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creston

05/25/16 3:51 PM

#25788 RE: Piecemaker #25787

Carl, what happened to--Combilift Engines for our customer in Ireland is on its final testing on the dyno---Cyclone has just received the pre-production parts for 10 Mark 1 Engines and they are in the process of being assembled---Cyclone has entered into negotiations with a management consulting team who has expertise in rapid growth, and transition management.---The LSR car is still an ongoing project for Cyclone (Video). The Cyclone Mark 5 engine is mounted in the car and awaiting the final safety gear and assembly---licensee Phoenix Power Group is progressing as planned with the testing in Ohio. HYPE HYPE HYPE LIES LIES LIES

BuddyWhazhizname

05/25/16 5:03 PM

#25789 RE: Piecemaker #25787

The cast aluminum thing underneath the engine is a dynamometer. It can be used to apply a load to the engine, or it can spin freely with no load.

The engine panel:


The two black knobs on the lower left are air pressure regulators. In one shot you can see a red compressed air hose connected. These are for the burner. One pressurizes the fuel tank to push fuel to the burner (taking the place of a fuel pump) and the other is the air that atomizes the fuel in the burner. The two bottom pressure gauges show the air pressure each is set to.

The lever on the bottom right "By-Pass Perge", meaning 'purge', probably has something to do with the fuel-air mixture. In this shot the two temperature readouts are dark, but they were on when Harry was starting the burner. Those temperature readouts might be used to adjust the fuel-air mixture to the hottest flame.

The pressure gauge on the top right doesn't say what it is, but it is reading 500 psi, so it is probably the boiler pressure. The one below it, "pan pres", would be the pressure inside the engine crankcase. They had a lot of trouble with the Mark 5 not being able to condense steam well enough, and that causes the crankcase pressure to rise.

The one that says "TORQUE", which is also dark, is actually a tachometer.

None of the gauges indicate the engine is producing any power.

Back in 2012 after being unable to deliver the promised engine to Chuk Williams for his land speed record car, Harry hired Nelson Hoyos, created the "Performance Division" and spent a lot of money having a custom land speed racecar built. At the time he used to brag on the steam car club bulletin board about a Mark 5 engine "runnin' sweet on the dyno" setting one power record after another. No one else has ever admitted to seeing that engine being dyno tested. Harry constantly refused to give out any details or proof when asked about his claims. And the car has never even run in a parking lot.

Short videos of engines spinning under no load combined with PRs claiming great things were happening soon has been standard operating procedure for Cyclone for several years. None of those predictions have ever come true.

Over at Q2Power, Chris Nelson's split-off WHE division, they still have that contract with Phoenix Power that says they will get a $150K progress payment when their engine runs under part load without breaking down for 200 hours. They still haven't been able to do this yet. The licence between Cyclone and Q2Power says they have to share any technology developments. So neither can make an engine last very long.

Tom Swift

05/26/16 11:55 AM

#25790 RE: Piecemaker #25787

One more time with feeling seems to be the theme here. It would be refreshing if Cyclone made an announcement that showed a mass produced variant in operation, demonstrated this engine's capabilities in real world scenes, gave a fixed price for the engine and information as to where you can buy one, presented a warranty and submitted independent test results from EPA, SAE and maybe a university engineering lab or two. This isn't some kind of wild, elaborate maze that they should negotiate ... it's what other engine manufacturers do all the time. Cyclone has repeatedly claimed their product is vastly superior to internal combustion competitors --- it would seem they should be deliriously happy to demonstrate it on the same basis as their "inferior" competitors.

It would also be refreshing to see them explain how the new system deviates from the "exclusive patents" used to sell investors in the first place. They could start by explaining why the gage pressure is 500 rather than 3500; as you would expect to see in supercritical operation. Mind you, I always thought the idea of a supercritical, single stage, piston engine running supercritical was questionable BUT they collected a lot of money by advertising that this is what they were selling.

Likewise, why the external heat exchangers? The engine was supposed to be very compact with integrated engine, burner, steam generator, condenser, blower and feed pump. Given that investors were sold on the company based upon the engine having all these features, it seems only ethical to explain why none of them seem to be integrated any longer.

I am not suggesting that there is anything wrong in making changes, that is what R and D is about. However, when you sell based on the original design, it's only fair to explain why you are not delivering on the advertised goods. It's also integral to a sound business model; you can't develop a sound strategy for the future if you fail to identify what failed in the past...and why.

Many companies make announcements and people take them as true ... because they have a track record of delivering. The weed eater, lawn mower, boats, LSR cars shown on the IH page (not forgetting the Mark 5 and 6, Combilift, Genie and so on) make it necessary to seek verification before trusting.

I am sure Cyclone personnel and supporters regard public disbelief in their statements to be inflammatory but, so far, such statements have been little but unsubstantiated advertising.

As mentioned before, there is one thing the company could do that would lend some believability. Forget speed records, those are just stunts, engine lifetime can be measured in minutes and they prove nothing about the value of the item as a marketable product. Cyclone could simply find a public venue (say, a shopping mall parking lot) and set up one of their generator sets along with a practical load --- perhaps a bank of flood lights. Installing a watt meter will provide indisputable proof of output at any moment. Likewise, a flow meter to measure the fuel delivery rate will provide a good estimate of the energy being supplied to the system. Why these two meters indicate energy output and fuel flow, together they also indicate system efficiency. The only other critical parameters are reliability and operability. Start the engine up and let it provide an electrical output for a solid week, non-stop. That's hardly a drop in the bucket compared to commercial gen sets, but it at least establishes a minimum level of competency. At the same time, let it prove operability by painting a white outline around the rig and exclude all technicians from this area, it should be able to run itself without effort.

After doing the above, simply let the buying public judge for themselves. If the power plant is truly as developed as claimed, such a demonstration makes for a superior venue in which one could sell gen sets. Done right, this demonstration could be a money making evolution!

If they do something like this, I might even be a believer. It's currently impossible for a dispassionate observer to believe given the gap between claims and evidence presented to date.