The ATIS Stationary Engine Mailing List is a
growing internet group of engine enthusiasts. Recent discussions
have not been entirely engine oriented over the holiday season, but
one of our annual events did throw up an interesting and useful
topic. Each year, for New Years, we hold a world-wide crank up in
memory of engine friends now passed on. The exact timing for the
crank up is not essential, as New Year lasts from New Zealand to
California. It is this geographical spread of the List which
brought a question from Canada:
I have never attempted to start one of my engines in this kind
of cold weather before so I was wondering if anyone has any
suggestions to avoid undue cranking. Someone told me once to put
hot water in the hopper prior to start up so it will be a little
easier but I was worried about cracking something. Thoughts and
ideas would be appreciated.
I suppose by the time this is in print, spring will be here
and thoughts will be turning to the coming show season rather than
snowy starts, but it is useful information to store for the future
-you’ll have fun next winter going through the year’s back
issues of GEM looking for it! Ignoring a few of the suggestions
such as’ ‘let your wife crank it’ or ‘move your
engines to California,’ here are some of the tips the List came
up with.
Hot water will work wonders. You don’t need to worry about
it cracking.
Hot water will hurt nothing, and likely make your engine easier
to start. Another idea is to bring the engine inside the night
before and let it warm up a bit, or even put a 40 watt (lit) light
bulb in the hopper for 12-24 hours or so (with a pan of some kind
as a lid for the hopper.) Anything to get it a bit warm.
I’ve also had great success with adding a couple of buckets
of hot water to the hopper. In fact that’s the recommended
procedure for cold weather starting in all of the old owners
manuals that I’ve read. Just REMEMBER . . . DRAIN THE
HOPPER!!!!!
To which I could add that draining the hopper while it is
still warm helps it to dry out fully.
We have our DeLaval running on propane, and put hot water in the
hopper before every start. Let it sit for a couple of minutes until
the cylinder is warmed up. No problem.
It is also possible to to add anti-freeze to the hopper
water, but take care not to let it splash on the paintwork – which
brings with it its own advice.
Keep the water level 3′ below the top of the hopper and it
will not slop over.
Toss in as big a piece of ?’ thick wood as will fit in the
hopper. That will also help keep the a/f mix from sloshing out.
Don’t use plywood as it will go to pieces. You have to take the
wood out occasionally to dry it out. It won’t float after it
soaks up so much water.
Use a kirk sanding patch – it’s a cork block that fits in
your handpalm. These cork blocks are light and make no noise in the
hopper. You got them in the local paint shop.
Now here is an example of how this list works. Now that I know
what we are talking about, I can go out to the shop and make a
stopper stopper out of a big block of cork that I had lying around.
I like that.
The number one thing about getting an engine to start, whether
or not it is cold, is to have no one watching.
There is a scientific principle that states: ‘The length of
time it takes an engine to start is directly proportional to the
number of people watching you try to start it.’ The sister
scientific law is that: ‘The length of time it takes to start
an engine at a show is inversely related to how well you know the
people who are watching you start the engine.’
So in cold weather, be sure that no one is around when you try
to start an engine.
This may be of some interest to those wanting to start old
engines on days when the low temp is not favorable to such
activities.
I have a Perkins Diesel powered tractor that is a no start at
temps below 50 degrees so this morning I got my little 500 degree
heat gun and stuck it down the air intake while holding down on the
start lever. It started right up fast. I may just use the trick on
my flywheel engine on New Years Day if it is too cold to start
easily.
The owner’s manual of my dad’s Diesel Chevette suggested
sticking a blow dryer in the intake horn of the air cleaner. Same
idea, but your heat gun’s a bit more intense. I’d be
cautious about using that 500 degree thing in a carburettor with
gasoline.
As things turned out, I don’t think many of our List
Members had much of a problem with the cold this year. It was
colder in California than Pittsburgh, and the Australians only had
red-bellied snakes to contend with!
