Engine Troubleshooting
Posted: Sun May 21, 2017 11:15 am
Hello,
As a second year uni project (2 years ago now) I made a stirling engine. I could however never get it to run. I didn't have the time to troubleshoot or refine the engine as I had plenty of other stuff to do. Now I've finished uni, I want to 'complete' the project, and get it working!
The engine is made entirely from metal, the base plate is Mild 10mm thick, a stainless tube for the displacement cylinder, a tin displacer, mild steel top plate and various ali/stainless/mild parts for the crank and piston arrangements. The power piston is a piece of graphite in a mild steel cylinder (machining finish is not excellent) I have attached a few photos of the engine.
My query is, what is the first thing to improve in order to get it running. When I try it, it offers no indication of even wanting to power itself in either direction.
Here are a few of the things I suspect are wrong:
-Power piston not airtight seal to cylinder
-Displacement cylinder not airtight to top or bottom plate
-Displacement cylinder shaft hole too big
-Passageway from cylinders not large enough/acting as a heatsink
If i have missed anything or referred to anything incorrectly please excuse this, its been a while since I researched them. Any help or input welcome, thank-you!
As a second year uni project (2 years ago now) I made a stirling engine. I could however never get it to run. I didn't have the time to troubleshoot or refine the engine as I had plenty of other stuff to do. Now I've finished uni, I want to 'complete' the project, and get it working!
The engine is made entirely from metal, the base plate is Mild 10mm thick, a stainless tube for the displacement cylinder, a tin displacer, mild steel top plate and various ali/stainless/mild parts for the crank and piston arrangements. The power piston is a piece of graphite in a mild steel cylinder (machining finish is not excellent) I have attached a few photos of the engine.
My query is, what is the first thing to improve in order to get it running. When I try it, it offers no indication of even wanting to power itself in either direction.
Here are a few of the things I suspect are wrong:
-Power piston not airtight seal to cylinder
-Displacement cylinder not airtight to top or bottom plate
-Displacement cylinder shaft hole too big
-Passageway from cylinders not large enough/acting as a heatsink
If i have missed anything or referred to anything incorrectly please excuse this, its been a while since I researched them. Any help or input welcome, thank-you!