[SEL] Thermo-syphon Question

[MaytagTwin at aol.com]

Hi Curt,
If you don't want to have to monitor the temperature by hand, you might  
place an automobile thermostat in the top line.  I did this with a little  Kubota 
L175 2 cylinder diesel which is thermo-syphon cooling using a fan and  
radiator but no water pump. When I bought it I looked for any way that  engine could 
ever warm up when it wasn't working hard.  I found none.   So, I found an 
automobile 180°F thermostat that I could put inside the top  radiator hose, 
holding it between two clamps.  I did drill a small hole in  the thermostat frame 
and lined it up to allow any air bubbles to escape  easily.  It worked well as 
the engine would warm up nicely in winter  weather and it did not overheat in 
summer when pulling a bush hog.  
Regards,
Ron
 
In a message dated 1/19/2007 7:16:49 A.M. Central Standard Time,  
curt at imc-group.com writes:

The  walking beam Alamo I finished last summer has a fixed volume water 
pump. I  set up a bypass loop that allows the pump to continue working 
and pumping  water thru the trickle down tray cooler, yet thru a valve I 
can  independently control the flow thru the engine. When cold the water 
is  completely off to the engine and once hot enough that I can't keep a 
hand  on the cylinder head, I'll crack the valve open a 1/4 turn and 
allow a  small amount of water to flow thru the head and cylinder. This 
has really  worked out well and I think I'll add the same feature to the 
8HP screen  cooled Famous. It has WAY too much cooling for the work I can 
put on the  saw blade. Running hotter would be very beneficial.
Curt  Holland
Gastonia. NC