Stirlingengineforum.com

I like the water cans idea. Looks easy to make and if done on a bit larger scale than coffee cans you could mess with stroke etc. I could also use a better bearing than wire through aluminum. Doesn't sound like it's of much use if the RPM is that low though. It would need serious torque if it's to b...

I'm enjoying watching the wheels spin in your head Tom :) You no doubt are losing sleep at night (I know I do when I ponder Stirling designs) I see it's been cleared up about the displacer. The key note being not the heat or the cold, just how fast and efficient you can get the cycle between them ru...

Water in displacer chamber...bad, very bad. On my first test run I had an ice cube on the upper suface of my displacer and while I had very pleasing results with the running, I also discovered I had a tiny leak at the seam of the chamber. Well guess what? All that air expanding and contracting does ...

I have heard a lot of stiring modelers use resin or JB weld to "cast" pistons. I have an idea, how about adding a clump of dry lubricating graphite to the mix? I don't know if it would mix in right but it would be self lubricating? Just an idea.

I'm getting a better picture now, you have been bit by the Stirling bug... I know it well. It's become more than powering the batteries and that's a good thing. Models are a place to start, not sure if I would go full scale for my first engine unless I was sure it would work. With the right material...

I too have thought about increasing the surface area of the displacer but I had more of a cogged wheel or sunburst shaped displacer piston in mind. While I'm not an engineer and have only one fairly simple working model of my own design, I think your posted plans are good. Built on a fairly large si...

I'm sure it's been posted here before but here is a link for production cylinder sets of glass and graphite. http://www.airpot.com/ look under the specs tab. They have many sizes and the smaller ones run under 20.00 USD per set. Sure easier than making your own! I'm not posting this as advertizing, ...

It would seem that having the compression end of the power cylinder completely open to the displacement chamber would be best but I have seen plans that state otherwise. Not sure what an off-center hole half the size of the bore would help? Anyone heard of this?

I am building a LTD Stirling (second one) and would like to know how important the port size from the power piston to the displacer is? I will be using a 7/8ths piston with a 1 inch stroke with a displacer area of about 10 times that volume. Thanks.