How to build a Tin Can Stirling Engine?

[hina_ichigo]

Hello! I'm 14 years old and also a newbie about Stirling Engines.
I want to build a stirling engine made out of tin cans and I've been searching for steps on how to build it. Luckily I found one.

http://astro.sfasu.edu/courses/egr112/S ... rling.html

That website really had a great help in my construction.
I just finished constructing my tin can stirling engine using the design and steps given in the website but I can't seem to understand some of them. I tested my device and voila!, it's not working. I did some troubleshooting about it and I reconstructed my device. (I should have taken pictures of it but I don't have a camera. Sorry. :) ) I tested it again using a candle (just like what I used in my first attempt) and ,. it didn't work, again.

I'm pretty sure that I followed everything in the website on my second attempt; The displacer(aluminum can) is air-tight (I tested it by placing it in a container full of water and there are no bubbles!), My pressure vessels are both air-tight too. They're both made from tin cans. My crankshaft too is just fine. I don't know what's the problem in my device. T__T

Can someone help me?
You're help is greatly appreciated. :)

Thanks in advance! ♥

[Junkie]

Hi,
could you try disconnecting the balloon connecting rod from the cranks. Heat the engine up and turn the cranks over... Does the balloon move up and down by itself ? If so how much ? My engines usually won't run until I adjust the tension that the balloon is under and the lengths of it's connecting rod.

When you heat it up, does the balloon bulge out a lot ? This could be too much pressure in the engine.
Have you tried a bigger temperature differential, say two candles and some ice ?

[hina_ichigo]

Hello! Thanks for the reply

Yeah sure I'm gonna try them all. :D

I'll just post my update here. Maybe tomorrow or after tomorrow.
Thanks again. :)

[jimlarsen]

Are you putting ice on the top?

The first Stirling engine I built was from the SFA web site. I recall it took some tweaking to get it to run. Ice helps by increasing the temperature differential. Friction can be an issue, as can the timing, and the balance of the flywheel.

I concur with what Junkie said. You can learn a lot by getting your engine to operating temperature and then watching the diaphragm as you turn the flywheel. You should see it pulling and pushing at the appropriate times.

Here is a video of my SFA can engine: http://www.youtube.com/16strings#p/u/0/1c95l78hspU

Jim Larsen
http://StirlingBuilder.com

[himavad]

Hi,

I'm new to stirling engines and I attempted to build a tin can stirling engine as well, based on the SFA stirling engine project design. But it isn't working and I don't know why. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Here's a link to a video of my engine - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LSZcGgVXQIw .

Thanks in advance for your suggestions.