Starting an engine can be relatively easy nowadays. You can get your car roaring just by simply Inserting and turning the key or even remotely through a phone. While things were a lot different 100 years ago, you might have to be strong enough to drive ‘cause the hand cranks were really exhausting. Then multiple types of starters were invented. After continuous upgrading, the electric starters that we recognize today are widely used in various kinds of engine startup. As for those old types, mostly disappeared in the long history. But the interesting thing is, one of them remains in service for all these time, and is gradually becoming an irreplaceable spring starter.
The history of engine starters
As mentioned above that hand-crank starter was what we use for startup 100 years ago. It is the original starter motor of all, widely used in the 1900s. The hand cranks gave our motorized vehicle its very first initial driving force, but honestly, they were lagging. The biggest problem with the hand-cranked starter is its unguaranteed safety. You turn the cranks, the cranks can turn against you and gives you a bone-breaking kickback.
To improve simplicity and safety, spring-powered and gunpowder starters were created. A spring starter motor also need to be cranked, but you can bring the physical work forward. Its working principle is to convert and store kinetic energy in the spring to start engines after, removing the process which can cause a kickback. Similarly, the gunpowder motor uses the energy from the explosion to start the car. No manpower required.
The revolutionary “electric starting system” was patented in 1911. The Cadillac model of 1912 was the first to install this motor because it was the first car with a complete circuit, and that’s what we know as the start of modern engine-starting technology. After that, key-operated ignition and other enhancing techs were gradually added in, the engine start has become more diverse.
Why is spring starter still in service?
While it actually had retired for civilian cars, but returned in many other fields. The applications of mechanical spring starter extended to firefighting, emergency rescue, military, marine, Petroleum industry, etc. Mostly it’s used to initiate a diesel engine as an alternative starting system when there is no power source available. Yes, we came to realize that humans are walking batteries.
You might have noticed that a lot of diesel engines have more than one bore (or at least one detachable bore), leaving rooms for backup starters. In many situations we might suffer from property or even life loss because the battery of our diesel engine is dead. That’s why a backup starting system is necessary in emergency operations. Another factor is that many emergency operations are carried out in harsh environment like explosion-proof situation, meaning no electric allowed. So when you see someone turning a hand crank in a factory instead of a gym, don’t worry, you did not travel back to 1885.
Why is it better than the other alternative starting systems?
Yes, there are other backups for the electric starter. The most used ones are pneumatic starter and hydraulic starter, using thermodynamic energy or a hydraulic pump to start an engine. Though those starters are deployed in different fields, I’d like to give them a compare. Beneath I’ve created a table comparing the three types of starting systems to help you choose the best one for your cause. The standards I picked are output torque, life span, environmentally friendly or not, operating environment restrictions, difficulty of use and price.
| Features types | Spring starter | Pneumatic starter | Hydraulic starter |
| Output torque | Medium | High | High |
| Life spin | Long | Medium | Medium |
| Environmentally friendly or not | Yes | Yes | No(oil grease contained) |
| Operating environment restriction | Hardly any | Few | some |
| Difficulty of use | Low | Medium | Medium |
| Price | Low | High | High |
Will spring starters be even longer-last than the electrics?
The way I think of it? Yes. The spring starter is one of the most primitive types of this tech, but it does not have the fatal drawbacks of a hand crank. Over the years, engines are constantly evolving and changing, but the spring starter’s simplicity and practicality made it through and kept it alive. Since it’s primitive enough, no magnetism, no circuit, no oil grease, it’s possible to start up a machine in almost any place and at any time. The only problem is a mechanical spring starter requires manpower, but manpower is exactly something we can take at any time. So I do think it’s probably the best alternative starting system and will stay that way for a very long time.
Cqstart – High quality mechanical spring starters manufacturer and supplier
The foundation of the machinery industry is scientific research, which is what we have always valued most. Cqstart has designed and developed over a hundred different models of motor starter for now, deployed all over the world. Here I’ve listed some features of our products and services:
1. Pre-sale service
According to the displacement, load and installation space, our clients require, We’d help them to make an appropriate selection.
2. After-sale service
Complete and detailed operation guide through handbooks, videos or even on-site instruction if needed. The product undergoes several inspections before leaving the factory to ensure quality (torque, peak, revolving speed, input/output ratio, convention ratio, stabilization ratio, performance curve).
3. World record of starting power
Through the application of distributed energy storage technology, parallel release technology and special energy storage material technology, Cqstart has created the world’s new record of spring power capacity to provide emergency starting for large engines.
For more info, Please visit our company profile.
