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Engine Troubleshooting

Posted: Sun May 21, 2017 11:15 am
by saints9626
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!

Re: Engine Troubleshooting

Posted: Sun May 21, 2017 8:14 pm
by thanh-cuibap
You can check this :
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Re: Engine Troubleshooting

Posted: Sun May 21, 2017 11:40 pm
by Ian S C
The first thing is that the power cylinder with a graphite piston has to be better than excellent, that is why they are used in glass cylinders. A good steel cylinder with a polished bore is essential. Got to go out to night so I'll look in again.
Ian S C

Re: Engine Troubleshooting

Posted: Tue May 23, 2017 1:02 am
by saints9626
Thank you for the responses, what would you recommend for gasket material? I have some thin neoprene i could cut up. You have illustrated a heatsink, what is the purpose of this?

Thankyou!

Re: Engine Troubleshooting

Posted: Tue May 23, 2017 6:11 am
by thanh-cuibap
Hi Saints9626 ..may be help you !!
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