Mijn eerste GR130

Yes normally the canister is sealed with an o ring around the diffusor cover. This should be tight because i have seen engines that are great to assemble but they sometimes leak. Use some rubber grease for a easy assembly and perfect seal.

 

Lubrication lines and delivery - is it the simplest (KISS) way to just use two lines and Y-connect them on the outside of the turbine casing?
I assume an internal Y-connection isnt a good idea due to heat/ potensial vaporization issues?

 

I always see a simple Y line inside. The one for the rear bearing lays close to the bearing / shaft tunnel and inserts the tunnel just before the bearing. It should be cool enough because of the cold air flow around the tunnel.

Do modern engines still have both lines or do they feed everything through the front bearing? I can't remember from my booster.

 

Luck ???!

Came over a local Simjet3000 that had been in a flame-out/ low impact crash followed by a fire, some fire damage but mainly sooth. The electronics are toast though. Small dent in the casing and minor scuff marks..
The seller reported the turbine wheel diameter to be "approx 65mm" but what I found online suggested very similar proportions to the GR130. So I had hopes I could salvage the wheel and NGV.

I havent completely disassembled the SJ3000 yet but have pulled out the axle/turbine wheel to take measurements:
The axle is close to identical and for all main parameters its a match (I hope)
The turbine wheel is spot on and appear to be completely intact, no damage or visible markings suggested.
The NGV OD diameter also a match but I havent pulled it out yet to complete the measurements.

I took a gamble, €150 for the SJ3000 but it looks like I may have bearings/axle/turbine wheel and NGV in a usable state

 

Simjet3000 initial tear-down and the main parts have been initially cleaned (not the compressor...)
From the looks of it there is no internal damage, no scuff marks on diff.cover, compressor, turbine wheel or NGV.
No discolouration where the bearings sit on the axle.

The dimensions on the SJ3000 CC is more or less identical to GR130 and can be a drop-in replacement.
The axle shaft is 102.7mm (1mm shorter) and the ID for the diffusor is 28mm

I may revise the GR130 drawings to match the core components of the SJ3000. There are bound to be more of them out there for parts..?
Material quality is excellent, most components feel a little heavier than the GR130 parts so it should be a lighter engine too.

Question:
Bearings - the front bearing inner race came out, so did the ceramic balls - is it straight forward to reassemble the BB?
If so I want to strip both and give them a thorough cleaning.


:

 

Hello Haldor,
Nice to see you found my thread and, wow, you are making rapid progress. . Please keep sharing your progress !
Unfortunately, my progress is a lot less mindblowing, but still, better than no progress at all .

At least I've got my milling machine set up now. That was a big hurdle so far, but now that's been taken care of.


Also, I've was able to buy 2 NGV's from another forum member:


And I've found a supplier in the US for hybrid bearings at a very good price: after shipping, taxes etc. approx. € 35,00 a piece. Not bad if you ask me.

And a 1.5x150mm thermocouple for less than €19,00 is also a good price, I believe.


All in all, slow progress being made. I also bought some aluminium, so now I have blanks for 4 diffusors and 4 shaft tunnels. Enough to experiment with and not be worried to screw one up.
Now only find the time to actually do it . Off course things would move along a bit faster if I could resist the tempation of putting my own touch on this engine..... like making a fully internal ignition



Until next time and a Happy New Year to you all .

 

I tested the bearings. they can not be used. too much noise and vibration. what works for a small price. is what I made. see picture .the upper bearing I made from a standard c3 bearing. for a small price. and work well. the lower bearing can not be used

 

Yes, for short testing it is OK but for normal use only GRW bearings are good enough.

 

I cleaned both bearings in white spirits and blasted them clean with air, and reassembling the bearings went without a hitch - phew!
The front bearing was stuck in the tunnel but heating it up in the oven prior to gently tapping it out from the rear side made it come loose, after cleaning the pre-tension shaft and bushing slide smoothly in the tunnel.

As the Simjet3000 now is pretty clean I desided to reassemble it and it spins freely. Might try to start it later to get the feel of it but at the time I have no electronics on hand.
The GR130 will be adapted to use the SJ3000 tunnel/shaft/NGV/bearings.
The holidays are over and after having family over for the past two weeks I hope to get some serious shop time again soon

I got a 250A starter relay on hand which I will use to refine my "spot-welder" and the fuel sticks will be prepared. So for the time being the bulk of my build will be to get the CC/fuel delivery tubing in place. Once that is done "all" that is left is adapting the design to the SJ tunnel.

BTW - the complete SJ3000 weigh in at 1420g without starter or any electronics.

 

Hello everyone,
MadRay66 I like your job, even I'm building a gr130, can I have the link of hybrid bearings?
thank you

 

MadRay - its a nice shop you got there

Regarding time vs progress, for me this is a journey and a learning experience
Much of the time I am thinking or banging my head against something but other times I am very buzy crafting

I am also sourcing new bearings for later (my current ones will suffice for now) so any updated info is appreciated.
On hand I also have the thermocouple, Ardunio and hall sensors and will attempt to make a ECU for it later - unless I spring for a new Xicoy kit where all of this is included, they are rather cheap at $220 for a set.

 

GJ and Tadango, thanks for the advice. A bummer about the bearings, although I must admit I wasn't 100% confident about these. I suppose the notches necessary in these deep grove bearings to place the balls are a source of vibration when loaded axially.
@Gerrit Jan: do you modify the inner race yourself and if so, how high is the "edge" you leave on there to prevent the balls from just falling out ?
@SPOTTER: I think you are better of with the GRW bearings as suggested or make them yourself as GJ does. This is what I will be trying next.
@ Haldor: Thanks. I'm also hoping to make my own dedicated ECU and integrate it into the motor. I plan on using a CUBLOC CB320 processor on a custom designed PCB. Not for saving money (if that were the case I would have better bought an engine of the shelf ) but because I like the challenge.

 

@SPOTTER - cool, how far have you gotten with your GR130?

@ MadRay66 - yes, if I wanted to fly a turbine I´d just get a cheap 2nd hand unit and take it from there.
My main hope is to make a GR130 and have it running, how well it runs (if!) will determine the steps after that.
Before I started this project I knew "nothing" about turbines...but this is the way I like it, going in on the deep end.

I have for many years built and constructed model aircraft and was very active in the EDF infancy, where small fans and NiCd batteries ruled.
RBC Kits in Holland still offer my MiG29 kit (https://www.rbckits.com/shop/mig-29.html)
Doing a scaled up version for single turbine would be totally awesome, and kinda full circle

 

Minor update, here are the fuel sticks being prepared and a new 4mm OD ring for fuel delivery ready to be brazed.

Any reason to choose 4mm over 6mm, or vice versa btw? In case there is some preheating in this area a smaller tube (less fuel mass) is better?
Then again a 6mm tube have more surface area...

The sticks are cut from a heater element I found on ebay - https://www.ebay.com/itm/WB44K10005...e=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649
Tube OD is 1/4" (6.35mm) this element provide enough material for 14 pieces each 75mm long.

 

Hi Haldor, I presume you mean the evaporator sticks ? The fuel delivery is done through very thin tubes or needles hard soldered into the 4mm fuel ring. I used a similar heating element, bought in a second hand shop, for mine.
I'll try to upload a short video of how I flared one end for welding tomorrow, or, if you send me your e-mail address, I'll mail it to you directly.

 

Ray, yes I mean the evaporator sticks.
I have the 4mm ring (and a 6mm) but will go with the smaller one. The thin tubes should arrive shortly...
I´ll send you a PM with my email.

Tonite I had som time to spend and started getting aquainted with some of the electronics. First time using LCD so the image is just a preview of what I want to display, values are just fixed text at the moment, not real-time data
Got to start somewhere...!

My approach is modular:
Got the LCD working - Check
Code for RPM working using Hall sensor - Check (crude)
Code for Temperature - TBD
Interfacing RPM and Temp into the LCD display code for real-time data - TBD

 

Looking nice. !

 

My efforts for today :

 

You made nice steps with you engine and ecu.

when setting stuck with your arduino ecu. do a search in Google to "arduino fadec", i find some codes, maybe they can help you to go further. watch out by just using them, most don't have failsafe build in. like over-temp or rpm which stops the pump

 

hoeby - Thank you but this is just a very crude start . Like building the turbine I didn't know Arduino programming/LCD interfacing before I started "building"
My initial goal for the control unit is monitoring the most relevant data, aka Ground Monitor. I have found some code that is a rather comprehensive ECU but its way over my head at the moment. We will see
When I have a working circuit I can start integrating the sensor into the turbine front housing and quick connect to a LCD monitor on ground.

Adding function will come later, if I am capable!

No real progress today, intend to get RPM working then refine the circuit.
Plus some debugging in terms of LCD optimisation for the current code.