Sunnytech Mini Hot Air Stirling Engine Motor Model Educational Toy Kits Electricity HA001

This thing is amazing! First off, it came packaged in 3 boxes. A fairly large box with air packets for cushioning, then there was a smaller box with yet a third smaller box within it! I did notice all Oriental (Chinese per chance?) writing on all of the boxes, but the very small engine was found intact. I was a little concerned by the negative reviews I've read, but I am very pleased with the quality control on this item. There was also a slip of paper written in English with simple instructions inside the box. All the screws were in place, all the rods, linkages were intact, everything was tight and looked ready to go....... and (being a 62 yr. old kid) I simply had to fire it up immediately! I poured a little alcohol in the alcohol lamp, threaded the wick, placed it in position and lit it up. Within half a minute (the directions say 20 secs.) I gave the flywheel a spin and it took off like a champ. If you leave the flame in direct contact with the motor, it keeps gaining RPM until it could vibrate off of the table. I merely moved the lamp away a wee bit and it slowed down to a manageable speed. I, too had a problem with the magnet falling off of the alcohol lamp, so I put a drop of Gorilla glue on it and set the lamp on top and it is quite solid there this morning. I had some trouble with the wick working down inside of the lamp due to vibration. As the wick is made of several strands of string, I thought I could tie a simple knot in it to hold it in place. If I failed, I figured I could replace the string. This simple knot seems to work pretty good as the wick now stays in position better. It did shorten the wick somewhat, but it still seems to work pretty good. I can always replace it with a longer wick. I couldn't help myself, but I ran two full tanks of alcohol through the lamp just watching this thing run. It seems impossible that it could operate, yet it does! Back to the review...... It came with a small foam wrap that had two glass bulbs and two O-rings in it, When I first opened the third box, a very small nut fell onto the table. I couldn't find where one was missing on the engine, so I simply double-nutted it on one of the screws to keep it from getting lost. I assumed that it is also a spare part? Tighten with care as this is a very small nut/screw. The base measures 1-7/8" by 4" and the engine stands about 2" tall overall. It appears to be built pretty good for a toy, the fit and finish being very good on the machined parts. It has only one flywheel (the catalogue description claims "twin flywheels". The base is either stainless or nickel plated steel. The Stamped parts are well made of fairly thick steel (again, these too look stainless) with a brass 1/4" elbow for an engine housing! It looks to have glass cylinders with a metal piston on the hot (top) side and a plastic piston/cylinder on the cold side of the engine. The connecting rods have ingenious linkages to the crankshaft with keepers to hold them in place. The unit came fully assembled, all nuts/screws were tight, and the unit is pleasing to the eye. It seems that Sunny Tech got their quality control straightened out. To me, this is an amazing work of science at a very affordable price. I highly recommend it to anyone with a mechanical aptitude. -------> I'll be quiet now. ;-)

Love It! But be sure to use the correct fuel. First of all, I paid full price ($39.99) and did not receive any compensation for writing this, nor do I have any relationship with the seller. I seldom write reviews, but this product is worth my time. This engine is a great value. You can of course spend over $200 for a precision made European product but as much as I like my science gadgets, I don't like to overspend on them. This product is well worth it. The seller has taken extra care to make sure the engine survives the long trip from China by double-boxing it. The inner box has the engine mounted to a substantial foam sheet with several cable ties, and the flywheel is tied down with a rubber band to prevent movement. You'll find 2 spare glass cylinders, 2 O-rings, and a spare fuel container carefully taped in foam--look for them. If you happen to have issues with your engine, the seller gives you an email and promises a response within 12 hours. You'll get a one page sheet of instructions, and another page for troubleshooting with links to videos, but I did not need the links nor try them. The translation to English on these sheets was very entertaining but understandable. Out of the box, the engine DID NOT WORK. But that's because there seems to be little information on the correct fuel to use. I used ordinary 70% isopropyl rubbing alcohol, and the only way to get it started was by "jump starting" it with a cigarette lighter. But this alcohol does not burn hot enough. I tried lighter fluid (naptha) which works great except that it turns the glass cylinder black with soot. Before I went out to buy a bottle of 91% rubbing alcohol, I did some research and found that there are 3 good choices for fuel: Heet, which is the antifreeze you put into your gas tank to remove moisture, pure grain alcohol (200 proof) which is available at liquor stores and pharmacies but is rather expensive, and denatured alcohol, which is often sold in expensive gallon sizes at hardware stores. I bought a bottle of Heet at the local gas station for a little more than $2 and it works great! A tip: the glass cylinder moves in and out. Rotate the flywheel until the piston is fully extended and if necessary, pull the cylinder away from the piston about 1/8 inch or so; just make sure that the piston does not strike the cylinder when running. The troubleshooting sheet provided refers to a problem that happens during shipping whereby the flywheel connector becomes disconnected from the piston shaft and it's just a matter of clicking them back together with sufficient force. I didn't have that problem. If you like geeky science gadgets at a bargain price, I urge you to buy this one!

Built far more solid than it appears. We added some washers to reduce vibration which sped up the engine. Great toy, my husband plays with it constantly and his friends and family love playing with it too regardless of age.

Took a month to arrive, but is good quality, and would recommend to others.

bien recu , merci!