The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-11-25

They are 70 be found in all sorte Of craft
IN launches up TO twenty-five feet length,
IN yacht tenders, in catboats a. a~uxiliaries,
in dories. lobster skiffs and hatties.
There are scores, perhaps hundreds OF
different makes OF these little machines,
all OF which will run well enough on the
testing blocks in the shops who're they are
built.
There ia no gasolsns engine on tho market
that will not run well when il leaves the
shop. That he sees IL running perfectly
~ no guide to the prospective buyer as 10
the merits OF the machine; and the object
or nearly ignorant OF the subject some
hints that ina be- useful. Perhaps tho
plainest way il 20 begin with the gasolene
tank and finish with the exhaust,
Tho sizs of the tank should be in accord
nnce with the dimensions Of the boat, tho
capacity Of the motor and the hours Of
runaing required between supplies. The
most durable form OF tank is the cylindrical
drum. All other mi will leak sooner or
later along the lower angular edges, and
u leaky tank il dangerous.
Copper il the best material for a tank,
but II il costly. An iron drum, galvanized
outside and inside, Ia a good tank. The
tap in the a for the outflow OF gasolene
should be slightly above its lowest point.
40 hat there will be g~asolene for a run Of
half an hour OF so in the tank when the motor
stops because the gasolenc supply is getting
low.
Then, by moving passengers or cargo
toward the stern OF the boat, the gasolshs
flow will be restored Il the tank 10 in the for.
ward part, as it usually 10, and the boa will
60 on long enough perhaps TO make a harbor,
a landing or q gasolene station.
The tank should be 90 placed that there
will be plenty Of fall from the 9asolene out
let to the mixing valve or oarburetor, and
it should be located IL possible where Il can
be easily inspected for leaks. II IL safer,
where practicable, to have the gasolene pipe
in sight all the way from the tsnk to the
engine.
There are many good mixing valves and
carburetors on The market. A carburetor
with a float valve for shutting on the gaso-
lene supply is an advantage. IL is no joke
to forget to shut on the gasolene, II you
flooded when next you try to start 1t.
A damper bet the carburetor and
the engine is almost necessary. Any en-
CINE can be slowed down by decreasing the
supply Of vap0r. To do this, il there il no
damper, il il necessary to manipulate the
appliances governing both the GASOLINE sup
! ply and the air supply; otherwise the MKT
ure will contain too much gasolene or too
much air.
The damper cuts down the supply OF
mixed vapor, and the portion admitted to the
cylinder contains gasolene and air in the
proper proportions.
There should be on every small engine a
combined printing cup and relief cock. One
a bc bOukutI Ebb tthcAl n ~ jill bhlu
substituted for the relief cock. which 10 sell
dom OF never absent. The best one cylinder
engines are none too good to need printing
sometimes at starting.
good pump for supplying the water cir
culation around the cylinder chamber IL i'm
portant. II the pump fails the engine is
soon out Of commission. Some builders
say that their engines, II well fabricated. can
be run for an hour without water; but IL does
the engine no good and is apt TO play havoc
0nfh thu FK ming
A common result Of the failure OF partial
failure OF the pump Is the heating to in
candescence OF some point Of the sparkling
device within the cylinder and the refusal
switch is opened. Then the boat may
crash into some object and suffer damage.
or do damage
II in open water the en- CINE from this cause
refuses to stop, 1t IL necessary to open the
! relief cock and close the needle valve:
and then the engine may stop before the
piston rings become so heated that the
piston will be wedged, or IL may not. In
the latter case there is q delay, IL nothing
worse, OF half an hour or more for the en- CINE
to cool of.
Probably the most Trustworthy ia the
ordinary plum ger pump. worked by an
eccentric on the crank shaft. 1t pumps
equally as well whether the en- CINE is run
ning forward or backward. Such a pump,
il properly packed in the beginning, should
work Tor two or three years with no further
attention than tightening up the nut on the
stufflng once or twice a year.. The least
satisfactory are the rotary pumps worked
by sprockets and chain. Gear pumps are
somewhat better. In the water piping to
the wateriacket or from it there should
alwaysbea petcock for determining whether
the engine Is getting its water circulation.
The matter OF ignition is a large PROPOSE
ton. The little engine itself is a very
simple affair; the mixer or .carburetor is
not complicated; the pump, II Of the right
kind. will giveno trouble.
The battery is al easy matter-six dry
cells Of any good make, in a box with q
strap for carrying the boz stuffed with
wires leading to outside posts for conven-
fence in conn Getting wires, and one post
marked Y and the other Cto show which
connect with the zinc and which with the
carbon element Of the battery.
Such a battery will give current enough
to fire any engine OF the grade here on
sidered, either by make and break or the
jump spark, and will prove In he end about
as economical as any battery and will give
less bother. There are always stores near
where Kasolene boats are used at which
dry cells can be bought at the standard
price OF rs cents apiece. 1t N not ALWAYS
easy to find a place where material for re-
plenishing wet batteries can be obtained
or where storage batteries can be re-
charged.
The dry cells should be wired with light,
flexible, insulated wire cable or thin insulated
copper strips. The ordinary insulated
cQNper wire il stiff and gives trouble by
i08gling loose from the screwposts on the
cells.
As to the spark rig--make and break or
Jump? The difference in principle has been
set forth briefly above. The prospective
buyer presumably has a boat in view in
which the engine is not covered. He Ia
not an electrician or a machiDist.
He may know a little about the uses of
the electric current and Of tools in an ANA
teur way. As has been said, all the parts
OF the outfit are simple up to this point.
Five years ago almost all Of the small
g~asolene marine engines had the make and
break ignition. Now the smallest and less
costly OF them are commonly equipped with
a Jump spark outfit.
Simplicity all through in the equipment
OF a small gasolene boat makes lees trouble
for the novice owner than intricacy, With
the make and break spark the spark coil IL
. merely a resistance coil.
Anybody can make one; II has no moving
parts and II should last a life time. The
insulated spark plug ~ about as simple IN
the lump spark method az in the make and
break; the cost Of one Is the same as that
OF the other and its life ia al long. The