DjuiinoStar Hot Air Stirling Engine Assembly Kit: Spend 30 Minutes to Build Your Own Stirling Engine

This item will allow me to explore how the Stirling engine works

This engine is a fun kit and when assembled with care works perfectly. Go slowly and be aware the very small parts can easily slip away.

This kit was very rewarding to build. And super easy to follow the instructions, but as it says all over the product, you really need to know how it works to trouble shoot. Mine went together fine, runs great, but had a lot of issues keeping the flame on the bulb regardless of wick height, and the crank/conrods were a little crooked and wobbly. This caused the rods to rub the flywheel (super small tolerance difference nothing crazy) so I had to adjust the spacing, and ended up finding a little burr on the casting where the bearing inserts. The point of noting that, is an engine of any type is a precise machines device, and a beginner may not find little things that cause innefiencies. After a little bit of oil she runs silently, and almost starts on her own. Just a little nudge. Beofre I adjusted things she was noisy and needed a sharp spin to take off.

My 10 year old grandson assembled this with me helping interpret the instructions. Worked right off the bat. I like the attention to detail and how the kit came with extras of the tiny easy to lose pieces. A couple of things that maybe are in the instructions but I had to learn the hard way. Don't grease the hot side moving connecting rod or the cold side piston. I think they have to leak air for the engine to work. It was easy to clean up and get it working after I stupidly greased. The kit comes with a short length of clear tubing. This lets one cut new retaining bushings as needed. The ones on the hot side connecting rod seem to melt off eventually. I would buy this again.

The media could not be loaded. Bought this for my great nephew (age 9) He and his Dad put it together. Great little project. Super cool!

This device, while theoretically correct, is non-functional. Stirling Engines function on the transfer of heat to move the working fluid. The pressures generated are small, and the friction must be close to zero to allow the device to work. The brass piston and cylinder have considerable friction; in fact, at bottom dead center, there was detectable resistance. multiple revolutions honed the cylinder and piston, but the device refused to work.As to assembly of tiny parts, this is a problem. I was pleased to see the manufacturer included all the needed tools and many duplicate parts, as these are easily lost.If you decide to tackle this project, prepare a well-lit workspace free of clutter and covered with a cloth to prevent pieces from rolling. Assembly requires forceps or tweezers to manipulate the minuscule parts. High power reading glasses are almost a necessity.If a part is lost, a high power magnet in a plastic bag can be used to sweep the area under your work space, as these parts are barely visible.As I believe the manufacturer, in good faith, tried to produce a functional device, I will continue to try to get it to work, and if so, report on what I had done.Also. the recommended fuel is 95% ethyl alcohol. I bought the 95% denatured alcohol. For the same price you can buy Everclear, so if the device fails, you can use it to drown your sorrows.

My grandson who is 6 years old and I were able to put this kit together and have it running in a short afternoon. The parts are well designed and the instructions are good enough that we had little trouble understanding them. I had my grandson put most of the pieces together and tighten the screws. He is so proud of his little engine!

Update: the M3x5 hex screw on the instruction should be M3x3 hex pin. There are total 3 hex pins, one for big wheel, one for small wheel, the third one is for big piston shaft.The M3x5 screw (total 4) is for big piston face plate.What a manual! But the machine finally runs!Original review:Tried to use this to demonstrate how the Stirling engine works, but ended up with the wrong parts inside. The M3x5 hex screw (on the photo and the manual) used to fix fly wheel to the shaft is way too short. Need M3x7, or the fly wheel has some design changes?