Stirling Engines - My second attempt

I think I may have actually built something.

Or nearly built something.

It looks like this and almost works.

Most of that junk in the picture isn't part of it. The bits that are part of it are the bits that look like a Stirling engine.

Sometimes Stirling engines look like tin cans, and wire, and pink balloons. They also look like cardboard disks with blu-tac stuck weights all over the place to act as a flywheel.



I planned on posting a video of it working today, but it doesn't.

What it does do is spin around freely for a few seconds when you spin the flywheel. It also has a displacer and power piston that are configured in such a way as to do what they are meant to.

I think.

When I put it on the stove top, it nearly feels a bit like it's trying to work, then smoke starts pouring out of the seals, so I take it off the heat before it catches fire.

Who knew tape might burn.

Yes. That's right. I thought I'd make my engine using gaffer tape for the seals.

It doesn't work so well.

Tomorrow, I'll buy some glue. I seem to remember hearing of someone who used two part epoxy on a real engine crankcase, so it should cope with the heat.

Maybe.

My next choice will be solder. Solder melts when you get it hot, so I'm guessing that wont work so well either.

But the glue might.

If it works, I'll put up a big build post. If it doesn't I'll try something different.




120 Things in 20 years - Using a random evolutionary approach to building a Stirling engine. Chuck some bits in a bag, shake, then cull anything that doesn't work like a Stirling engine. I'll get there eventually.


[edit from the future - For anyone concerned that time may not be linear any more, this post was actually written two days ago, but for some reason didn't get posted. As a result the post after this one was actually two days after this one.]