Here's a video of my engine - input appreciated

[physileaks]

Prototype #2: http://youtu.be/kwX_-nDF5b4

I feel like for the amount of heat I'm supplying, I should
be getting more power.

My flywheel is 1cd glued to 3 HDDs.
Displacer is fine steel wool (about 2/3 of cylinder)
Power stroke=10 mm
Displacer stroke=30 mm
Crank is a coat hanger.
The can is a tomato soup can.
The pvc is roughly 1.5 inches diameter.

My observations:
-when engine picks up speed the displacer has so much momentum that the crank wobbles and bends.
-fly wheel isn't aligned
-displacer connecting rod is long which causes slight rubbing with base plate due to the angle it makes.


Any input is appreciated! I would like to eventually get a version that runs strong and smooth. Thanks!

[Aviator168]

Very nice. You need to stiffen up the crankshaft.

[Ian S C]

Good that it's going, now to improve it. You can probably still use the same crankshaft, just move the bearings as close to the cranks as possible, and move the flywheel as close to the bearing as you can, and on the other side get to work with a hacksaw, and remove most of the spare metal that's waving around, leave 20 or 30 mm/an inch in case you want to put a pulley on it. A bit of a push, and pull on the crankshaft, and you should have it running fairly true.
Ian S C

[physileaks]

Thank you for the pointers, much appreciated.

Where can I find rules of thumbs on ideal design parameters? I.E.: displacer size relative to cylinder, ideal stroke ratios, displacement rations, etc...