Stirlingengineforum.com

Excellent work and thread!

R

Sorry Ian, but that's not right. The linear alternator must stop its motion at both ends of the stroke. That time spent at BTC and TDC is wasted. The reciprocating motion also requires acceleration from a dead stop to full speed and again return to a dead stop. Only at the mid point of the motion wo...

Linear alternators are at the heart of those "battery-less" flashlights that you shake back and forth to light the LED. Their problem, as I see it, has little to do with the alternator design, rather the energy losses when reversing the mass of the moving magnet (or coil assembly) at the ...

I've ordered one of those cheap coffee cup engines. I've got an old black cast iron pot in the sun in the window it registers 87.5 degrees, think that motor will run on that? Pat :question) Yep, BUT there must be a temperature difference, so the cool end might need to be shaded some. If these littl...

tapkoote wrote:Does this link still work?
thanks Pat

I get a dead link for the UK site.

R

I think I get the concept. Kinda like the striling, trial and error! I played with a amp meter and a few simple electric motors I had lying around. I never could get any volt or current back thru the wires with a brisk finger spin, not even a spike. Idk if the motors may be the wrong type or someth...

I also read on one forum that said normal electric motors you might have lying around the house, will usually need a diode removed Inorder to work this way due to most electric motors having a safeguard for reverse current. In other words, most of them have a "one way valve" or "reed...

Motor with brushes, DC output, brushless, AC output, or on the rare occasion if the motor had slip rings, it also would have AC output. Proberbly the most efficient would be a three phase alternator, but any small alternator looses some of its power if you require to rectify the output to DC. Ian S...

Well, if you put power in an alternator will it spin like an electric motor? If one uses electronics to send appropriately timed pulses of current to the 3 different phase coils while at the same time supplying rotor power, an alternator can be driven like a motor. General Electric "electronic...

Hello forum members, I recently constructed a model alpha Stirling engine. It does not run. Hope to get help to solve problem. My email address is below. I would like to send a photograph that might help with this project. Thanks very much, Bob Hammell bobeileen1@comcast.net You can post pictures h...

Cameras can be built to live inside the engine itself. Depending on the temperature envelope of the engine. I bet a tiny little blue tooth camera, or two, could be fit inside a displacer. Maybe at the ends. I still think thermo reactive near-nano particles suspended in the working gas would give the...

VIDEO UPDATE: Here's the video I just shot with my iPhone and uploaded to YT. The engine had been running for over three hours this afternoon when I shot this. I am quite pleased, but still want to polish and smooth out a few things. This is as hot as I ever plan on running this engine. ____________...

Hey theropod2, Congratulations on your success, will be great to see a video of it running once you've maxed it out. What brand and type, super glue and high temp silicone did you use and how well do you think its been holding up to the heat so far.. would you recommend them for others to use? vamo...

I'm wondering if something like smoke inside a real running engine might be observed as a basis for comparison for the model?

I wonder if there is a material that would be superfine and able to float inside the engine that would change color based on temperature might be helpful.

R

Update; Last night I ran the engine for over two hours and she never skipped a beat! When my wife finally had enough of my little experiment and I shut down the stove the engine ran for 8:45 minutes before stopping. While she doesn't spin like a durbish it's a smooth as glass and silent. I must have...