EIWI side lever engine

EIWI side lever engine ( twin beam)

The uneven exhaust note seems to be a characteristic of EIWI engines, perhaps air leakage on the spool valves.

Refinements made to this engine.

The outer ends of the crank webs were thinned allowing them to move closer to the side frames. The connecting rods now hang parallel to the side frames. The crankshaft was then shortened accordingly.

The width of the flywheel hub was reduced by 3mm on one side. The flywheel is now centered within the side frames.

Originally, the side levers reciprocated on the axle, which remained stationary in its bearings. A new axle, shouldered at each end was made. Each lever was fitted with a flanged washer on both sides. When the axle nuts are tightened, the levers are locked to the axle, forcing it to reciprocate in the pedestal bearings. This will greatly prolong the life of the engine.

New pipework was made terminated with flat-faced nipples. Fiber washers between the flat jointing faces ensures an air/steam leak-free joint. The original push-on hose tail was removed and the hole blanked off. The top of the turret was drilled and tapped to take a speed regulator valve which is fitted with an 1/8" BSP adapter to allow an airbrush hose to be connected.

The Driving piston rod gland was already fitted with an "O" sealing ring. The spool valve rod gland is now fitted with a 4mm i/d "O" sealing ring to reduce leakage.

Many thanks to MacIej Izdebski (engine501) in Poland for making this fascinating engine available to me.

Additional info.
Two of these full sized engines were mounted side by side, joined by a common shaft (no flywheel), the cranks opposed at 90 degrees to allow self starting in forward and reverse. On the full sized engines, the levers were joined with a cross-head with a single connecting rod passing between the frames to the crankshaft above. The full sized condensing engines operated at 11 psi with a maximum speed of 20 RPM.

Видео EIWI side lever engine канала EIWI steam engines from Poland