Rockerblock I.C.--Something a little different-

[Sparky_NY]

The demand valve that uses tecumpsea parts, that we are talking about here, I saw a dozen at the cabin fever show working and they all were laying flat.

Well, that does prove that they do work !

[ahidley]

The demand valve that uses tecumpsea parts, that we are talking about here, I saw a dozen at the cabin fever show working and they all were laying flat.

[Sparky_NY]

In post #324 you have a c clamp over the on demand valve assemebly which could be blocking the vent hole on the unit causing it not to work???

Very good observation ! Also, larger demand valves are required to be mounted with the diaphragm in a vertical position to operate properly, they are that sensitive.

[ahidley]

In post #324 you have a c clamp over the on demand valve assemebly which could be blocking the vent hole on the unit causing it not to work???

[brian Rupnow]

Another Rockerblock engine has sprung to life, in merry England. A fellow who had purchased my plans just sent me a very nice video, but it's not a YouTube post, so I can't direct you to it. The engine seems to run very well. So---We now have three running Rockerblocks in the world. Canada, New Zealand, and England.

[brian Rupnow]

Mr Fixit- I sell the complete set of plans as pdf files so that people don't require a special software to open the drawings. The rockerblock engine is the first of my engines which I sell plans for, because of it's uniqueness. If you search for other projects under my name, you will find many other engines which I could sell plans of. Going price is $25 for each engine. I email the plans to you. If you search under "Brian rupnow YouTube" you will see many, many engines I have designed running there. you can contact me at [email protected] --Brian Rupnow

[Mr Fixit]

Hi Brian,

How are you offering your drawings for the engines you design? You say you have sold a few of this engine, are you offering any of your other projects up for sale. Might be interested in one of the simpler ones for a first timer.
If you have a site could you post a link? Look forward to what you might have available.

TX
Mr fixit for the family
Chris

[brian Rupnow]

Gee Whiz--I'm going international in a big way. The second Rockerblock engine ever built was just finished by DavidLloyd2 in New Zealand. Cogsy in Australia has a set of the plans, and a fellow in the U.K. also has a set. I just sold a set of plans to a fellow in Spain. I'm pretty sure I sold a set to someone in USA but I'm not certain---can't remember. David Lloyd2 in New Zealand has posted a video of his Rockerblock running on HMEM, and I think his actually runs better than mine.---Brian

[brian Rupnow]

I have a few people around the world building this engine now, and I am being asked about setting the valve timing. The set screws in the cams are difficult to access. I covered how I did this back on post #271, but here is a repeat of the way I did it. I was very lucky and the very first setting I used seems to work fine.
--There is a bit of trickery involved in setting the valve timing. You must have the cylinder head and lifters and rockers all in place, and have the valve lash set at about 0.010" when the lifters are not "up" on the cams. I sawcut a 0.030" slot in the end of the camshaft that is on the same side as the cam gear, so that I could turn the camshaft with a screwdriver. I removed the flywheel on the side where the timing gears are and turned the other flywheel in the direction I intended the engine to run (clockwise when viewed from the side with the gears on.) The set screws in the exhaust cam were tightened at any random spot by reaching up through the bottom of the engine. The intake cam was left loose on the shaft. The setscrews in the cam gear were left loose. The crankshaft gear was tightened on the crankshaft at any random position. I turned the flywheel until the piston was about 40 degrees or so before bottom dead center, then used a screwdriver to turn the camshaft in the opposite direction to the crankshaft until the cam lobe was just beginning to influence the exhaust valve. At that point, I tightened the camshaft gear setscrews. That "locked in" the exhaust valve timing. I then kept turning the flywheel until the piston was about 30 degrees before top dead center. At that point I reached up through the bottom of the engine (with great difficulty) and rotated the intake cam until it was just beginning to influence the intake valve, then I locked it in place. The cam set screws are "accessible" either through the underside of the engine or through the vertical slots in the "bolster" which stiffens the cylinder head plate. If you simply can not get at the screws for the intake side cam, you can remove the other flywheel, the ignition cam, and the entire sideplate to get to the intake cam set-screws to tighten them. .---Brian

[vpt]

With it running on gas, could you just start to trickle in some propane and slowly shut off the gas till it is running on strait propane?

[brian Rupnow]

After my failed attempt to even have the engine fire on Propane fuel, I was beginning to wonder if perhaps the ignition timing or valve timing had "slipped" from the original settings where it ran so well on naptha gas. I had a spare gas tank setting around, so I installed it on the engine, and without readjusting anything the engine fired right up and ran well. I decided to have a 40 minute "endurance run", and about half way thru the run I picked up my camera and shot a short video. That explains the nasty oil on everything.---I had given all of the bearing surfaces a good squirt of lubricating oil and filled the water reservoir before starting the run. The water stays in the reservoir with no problem, but the oil quickly turns black and splashes all over the place.---Brian
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dp0CgAwvBss

[vpt]

No Andy, I haven't tried that, because the propane will continue to flow while the engine is on compression, power, and exhaust strokes, flooding the room with propane and creating a fire hazard. I will probably end up in "The hot place" sooner or later, but I don't want to rush it.

It would be a nice quick test just to see if the engine will run on propane like it should.

[J Tiers]

Yes that.

Finger over the intake should pull enough when turning over to get it to pop when finger is removed (see one of the links). Dribbling propane at carb should also, just to prove it fires on propane ok.

Then the propane adapter can be fiddled with.

[reggie_obe]

Maybe I missed it in the last 100 or so posts....
At what point did you prove that your demand regulator was opening and allowing propane into the engine?
Similarly, how have you tested that your engine is producing sufficient vacuum to open the demand regulator?

[dave_r]

Brian already had it working on gas. He's just having some trouble getting it to run on propane.