Finally got an LTD Stirling built and running!

[a41capt]

I promised a Stirling engine to my 7 year old grandson so he could take it to school and share with his classmates. He’s very interested in the principles that allow a Stirling engine to operate, but being that he just turned 7, and I don’t think it’s safe or prudent to allow a 7 year old to play with fire, I elected to make my first engine ever to be an LTD Stirling that runs on an ice pack/cold pack.

Here’s a video of it running, and while I will do better on any additional engines (especially as far as finish goes!), I think it’s a pretty good attempt. The design is my own, although I must admit that I did careful study on many, many other builders efforts. I must’ve done something right, for after a little tweaking on the timing, it’ll run for 10 hours on one cold pack.

Reducing friction was the biggest issue I had, as well as sealing the displaced cylinder properly to ensure the most efficient use of the small temperature displacement. It runs well counterclockwise on cold, and clockwise when sitting on my morning cup of coffee!

Anyway, I love this website, all the knowledge I’ve gained from the membership (I'm self taught through observing the great things you folks do here), and I look forward to building and sharing more model engines in the future now that I’ve finally retired!

Thanks for watching,
John W.
Camp Verde, AZ

 

[vederstein]

Congrats. Getting any stirling to run in an accomplishment.

 

[a41capt]

Congrats. Getting any stirling to run in an accomplishment.

Thanks! It was a bit of a PITA chasing down all the friction points and eliminating them one by one.

My grandson is anxiously awaiting it’s delivery next week. In the meantime, as my wife says, “It's strangely mesmerizing to sit and watch it run.”