The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-11-25
SMALL GASOLINE ENGINES.
THE KIND That HAND OFT JOY
AND TROUBLE.

WI HA"ASh y" 10
simplest rOrm and Why IL Notes.-The
In this coming winter a multitude of young
r-an and men not 80 young, over their
work. their pipes and their pillows. wiz be
Sinking over a plan they have for y~,Tea-
ilon when the winter has rome by. They
are for the most part those who work for a
living and whose incomes are not large.
They love the water, and their plan is to
increase the pleasure of their outings,
weekly OF o~ftener, and Of their vacations,
nv owning a power driven boat. Some OF
them mean TO buy launches; others to in
stall motors in their catboats, skiffs or other
small craft. Many of them know nothing
about these little machines, a few know
something about them, and still fewer are
in r%osition to give an expert carte blanche
To- procure for them what they think they
would like to have.
With the view Of interesting and possibly
Of assisting such prospective ow ners Of small
power craft this article is written. That it
Is not intended for experts should he az
parent from the fact that il dpes not go
deeply into the matters which interest them.
hut il devoted wholly to bringing UP qucs-
tions thst may help the novice to inform
himself as to matters of which he knows
little or nothing.
With the assumption that he may be
more or less In the dark as to the principle
Of the g~asolene engine in its simplest form,
'hc earlier paragraphs are devoted to that
subject.
Gasoline ~evaporates rapidly. This means
that without assistance it mixes readily
with air. If this mixture contains the right
proportions Of gasolene and air il is ex-
plosive.
When compressed it is a fairly strong
explosive. The substance may be ex-
ploded by fame, by any material in a con-
dition- Of incandescence, or by an electric
spark. The explosive nature OF the mixture
makes the gasolene motor possible.
It is easy to produce a rapidly explosive
mixture Of gssolene and air by bringing a
jet Of gasolene in contact with a puff Of air.
The ordinary atomizer OF the toilet table
illustrates the process.
Blu this mixture, without COMPRESSION, ia
not sufficiently strongly explosive to be
Of Use in generating power. Compression
is obtained by admitting the mixture into
the cylinder OF a motor when the piston
head il furthest from the cylinder head
NHcu Nv CNliiAACA CdpnCltN 10 III LdTkcSt-
and by pushing the piston head upward
until the mixture is compressed within a
much smaller space.
II it is then exploded the piston head ia
forced violently down and this motion, by
means OF a connecting rod and a crank
shaft, gives momentum to a heavy fly wheel.
When the piston head is a little above its
lowest point it opens a hole through the side
Of the cylinder as a cork would open a hole
in the side Of the neck of a bottle by sliding
down past It. Through this the residuum
Of the exploded mixture escapes.
The momentum Of the nywhsel carries the
piston to its lowest point, where, still acting
AZ the cord in the neck OF q bottle, il opens
a hole leading from the mixer into the cylin-
der, and another charge Of the mixture is
admitted. The momentum Of the Hywheel
' forces the piston upward, closing both the
inlet and the outlet Of the cylinder and
COMPRISING the gasolene vapor in the top
of the cylinder, to be exploded again.
This process repeated results in the rotary
motion Of the Hywheel and its shaft. In
ordinary uses IL can be repeated from sew
snty times to a thousand times a minute,
giving a speed Of from seventy to 1000
revolutions a minute.
The only practicable way yet discovered
for firing the compressed explosive mixture
IN its cylinder is by using the electric spark.
The use OF a flame inside the cylinder liz
impo ssible.
An incandescent point within the cylinder
would fire each new charge, a. every user
~ a gasolene motor knows from his ex-
p~erience whe,l the water circulation in the
Jacket around the cylinder has failed n
the spark points ha We become heated to
white heat. But when a motor begins firing
in that way il is uncomfortable except by
shutting on the explosive vapor.
There are two ways Of exploding by cleo
tric spark the compressed vapor in the
cylinder-the make and break and the jump
spark.
In the former two electrodes are brought
\ into contact within the cylinder. The
electric current from the battery flows from
one electrode to the other until the contact
between the electrodes Is broken. Then a
single spark is produced.
This spark is made by the breaking Of a
direct circuit from one pole Of The battery
through a resistance coil to the insulated
: electrode within the cylinder. from this
slectrode TO the non-insulated electrOde
within the cylinder, thence to the ground
wire and back to the other pole Of the bat
terry. This current does not jump over any
interva. or imperfection OF contact in the
circuit.
In jump spark ignition a vibrating spark
coil is used. The current from this Ia similar
10 that which produces the quivering shock
IN the so-called medico-electirc batteries.
This current IL carried from one OF the
poles Of the spark coil to the spark plug
by a heavily insulated cable of small wires.
The outer bushinR of the spark plug il
grounded to the cylinder by its contact with
II. The coil of the plug is insulated from the
Gushing, and 10 this core the insulated
cable from the spark coil leads.
There are two points on the END Of this
plug. within the firing chamber of the
cylinder, one point connected with the bush
ing and one connected with the insulated
core. These points are separated by a space
about a. broad as the thickness OF a table
knife blade.
When the direct circuit is completed
through any Of the various devices for conn
pleting it by the revolution Of the fywheeI
or the closing Of switches, the current to the
spark plug jumps the space between the
electrodes Of the plug within the cylinder,
producing a stream OF sparks from one
point to the other. Because the make and
break method yields but one spark, while
the jump spark method yields a stream OF
sparks. the latter has been commonly re-
garded as b more trustworthy methoo Of
ignition.
The foregoing iso ptended to be a descrip-