Engine Troubleshooting

[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!

[thanh-cuibap]

You can check this :

18678918_10213176315750503_1578943520_n.jpg (302.28 KiB) Viewed 7859 times

[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

[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!

[thanh-cuibap]

Hi Saints9626 ..may be help you !!

1.jpg (78.65 KiB) Viewed 7827 times

4.jpg (39.59 KiB) Viewed 7827 times

18676642_10213176315310492_1974154933_o.jpg (334.01 KiB) Viewed 7825 times