A fresh look at engine balancing at home.

[38ac]

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[38ac]

 

[38ac]

 

[38ac]

 

[dieselgman]

It will be interesting and useful to also get those balance weight numbers for the 8/1 and differing flywheel and piston combinations!

Looks like a simple and effective way to accomplish the task! Thanks Butch!

dieselgman

[Tom]

Great thread! Anyone can complicate it, but to simplify this process takes genius. Anxiously awaiting updates.

[mike90045]

What happens to the can & string while the engine runs 

[38ac]

What happens to the can & string while the engine runs 

Bolo 

[listard-jp2]

It will be interesting and useful to also get those balance weight numbers for the 8/1 and differing flywheel and piston combinations!

Knowing how keen Lister's were to keep the parts count as low as possible, I would dare to speculate that the CS 8-1 engine would use the same flywheels as the 6-1 version (but with more material drilled out of them), because although the reciprocating weight will be different (Aluminium verses cast iron piston). Some of this difference will be offset by the higher reciprocating speed of the 8-1 engine, as the out of balance forces being generated are also a function of engine speed.

[38ac]

 

[dieselgman]

Lister used a lot of variations (more than a dozen) in their flywheel designs over the years and for different applications on these engines. The current range of Indian Listers appear to be using just a few variations and we mostly just see the Spoked for the 6/1 and Stover for the 8/1 but they also vary the diameters a bit. I guess we could catalog those details and also weigh the other components and start coming up with some fine details. I think I can get the full rundown on original Lister stuff and can measure and weigh what we use in our kits here.

dieselgman

[Quinnf]

If you look at the original engines, there were SOM types with the heavy flywheels adn the non SOM types.  Of the latter, the 6/1 had spoked wheels.  The 8/1 had wheels with a solid web with trapezoidal cutouts, while the 10/1 had round cutouts in the web.  Most, but not all, of the Indian 8/1s use the same spoked wheels that are used on the 6/1, but they are not authentic to the original English design. 

A book that everyone on this forum should have is The Lister Engine Story by David Edgington.  It's a wealth of information about the history, design and development of these fascinating old thumpers.  Can be conveniently ordered online using a credit card, even though for most of us, the book seller is overseas.

http://www.stationaryenginebooks.co.uk/listercs.htm

Quinn

[dieselgman]

Our 8/1s have all had the 24.5" "solid web" or "Stover" wheels I believe the English call them... but there are variations upon variations in the originals as well as the Indian adaptations of them.

I absolutely concur that the Edgington books are a wonderful resource for the history and technical details of all things Lister and have excellent professional production values. We do keep them in stock in the US as a service for our customers in North America.

Thanks for bringing this up Quinn!

dieselgman

[dieselgman]

The KOEL 8/1s we have here are fitted with 23 3/4" solid wheels with cutouts, some of the replacement 8/1 wheels we have received wound up being 23 1/4" diameter.

David Edgington lists 31 variations in the Original Dursley flywheels and refers to the section as "Unraveling The Flywheel Conundrum"..."undoubtedly the most complex area clouded in mystery" -  he provides the best single source for this detail and apparently teamed with David Harris also from Lister/Petter to do all that extensive research.

I believe that the main lesson is not to assume anything about a standard flywheel and treat each engine as unique, which after all - indeed they are.

dieselgman

[38ac]