?hash=item23735a0f5a:g:~7QAAOSwmLlX7K4e

 

[delphParticipant @delph]

thanks for your comments,

I have done steam (not really my thing), compressed air (no duration and slightly dangerous) and built a V6 solenoid motor (no power and over heats). so I would like an IC engine that is slow`ish running, easy to start and quiet. diesel is obvious but can and are a pig to run right. glow is next on the list but am unsure of slow idle reliability as I’m after that “chuff chuff” sound of say a canal boat. petrol is possibility but tend to be quite big and the same issue of a slow idle and run rpm. a large flywheel may be the way forward but that then raises the engine higher in the hull or have two that are belt driven either side. the choices seem endless !

Chris

[Richard SimpsonParticipant @richardsimpson88330]

One of the challenges you are going to come up against Chris is that the majority of public waters do not allow the use of internal combustion engines.  This could narrow down the options for where you can use the model when completed.

[Keith LongParticipant @keithlong89920]

Chris, can I suggest that you make a posting on the Model Engineer forum about the hit and miss engines for model boat use and ask for folks experience of getting them to run slowly and what sort of power they will develop. There are a number of contributors on there that make these engines, the most prolific being Jason Ballamy (JasonB) who also happens to be one of the main moderators for that forum. Folk on there should be able to point you towards various videos where you can see these engines running and give you a better idea of the performance that can be achieved.

[delphParticipant @delph]

good information,

will have a look. but there is no way I’m going to build one. I have a lathe but its really, really old and worn out. bit like me then !

Chris

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Not sure any small I/c engine is going to chuff. Even at idle the ones I have heard are going like the clappers.

it may be that four stroke types with a large flywheel run at more modest revs but I have little experience of such things.

the last time I saw an I/c boat running at the pond was….hmmm…rt years ago!!

ashley. (Sound module yer best bet!)

[delphParticipant @delph]

dam, cannot log onto the engineer forum. have sent an e mail so will see what happens.

thanks Ashley, nigh on all my boats have sound modules (not the sail ones or the sub obviously) but would really like the real thing.

what IS interesting is i haven’t had loads of you saying I’ve got one or bin there done that. i do love something different.

Chris

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Does the maker say what sort of revs it does? They must know, and they must know how fast it ticks over at.

Boats don’t need that much power to move, however low power boats require calm conditions to sail (motor).

Ashley

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