HELP soda can stirling engine

[cokecanstirlingprobz]

Hi everyone I have been working on a soda can sterling engine for a couple of months now. I have followed all of the instructions from http://sites.Google.com/site/reukpower/home and have only made 2 alterations to his original design: i have added quarters to the flywheel to balance it and i removed the inner tube attached to the flywheel. ANY suggestions PLEASE would be so helpful. i have run into a dead end and don't know what else I can fix.
Thanks in advance!
Sodacanstirlingprobz

[fullofhotair]

Can you elaborate a little more? How are you heating the engine? When you turn it over by hand can you feel compression? Does it turn smooth or is there alot of friction at points? When you turn it over listen for the hiss of a small air leak. You said you made changes to the original design. What were they? Iam certainly no expert but i found out right away the tiniest alteration can give you a nonworking engine.

[cokecanstirlingprobz]

I'm heating the engine with 2 tea light candles and I'm cooling it with crushed ice and water when I give the flywheel a push by hand it sort of hiccups and wants to stay in that place. This is when the displacer is down so I think that is what is causing most of that problem. I have tried to reduce the friction at most points by oiling and balancing. When the power piston pushes down on the diaphragm it hisses a little so I don't know if it should be more or less airtight. My only alterations were adding weights to the flywheel (they said to do this but didn't specify) and removing the inner tube from the diaphragm because that seemed to make less friction. Should I put the inner tube square back on to reinforce the diapragm? If I do how big should the hole be? (considering I have to fit fishing line through it and I'm completely up for suggestions on how airtight the pressure chamber with the displacer in it should be).
Thank you!

[fullofhotair]

What you are making is a beta stirling engine. You need to google beta stirling engine animation, so you get a better handle on how it works. You said when the power piston pushes down on the the diaphragm. The diaphragm is the power piston. I like everything about that design except the fishing line. The displacer is light and easly sticks to the cylinder wall ,not letting it fall. Last resort replace the string with rigid wire.If you do it it will have to be in 2 parts.just look at tin can stirlings on you-tube and youll get the idea.First though make sure the attachments on the upper camshaft arent grabbing.They should all swing really loose.Since your not really familiar with stirling engines there is a good chance the offset on the chamshaft isnt 90 degrees. The hole for the fishing line should be just big enough that when you let go of the fishing line it drops down but not so big as to let air out.You might want to redo the hole.remove what youve got .Cut out a small square of aluminum can and glue it down. Use a small sewing needle to make the hole. The line should just past through with no resistance.but you should see no light from around the hole and line.Dont use oil on the hole.It can explode. Hope you get it running.

[cokecanstirlingprobz]

Sorry I forgot to mention that I was using a thin wire instead of the fishing line, but a more rigid wire would not be able to bend around and in through the hole in the diaphragm. I have made a new diaphragm with a smaller hole so there more pressure can build in the chamber. I've been using so Mich aluminum and I didn't want it to have the possibility of tearing the diaphragm so I'm using a piece of thin rigid cardboard. The attachments on the crankshaft I meddled with for a couple of days and they seemed to finally spin perfectly and the crankshaft is at a 90° throw. I got so into this one design that I guess I forgot that the displacer was also part of the power piston as well! Thanks so much for the advice!!

[Ian S C]

Which motor are you making, the showen as Coke can Stirling Plans, or the Simple coke can plans one. The first one looks the better of the two, and if you follow the instructions, there should be little difficulty. You shouldleave the square of inner tube on the displacer. the instructions tell you the size of the hole, it says to use a drawing pin to make it. Ian S C

[jimlarsen]

You might find a little help in these troubleshooting tips:

http://sites.google.com/site/stirlingbu ... oting-tips

The common problems with pop can engines are pressure leaks, balance problems, or friction. It can also be a combination of those things. The folks on the forum could probably help you real quick if you posted a short video of your engine attempting to run.

[Ian S C]

Read and understand the web site that you quoted in the initial entry to this thread, then carefully follow the plans. The text of that site will tell you what is wrong. Ian S C