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Playing with a Stirling Engine.
1566191422_stirling_engine_1.jpg

Put it on a cup of hot water, and it'll chug away for 20 mins.
 
From eBay Goldfreak. Around $30 if you search. Get mine from HK, Taiwan or China (all the same), so delivery is around 2 weeks - free, but reliable.
You have to assemble the two cam shafts to the fly wheel on arrival, but it's not rocket science.
May take a small tweak to get everything central, but then it'll last forever (Stainless steel, brass & glass)
When on the cup, wait a minute and give it a nudge. If it stops, nudge it in the other direction.
I know they work by transferring heat from the bottom plate to the top plate, and if you put ice on top, they spin even faster.
They're an "external combustion engine"
They say it can even work from the heat of your hand, but haven't tried that.
I reckon if you put it on an ice block, then it may spin in the opposite direction????
I give them to friends who have me over for coffee and show them a: "cup warmer".
Pretty useless gizmo (a real "knick knack"), but gets folk watching.
I tell people who are telling me stories of their travels, that they gotta finish before the engine stops!
As they hear it slowing down (as the cup water cools), they speed up to get to their end :D
 
Just starting work. Hope to get out for a swing tomorrow, first time in over two months.
 
Thanks Jaros looks like it will be Thursday now. Will probably go to Kingower.
 
BigWave said:
From eBay Goldfreak. Around $30 if you search. Get mine from HK, Taiwan or China (all the same), so delivery is around 2 weeks - free, but reliable.
You have to assemble the two cam shafts to the fly wheel on arrival, but it's not rocket science.
May take a small tweak to get everything central, but then it'll last forever (Stainless steel, brass & glass)
When on the cup, wait a minute and give it a nudge. If it stops, nudge it in the other direction.
I know they work by transferring heat from the bottom plate to the top plate, and if you put ice on top, they spin even faster.
They're an "external combustion engine"
They say it can even work from the heat of your hand, but haven't tried that.
I reckon if you put it on an ice block, then it may spin in the opposite direction????
I give them to friends who have me over for coffee and show them a: "cup warmer".
Pretty useless gizmo (a real "knick knack"), but gets folk watching.
I tell people who are telling me stories of their travels, that they gotta finish before the engine stops!
As they hear it slowing down (as the cup water cools), they speed up to get to their end :D

Yours might be just an interesting device but hardly useless they use stirling engines in submarines, very quiet, just need heat difference.
 

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