This is probably a long shot....but what the heck...

Has anybody got a Mamod Steam car ?
Can it be modified for RC ?

Could be fun :-)
I like the two cylinder Le mans racer, and would be cool to make RC...if possible.

The steering seems to be some kind of a spindle type, so you have to turn the steering wheel a few times to make it turn....just like a real car.
How can you set up a servo, or something else to do that to make it work?

Got any pictures of yours ?


Heres a short video of the roadster i found:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-LHU_Bb5jw0


Link to manufacturer: http://www.mamod.co.uk/

Wow those look preatty awesome. you should definetly mount the servo and reciever under the car. I think its futaba who makes a super thin servo. I saw it in a magazine once. Should have plenty of torque, and if you mount it on the bottom with only a small shiny metal screw head or 2 poking through the floor boards, it wouldnt mess up the look, and becuase it isnt very fast its not like you need to worry so much about messing up the servo, or reciever with all those crazy jumps your gonna be taking it off . Ive got the plans all drawn out in my mind. and if there were moving parts on the bottom like a driveshaft you could take a sheet of lexan, and make a cover so you could seperate your servo, and reciever from the moving parts. You wouldnt be able to control speed with this set-up, but it looks like this thing only has 1 speed anyway

Im assuming you already have one, but if you wanna do this, you better hurry. I found a great deal on the le mans one. On the companies site you linked 2 it was one of the most expenive. On the link below its selling for nearly 1/2 the price listed on the site. On the site they said it should sell for $460, its selling here for $250. It is a pre-order, so your gonna probalby wait a bit to get it, but its worth it. Im very very tempted to do it.
[link=http://www.ministeam.com/acatalog/Mamod_Steam_Cars.html]Its around the middle of the page[/link]

I just ordered one. I also found a good deal. 160£ instead of the 235£ list price.


I dont think there is much on the bottom. The drive train is in the trunk, as you can see the crank shaft fight behind the seats. There might be half a flywheel sticking out the bottom.....

I cant find any pictures other than the sales pics.....always the same pics, at the same angles.

I found some pictures of an older Le Mans model, which show the setup under the car.
Steering seems very simply, and i think I can hook up a servo to the steering wheel....im not sure how precise it wil be though.....have to wait until it arrives

Here are some pictures of the single cylinder Raodster....much more room.....but i bet the speed is lower than the Le Mans.

Wow, check out what this guy has built.....

http://www.crabfu.com/steamtoys/

I wonder if he got tired of charging batteries?

Man that is cool.

His steam locomotive centipede is king.

Very trick iron horse.


WR

That person that built those things is someone from our forum I think, I remember him posting somewhere about that 6x6 tlt.

My plan was to build a steam engine this winter..........doesnt look like its going to happen unless it starts snowing so I quit doing things outside.

I have a few steam engines and steam vehicles about 150 with about 175 of the toys they drive anywhere from the late 1800 to present. I never tried to make any of them radio control. Here is a picture of a few of them

thats awesome 46u

Hey guys

I have a Le Mans mamod RC.... I have to say it is not the most exciting thing to drive, sorry to disappoint you! It stalls quite a bit - espcially when turning (these steam engines are VERY low powered)... turning radius is pretty big, coupled with no throttle/reverse, you'd need a fairly large area, with no wind (wind cools down the boiler too fast, and sends the fire licking out). This was my first steam powered rc vehicle, and because of the disappointment of how it runs, I started hacking and making my own. The best performing ones in my fleet are the marine engines, they are made for nice power and with valves for forward / reverse / proportional power via a servo. These engines still have low power, so not very fast or have much torque compared to electric. The Steam Hauler has 3 speed transmission, which helps it run at decent speeds, otherwise they are all very very very slow. If you are expecting to drive like an electric or nitro, you will not be happy with doing steam conversions for rc. But.... you do get to play with fire

Just be careful, you are dealing with pressure, fire etc. If something goes wrong in your rc car, it fries, maybe burn out something. If something goes wrong with steam.... you've got steam shooting out, gas leaks, alcohol leaks with invisible flames, and possible explosion, not to mention catching your house on fire. Just make sure that you triple check everything, and test engines with a compressor before firing up, it will save you a lot of headaches

And yes, I am tired of changing batteries.... but steam is even worse - you have to load up fuel supply (tablets, alcohol, or gas), lube up every run, check and re check everything, long wait for the pressure to build up, short run times, something always seem to have issues. Changing batteries in comparison is quite easy, you plug it in and turn it on.

Anyway, glad to hear that you guys are interested in steam as well I don't mean to scare you guys, just make sure that you take extra caution when dealing with steam powered anything!

-Crabfu

If you get the alcohol or butane conversion they run much better and consistent. No they are nothing like a hobby grade RC but I think they are really neat. The only reason they are solid fuel is do to toy laws and solid fuel is poor to say the least.

Thanks for the info Crabfu.

Your steam creations are SO awesome!
I love the king hauler on steam too.... neat with the exhaust`s steaming

Yes, alcohol and gas run much hotter and you get a lot more out of it. Just make sure that the saftey valve works! And most of the toy steam engines are not silver soldered, so you risk leaks in the boiler due to it running too hot and melting the solder (yes I've done it before, it's not pretty). It may be ok to convert tablets to alcohol, but becareful if take a boiler made for tablets and jump up to gas. Model level steam flue boilers that are made for gas are fully silver soldered, and they perform much, much, much better than tablets or alcohol, able to generate good pressure, and able to maintain good working psi. It's not just about how much pressure can be generated and held by the boiler, but also how fast steam can be generated, as engines usually eats up more steam than the boiler can produce, so in an rc setup, you run into short runs, and having to wait for pressure to build up again to go.

Really nice collection by the way! And yes.... nothing like hobby grade rc, but nothing like the coolness of steam! It's definitely not something you see everyday, and gets a lot of attention, especially with the sounds that it makes, and steam plumes that they generate. And yeah, fire.... you get an good excuse to play with fire. You tend to forgive the lack of power and just enjoy running them at it's own pace

-Crabfu

Thanks Yeah I was going to make some sort of custom body for the hauler at first, so that it looks more victorian / steampunk. However, it would be a shame to loose such a nice hauler body, so I just went ahead and kept it, and routed the steam exhaust through the pipes. It was featured in last nov edition rc driver magazine, got 2 pages.... then they gave me 3 pages in the following month I've got scans of the magazine here: http://www.crabfu.com/steamtoys/magazines/

-Crabfu

Crabfu, do you happen to have any pictures of your RC setup on the mamod racer ?

No.... but I'll try to take one this week. I think I've alread took the servo out of it, but can at least take a pic of the linkages, I don't remember exactly how it is done, but I do remember it is quite simple system.

-Crabfu

THanks [sm=thumbs_up.gif]

I am receving a mamod steam roadster that I got from ebay and I have a few Ideas on the r/c. For me I have a 2 channel radio but 1 servo broke so now it is a 1 channel. I asked somw of my steam friends and heres what I got back, Roly williams sent me a picture of his Steam roadster with a bar that would connect directlt to the steering. I think this might work but I have some ideas of my own like some string attached to the bar that goes to the wheels and passed through an eyebolt.

http://images4.fotopic.net/?iid=ylls...p=1&quality=70

Thanks, good idea, and keep us updated on your Mamod

Roly is one sharp guy.... he's got it pretty much exactly right. Here are pics:







In the back where the white velcro tape is is where you can mount the rc gear, there are lots of room there. Linkage is pretty simple, and just a standard servo works. There is no throttle control since it's single acting 2x pistons on this thing, not able to self start for throttle control. Most of the mamod cars you see out there are single acting, single piston, so it will be even less power. You need to turn just slightly in a big arc, because tight turns can stall the engines easily. I wish that Mamod had made it with 2x double acting engines, that way it could be servo controlled for forward/reverse and proportional. But as is, the boiler can barely keep up with the demands of the engine and keep it running.... it stalls a lot especially when there is a light breeze. I double dosed the tablets to get better runs, but never used alcohol, and this boiler won't be safe using gas. Just keep an eye on the water gauge so that you don't burn it dry, it'll distroy the boiler.

Ok, now it's time for you guys to hack away, should be a pretty simple project! Just be careful!

Happy steaming!
-Crabfu

Hi Crabfu, thanks for the pictures on the Le Mans racer This is exactly what Roly was describing in his picture too. A simple L shaped bar that would be connected to the steering rig of the original steering. Mine should be coming today and when it does I'll have some pictures of it on here. I am also reciving a 2 piston double acting steam engines that a guy is machining for me. The cylinder block is ½” x 1-1/2” x 1-1/2” aluminum, and the base plate is 1/8” x 1-1/2” x 2” aluminum. It should be self starting and I will try to Mount it to my roadster.

Fantastic pictures Crabfu. Thanks again

Im still waiting for mine to show up.

I hear they have come out with a new mamod tractor. Its called the mamod challenger, its a steam roller with DOUBLE ACTION single cylinder piston. Its cost is 140 in the uk which turns out to be 274.22 U.S. They say it has alot of power. Any one who has the cash ( unlike me I'm 13 )would buy the tractor. I'm probably going to wait till it gets on eBay before I buy one.