Thread: ID of unknown engine.

G'Day All,
I was given this engine by someone who found it when cleaning out an old shed. It was covered in dried fuel/oil & years of dust.
A few questions about it please.
1. Does anyone know the name/manufacturer of this engine? The only identification on it is a hand engraved "New Era". (see photo).
2. What is the correct type of fuel to use in this engine? (2 stroke sparky)
3. With regard to spark timing; Could the approximate spark timing be given for an initial start.
4. I have an ignition system in a box that is used for much larger model engines (e.g. hit & miss), that consists of an automotive coil, condenser etc. Can this be used as the ignition components for this engine?
Grateful for any information.
Regards,
Don.​

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You are probably better making contact with a model aeroplane club. Rather than a spark plug, that is likely to be a glow plug and those things run on a less usual fuel - I think it has castor oil in it.
Petrol engines are far less common these days I'm told as lots have gone electric. There still should be a couple of people around who know of these things though.

Michael

(Having said that, it does look like a set of contacts for spark control on the front. Needs an expert)

My model Aircraft days are long in the past, I have never seen that brand. Being had engraved maybe a prototype there was a fellow building New Era model kits in the UK a few years ago
it would run on Nitro diesel fuel and require a rotary starter either manual or electric. my suggestion would be to contact this website;
https://www.adriansmodelaeroengines....n.php?cat_id=0

I was typing too slow Michael got in first

Hi Don,
I think that's a spark plug (Champion if I'm reading it right). And they do look like points for the ignition mounted behind the prop. Easiest way to verify would be to remove the plug and look. A compression ignition (diesel) engine would have a compression adjusting screw where the plug is.

So I'm going to take a stab and say it's a 2 stroke, petrol motor with spark ignition.

A good place to ask your question is here: https://www.homemodelenginemachinist.com

P.S. Don't be tempted to use any form of powered starting device until you know what it is. An electric starter can destroy a diesel if it gets a hydraulic lock.

The engine is definitely a 2 stroke gas (petrol) engine, these were the more common mechanical propulsion for free flight models in the period just after WW2. Fuel would be similar to a current 25:1 2 stroke mix except that the oil component would be non synthetic or possibly castor oil. A typical ignition pack for the engine would consist of a single or pair of 1.5V drycells, a miniature coil and a capacitor, the whole system being a miniaturised version of what was used with post WW2 cars. Typical all up weight for the complete model would likely be around 0.5kg - 0.8kg, depending on size. Motors would be fueled up (tank at rear of motor, primed with a couple of drops of fuel into the air intake, mixture set with adjuster behind motor, turned over a couple of times with spark isolated to suck in the prime, spark system enabled, and motor started by hand propping. Mechanical/electrical starters did not exist at that stage, and should not be used as these motors are steel crankshaft running in bronze bushes, with nothing to take the thrust of a mechanical started pushing into the crank, so use of a started creates a lot of wear at the front of the crankcase and rear of the prop driver. These motors were generally fairly slow running and used a relatively large fine pitched prop compared to modern glow motors, the prop attached appears to be small and better suited to a glow engine.

I used to dabble with model boats and aircraft years ago, and came across a few spark engine powered models, but have no experience with operating them. The nation body for aeromodellers is MAAA (Model Aircraft Association of Australia), and there are affiliated state bodies as well. The groups with the most knowledge of motors would be the free flight modellers and vintage or old time modellers, who would have their own groups within the state bodies.

Hope that helps.

Yep, definitely spark ignition. Don't fire it up with a big coil, you'll burn out the points quick-smart. The coil for my Anderson Spitfire (10cc) is 2 1/2" long by 1" diameter to give you some idea .. those dimensions are outside the insulation. It would be nice to run it on spark/petrol but less hassle to make an adapter for the spark plug hole to take a glow plug & run it on methanol/oil mix. Wont give the flexibility of spark but will avoid the fire risk attendant with petrol/spark in model sizes .. occupational hazard with class C team racers back in the day. As has been suggested, contact a local aeromodelling club.
Oh, it looks to be about 5-6 cc judging by the size of the head cf the plug, in which case a 9" x 6" prop would be about right.

Don, I should have mentioned in answer to one of your questions, the spark advance should be set to full retard for starting, that is if you're standing in front of the engine rotate the control lever as far anticlockwise as it will go. Usual practice was to crib the advance gradually clockwise to peak rpm once the engine started, tweaking the mixture for max rpm in between till further adjustment of either caused a slight sag .. go back to best. Oh yes, these sparkies tend to snap over pretty sharpish when they fire on full retard .. index finger twitching.

Thanks to all for your input.
This engine is definitely a petrol, spark ignition engine of approx. 8.4 cc/ 0.51 c ins.
Swarfless, thanks for the info on the starting procedure, as I have never had a sparky I need al the help available.
The major problem now as it appears is to the purchase of suitable miniature coils & condensers. Available from the USA with $40+ postage each, but, I cannot find any locally in my search so far.
As I have three of this type of engine to build from sets of castings, all given to me & 40 to 50 years old, a source of local electrics would be good.
Thanks again.
Regards,
Don.

Have you contacted Modelflight RC in South Australia

If you aren't planning on launching this motor you could use any size coil and an electronic ignition module. The points trigger the module and the module does the hard work switching the coil. Something like this maybe?

https://www.jaycar.com.au/high-energ...n-kit/p/KC5513

Hi Don,

You might find a suitable ignition coil from a scooter or moped ! Though winding your own is quite doable. Some large commercial photocopy machines also have high voltage coils in them that will produce about 15Kv, but the current available is quite low.

Thanks everybody for your input.
A lot of electronics suppliers are out of stock of ignition systems.
Keep this as a back burner project.
Thanks,
Don.