LEGO power?

A place for discussing diverse methods of powering locomotives, such as Internal Combustion, Wind, etc...
Post Reply
User avatar
dudeface
Fireman
Fireman
Posts: 343
Joined: Tue Nov 14, 2023 3:35 am
Location: Dodge Co. WI
Contact:

LEGO power?

Post by dudeface » Thu Nov 16, 2023 5:13 pm

Here's a LEGO vacuum engine I built, "vacuum" referring to a readily available power source, a vacuum cleaner - it has nothing to do with a flamelicker. (Look up Lego Vacuum Engine on YouTube, they get pretty impressive, I'm talking v16s and stuff.) Anyway, this one here is a double acting single cylinder, it's very smooth. I'm thinking I could make 2 of these and mount them on a frame with a compressed air tank made from a 1-liter soda bottle, and have a "live air" LEGO fireless...
Attachments
WP_20231116_10_50_44_Pro.jpg
WP_20231116_10_50_44_Pro.jpg (4.55 MiB) Viewed 14359 times
It doesn't need three flywheels, they just make it smoother
It doesn't need three flywheels, they just make it smoother
WP_20231116_10_51_25_Pro.jpg (4.81 MiB) Viewed 14359 times
Upper half
Upper half
WP_20231116_10_52_07_Pro.jpg (4.92 MiB) Viewed 14359 times
Throttle for vroom vroom noises. Here you can just see the lower port
Throttle for vroom vroom noises. Here you can just see the lower port
WP_20231116_10_53_05_Pro.jpg (4.43 MiB) Viewed 14359 times
Miles-- Trains are fun. With the exception of track power. Argh!

User avatar
drewzero1
Administrator
Administrator
Posts: 692
Joined: Fri Apr 21, 2023 4:35 pm
Location: WI, US

Re: LEGO power?

Post by drewzero1 » Thu Nov 16, 2023 11:32 pm

This looks really interesting. What kind of speed/power does it make?

User avatar
dudeface
Fireman
Fireman
Posts: 343
Joined: Tue Nov 14, 2023 3:35 am
Location: Dodge Co. WI
Contact:

Re: LEGO power?

Post by dudeface » Fri Nov 17, 2023 1:30 am

I'd guess about 800-1000 rpm, I made a transmission for it and it was unable to turn it so very little power, but there are some pretty powerful ones out there. However it runs nicely and I could use a longer stroke for more torque.

I'll have to take a slow-mo video and count the revs myself as I don't have a tachometer.
Miles-- Trains are fun. With the exception of track power. Argh!

User avatar
dudeface
Fireman
Fireman
Posts: 343
Joined: Tue Nov 14, 2023 3:35 am
Location: Dodge Co. WI
Contact:

Re: LEGO power?

Post by dudeface » Fri Nov 17, 2023 6:52 pm

I took a slow motion video of it and trimmed to 16 seconds, then counted 80 rotations in groups of 8. Since the slow mo video is 4x slower that gives us 80 rotations every 4 seconds or 20 rotations per second, which equates to 1200 rpm. Of course, it would be faster with a more powerful vacuum.
Miles-- Trains are fun. With the exception of track power. Argh!

User avatar
dudeface
Fireman
Fireman
Posts: 343
Joined: Tue Nov 14, 2023 3:35 am
Location: Dodge Co. WI
Contact:

Re: LEGO power?

Post by dudeface » Sun Nov 19, 2023 5:02 pm

Maybe something like this:
Attachments
WP_20231119_10_58_27_Pro.jpg
WP_20231119_10_58_27_Pro.jpg (4.99 MiB) Viewed 14203 times
Miles-- Trains are fun. With the exception of track power. Argh!

User avatar
dudeface
Fireman
Fireman
Posts: 343
Joined: Tue Nov 14, 2023 3:35 am
Location: Dodge Co. WI
Contact:

Re: LEGO power?

Post by dudeface » Sun Nov 19, 2023 6:07 pm

Here's a gif of it running, watch the blue thing
Attachments
ezgif.com-crop (2).gif
ezgif.com-crop (2).gif (10.39 MiB) Viewed 14195 times
Miles-- Trains are fun. With the exception of track power. Argh!

Post Reply

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 0 guests