Posted 9 years ago
hotairfan
(385 items)
This is a solenoid engine, sometimes called an electric engine. It uses the magnetic properties of an electrical solenoid to run in both forward and reverse, depending on where (in it's rotation) the voltage creates a magnetic draw on the flywheel. It operates on one size D 1.5 volt flashlight battery.
Solenoid engines like this Mesco Electric Engine, were a premium given by magazine suppliers as an incentive for boys to get their friends and neighbors to sign up for subscriptions to monthly publications. The more people that they managed to sign up for a subscription, the more they got paid in premiums.
For a boy around the turn of the 20th Century, the promise of earning a neat little engine like this was enough to send him all over town to hawk magazine subscriptions. .... hotairfan
Does this use a wig-wag switch to alternate between solenoids? Very Nice!
I really don't know what a wig-wag switch is. The way I see it is, as soon as the plate is magnetically pulled to the coil, the contact switches and the poles change to pushing or repelling the plate away from the coil. this continues this process of magnetically drawing and repelling according to the pole contacts. Maybe someone can explain it better for the both of us.
Yours works on a set of alternating point contacts. As one set closes, and supplies power to solenoid #1, the other set to solenoid #2 is open. The crank shaft has a rotor, much like a distributor in a car, that performs this function. At least that is the way i see it in this video....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qZWygiv11U0
Revision A.. The more i look at it, my first comment was wrong. It still works on a set of alternating point contacts, but both solenoids fire at the same time.
When the points close, both solenoids pull in, and turn the crank. Then, when the rotor turns, it opens the points allowing the crank to continue to rotate, and the cycle continues, much like a steam engine,. Hows That?
thanks for the help Izenglish. I wasn't sure exactly how it worked. I'm not too good with electrical items.