Stirlingengineforum.com

i have a problem. a friend gave me this stirling engine fan kit that he bought, he couldn't get it running and i helped him get it going. he was tired of it so he just gave it to me. it was running good. but the last time i was getting it fired up the bottom of the "fire box" i guess blew off! now i'm not sure how i should reattach it? weld it, solder it. glue it? please help i have no clue who made this. it must be a kit it's too well built to be a home brew. he doesn't know the manufacture either he bought it at a yard sale lose in a box. thank in advance.

By fire box, I take it you mean the displacer cylinder, the cylindrical bit just above the burner. I'd tend to make it from stainless steel tube with a stainless disk TIG welded in the end, the top end brazed/silver soldered into the flange. Or if you have a lathe, and time, you can make it by boring out a solid bar of stainless steel, I'v done that on 4 motors.
I would suggest that a fire box around the burner and displacer cylinder would be a good idea, it should be made with a top on it so that the flame only contacts about the bottom third of the cylinder with a bit of a chiminy out the side at the top.
Looks quite a nice motor, I don't see why you think it must be a kit, a home made, own design could well come up to that standard, they don't all have to look as scruffy as some of my motors. Some of mine are for experimental use, and get changed around after they have been built. Ian S C

This looks a bit like your engine: http://www.solarfire.org/SWEE-Technologies,129. It was $100, which sounds good for that quality, but you can get the latest prce here: http://www.alibaba.com/product-free/110 ... d_Fan.html.

The hot end is at flame temperature so soft solder and bonding are unsuitable. Silver solder should be ok.
It is surprising that an engine of this apparent quality should fail with normal use. Can you see how the head was originally attached? Has it been overheated by a blowtorch? Er, is that a blowtorch with it?

Jester.

No just a regular butane burner. It is the biggest heat source I've used on it.
I tried different size candles just playing with it. The guy I got it from. Had assembled it and couldn't get it going he said he had the thing smoking at one point so he may have already cooked it and I was just lucky that it held together as long as it did in my use. But no I can't tell how it was attached before. ThAts why I'm asking you all. I've made some coke can engines but nothing like this.
Sorry I wasn't trying to say that this level ow work was not possible by the hobbiest.
Just that it was unlikely. I hAve seen some incredible home built engines searching on web.