Jon sez:

"I have been thinking about making a solar-powered Stirling engine, in the
several Hp class."

Sorry Jon, but one of our RCM guys has already designed a V-8 steam engine
for a pickup truck - steam generator in the bed, don't you know. He sez it
will make loads of HP so it would put your little Stirlingaling in the
shade. I'm surprised he hasn't weighed in lately.

Bob Swinney


"Jon Elson" wrote in message
...


Gunner wrote:

A thread came up a day or three ago, about building some sort of motor
to run a small generator or a belt to supply power to :stuff: in
either remote locations or in the event of a long term power failure.

A serious question to the group....in your individual opinions, does
anyone have any suggestions for a simply made from common materials,
with minimal machining, steam engine?

Boilers are another issue of course..and suggestions on that would be
nice as well.


Another way to go is a Stirling engine. I have been researching this
lately. It seems if you use helium or hydrogen under pressure as the
working fluid, it produces a LOT of power from a small engine.
There are a bunch of different designs around, and some of them
could be made from lawnmower-size engines as the basic frame.
A 90 degree V-twin would make a VERY easy conversion for
one of the Stirling designs. It is almost guaranteed that you
would get more HP out of the same heat input than with a steam
system. One of the things that got me off the steam 'train'
was the feedwater pump. Obviously, not needed for the Stirling.


Jon