HOW A STEAM ENGINE GOVERNOR WORKS  

You keep coming up with interesting stuff. Who needs TV when there's so much great content like this being made by people like your good self.

These are the best governors we have had in Illinois in years.

My 10 year old Grandson put that stream engine together after watching your video. I did not help him at all. It took him about 1 hour and 45 minutes. He was doing so well, I even went outside for a while and when I came back in he was done. Now we just have to run it. I checked it all over and it looks like he did a great job. He remembered to not tighten things until it was all together and he told me that he was going to need some oil. I think that him being able to watch your video helped a lot. Thank you for that.

So just to let you know you are the inspiration for me getting my atlas 10inch lathe and my Bridgeport mill thank you for all the inspiration and instruction 👍

Beautiful models. To think that only two generations ago larger versions of these were sawing wood, making shingles pumping water and ploughing fields. A great preservation society in Northern Ireland covers Oil engines too. Many Thanks for showing us some finer details.

Thank you mister pete. Maybe now I can finish my 2 ball governor. From scratch. Thank you again sir.

Lyle, if you have some time, look up videos on Fred Dibnah. Was a steeplejack in England who spent his life repairing then demolishing factory chimneys. He also rebuilt big steam engines. A real character.

I enjoyed this immensely. Thanks for the clear understanding of how the governor works. Those are beautiful little engines. You should build yourself a miniature hit and miss to add to your steam collection. Thank you.

Definitely approved 👍 Mr Pete thanks for another great show

Thanks for the follow up video on this and showing a few different varieties.

Always a treat to see your steam engines. And although I knew what made the governor work I enjoyed the information.

Fascinating. I love the way you explain and illustrate all the features of those pretty little engines. “Balls Out” “Pedal to the metal” and “Fire-walling it” are all American slang for applying maximum engine power; usually steam or internal combustion.

Pretty cool stuff!👍

Great video,mrpete.Thank you.

Great video MrPete. The detail on these little governors is amazing. Love the Stuart engine you built.

Thank you Lyle👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👋

Thank you for this video. I’ve been around steam traction engines my whole life and never understood to workings of governors. Ah to only have been on steam rollers….

Thanks for the excelant instruction.

Thanks Mr Pete. Great as always.

Very neat 😊. Hope all is well.

Thanks Mr. Pete!

on David Richards channel series "Old Steam Powered Machine Shop", I asked if having the governor belt driven wasn't a danger, and he actually showed that if the belt comes off it will run away

Thanks for the explanation and especially the demonstration’s. I’d love to build one of these that would run on steam & do work. John

Thanks for sharing your knowledge much appreciated

Sixty years ago, I began working for a firm making industrial governors.......Fisher Governor Co. They are still around in Marshalltown Iowa making valves as Fisher Controls Co.

I've been waiting for this one! Didn't realize there were some mfgr's that used real governors but must admit the non-functional ones are cute too. The Retrol is adjustable. Boy howdy, that's neat. No, I haven't pulled the trigger for a Retrol beam engine yet. I've said this before but when running LARGE stationary steam engine at the show, I tell people balls to the wall is not a dirty term but an expression of full speed. Glad you use it also.

Had that thing goin Balls to the walls

Well explained and shown how it can be achieved in reality. Being young a thing like a steam engine was too costly, totally unthinkable...... Mekano as well. However got the idea how centrifugal forces works and how they can be used. Fine video for many young viewers I suppose. Never let the child inside You dry up!

Thanks for the video keep on keeping on.

Important to know that the governor will keep speed constant as the load on the engine changes (if you have a load on it), but will not keep contant speed as the steam pressure changes. With the burner at a constant heat and the engine up to speed, the governor will partially close the steam valve, but pressure in the boiler then increases so the amount of steam entering the engine doesn't change so much. So if you are wondering why the governor is not so effective, try applying a load to the engine.

Very informative.

First time watcher Interesting about how the govener works

Had one of the German ones.Got to use it maybe 7 times.The handle on the whistle was plastic and promptly melted.That was just the start.And it was an expensive toy too.

Thank you!

That was very interesting Mrpete, and very well explained 👍👍👍👍

Very cool!! I learned something today, thank you!!

Good stuff Mr Pete!

Thanks for the video

So that must be where the phrase "Going Balls Out" comes from, haha

Very interesting.

@mrpete222 I have just bought one of these, I am very pleased with it. Thank you for showing this one, it made me want to buy one! :) Where is part 3?

Also used on diesels and on other rotery machines to control speed

Years ago, just after high school, I went with a friend to pick up a couple of large semi-trucks (no trailers, bob tail). He was a truck driver and I was not although I rebuilt most of my pickup trucks that also had a stick shift. When we got into the trucks, I yelled at him that my fuel gauge was close to empty and he said just to follow him. There was just one of us in each truck and I had never ever sat in one before. We were coming out of a parking lot on a busy side street and when an opening came up the sob just took off and left me on my own and disappeared down the road. I finally pulled out in first gear and even with the engine revved I was barely moving and then things got worse and I immediately started running out of fuel, but as I let off the gas, it smoothed out, hmm.... I picked up second gear and the exact same thing happened. I remember saying "I think this thing has a governor", it hadn't even dawned on me before then. You finally get to a point where you're in 5th gear and sill not going very fast and need to pull the button on the shifter and shift the axle. I never had to double clutch a transmission before that day, such a simple thing but I didn't know how, and I had to stop in the middle of the road a few times and start over again in 1st gear because I couldn't get it to sync and get it back into any, even a lower gear I just came out of. Talk about an adrenaline rush. To make things worse (if they could have been), I quickly pulled it back to first gear and gave it a little gas (which it didn't need), popped the clutch and I was in reverse where 1st gear was on my truck and nearly climbed over a station wagon behind me. The suspension is really stiff and the truck stands on its toes when you hit the brakes. I read the shifting pattern again on the plate, made it back to first and worked my way back to 5th, still barely rolling. I tried the axle split again and lost the sync and had to stop again, grabbed 1st, and shot backwards a second time, only to find the same station wagon behind me. sigh... I drove it all the way back in 5th gear, blowing smoke the whole way (with that darn station wagon still behind me that I was pretty sure I didn't hit). I finally pulled over and he pulled up along side, when I told him "the truck is having problems" and it was, it was me, he offered to follow me, but I finally convinced him I was ok and he left. What an experience that was. I recommend a test drive with someone else in the cab if you ever plan to do it, but wasn't it great to experience things as a teenager back then?

Morning Lyle. What the heck time is it ...

You need lube into the cups when you DeWalt dry run them :)

Thanks Governor!!! Lol good video

Thanks 73 & 88👍❤

I just learned what the term "Balls out" actually meant....

Balls out.

I think there are a lot of states that could use better governor's, maybe put their hot air to good use, have a great day

Here in Birmingham, UK, we have an 1817 beam engine as a 'sculpture' in the middle of a roundabout. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grazebrook_beam_engine It was based on a Watt design (Boulton and Watt were based in the Soho area of Birmingham), but I am always too busy coping with traffic to see whether it has a Watt governor.