I need a stationary steam engine

[rickasaurus]

Hi, I want to use a stationary steam engine to drive a car alternator as a charger for a set of deep cycle batteries.

I live in Australia and have lots of wood so a wood burning boiler is ideal. However I have no idea what sort of stationary engine I need, what size, etc. I propose to drive the alternator in the same way as a car engine setup using pulley wheels and a drive belt. I don't have any machining facilities so I would need a complete engine and boiler ready to go.

Any advice on what I need and the best way to go about this would be appreciated.

Rick

[Tel]

Where are you located Rick?

[rickasaurus]

Hi Tel. I am in Sydney, Australia. I am just looking for advice on what size/type of steam engine would be suitable for my application. Then I will try to find one locally.
Rick

[Tel]

Can you tell us a bit more about the project mate, it's really a bit hard to know what you need without further info, but my own gut feeling is that you could buy several B&S engines and quite a lot of petrol for what an engine/boiler set up would cost you AND you would have to be with it all the time when it was in operation.

I'm not that far away, just south of Bathurst
02 6337 9261

[rickasaurus]

Hi Tel,
Thanks for your reply. I already have a petrol battery charger, but it has no personality!

I realise a steam driven charger would not pass an economic rationalism test, but it is something I want to do anyway, just for the fun of it. I have always had a fascination for steam engines, but never did anything about it before.

I have a bush shack on 160 acres in the Snowy Mountains near Adaminaby. We don't live there full-time, just occasionally, mostly in winter.

The electricity setup has a bank of 4 100AH batteries, charged primarily by solar panels, with a wind generator backup.

In the winter, when power consumption is highest, the solar charging is lowest, and we sometimes run low on power if there are a few cloudy days.

The sensible thing to do would be to just add a few more batteries, but I got this crazy idea to have a steam engine battery charger, more for the fun than out of any real necessity.

So my idea was to have a small stationary steam engine driving a conventional car alternator through a normal car belt and pulley wheel setup. The alternator would connect directly to the batteries and charge them nicely. Normally I would expect to only run a few hours at a time.

I guess the steam engine would run relatively slowly (say 800 rpm?, but I really don't know) compared to the alternator which I guess needs about 2000 rpm, so the pulley sizes would gear this to the right speed.

I realise it might be expensive, so I don't need a new one. Perhaps someone has something suitable laying around I could get for a reasonable price.

We may be around Bathurst/Orange way this weekend, are you anywhere near there? Anyway, thanks for posting your phone number. I will give you a call and would appreciate any advice you can give me.

cheers
Rick

[Lee]

I remember reading about a similar setup a few years ago in a magazine called I think "Grass Roots" If I remember rightly they got the engine castings and boiler plans off Ernie Winter.

Lee

[Tel]

Yeah mate, Bathurst is about 20 mins to the north of me. Unfortunately I won't be there Saturday as I have to be in Byng (near Orange) for a wedding - should be back by Sunday.

Yep, your best chance would be a second hand plant of some sort - possibly a Stuart 5A or something similar, with suitable boiler & ancillaries. Be a matter of looking around, as not much of that stuff comes on the market. I'll compile a few suggestions that might 'elp in the quest as soon as I can mull it over a bit

rickasaurus said:

We may be around Bathurst/Orange way this weekend, are you anywhere near there? Anyway, thanks for posting your phone number. I will give you a call and would appreciate any advice you can give me.

cheers
Rick

[rickasaurus]

Thanks Tel. It was good to catch up with you on the phone. I look forward to your suggestions when you have time.

Also thanks to Lee. I will see if I can find the article in the mag you mentioned.
cheers
Rick