Breaking the Law - Completely Illegal Steam Engine from EngineDIY Shop! 

They've now included this video on the product page, not the direction I'd go to make my product look good but it's a strong move

I feel like someone made a semi-decent compressed air engine and they said, "Lets make it steam powered instead". And now we have this ... thing

I don't know why YT suggested this video for me, and I wouldn't have bought a steam engine model if it _did_ work. However this is by far one of the best reviews I've ever seen for any product. It's got everything - broken laws, engineering that is simultaneously brilliant and awful, legitimate danger for the operator, misunderstanding of physics. Even instructions on how to use a simple wrench!

crazy! my grandad built model steam engines in his garage using copper and brass. this looked way more technical than what he did but he seemed to have ticked much more boxes than this company. what's crazy is he passed not too long ago and this gets recommended to me! oh ill also add the copper and brass was often donated to him from pubs that were refurbished, they would donate the metals from pumps or plates that wrapped around the bar. true genius was my grandad, rip, miss n love you loads.

Those “guards” are designed to produce a nice grid pattern as you leave your skin on them😂

All the more reason I try to steer beginners towards makes like Mamod, Wilesco, and Jensen. They're safety-tested, fitted with proper safety valves and other "don't melt your face off and/or blow yourself up" features, and they're made with materials that you don't have to worry about letting go all of a sudden.

Tested on your desktop, no hood, no safety goggles, reaching over the bomb. Good lad! Safety squint!

I remember building a watts dual piston steam engine from scrap, no kit all I had was 2 pages of design drawings. Took me nearly a year to finish, spent just about every night in my old mans machine workshop. Won first place when I entered it into the end of the year science project, not bad for a 12y old even the teachers were amazed. Great skills to learn as a kid, machining & metal fabrication became handy for me later in life.😁😁

I love how Lawrie has full knowledge of the fact that so many corners where cut it would be a circle. Yet he puts it indoors, in his house, next to him and at least 2 computers... XD

China is pretty prolific with what could arguably be called 'cargo cult product development'. They see something, they think "hey, I could make and sell that", and that's all the thought process that goes into it. As long as it looks like the original idea, someone will buy it, because they have never experienced the original, only seen it. And so the cycle continues. Safety, material science, efficiency, and sometimes functionality outright, are lost along the wayside.

I’m amazed you ran this indoors, on a desk practically in your face! But props for the yellow car transporter on your desk, haven’t seen one of those in years. 👍

Aluminum is perfectly fine for a tiny boiler of that size! I’m guessing, it could operate at 400 to 600 psi with no issues at all. (Depending on the thickness of the aluminum and the type of aluminum used.) The safety valve sure, the boiler strength not a problem

As a little suggestion, the next time you are going to tap threads try holding the piece upside down so you don't get filings into the vessel.

I love how the sales page has this very video embedded on it, so you go to the page to buy the engine, and there's a RU-vid video with the thumbnail reading "Dangerous and Illegal!" emblazoned across it 🤣

Since you added the much needed safety valve, you could bypass their safety system. If you would plug the the hole to atmosphere on the control valve block you would use less steam and have possibly have better speed control. This will use less water and help insure you do not run out of water before fuel. Make a project: put the lower device on wood or longer screws so the steam line is level. Make the steam line shorter and solder in a tee. with the one tee leg aimed down solder on a drain valve. A good review and the possibility of saving an injury. I was a senior engineer at a stream plant, people do no realize the danger in a pressurized vessel.

While bare aluminium has corrosion issues at higher temperatures, anodized aluminium, depending on the kind of anodization of course, can have good characteristics. This being said, if they neglected to put in a pressure relief valve, i have my doubts they were thinking that when they were anodizing the thing yellow.

My grandfather built the house for his family. In the basement he had a boiler and the house had steam heat. I learned a lot about boilers from my grandfather and one of the things was the importance of a slight glass so you would know the level of the water in the boiler.

Someone definitely put a lot of thought and time into the design. It's to bad they stopped a couple steps short of a good model.

That part about aluminium losing its corrosion resistant properties as you heat it up is also why metal plants love to show that work safety video of what happens if you expose hot aluminium to water... Basically, its "corrosion resistance" comes from it being so reactive that it almost instantly corrodes a protective layer of aluminium oxide for itself when exposed to oxygen. If you continually remove this layer or keep it from growing one however... It reacts really, REALLY quickly, with an earth-shattering "kaboom".

This thing is simultaneously over-engineered and under-engineered.

With how poor the safety systems are on this model, I feel like they took an compressed air engine and jerry rigged a "boiler" to make it a steam engine. The only thing that boiler is useful for is demontrating a boiler explosion.

Ohhh yeah. As soon as I saw the color of the metal I knew what was up. In eBay Seller Engrish, that's "brass tone" -- it's aluminum anodized to sorta-kinda-if-you're-drunk-and-squinty-enough look like brass, but it very much is NOT brass, it's what brass looks like if you've never actually seen it and only heard it described over a telephone with an unusually buzzy connection. The similar, but slightly different "bronze tone" is their fake copper look, and it's just as egregious. Not to mention it's gushing out wet steam and... that is NOT a safety mechanism by any means, that is a time delay on your improvised shrapnel generator if you run that thing dry by accident. The cherry on the whipped cream on the whole poo fudge sundae being that it's bloody incontinent, which means that not only are all the screw threads _cast_ instead of cut, they're cast _badly_ ... a brilliant piece of kit, but only if you're a fool, a madman, or a hitman whose target takes after Rube Goldberg just a little _too_ well. I'm by no means a steam engineer, and my mechanical engineering skills are, in general, dubious at best. But, as my grandmother would say -- even Stevie Wonder could see just how awful this is. Whatever isn't useful as scrap bits for making something far better (not a challenge by any means) is purest bin fill, nothing more or less.

Get some egg shells and soak them in strong vinegar. When the shells disintegrate, strain the liquid through a cloth. Add denatured alcohol to the liquid and scoop out the gel that it makes. You now have dry alcohol fuel that stores forever in a sealed jar. It can be regulated on flame/temp a lot better.

Nice review. I have a Mammod Steam Roller still in the garage I have had for probably 45 years

When I first started collecting (and restoring) vintage steam engines I found this out the hard way. The vintage Bing plant I purchased did indeed have a pressure release valve but it was corroded to the point of being locked up, fortunately I ran it on air pressure first but did not monitor the pressure on my compressor and blew the boiler cap off the top of the boiler, It would have been bad if I had been steaming it at the same PSI. Now, even if the pressure release is working, I hydro test the boilers first. Thanks for posting.

To help reduce the steam turning back to water in the pipes, insulate them with asbestos... I mean, it's no more dangerous the the stean engin itself! 😄

Oh, forgot to mention. FIX THE PRORBLEMS> Every single deficiency you showed me could be mitigated with some more tapping and insertion of screws and/or drilling and tapping. There's no interest in another train like you showed as an alternative. That little engine is DOPE and as it is designed, it can be improved greatly. Even the Jenky screw just needs a larger screw in it. Dress it up and use a titanium screw or something awesome. Fix it. You already put a regulator on it so keep going. Consider slower burning wicks and possibly water your fuel down a bit/use other slower burning fuel. REINVENT THE WHEEL! You certainly have knowledge.

What an absolutely spiffing review!!! So bloody amusing and quite frankly, terrifying too!!! Thank you so much.

I love the fact that this video is now on their website, apparently to promote the product. Jeez... Edit: Now removed from their website... Edit the second: Now put back with added comments about possible illegality in the UK.

Whoever designed that needs to be served a cease and desist order. That is just downright dangerous. For God's sake, take that thing outside before it burns down your house.

You don't have to bend the pipe. Set the furnace on a block to raise it to the level of the reactor if the pipe is intended to be straight. Otherwise gravity should allow condensation to form within and dribble out one end under the influence of gravity. Also bending metal pipe can constrict it's volume at the bend... as exemplified by exactly what we saw happen. And I think the squeek upon use relates to the fact that it is annodized so the surface will abrade irregularly with releated contact with another annodized aluminum surface upon heating and subsequent cooling circumstances.

Any reasonably thinking (read non-twit) would view this engine as something to engineer. I and my friends have had this trait since about the age of six. We would cap the wick openings and go to one TRIMMED wick. We'd never light a dry wick. We'd try different fuels. We'd mount that stack deeper or change it. We'd design a safety valve. We'd improve the throttle. We'd feed the excess water to a feed tank with a valve. The UK has nanny stated the people so much they have lost the ability to dream, dare and innovate.

Wow. That definitely seems "designed" rather than "engineered", and it's a showpiece of what one can do with laser-cut metal and a nice catalog of generic parts. There are some fascinating details like the fact that the screw holes in the block of metal visible on top of the boiler at 5:34 have slots to the perimeter, which I think are there to make it possible to cut them with a waterjet while cutting the outside. It is almost as completely removed from traditional machining as it is from any engineering calculations or judgement. I would be entirely surprised if the throttle blowby that Lawrie talks about is intended as a safety mechanism; that seems far more thought than was put into any of the rest of it. My guess is that, instead, the "made from off-the-shelf generic bits" throttle that they cobbled together is simply leaky. Also, it seems to me that this is less likely to explode than to have the bottom sheet on the boiler flex enough to leak around the perimeter and blow out its entire contents in a shrieking banshee blast of flash-boiled steam. This is not clearly an improvement.

you also don't want aluminum and steel together due to the galvanic reaction. This looks like a classic case of no one has died so far lets sell it.

A couple things to fix this: 1. Use correct materials (not aluminum) 2. Cut down wicks so they don’t over burn like this 3. Make the chimney actually attach 4. Tighten the tolerance of the regulator/throttle 5. Add a built in safety valve 6. Fix the plumbing of the tubes.

Bro: I'm not addicted to my vape I swear Also Bro: 3:36

"I'm dubious about this machine" Proceeds to test it 2 foot from himself in the house.

“Prevent Danger” is brilliant from a legal perspective. If anyone gets hurt, and litigates the company, all the company has to do is prove the person didn’t prevent danger ⚠️ which is impossible 😅🎉😢

I bought one of these, it came with a pressure release valve, which doubles as a water filler port. I’m 55yo, it isn’t that difficult to use something younger people seem to be lacking . . . . Commonsense. The steam is regulated by a needle valve. With a little knowledge, one knows the flywheel position is important BEFORE starting. As for the different heights, a piece of timber to raise it. I’ll give you the aluminium as an issue. It should be a steel or brass boiler. Maybe it ‘keeps running’ to use the steam and prevent an explosion. Add in the aforementioned pressure valve (a which again mine came with one) it is fine. As for ‘stopping’ the engine, maybe remove the fire? No fire, no heat, no steam, solved! Safety is important, but everything has danger. Mitigating the risks, is the key.

This engine is so illegal that after watching this video you may get a fine.

"I can see why you need goggles", says goggle-less Lawrie! You know no fear my friend 😂

A boiler without a safety valve on it is not a boiler; it's a steam-powered bomb, this thing is just straight up a bomb as it comes from the manufacturer.

Many thanks for this review - What is your recommended model steam engine instead?

A friend and I built a very simple steam engine from scratch. Literally the first part we ordered was the safety valve. Everything else we machined, silver soldered, etc ourselves but that one part was commercial and reliable. We further tested it with an air compressor repeatedly.

"The collector" may want high end steam engines, like the Wilesco D32 (droooolll), but I can see the appeal of the Jank-master 9000 and similar engines. I just wouldn't run it on steam. Perhaps compressed air from a pre-regulated source.

The flames licking up the side of the boiler alone make this a ridiculous and dangerous piece of kit in my opinion! Never mind all the other safety deficits!😮

All this time I’m stressing over his computers behind him! Lol

POV: You're watching an ad in a very clever marketing campaign.

Many pressure cookers are aluminium. However aluminium in contact with a brass safety valve will corrode horribly. You should fit a stainless piece between the valve and the boiler. Or just polish it and put it on the shelf where it belongs.

"A company sent me this product. It's illegal, potentially massively harmful, and performs terribly even after significant modification... So the link is in the description, go check them out!" ngl Lawrie I'm not convinced 😂 (I'm paraphrasing for humour, I know he didn't really say this)

*A woman winks at him from across the room of a Coffee shop.* LMM: "That's illegal!!!"

The importance of a safety valve was made to me during a science experiment where I tried to recreate the Aeolipile using a flask with two right angle exit pipes on the sides. It spun around as I heated the flask with steam coming out the exit pipes but the pressure was still building in the device until it exploded! Luckily no injuries but It wasn't worth the paperwork afterwards!

I wonder if it would be worth trying to upgrade it, replacing the wick burner with a coal/wood burner, adding a sight glass, better funnel, just trying to make it better

Uhm......Thats the issue with ordering from overseas, when you purchase effectively factory direct local regulations dont really apply. Yes, licensed businesses in a country/county/city are obligated to abide by the local regulations and laws. An entity across the internet can sell literally anything that wont cause an international incident. And there is ABSOLUTELY NO POSSIBLE AVENUE for local laws to be enforced in a foreign country....that is kind of the entire point of sovereignty. They (the brokers attached to the chinese factory districts) are under no obligation to be truthful, not to mention act in your best interest in any way, they are obligated to make sales. You, us, anyone, as the buyer have to be knowledgeable enough in the products we purchase to spot BS listing ratings and blatant garbage construction. Never, EVER, trust an unknown seller, assume its a polished turd until proven otherwise. Never, EVER, assume its a bargain from a minimalist manufacturer being your pal in not charging you for the big name label. Most of these products are runs to keep the factory going and run out left over plastic, casings, components. The big names pay for the best QA, the cheap sites like alibaba and wish (and amazon) are mostly factory district brokers using scripts to manage listings on multiple seller accounts with only enough QA to confirm it wont let the smoke out....probably. If you buy a product, assume its built to be safe, and blow your hand off.....thats on you. At worst theyll just close that account and move the listings over to another one. Think like a broker that doesnt give a shit about anything except making a sale. Thats what 90% of these seller accounts are. And no, they dont care. There is literally no punishment they have to worry about. Hell, Amazon has no simple method at all for users to flag false listings and dangerous products. Why? because they know these brokers will just have their bots go and flag competitors, like how they give all their other seller accounts positive feedback to boost their listings. No oversight means this capitalist practice of screw the customer runs rampant. Funny how a communist country is capitalizing harder than the capitalists...almost like that subtle narrative that creeps around The Mans™ big bad broadcasting companies transmissions isnt being entirely truthful...possibly even priming people to remain divided so they cant come together as a cohesive group against their interests (ie, investments).....Nah! Thats crazy talk......right?

Well, the manufacturer clearly understands his market. Knowing that English happiness is a good whinge, they've provided heaven in a box. Include an immigrant or 2 for a perfect 10! 😂

If you think that exhaust is the most useless thing you've ever seen, you should meet my mother in law lol

The most worrying thing about this engine is that some comments on the website are like "Ideal Gift for kids". I hope that it is just some bot, or the Chinese manufacturer trying to increase his sales. But that the thing these days, and it isn't limited to China, happens also in Europe and USA: many people don't even recognize that they are making crappy designs!

Thank you for sharing this It's something that a complete novice like me wouldn't consider, nor be aware of legal requirements. It looks amazing but is an accident waiting to happen. Glad we also have the video's you've put out on safe steam models

Also note that because something is illegal to sell doesn't mean its illegal to buy or use. Legalisation rarely wants to punish the victim of anything, so for safety related things, the person that would be subject to a eventual accident is rarely punished. Thats why you can legally buy dodgy mobile phone chargers that aren't up to safety standards legally. Because, if safety fails, its your problem. But selling such things without safeties, you are "scamming" the buyer into buying something unsafe. Showing off privately isn't a problem either, like for friends, family and small clubs. The big problem is if you start going commercially, doesn't mean you take payment for it, a large enough audience is enough, then labour safety laws start to apply and more safeties than just a safety valve might be required.

"This is a terrible, dangerous, illegal design." "I will now start it up a couple feet away from my face, indoors near my computer, with no plan what to do if anything goes wrong." "Yep. Fire, steam and water going everywhere, lets see how this plays out."

Scary. Where is the water level gauge? Why no pressure gauge on the boiler? Too much of a risk but if I was going to put it together I would stand the engine on a block so that the steam pipe was straight.

So, with flames running up the side of the boiler, I guess the entire boiler barrel is now technically the crownsheet? 😬 I believe the Mamod safety valve opens at around 20psi, but a safety valve won't do you any good if the boiler itself isn't good for 20psi. I think you've got yourself a decent compressed air engine, and a bit of aluminum scrap.

That was a lot of fun to watch. I agree it is dangerous and I will be satisfied to have watched you play with it instead of me having to do it. :-)

Just watched a man scold himself for 15 minutes straight 😂

loving the way they proudly put this video on their website featured right in the description!!!

There isn't such a thing as a boiler without a safety valve, that's just a bomb.

I took the liberty of fixing your video title: Breaking the Law (on UK) - Completely Illegal Steam Engine (on UK) from EngineDIY Shop!

This engine is good for schools. It has a reasonable size and is airy enough to show how a steam engine works.

1) It could be set up/mounted on a step, so that the engine steam intake is level with the boiler output, reducing the risk of priming. 2) The Burner could have the outer wick-holes blanked off, thus relying on the single centre wick. Slower to heat up but much safer. Also, a more densely woven wick would help. 3) A good model engineer could install a sight-glass on the side of the boiler for water level. 4) The slide valve could probably be adjusted or remade to fully cover the port. 5) A cheese-head screw, suitably fettled, could replace the Regulator bolt, thus taking out that backlash. 6) The steam-port piston could probably be re-engineered a la Mamod style. Thread the chimney hole for a more permanent, stable solution. Overall, despite the dodgy, it has the capability of being a good model. But NOT at that price.

Besides this really concerning “toy” I am almost concerned with Lawrie’s taste of wallpaper. 😂

No idea how I ended up here, but I sure did enjoy the stay. Thanks for this video.

They did an excellent job making that desktop steam engine terrifying in every possible way. And I'm amazed that you identified all of this and still chose to run it in your office, without protection, and oriented in a way that meant you'd have to reach around a tower of flames to adjust the governor.

4:28 - My new screen saver 😂 But, my good gods above me - that engine is ALL of the dangerous!!😮😮 I trust you had an escape route and a fire extinguisher to hand old chap? I mean, that 'reactor'... Sheesh...!!

Cheap Chinese toot isn't even cheap anymore. Interesting looking at their marine and mill steam engines that bear uncanny resemblances to Stuart Turner engines, even down to the fine details in the castings.

I still have my Wilesco engine from my childhood. 50 years old. THIS engine is just frightening!!

The Federation of Model Engineers Societies (FMES) has got to be the most British thing EVER! It sounds like The Worshipful and Ancient Order of Bowler hats and cricket bats. You don't want to be trying to smuggle in unregulated miniature pressure vessels and steam boilers into the UK or you'll have the FMES on you case before you can say "Oh Crikey!"

Thanks for a great video, even though you had me on the edge of my seat, waiting for that burner to create a pool of flaming meths across your desk. Thank heavens you survived unscathed.

At least for pipe bending - get a brake pipe bending tool. But that's probably the smallest issue. I'd prefer to use a brake hose instead of a rigid pipe. I'd prefer to have the pressure gauge on the boiler. And in addition to the safety valve also have a blasting tin that goes into a hose that should go into a water filled bucket to take care of dangerous steam release. So the main issue is the boiler as I see it. So just run the engine on compressed air and it would be a lot nicer and less dangerous unless you overrev it or do some other stupid things.

I just watched it suddenly spring into life, and im playinga video at the same time. The game said "Youre gonna wish you hadnt done that"

I know only the basics of how steam engines work, but even I can tell this thing is a bit wild.

A victory of styling and a novel concept over Form and Function. It is also a bit suspicious that they seem to go to some effort to not describe the pressure vessel as a "boiler," presumably on the rather dodgy grounds that in correct operation it shouldn't be able to sustain pressure. I wonder if the lack of gaskets is also intended to be a safety feature along the same lines.

The way those flames went up the outside of the boiler, is exactly what happened to Greenville Tower. Should be banned immediately, Lawrie if it had gone up then your Insurance Company would not have paid out as it's basically a bomb.

A good rule of thumb is if it ain't cheaper, safer, quieter, and smaller than a regular two stroke generator, it ain't worth it.

I high school we did the awesome experiment where we heated aluminum until it sparked and the stuck it into steam, where it spontaneously combusted. This looks like a more complex version of that experiment, just not intentionally

The flames were too large because you didn't trim the wicks on the burner

They should s-can the explosion generator and sell it with a fish-tank bubble pump since it will run on such low pressure...clearly marked *"NOT FOR USE WITH STEAM"*

They sent these to the schools here in kitsap county a couple years ago. I know nothing about steem engines however just now seeing this video and knowing Schools in the US have been uning them almost unmodified as far as i know (here in kitsap they dont use the burner it comes with they use a lab bunson burner) i think it is interesting to note the "not presure valve screw on top that needed replacing to the best of my knowledge has not been replaced.

Selling an unapproved pressure vessel to the public is criminal negligence. Period.

When I was a boy in the 50's I built a steam engine from a Popular Mechanics design called Naclio using a tin oilcan as a boiler and there were no warnings as to the possibility you could get scalded or burnt fingers......apparently, we were more intelligent as teenagers in those days compared to kids of today and some grown ups too. After the first model we used baked bean tins and soft solder for the boilers......the steam pressure rarely exceeded 20 PSI.

I have absolutely no experience with steam engines of any sort or boilers. But I do have experience with many different forms of HPA or nitrogen. This honestly sketches me out quite a bit. I've seen pressure vessel failures. I really really don't want to be in the same vicinity as them when they fail. I was quite close to a failed regulator. If I was a few feet in the other direction I probably would have died. It required tools to get it out of the tree. The pressure vessel rupture I witnessed I was quite far away from and I honestly was worried about shrapnel. There is absolutely no way you can convince me to go near any sort of pressure vessel without any safety mechanisms. This is honestly quite alarming but not surprising at all. Considering all of the rather dangerous stuff I've ordered off the internet. This just is on the very high end of the danger scale. Also I would recommend a CO2 fire extinguisher if you don't have one. Even a very small one would be fine. CO2 is far less likely to have any of the itching compounds and doesn't really make a mess. So people are far more willing to use it before a situation gets two out of control. I would also probably have a dry powder extinguisher in case the fuel fire gets a bit out of hand. If you're going to be screwing around with things like that it's better to have all your safety bases covered. Just a friendly safety suggestion for anyone messing around with this sort of thing especially inside of a structure.

The steam engine does not have to be so wasteful. The Doble steam car, for instance, uses a flash boiler and runs steam through a closed-circuit steam cycling system: The steam cools after exiting the engine and condenses to water before pumping it back into the boiler. There are also many steam enthusiasts building compact and efficient steam engines.

I'm not sure if anyone else has mentioned this, but I feel it's important to point out. Burning ethanol with steel mesh for heating, in not exactly the right way, produces a lot of carbon monoxide, the outer fins on that boiler aren't exactly mesh, but flames licking up the side of sharp steel cuts like that is also likely to cause carbon monoxide. I would make sure you have a CO detector in the room if you're running that again just to see if I'm right about that.

This thing can't pass any safety regulations, not those for steam boilers only. The chance to get burned by flames or boiling water at some point is very real.

Well I certainly would NOT have tested that indoors! It looks more dangerous than my 1970s primus stove, and I had one of those go bang some years ago, outside fortunately, damn lucky I wasn't hit by shrapnel.

“ I can’t get my WIC deep enough”. Ha

I watched with fascination as your hair nearly brushed the flames coming up from the "reactor" sides 3 times.

To measure the amount of water left in the boiler, could you remove the safety valve and stick a wooden skewer in, seeing how far up the skewer was wet?

The pressure gauge is in the engine, so if the pipe between the engine and the boiler blocks, with no safety valve (as shipped), you will build hand grenade pressure in the boiler without even knowing it. No amount of sloppy tolerances in the engine and venting of steam there will protect you from that particular flaw. Having said all that, it is a very entertaining little "toy" all be it one that is somewhat dangerous. Fit a small stand on top of the boiler and all that waste heat could be put to good use keeping your coffee warm. ;~) OK it would make it even more of a tip hazard, but what the heck, we are already getting spattered with scalding water, and risking fragmentation injuries, so a mug of hot java is the least of your worries.

I'm going to hazard a guess and say that there is some legal work around that involves the person purchasing having some involvement in the construction. You bending and connecting the tube, satisfies some legal definition.

The designer almost understood the concept of a firetube-boiler. He just build it inside out. The boiler is missing a water-glass as well, so you have no idea how much water is in there. A simple loop in the steamline could serve as a superheater, making the whole thing less wet. What kind of gasket is unsed between the steel-plate at the bottom and the aluminium-boiler anyway? Not to mention that an alcohol fire is hot enough to weaken the dry upper portions of the boiler, as there are flames all around it.