Postby waybomb » January 30th, 2018, 5:50 pm
Kinda of a derail on the thread here, but speaking of governors - y'all know where the term "balls to walls" came from?
On a steam engine, there is a vertically mounted spool valve connected to pivoted spinning scissor-like assembly, with two balls mounted at the other end of the arms. so the faster it would spin, the farther out the balls would pivot. When the operator would want to moderate the speed of the engine, he would spin down a stop that would allow the spool to be lifted only so far. If he wanted full speed, he'd unscrew the stop, and the balls would spin straight out, or to the walls - the fastest the thing could go.
Thanks
Fred
1969 Glaspar Avalon /1967 Johnson Electromatic 85
1987 Carver Mariner
1988 Cougar Kevlar 46' with triple blown 572 ci
1995 Boston Whaler Rage
Past - 1988 2807, 1989 4207 Aft