Testing a TWIN & TRIPLE Steam Engine! 

The sound of these engines is enchanting! Very beautiful tests you did!

FYI, don't over tighten any of those fittings, rather, tighten them by hand, give them one quarter by wrench, operate the machine, and tighten them if they're letting out water or steam (depending on station). Those are notoriously easy to break, also, they're specifically designed to only go a little bit, until they seal. Just letting you know, i've broken my fair share of them. Also, 2 stroke oil is a bit loose, you should get something of heavier weight. Like way oil, for example. The steam will vaporize any of the oil it comes in contact with if it's too thin.

Wow. Would definitely love a steam powered rc boat

Johnny, you need to get some steam oil from the vendor for the in-line lubricators. The two-cycle oil is likely doing very little to lube the cylinder walls. Steam oil is designed to work in the high-pressure, high temperature environment of a steam cylinder. Remember, steam under 50 PSI of pressure is much hotter than 212º F. (100º C.). Those are beautifully made and running engines.

I love the sound of a three cylinder engine!

The Future is The Past.

This timing couldn’t possibly be more perfect. I’ve been looking up references for air engines to design my own in Blender, and I was trying to decide on the number of cylinders and their arrangement. Edit: I feel I should clarify that this is all for animation. I don’t plan on building an actual engine, but I want everything in the project to be as realistic as possible - something that could actually work if it were real.

The 3 cylinder uses the heat more efficiently and nearly 50% more power. Just amazing. Loved this video

I'm surprised how real that 3-cylinder sounds

One or two notes, first: use steam oil instead of 2 stroke oil. Especially for the cilinders. It's much better for the engine. And the second note is, consider a feedpump for the boiler. It will save you time and you can steam much longer! 😉

That 3 cylinder sounds a bit like a 6 inline petrol engine, I love it!!!

2 stroke oil is alright for the external parts but the cylinders really need steam oil as it's a lot more viscous and can handle the pressure and heat will help the cylinders last a lot longer wouldn't want you to ruin them as I bet they where not cheap

I’d also agree with the recommendations to use steam oil in the lubricators. I’d also recommend watching Keith Appleton’s RU-vid vids on building, refurbishing and operating model steam plants. What he doesn’t know about steam engines is probably not worth knowing.

If the safety valve is rated 60 PSI, I'd run it right up to that for the extra oomph out. Looks like the little engines that could need it. They do seem to do well under load as well, as you've noticed. They don't seem to bog down near as much as the gas engines, possibly because they can always be fed power via the steam in, which can rise in pressure when bogged. Neat little engines.

I literally just parked at the side of the road just to watch this video now. So excited ❤️

Very cool Too bad they are both single expansion and since the pistons all appear to be the same diameter you probably can’t convert to double or triple expansion. Any chance you can make a condenser so you draw a vacuum across the exhausts? You may see an increase in power out put.

I love steam power! Especially the reciprocating types like these. It would be amazing to see you build one from scratch. A triple-expansion, or the rarer 4-cylinder triple-expansion would be really interesting to see. I've always wanted to build a 4-cylinder triple like the ones used on Titanic, but i simply don't have the equipment or skills required to do so. Yet. Thanks for the video!

Every time i see a steam engine it reminds me of the Netherland open air museum in Arnhem where they have a old milk processing plant with a working steam engine which they actively run... amazing machine 🥰 amazing place too ❤️

I didn't realize how wasteful a wood-banded boiler was. Your videos set the standard for testing small engines and I love it so much.

The hottest humidifier you can buy😂

That 3 cylinder steam engine sounds beautiful. It’s now on my wishlist for Christmas lol. I probably would use it as a power plant for electricity or something.

So this is how they powered the Titanic. 10:09 It funny how a 3 cylinder sound like a 6 cylinder.

The 3 cylinder one sounds so much like my Yaris. Haha!

These Steam motors are pieces of art 😍

Thanks for sharing, now I need to get two three cylinder engines and kick out the electric motors in my rc Boat. 80 inches long,

The 3 cylinder sounds awesome

i like those demonstrations with the light bulb, turning LOTS OF FIRE into a tiny bit of glowiness :P shows you how inefficient energy conversion actually is.

I'm really impressed and amazed at how well and smoothly the machines run, and especially the three-cylinder one. Right now I wanted to buy a steam engine again (the three-cylinder of course). almost 50 years since I last bought one. Then of tin type on tin plate, and with 1 cylinder, but I had a lot of fun with it, saw and steam hammer came with the set. The other boys were very impressed. Thank you for allowing us to take part in a great demonstration and a great video.

I could watch you build every night! thanks JohnnyQ for being so awesome!

Its just me or this engines sound just like a datsun 240z 😂

Next level: Titanic style, with a low pressure turbine in the center driven by steam driven by steam after leaving twohigh pressure engines like yours.

I have a two cylinder steam engine that has only been tested with air power cause I’m still building the rest of the boiler components but I absolutely love watching all the mechanics at work at extremely low RPMs. Great vid as always 👍👍

back in the 70s my grandfather and i got an old 50s steam train from the thrift store. needed alil work but we got it going. it was fun to watch it steam run on the tracks. nice vid, ty

Don't give Jhonny some new good ideas to make this into a RC-Car

It's 2 in the morning and here i am watching smol engines run I love me

Do I smell a Steam Engine RC Car in the works?? :D

The beauty and precision is captivating. This is the most satisfying thing I've ever watched. The camera angles are perfect and the sound is too.

I'm not surprised you didn't want to push your luck regarding the pressure on the boiler. What you could do though, is a water pressure test on it yourself, it's a lot safer to test it that way and is quite simple to do.

Now make a 5 cylinder with those two lol

I love the admission of being nervous about going up to 70psi!! Safety first.

Get a 2 4 cylinder ones and make a steam powered rc titanic with it (just use a motor for the central ahead-only propellor)

You can hear that distinct, bass bellow at speed. All 3s, 6s, and 12s make that sound. Not so much the V6s, but some do to a point.

RPM so fast sounds like an internal combustion engine lol

Might sound stupid, but seeing that it 'only' powers a small light bulb, puts in perspective how powerful those turbines are that provide electricity for a whole city...

0:10 that sounds like an actual engine for real 💯

You could get it revving higher using the Johnston lever

Wow the steam engines are pretty awesome. I am going to look into getting one. Thank you very much for a great video. 😀👍❤🇨🇦

The oilers deserve a transparent vase with a brass cap! 😉👍

Very good video👌

Excellent. Would love to see a triple expansion engine from the same maker.

Great video as always but i noticed something. You were able to produce 1.5 w of electrical power using a generator but you were only able to produce 1 w of mechanical power with the same engine. This doesn't seem right, maybe the dyno gives us fals results.

I love steam engines, if they can't take the load, they just ramp up the pressure and power through them

After all these years we are still cooking water to make power LOL

Silly little project for you to try. Historically most steam ships would squeeze a little more power out of their steam engines, not by heating the steam more (and risking damage/boiler explosion), but instead by cooling the exhaust through a heat exchange, with some fresh seawater. Perhaps pipe the exhaust tubing through a water bath before releasing it, and check the power again.

Beautiful! Now mount one on an RC car.

The triple one sounds like a 2 stroke weed wacker 😂

gasoline rc engines sound like angry bees, this one sounds like lawnmower engine

If you add a fourth piston, you'll have a working replica of Titanics quadruple piston engines

2:25 the World needs more drills like this but with BRUSHLEEEEEEESSSS Motors

that 3 cylinder sounded like a 2 stroke detroit, holy shit...

Nice Small I6 sound! Amazing!!!!!!!!!!

Interesting. The Liberty Ships circa WW2 used triple expansion piston steam engines because steam turbines were in short supply and were mainly used for war ships. Later in the war when steam turbines became more available they were used for the bigger/faster Victory Ships.

don't use 2 stroke oil. for the bearings use light machine oil, and for the cylinders use steam oil

Finally someone actually steaming the engines

That was fascinating I love it!!! Now make 2 banks of 4 cylinders just like on Titanic!!!

Boy those are some beautiful motors. They run so smooth too.

Wow hit a nostalgia from a time when this channel only posted video of Motor Stirling! Flees times...

Time to build an rc boat for the 3 cylinder one. 😅

I have a seperate chapter to study about steam boiler this video helped me

As beautiful as they are you're taking a step backwards with thermal efficiency. That said how awesome would it be seeing one of those in one of your cars... it could be Steam Punk themed

My ears when you started screwing stuff to the board 😭

Never thought I’d hear a steam engine rev like that nice

Damn I want that boiler setup just to make cups of tea 🍵

I love that reversing level!!!

A steam powered boat would be great, up-size it to handle the size of the engine the prop is no problem.

Fantastic video, but I have to say, I think 2 stroke oil is not the best for these engines. I'd advise getting some proper steam oil, or use a thick engine oil instead. I'm sure they'll run and sound much smoother with the correct oil

Hi Johnny, You have inspired me to order this setup for myself. I ordered it today and it should arrive in a couple of weeks. I have a few question about what we see in the video compared to what's actually included in the kits: 1. What's the smaller vertical black cylinder for, and why wasn't it used in the build? 2. Were the holding braces for the Gas Tank included? 3. Was the brass fitting you soldered to the pipe included? 4. Is there anything else I will/might need for my setup to be functional?

A good demonstration of small scale Double and Triple Expansion Steam Engines.

I’d love to see you stretch what’s possible with steam power!

Is it just me, or do you wanna take some of these engines, make them to scale, and just try to put them in like a go kart or something? Like I would love to have not only the skills, but also the machinery to make bigger engines to scale like these. That would be so cool. Plus, putting them on a go kart, while probably useless and stupid, would honestly be really cool to see.

I definitely wouldn’t take that boiler up to 70psi, that would be one hot explosion if it burst.

I wonder if its possible to make a small steam turbine to go alongside the main steam engine, connected to a gearing system, to act as turning gear system. So in theory you could have a high pressure burst of steam, maybe lasting 5-10 seconds or so, that would spin up the turbine, turn over the pistons to remove any water, before then being able to start the main engine. If calibrated right, a governor could open the throttle valve to an idle (or maybe a "start up") setting right as the waters cleared from the cylinders, whilst also closing the valve to the starting turbine, making the start up an automatic proceedure automatic. Don't know if this would work in practice but if I had the time and tools I'd love to try and make it work. Not only is it a cool little party piece, it would also sound incredible. The hiss of steam, with the winding up whirl and shriek of the turbine, followed by the main engine sputtering and roaring into life! Edit: Doing that maths thats about 1.63 hp/L, and about 13.07 Nm/L which isn't half bad for what it is I think!

An airship powered by steam done in a steampunk style would be so cool

The 3 cylinder engine sounds like a Hudson hornet.

You should put one into a rc car! That would be so cool and, I'd imagine pretty fast! Less components=less weight

Unbelievable work. Well done. But we need all of your guys with such great talent to come together and make one of these engine that creates steam from burning house hold garbage that creates virtually no smoke. And make it strong enough to that it can be attached to a generator to power a house. This would be a far more important & rewarding endeavor than likes & views. .

You should make Titanic's double steam engines. Wanna hear that sound but with a small one.

Use a 24 inch piece of copper tube from the exhaust ports run through cold water to let it cool and condense back to water to pump back into the boiler. Also use the exhaust from the three cyl engine to feed the two cyl engine and hook them up together. Bet the output almost doubles

I would love to build a big RC titanic that entirely runs on steam with coal or wood fet into the boiler heaters

Very cool. The only thing now is to make a steam boat lol. Very cool machines

I need that 3 cylinder, sounds so good. A little bit like a lawmmovor too, but.

you should build the titanic and put the 3 cilinder in that hahaha

That 3 cylinder sounds sooooooo goooood, way better than that 2C. Awesome engines anyways!

You could make a steam powered rc titanic.

Is there a way to add water to the boiler while under pressure? Not necessary with butane, but handy if you want a longer run. Nice running, very well timed engines!

GREAT. What is the best smartphone app to measure temperature???? Thank you.

Make a cappuccino at the same time !

how does this engine sound so good!!🤤. thank you James Watt!!

Try using a stepper motor as generator instead, its more suited for low rev.

Slept the same gears onto an engine, and you have a Shea try to take it that fast an it is will fall apart they were incredibly strong, but only operated up sp speeds about 7 mph.