SolarPowered SterlingEngine Construction Manual

The 3D printed
Solar Stirling Engine
The 3D printed solar stirling engine © by A. Haeuser, August 2014 Seite 1

Preface
The stirling engine was invented in 1816 by the scottish clergyman Robert Stirling. This engine is the
second oldest thermal engine after the steam engine. The stirling engine had its heyday in the late
19th century, where it was used mainly in private households as a table fan, water pump and drive of
small appliances such as sewing machines.
With the upcoming serve of the households with electricity and the increasing use of the electric
motor the stirling engine disappeared completely from the private households. Technicians always
were fascinated by the stirling engine and so no other thermal engine was developed in various
directions like the stirling engine. You will find it in alpha, beta, and gamma configuration…and
special kinds of these!
Stirling engines work with pistons, with membranes or with liquids, with crank mechanisms or with
"cantilevers" ... and each of these designs has its own special advantages, but also disadvantages.
This is the reason why the stirling engine nowadays is used in a wide variety of special applications.
You will find it in the medical engineering, in aerospace, as a silent submarine drive, as well in cold
pumps and in solar power plants.
The stirling engine was always a popular construction project for modelers who had a tool shop with
milling machine, a lathe and lots of other tools for metalworking. The aim of the development of the
solar stirling engine described here, was to build a solar stirling engine for the most part using a
conventional 3D printer, without a lathe and without a milling machine.
These building instructions will guide you step by step through the construction of this beautiful
engine. You will be fascinated by its noiseless running when it’s driven by the sun’s rays or by a cup of
hot tea. A conventional 3D printer, a few simple hand tools and a little craftsmanship is needed to
build it. This construction manual provides the additional know-how that is necessary, tells you the
sources of supply for required materials and provides information for printing the STL files.
Note: This construction manual covers many technical terms. Connecting rod, crank arm, cylinder ...
etc. If you have not had contact with such terms: Don’t worry! These are only names for parts of the
engine. You do not have to know them. Just start building and you will learn them automatically.
I recommend to read the construction manual completely before building the engine. This improves
the technical understanding of the project and helps to avoid errors.
And now enjoy printing, construction and operation of your "3d printed solar stirling engine ".
Andreas Haeuser
August 2014

Table of contents
Preface..................................................................................................................................................... 2
Table of contents ..................................................................................................................................... 3
1. Operating mode of the stirling engine ................................................................................................ 5
2. Advices for printing the components .................................................................................................. 9
2.1 The Printer ......................................................................................................................................... 9
2.2 The STL date files ............................................................................................................................. 11
2.3 Calibration of the printer................................................................................................................. 11
3. Required tools ................................................................................................................................... 11
4. Parts lists............................................................................................................................................ 13
4.1 Printed parts .................................................................................................................................... 13
4.2 Other parts ...................................................................................................................................... 16
5. Construction of the solar stirling engine ........................................................................................... 19
5.1 Assembly 1: Displacer cylinder and displacer piston ...................................................................... 19
5.1.1 Step 1: The printed parts ...................................................................................................... 19

5.1.2 Step 2: Building the cylinderplates ....................................................................................... 19
5.1.3 Step 3: The displacer cylinder............................................................................................... 22
5.1.4 Step 4: Cylinder gasket ......................................................................................................... 33
5.1.5 Step 5: The cylinder flanges.................................................................................................. 37
5.1.6 Step 6: Assembling the displacer cylinder ............................................................................ 39
5.1.7 Step 7: The displacer piston ................................................................................................. 46
5.1.8 Step 8: Assembling displacer cylinder an displacer piston ................................................... 53
5.2 Assembly 2: Power cylinder and power piston ............................................................................... 55

5.2.2 Step 2: The power cylinder ................................................................................................... 55
5.2.3 Step 3: The power piston ..................................................................................................... 57
5.2.4 Step 4: Assembling power piston and power cylinder ......................................................... 60
5.3 Assembly 3: The crank drive ............................................................................................................ 69

5.3.2 Step 2: The piston rods ......................................................................................................... 69

5.3.3 Step3: The crank arms .......................................................................................................... 70
5.3.4 Step 4: The flywheel ............................................................................................................. 72
5.3.5 Step 5: The Flywheel mount ................................................................................................. 74
5.3.6 Step 6: Assembling the crank drive ...................................................................................... 75
5.4 First test run .................................................................................................................................... 85
5.5 Optimization of the crank arm stroke ............................................................................................. 87
5.6 If the engine does not run – troubleshooting ................................................................................. 87
5.7 Solar post and solar mirror .............................................................................................................. 88
Legal disclaimer ..................................................................................................................................... 92
Copyright notice .................................................................................................................................... 92

1. Operating mode of the stirling engine
The general principle of operation of all stirling engines is based on a very simple fact and this is very
important to know:
If one heats a gas (eg air), so it expands and when it is subsequently cooled, it contracts again.
As shown in the preface a variety of different forms of construction can be found at the stirling
engines. They all put the expansion and contraction of the gas (eg air) to the one way or another into
useful mechanical work. To explain all these different design principles would be beyond the scope of
these instructions. For this reason, I will only explain the operating principle of "our" stirling engine
here. The interested reader will find many good websites on this subject by using search engines.
Many of them explain the entire theme “stirling engine” comprehensively.
"Our" Stirling engine is a classical “alpha stirling engine”, like Robert Stirling has come up with in the
year 1816. It has a so-called displacer cylinder with the displacer piston and a so-called power
cylinder with power piston. The two pistons are each connected via a so-called Connecting rod with a
flywheel. The axle joints of the connecting rods have an angle offset on the flywheel of 90 ° to one
another (Figure 1). Sometimes I will use short cuts in this manual. D- means Displacer…. and P-
means power….
The power piston is well sealed to the power cylinder. So when the air expands in the displacer
cylinder by heating, it pushes out the power piston. When the air contracts by cooling it sucks the
power piston into the power cylinder again. The displacer cylinder has a top and a bottom
cylinderplate, made of a good heat conducting material. In our stirling engine, these plates are both
made of 1mm thick aluminum sheet. The displacer piston is not sealed with the displacer cylinder.
Between the displacer piston and the displacer cylinder is an air gap so that the air can flow around
the piston when it moves.

Figure 2 shows the operation cycle of our alpha stirling engine in 4 steps:
1) The displacer piston is in the top position, very close to the cold cylinder plate. All the air is in
the lower part of the displacer cylinder and is heated up by the bottom cylinderplate. The air
expands and pushes the power piston out.
2) The moving power piston pushes the P-piston rod and this makes the flywheel rotating.
Because of this rotation the D-piston rod pushes the D-piston down to the lower part of the
displacer cylinder. The hot air flows through the air gap to the upper part of the displacer
cylinder. Here it is cooled down by the cold top cylinderplate.
3) The displacer piston is in the bottom position, very close to the hot bottom cylinderplate. All
the air is in the upper part of the displacer cylinder and cools down by touching the cold top
cylinderplate. Because the air cools down it contracts and this sucks the powerpiston back
again. The power piston pulls the P-piston rod and the flywheel goes on with rotation.
4) Because of the rotation of the flywheel the diplacer piston is lifted up again. The hot air flows
through the air gap and is heated up by the hot bottom cylinderplate. Now the operation
cycle starts from the beginning with step 1.

Figures 3 and 4 show our stirling engine in completely assembled condition, but without the
components that are required for the operation as a solar stirling engine. In this condition it can be
operated on a cup of hot water or tea.

Fig. 5 shows the stirling engine completed with solar mirrors and solar post.
2. Advices for printing the components
2.1 The Printer

In general, any conventional 3D printer can be used, which has a build volume of at least 180mm x
150mm x 65mm (x, y, z). Only 1 extruder is needed. The recommended nozzle size is 0.35mm to
0.4mm. Support material is not required. As material you need at least ABS but using PLA for some
parts is recommended. In the parts list for the printed parts it is indicated which material is
recommended for that component. Some parts have to be printed from ABS because of high
temperature loads. If one would use PLA here, the parts would deform because of the temperature
load during operation of the engine and this may destroy the engine. However, the parts that are
recommended to be made from PLA can also be manufactured from ABS. I personally prefere PLA for
components with low temperature loads, because of a higher rigidity and less warpage. For the
flywheel, for example, PLA is a preferable material. Low warpage makes a smooth rotation without
wobble.

Figure 6 shows a Prusa I3 from the author. A inexpensive kit printer. For the construction of our solar
stirling engine perfectly adequate.
It is August 2014. The theme “3D printer” is on everyone's lips. In the beginning only homemade
"reprap printer" as Prusa and Mendelmax were used. Nowadays almost weekly new industrially
produced 3D printer come to the market place. Some are well-adjusted in the factory and work well,
but some do not. For this reason I would like to give here a few tips that maybe help the one or the
other to eliminate existing problems with printing.
An often discussed problem is that large components sometimes do not stick sufficiently to the print
bed and peel off during printing. For those who still have problems here, I tell you my solution: I print
all the components on mirror tiles that are covered with kapton tape. Before printing PLA
components I clean the surface of the kapton tape every time with " Würth Brake Cleaner " (
available in any auto parts store or on EBAY ) . With ABS components I use acetone ( available in any
hardware store ) for cleaning the kapton tape. Furthermore the printing bed temperature is very
important for good results. PLA components I print with a print bed temperature of 65 ° C. For ABS I
take 105 ° C. But beware! Do not trust the display of your control software. I have made the
experience that the ads are very inaccurate. This comes from the fact that the temperature is
measured with a thermistor. Most of all printers have this thermistor mounted in the heat bed. But
the surface of the kapton tape is from there still far away. I measure the surface temperature of the
kapton tape with a contact free infrared thermometer in the center of the print bed. If you adjust the
printer this way, so that it will reach the temperatures mentioned above, it should work fine. For me
this combination of cleaning and temperature works with 3 different printers without any problems.
Even large components made of ABS and PLA can be printed as almost distortion–free and the
components stick to the print bed till to the end of the print.

Some parts have to be printed absolutely free of distortion, such as the two mounts No.17 and
No.18. If these two components are not absolutely warpage-free the alignment of the two ball
bearings will be bad. This increases the bearings friction and the engine is running poorly. Leave the
components on the print bed after printing and place it for 60 minutes in the oven. Set oven
temperature for ABS parts to 100 ° C and for PLA parts to 70 ° C. Turn the oven off after 60 minutes
and allow the parts to cool down slowly to room temperature while they stay in the oven. After this
you can take the components from the print bed and they will be absolutely warpage-free.
2.2 The STL date files

All STL-data file, provided with this construction manual are ready prepared, aligned and tested. The
files each contain only one component, even if more than one is needed. In the parts list you will find
all important information for printing. The number of needed components and the quantity of
filament that is approximate required. If you observe this information, printing the components
should not be difficult.
2.3 Calibration of the printer

The calibration of the printer? In the early days of 3D printers anyone who had built and operated
one knew what this means. As mentioned earlier more and more “ready to use printer” enter the
market nowadays. Some of them are already well calibrated, but some are not. If we print a cylinder
with a diameter of 100mm and a height of 100mm, then it should really have this size if we measure
it. And if you print a 90° angle, then this should also be 90° and not 85°. The angularity between the
Z-axis and the XY plane is important and should be well calibrated. On a printed length of 100mm an
accuracy of +/- 0.2mm -even with the kit printers of the first generation- is not a problem if you
calibrate your printer well.
From my perspective, there are two good reasons to calibrate a printer really good:
1) It's just a lot more fun when printed parts can be easily fitted together without much rework.
2) If you want to use the printed parts for the construction of a moving machine, as the
example of our stirling engine, then a certain precision in the components is required to
make sure that the machine works. An Example: For printing the flyweel, the angularity
between the Z-axis and the XY-plane has to be well calibrated. If it is not, the central bore for
the flywheel axis will not be perpendicular to the plane of rotation of the flywheel. In the
worst case, the flywheel will hit the mounts and block the engine. But do not worry. In the
design of our stirling engine reasonable tolerances have been taken into account so that not
only "class 1 printers" can be used for the construction.
If you did not think about the calibration of your printer yet, maybe it is worth to do it. You will find a
lot of good tutorials about printer calibration in the world wide web.
3. Required tools
In addition to a 3D printer and the needed filament for printing the parts only a few tools and
resources are needed. These are mainly common hobbyist tools, such as screwdrivers, small files, a
coping saw with metal blade, try-square, a cutter knife and a ruler, compass and pencil, a few drills
with different diameters, a countersink, and a M3 tap. If the printer is calibrated well, a small
cordless drill is fine, since all the holes are pre-printed and just need to be reworked with a drill. If

the printer is not well calibrated, specifically the angularity between the Z-axis and the XY-plane, so I
recommend a drill press to use, so that holes are actually drilled perpendicular to the surface. This is
especially important for the flywheel and the crank arms, so they do not wobble later during
operation.
Unusually are two drills that are required and that are not to be found in every household: two drills
with diameters of 3.1mm and 1.7mm. If you do not have them you have to add them to your
shopping list.
Furthermore, a few things are required that are not listed in the parts lists. Superglue, Uhu Plus
Endfest 300, acrylic sealant, alcohol, some oil, sandpaper with different grits and adhesive tape
(single and double sided). Very useful is a small emery board. A straight (!) piece of plywood, 200 x 50
x 10mm in size. On one side sandpaper grit 120 and on the other side sandpaper grit 240, glued with
double side adhesive tape to the plywood.
Many works can be done in different ways and with different tools. This is the reason why I do not
give a tool list. As previously recommended you should read the construction manual before starting
construction. Then you see what you have at home and what you need to obtain.

4. Parts lists
4.1 Printed parts

No Fig. Filename Quanti Material Note
ty weight
1 Half cylinder ring.stl 2 ABS ABS because of
17 gr. temperature!
80% Infill
2 Bottom flange.stl 1 ABS ABS because of

20gr. temperature!
80% Infill
3 Top flange.stl 1 ABS ABS because of

20gr. temperature!
80% Infill
4 Piston inset.stl 1 ABS ABS because of

20gr. temperature!
80% Infill
5 Piston template.stl 2 PLA or 80% Infill

ABS
25 gr.
6 gluing tool.stl 1 PLA Preferably PLA

74 gr. because of low
warpage
60% Infill
7 Spring ring.stl 2 PLA Preferably PLA
17 gr. because of better
tention
80% Infill
8 Exercise part.stl 1 ABS or 80% Infill
PLA
6 gr.
9 Power cylinder.stl 1 ABS or 80% Infill

PLA
5 gr.
10 P-Cylinder base.stl 1 ABS or 80% Infill

PLA
4 gr.
11 Power piston.stl 1 ABS or 80% Infill

PLA
3 gr.

12 P-Piston plate.stl 1 ABS or 80% Infill
PLA
1 gr.
13 Piston tool.stl 1 ABS or 80% Infill

PLA
2 gr.
14 Cylinder cover.stl 1 PLA Preferably PLA

2gr. because of better
tention
80% Infill
15 Flywheel.stl 1 PLA Preferably PLA
warpage
80% Infill
16 Flywheel cover.stl 1 PLA Same material as
11 gr. flywheel
80% Infill
17 Displacer mount.stl 1 ABS or Preferably PLA

PLA because of low
20gr. warpage
80% Infill
18 Power mount.stl 1 ABS or Preferably PLA
PLA because of low
18 gr. warpage
80% Infill
19 Mount spacer.stl 1 ABS or Same material as
PLA No 17 and No 18
25 gr. 80% Infill
20 Hinge block.stl 1 ABS or 80% Infill

PLA
2 gr.
21 D-piston rod.stl 1 ABS or 80% Infill

PLA
2 gr.
22 D-crank arm_7.stl 1 PLA Preferably PLA

rigidity
80% - 100% Infill
23 D-crank arm _8.stl 1 PLA Preferably PLA
rigidity
80% - 100% Infill

rigidity
80% - 100% Infill
a 3 gr. because of better
rigidity
80% - 100% Infill
25 P-crank arm.stl 1 PLA Preferably PLA
rigidity
80% - 100% Infill
26 Solar post_1.stl 1 ABS or Preferably ABS
PLA because it heats up
11 gr. in the sun
80% Infill
27 Solar post_2.stl 1 ABS or Preferably ABS
PLA because it heats up
19 gr. in the sun
80% Infill
28 Solar mirror.stl 4 PLA Preferably PLA
warpage
80% Infill

4.2 Other parts
No Fig. Material Quantity Note

Describtion Source of supply
29 Top cylinderplate 1 Aluminumalloy
Aluminum sheet locksmithery, ebay, onlineshops
t = 1mm
140mm x 140mm
30 Bottom cylinderplate 1 Aluminumalloy
Aluminum sheet locksmithery, ebay, onlineshops
t = 1mm
140mm x 140mm
31 Counter sunk screw 6 DIY market, onlineshops
M2 x 6mm ebay
32 Cylinder window 1 Model shop, onlineshops

Polycarbonate (clear) Conrad Electronic Part No.
t = 0,75mm 229802-62
364mm x 21mm
33 Cylinder gasket 2 to 4 Supermarket, DIY market,
Rubber rings (big amazon
diameter)
approx. 1,5mm x 1,5mm
34 Nut M3 24 DIY market, onlineshops
ebay
35 Collar bushings 5 mm 2 Model shop, onlineshops

2 mm 3 mm Conrad Electronic Part No.
BB 02/05/03 SINT 237400-62
d = 2mm Google:
D = 5mm Modelcraft BB 02/05/03 SINT
36 Cylinder head screw 8 DIY market, onlineshops

M3 x 30mm ebay

M3 x 35mm ebay
38 Displacer piston 1 DIY market

Styrofoam t=10mm
140mm x 140mm

39 Connecting rod 1 Model shop, onlineshops,
Spring steel wire (straight) Conrad Electronik Part No.
D = 2mm 238108-62
L = 80 mm
M3 x 20mm ebay
41 Weights 6 DIY market, onlineshops

Mutter M10 ebay

M2 x 6mm ebay
43 Piston membrane 1 DIY market, onlineshops

Disposable glove (vinyl!) ebay
Size: large
44 Washer (big diameter!) 4 DIY market, onlineshops

M4 ebay
45 twine 0,5m DIY market, onlineshops

ebay
46 Rubber ring 1 Supermarket, DIY market,

D = approx. 30mm or less amazon
47 P-piston rod 1 DIY market, onlineshops

Cylinder head screw ebay
M3 x 50mm
48 Ball bearing 683 ZZ 5 Model shop, onlineshops

D = 7mm Conrad Electronic
d = 3mm Part No.: 221989-62
b = 3mm
49 Flyweel axle 1 Model shop, onlineshops,
Spring steel wire (straight) Conrad Electronic
D = 3mm Part.No.:238110-62
L = 47mm
50 Headless screw 1 Model shop, onlineshops
M3 x 6mm ebay

M3 x 10mm ebay
52 Washer 8 DIY market, onlineshops

M3 (big diameter !) ebay

M3 x 12mm ebay
54 Adjusting ring (collar) 1 Model shop, ebay

D = 2mm Conrad Electronic
Part No.:225398-62

ebay

ebay
57 Washer 20 DIY market, onlineshops

M3 (small diameter!) ebay
58 Hex socket head screw 2 DIY market, onlineshops

M4 x 60mm ebay
59 Self-adhesive mirror film 4 DIY market, onlineshops

130mm x 200mm Ebay, amazon

5. Construction of the solar stirling engine
5.1 Assembly 1: Displacer cylinder and displacer piston
5.1.1 Step 1: The printed parts

Print the parts No.1 to No.8 from the parts list. Best is to start with two parts No.1 (half cylinder ring),
because you need this as the first parts for construction. Part No.6 needs the longest time for
printing and you need this part at the end.
Deflash and clean all parts. Some of these parts will be glued together, so take care that they all stay
free of oil and grease.
5.1.2 Step 2: Building the cylinderplates

These two components cannot be printed with the materials available today for 3D printing, which
means that we have to do some craftsmanship. But do not worry. If you have completed these two
components, the printer will do most of the work that is left! Since the two cylinder plates No.29 and
No.30 of the parts list must have a very good thermal conductivity, we make it from 1mm thick
aluminum sheet. As the material you can use any standard aluminum-alloy. Only pure aluminum
(Al99) should be avoided, as this is very soft and can be worked very uncomfortable with the coping
saw. Please make sure that the sheet is completely flat and not bent. For the production only a few
tools and resources are needed (see Figure 7).
Start with part No.29, the "top cylinder plate". Transfer the drawing from Fig.8 with compass,
protractor and pencil on the aluminum sheet. Since the drilling and sawing of aluminum with alcohol
performs best as a lubricant, you should definitely use a pencil and not a felt pen for marking: the
felt-tip pen is immediately washed away from alcohol, not the pencil!

You should try to comply the dimensions as closely as possible. Tolerances of 0.1mm are not required
but it should not be more than 0.5 mm! If you have transferred the drawing on the sheet, you should
check all the dimensions before sawing and drilling (Fig.9).
Next, you can center punch and drill the bores. Then the outer diameter of 125mm is sawn with a
coping saw. If you constantly deal with alcohol as a lubricant, this work is done in a few minutes.
Warning: Avoid smoking, open flames and inhaling fumes of alcohol! After completion of the sawing
you should smooth all edges with sandpaper or a file and deburr bores with a countersink.

Finally you have to counter-bore the two 2mm bores on that site of the cylinderplate that was not
marked (!) with the pencil. The heads of the screws No.31 have to fit in well (Fig.10).
Fig.11 shows the completed "Top cylinderplate". The counter bores for the 2mm screws No.31 are
now not visible on the backside!

Build part No.30 “Bottom cylinderplate” in the same way, using Fig.12.
5.1.3 Step 3: The displacer cylinder

The displacer cylinder is made from two parts No.1 (half cylinder ring) and the cylinder window
No.32.
Place a sheet of sandpaper (240 grit) on a flat table surface. Press parts No.1 with light pressure on
the sandpaper and grind the joint face smooth (Fig.13).

After grinding the joint faces should look like as shown in figure 14.
Glue the two parts No.1 together, as shown in Fig.15. As the adhesive, I recommend superglue, or a
few drops of acetone. It is important that both parts are well aligned to each other, so that a flat
inner wall without steps is the result, in which we can glue the cylinder window!

Now you need a pair of scissors, a strip of sand paper 200mm x 50mm (120 grain), some two sided
adhesive tape and a paint can (750ml) or a similar cylindrical object. Glue the sandpaper with
adhesive tape on the paint can, as shown in Fig.17.
Use the paint can as a sanding block to grind the inner surface of the cylinder ring (Fig.18)
If the inner surface of the cylinder ring is everywhere uniformly strongly abraded, it is ensured that
the cylinder window can be glued in without gaps between cylinder window and cylinder ring surface
(Fig.19). This is important to avoid leakage, because our engine will only work if it is absolutely
airtight!

Next you have to manufacture and glue in the cylinder window No.32. The cylinder window is made
of clear polycarbonate. Because of the clearness of this material it was very difficult to make good
pictures for this construction manual. For this reason, I made the pictures with yellow cardboard
instead of polycarbonate.
Note: Our Stirling engine fascinates his viewers because of his silent rotation and the visible
movement of the displacer piston. But this only looks nice, if you do a good job when you are gluing
the cylinder window. It does not look nice if glue is smeared all over the window. If you follow the
method presented here to glue the cylinder window, or even practice with a strip of cardboard
without glue, so you will get a nice result.
Cut a 364mm x 21mm wide strip from 0.75mm thick polycarbonate with the help of a ruler and a box
cutter. Roughen a 3mm wide rim with sandpaper (240 grain) as an adhesive surface (Fig.20).

I recommend to use “Uhu Plus Endfest 300” for gluing the cylinder window. This adhesive stands the
heat load of the engine during operation and it fills small gaps to ensure airtightness. In addition you
now need the prepared displacer cylinder ring and the two spring rings No.7.
Wrap the cylinder window to a narrow spiral, with the roughened rim facing outside. If you let the
spiral jump up again, it should fit into the cylinder ring without touching it. Spread the inner wall of
the cylinder ring with adhesive. Fix the cylinder window with one end in the middle of a vertical web
of the cylinder ring. A common clothes peg works excellent for this (Fig.22).

Unroll the spiral now slowly while pushing it against the cylinder ring. Only if you do not have to
correct the position of the cylinder window after this, you can ensure that you do not "smear" it with
adhesive (Fig.23).
Finally cramp both ends of the cylinder window with the same clothes peg firmly to the cylinder ring
(Fig. 24).

Take one of the two spring rings No.7. Squeeze it and place it into the cylinder ring as shown in Figure
25. The opening of the spring ring must be located on the opposite side of the clothespin!
Remove the clothespin and insert the second spring ring no. 7, as shown in Figure 26.
Some dealers sell the polycarbonate only in DIN A4 size. You cannot cut a 364mm long strip out of
this. In this case, proceed as follows:
Cut out two polycarbonate strips with dimensions 182mm x 21mm and grind a 3mm wide rim on one
side as shown in figure 26a.

Place the first strip into the cylinder ring and cramp it with 2 pegs (Fig.26b).

Place the second strip as shown in figure 26c.
Place the first spring ring into the cylinder from below (Fig.26d). Pay attention to the position of the
opening of the spring ring to the joints of the polycarbonate strips!

Take the pegs off and place the second spring ring (Fig.26e).
After the adhesive has cured, you can remove the spring rings and your displacer cylinder should now
look as shown in figure 27. It is important that the upper and lower edge and the joints of the
cylinder window strips are well bonded to the cylinder ring. If you detect flaws here, you should try
to rework this. The cylinder must be airtight!
The upper and the lower edge of the displacer cylinder need to be smoothed after the curing of the
adhesive. A good way to do this is to place sandpaper (240 grain) on a flat surface and to grind the
edges as shown in figure 28.

Caution: grind slowly and with little pressure only, otherwise it can happen that the bond between
the printed parts and the polycarbonate dissolves!
After grinding both edges of the displacer cylinder should look as shown in figure 29: smooth and
even!

5.1.4 Step 4: Cylinder gasket
Later on we have to glue the displacer cylinder to the bottom cylinderplate No. 30 and to the bottom
flange No.2. The top cylinderplate No.29 will be glued to the top flange No.3. These both cylinder
assemblies will be screwed together. To make the cylinder airtight we need a gasket between top
cylinderplate and the displacer cylinder. It is not a big job to make this gasket, but it is an important
one, because the gasket is responsible for our cylinder to become airtight. Because of this I
recommend to build an exercise part. For this you need the “exercise part” No.8, the rubber rings
No.33, double side adhesive tape, a pair of scissors, superglue, tweezers and a piece of paper or a
business card (Fig.30)
Grind one side of part No. 8 smooth, as already practiced before, with a sheet of sandpaper (240
grain) on a smooth and flat surface (Fig. 31).

Fix part no.8 with three thin strips of two side adhesive tape to your workbench. The grinded surface
of part No.8 shows up.
Fixed in this way the ring cannot slip when working but you can easily lift it off, turn a little further
and firmly press again. You will see that this is very helpful for gluing the rubber ring, because you
can put the ring always into the most comfortable position for working. Cut some rubber rings with
scissors and place a large drop of superglue on a business card or a piece of paper (Fig.32).
Important note: The gasket only works accurate, if it stays soft after gluing. Because of this you have
to glue the rubber ring to part No.8 with very little glue only. Let not come glue to the vertical
surfaces or to the top surface of the rubber rings. Also do not try to glue the ends of the rubber rings
to each other. If you do this, you will get a hard spot there that will not seal well!
The best way to do this is to dip the tip of a small screwdriver into the drop of glue and to brush the
first 2 cm of the top surface of the ring No.8. Then take the first end of the rubber ring and place it
with the help of the tweezers in the middle of the ring into the glue. Then brush the next 3 cm with
glue, place the ring in the right position…and so on (Fig.33).

Because one rubber ring is not long enough we have to use more of them for our gasket. Put them
together like shown in figure 34. But only press the ends against each other. Do not glue them
together as mentioned before!
The last rubber ring closes gasket. Cut it to the right length and glue it. Ensure that there is no gap
between the ends of the rubber rings (Fig. 35 and Fig.36).

Figure 37 shows the completed gasket on our exercise part. If you are satisfied with the result of your
work you can glue a gasket to your displacer cylinder. If not….well, try again.
Figure 38 shows the completed displacer cylinderring with gasket. Sometimes the rubber rings do not
have uniform sectional dimensions. In this case you have to grind the top surface of the gasket equal.
Put a sheet of sandpaper (240 grain) on a smooth and flat workbench. Put the cylinderring with the
gasket facing down on the sandpaper and grind the gasket with a very light pressure. The best way
for grinding is to rotate the cylinderring on the sandpaper. If you push it forwards and backwards the
gasket may come off the cylinder.

5.1.5 Step 5: The cylinder flanges
Take the flanges No.2 and No.3. Drill all preprinted bores to 3,5mm respectively to 3,1mm as shown
in figure 39.
Press the M3 nuts No.34 in all hexagonal openings (Fig.40 to Fig.42). Depending on the calibration of
the printer, it may be that the nuts can be pressed flush with light pressure into the openings and will
stay there. If the printer is not well calibrated you may not be able to press the nuts in because the
openings are too small, or the nuts fall out again, because the openings are too large.
If the openings are too small then try this: put the nut on the end of a long screw. Heat it up with a
lighter and press it in. Make sure that the nut is well aligned to the centerline of the bore when the
plastic cools down! If the openings are too large, you have to glue the nuts in. Ensure not to put glue
on the inner thread of the nuts.
5.1.6 Step 6: Assembling the displacer cylinder
With this step we assemble the displacer cylinder. For this I recommend to use Uhu Plus Endfest 300
as glue, because it fills gaps and stands the temperature load during operation of the engine.
Important note: Ensure that glue only comes to the bonding surfaces. Our cylinderplates have to
transport the thermal energy. If you cover them with glue you are insulating them and this decreases
the effectiveness of our stirling engine.
Grind (240 grain) a 5mm wide rim on the marked side of the top cylinderplate No. 29. You also have
to grind the gluing surface at the top flange No. 3. After grinding put glue on this surface (Fig.43).
Place the cylinder plate in the cylinder flange as shown in Figure 44. The marked side of the cylinder
plate is facing down, the countersinks for countersunk screws 2mm No.31 is facing up. To take

tolerances of the components into account, the cylinder plate has a diameter of 125mm. The
receiving opening in the flange has a diameter of 126mm. Because of this we get a little gap between
these both components. Make sure that this gap has a uniform width all around (Fig.44). Ensure that
no glue flows from the gap over the cylinder plate. The surface of the cylinder plate has to stay clean,
smooth and flat, because the gasket will find it’s sealing surface there.
Align the cylinderplate and the flange as shown in figure 45.

Turn this assembly upside down again and put a weight on the cylinder plate for the time the glue
cures (Fig 46).
After the glue had cured you can glue the collar bushing No.35 into the top cylinder plate. Check that
the bushing fits into the 5mm center bore of the cylinder plate without any friction. If you have to
press the bushing into the bore, this is not O.K! If you have to press it in, the center line of the
bushing may not be perpendicular to the surface of the cylinder plate and this causes friction during
operation of the engine because the connecting rod No.39 will clamp. If the bushing does not fall into
the bore by itself you have to rework the bore. Grind the bonding surface around the 5mm center
bore on the marked side of the cylinder plate (Fig.47).

Place some glue around the center bore and place the collar bushing No.35 into it. I recommend to
use Uhu Plus Endfest 300 as glue for this work (Fig.48 and Fig.49).
Grind a 5mm wide rim on both sides of the bottom cylinderplate No.30 and grind the bonding
surface on the bottom flange No.2. Put some glue on this bonding surface and place the bottom
cylinderplate into the glue (Fig.50 and Fig. 51).

Put some glue on the bottom side of the displacer cylinder and place it on the bottom cylinderplate
as shown in figure 52.

Align the displacer cylinder such a way that the vertical webs of the cylinder ring align with the screw
bores of the flange (Figure 53).
If the components are aligned this way you can put a weight on the cylinder ring for curing. In figure
54 I used the upper part of the displacer cylinder and a paint can for this. If you do this, ensure that
the glue from the upper part is already completely cured, otherwise it will stick to your gasket. It may
happen, that some glue leaks out. So it is a good idea to put some plastic film between your
components and your work bench!

After the glue had cured, you have two cylinder modules: The upper and the lower displacer cylinder
module (Fig.55).
Place both modules as shown in figure 56 and screw them together with two screws No36. Tighten
the screws only slightly, without any force!
Turn the displacer cylinder upside down and screw the 6 screws No.37 in. Tighten the screws only
slightly and crosswise. It is important to tighten all screws with the same light force, otherwise the
gasket does not seal well, or you bend the flanges (Fig.57). That’s it! Your displacer cylinder is
completed.

5.1.7 Step 7: The displacer piston
A very important issue is, that the connecting rod No.39 will be glued perpendicular to the displacer
piston No.38. This ensures that the piston can move very close to the hot and to the cold cylinder
plate during operation. We will manage this with the help of the “gluing tool” No.6. Smooth the 3
vertical edges of the gluing tool with a straight emery board. But be carefull! Smooth the edges from
drops only. Do not modify the angle between the vertical edges and the base surface by grinding (Fig.
58).
Now you will see whether your printer is well calibrated. Place the gluing tool on a flat surface and
check the perpendicularity of the gluing tool as shown in figure 59. Check all three edges. They all
have to be perpendicular to the base surface! If it is O.K, you can go on with construction. If not, you
have to do some rework on the gluing tool.

If reworking of the gluing tool is necessary, don’t worry. It’s not a big job. You can correct the
perpendicularity with the help of little strips of tape that you place in the right places under the rips
of the tool. After reworking the tool check again the perpendicularity of all three vertical edges
(Fig.60).
The connecting rod No.39 is made from straight 2mm spring steel wire. Because of it’s hardness it is
difficult to cut. The best way to cut it to the length of 80mm is to file it. Make sure that the
connecting rod is absolutely straight! Check that the collar bushing No.35 slides smoothly all over the
connecting rod without clamping. If it does not (tolerances of the wire) you have to polish the
connecting rod with sandpaper (400 grain) till it does (Fig.61 and Fig.62).

Drill the center bore of the piston inset No.4 to 2,5mm. Do not drill all the way through! There must
stay a wall of 1mm between the hole and the bottom surface of the piston inset. Otherwise the glue
will run out (Fig.63).

The displacer piston No.38 is made from 10mm thick styrofoam. You get it as insulation material in
DIY markets. Place one of the piston templates No.5 on a piece of styrofoam, 140mm x 140mm size.
Mark the three 3mm bores and drill 3mm bores perpendicular through the Styrofoam. Place a piston
template No.5 on both sides of the styrofoam and and screw it together with screws No.40 and nuts
No.34 (Fig. 64 and Fig.65)

Cut the outline and the center opening with the help of a box knife (Fig. 66).
Grind the styrofoam to the shape of the templates. Sanpaper 240 grain works well (Fig.67).

Unscrew the parts (Fig.68).
Place some plastic film on a smooth and flat work bench without any wrinkles to ensure that you will
not glue your components to this surface. Glue the piston inset No.4 into the piston and the
connecting rod No.39 into the piston inset. Use Uhu Plus Endfest 300 because of high temperature
load (Fig.69).
It is a little bit difficult to get thick glue into the 2,5mm bore of the piston inset. Heat the connecting
rod with a lighter. This heats up the glue and it flows like water. If the Styrofoam has the right
dimensions, there should be a step of about 1mm from top surface piston inset to top surface
styrofoam. This gives some space to the collar bushing No.35 that comes out of the top cylinderplate.
Make sure that there is no glue on that part of the connecting rod that is visible and not on the top

surface of the styrofoam, to ensure that the gluing tool No.6 does not stick to these components
(Fig.70).
Place the gluing tool No.6 on the assembly as shown in figure 71 and place the nuts No.41 as weights
on the gluing tool. Let the glue cure completely.
When the glue is cured you can take the gluing tool off. Make sure that there is no glue on the
connecting rod. Put some low-viscosity oil (WD40 for example) on the connecting rod and place a
collar bushing No.35 on it. Check that it slides without any clamping the whole way up and down the
connecting rod.

Close the three bores in the piston with little pieces of styrofoam and a very little drop of glue. You
do not have to fill them completely. It is fine if no air can flow though (Fig.72).
5.1.8 Step 8: Assembling displacer cylinder an displacer piston

Dark surfaces heat up much more by the sun rays than light ones do. Because of this we paint the
bottom cylinderplate No.30 black. Matt black spray paint is very good for this. You get good and
cheap ones in shops for car accessories. Don’t do it with a brush. The paint film gets to thick with this
an then it insulates the cylinder plate.

Cover all printed parts with tape. We don’t want to paint these black to avoid that they become too
hot because of the sun rays (Fig.74).
Spray only a thin film of black paint on the cylinder plate. After the paint had cured you can take the
tape of (Fig.75.)
Place the piston into the lower cylinder module and place the upper one on top. Now screw both
modules together like you did before. Tighten the screws only slightly and crosswise and make sure
that the upper and the lower module are well aligned (Fig.76 and Fig.77).

5.2 Assembly 2: Power cylinder and power piston

Print the parts No. 9 to No.14 from the parts list. Print all parts with a high “infill”. The parts must be
airtight! Deflash and clean all printed parts.
5.2.2 Step 2: The power cylinder

Prepare the parts No. 9 and No.10 as shown in figure 78. The 1,7mm bores will become threads for
the 2mm screws. You do not need a tap for this. Ensure that you drill all bores about 7mm deep. You
do not have to bore them all the way through!

Screw the screws No.42 into the 1,7mm bores in part No.9 and the screws No.31 into part No.10. If
this is done you can screw them all out again. With this you have cut nice threads in your printed
parts (Fig. 79).
Make sure that the piston tool No.13 fits into the P-cylinder base No.10 as shown in figure 80. The
piston tool No.13 is an auxiliary tool that helps you to build in the power piston in the right position
later on.

5.2.3 Step 3: The power piston
Do the work that is shown in figure 81 on the parts No. 11 and No.12. The 1,7mm bores and the
2,5mm bore will become threads.
Screw four screws No.31 into the power piston No.11, as shown in figure 82 and take them out again.
Cut a 3mm thread in the 2,5mm center bore. I recommend to use a tap for this work. With such a
tool you get a thread with low friction and this will be positive for a later adjustment of the P-piston
rod No.47. Smooth all edges of the piston parts No. 11 and No.12 with sandpaper. You have to do
this very carefully, so that these edges do not cut the piston membrane No.43 during operation. The
membrane will be clamped between part No.11 and part No.12.

Cut a big flat sheet out of the disposable glove No.43. Make sure that it is made from thin vinyl.
There are other disposable gloves available that are made from other plastics or from latex. They will
work more or less. Latex will be spoiled by the sun rays after a couple of month. You will get the best
and long lasting results using vinyl. Place the P-piston plate No.12 on the vinyl and mark the bores
with a permanent marker (Fig.83 and Fig.84).

Cut out the marked bores with a pair of scissors (Fig.85.).
Place the prepared piston membrane No.43 between power piston and P-piston plate. Screw these
parts together with four screws No.31 to clamp the membrane. Ensure to clamp the membrane
without any wrinkles. If you cut out the marked bores of the membrane to small in size, the screws
will catch the membrane and twist it. If you have problems with this make a new membrane with
well cut holes in it. It also makes this job much easier if you put some grease or vaseline on the
screws (Fig.86). The vaseline will also seal the threads to make them airtight!

5.2.4 Step 4: Assembling power piston and power cylinder
Smooth the edges of the power cylinder No.9, as shown in figure 87, to ensure that they do not cut
the piston membrane during operation of the engine. You also have to smooth the V-slot, because
the membrane needs a smooth surface for sealing.

Screw together the power cylinder No.9 and P-cylinder base No.10 as shown in figure 88.
Screw the power cylinder to the upper module of the displacer cylinder (Fig.89).

Place the piston tool No.13 into the power cylinder (Fig.90).
It makes the following steps easier if you clamp the upper module of the displacer cylinder to your
work bench. This way you have both hands free to do the job. Screw the power piston to the power
cylinder with the help of screw No.36 and washer No.44. The piston is in it’s lowest position now
(Fig.91).

Clamp the membrane with the help of the little rubber ring No.46. Tighten the membrane softly and
without any wrinkles (Fig.92).
Place two loops of yarn No.45 around the membran and the cylinder. Make sure that you place the
loops in the little slot. You have to tighten the loops and to make a knot in a way, that membrane and
cylinder become an airtight assembly. The best is to do this with two persons. One holds the yarn
tight, and the other one puts a little drop of superglue onto the knot. If it is done you can take the
little rubber ring of and cut the ends of the yarn short (Fig.93 and Fig.94).

Cut the membrane as shown in figure 95.

Unscrew the P-cylinder base from the power cylinder and take the piston tool No.13 out of the
cylinder. You don’t need it anymore (Fig.96).
During final assembling of the cylinder you have to seal it well. You can take any kind of sealant.
Silicon and acrylic work well. I recommend to use acrylic because it doesn’t smell so bad. You get
cheap ones in DIY markets. Place some sealant on the P-cylinder base and screw it to the cylinder as
shown in figure 97. Clean the cylinder from sealant that may run out, to make the cylinder well
working and good looking.
You should test the air-tightness of the cylinder! Screw a M3 screw into the piston. Put some vaseline
or “Labello” on the thread to seal it well (Fig. 97a).

Close the bores in the cylinder with your finger. By pulling and pushing the screw you can test the
tightness (Fig.97b). Watch also the video “Tightnes test” for this!
If the cylinder is not airtight you have to correct this false! If you cannot find the false, repeat the test
in a bowl with water. You will see where the bubbles come out.
You also have to seal the joint between P-cylinder base and top cylinderplate (Fig.98).

Repeat the tightness test to make sure that this assembly is airtight, too!
Make a cut to the cylinder cover No.14. Deburr the cut well (Fig.99).

Place the cylinder cover No.14 on the power cylinder as shown in figure 100. The cylinder cover has
no functional job to do. It is just there to make the cylinder look nicer.
Assemble the displacer cylinder as you did it before (Fig.101).

5.3 Assembly 3: The crank drive

Print the parts No.15 to No.25 from the parts list. Clean and deburr the parts after printing.
5.3.2 Step 2: The piston rods

To build the P-piston rod you have to cut the screw No.47 to a length of 46mm. Deburr the cut
carefully to ensure that the thread works proper later on. The best is to check the thread with a M3
nut after this (Fig.102).
Do the work that is shown in figure 103 on the parts No.20 and No.21.

Ensure that all ball bearings No.48 fit into the openings flush to the surface of the parts No.20 and
No.21. If this is not the case the bearings will have a lot of friction during operation and this will slow
the engine down. You can lock the ball bearings in the openings with a little drop of superglue. Screw
the P-piston rod No.47 that way into the hinge block No.20, that it stays out 38mm (Fig.104.).
5.3.3 Step3: The crank arms

Our stirling engine has two different crank arms. The power crank arm No.25 and the displacer crank
arm No.22 to No.24a. The function of the crank arms is to translate the rotaion of the flywheel to a
linear movement of the pistons and the other way around. For the power crank arm No.25 we have
only one version. For the displacer crank arm you find different versions (No.22 to No.24a) in the part
list, because of the following reason:
As described in chapter 1, figure2, the function of the displacer piston is to cover the hot or the cold
cylinderplate of the displacer cylinder in a way that the air inside the cylinder heats up and cools
down. This works best, the closer the piston comes to the cylinderplates. Because of tolerances from
printing the parts and building the cylinder the distance between the cylinderplates may vary. If the
stroke of the displacer crank arm is too big, the displacer piston will hit the cylinderplate and block
the engine. If the stroke is too small, the piston does not go close enough to the cylinderplates to
cover it from the air inside the cylinder. To take this into account we have the possibility to use crank
arms with different strokes to find the one that fits best. I recommend to make the first test runs
with the crank arm that has a stroke of 8mm. If this works in a way that the piston does not hit the
cylinderplates you can try the one with 9mm stroke. If this also works well you should try the one
with 10mm stroke. The best one is the one with the biggest stroke that does not block the engine. If
the 8mm crank arm does not work well, because the piston hits the cylinderplate and blocks the
engine, you have to take the one with 7mm stroke. If this is still too much stroke than there is a
mistake somewhere built in. Look for this and rework it. Don’t worry. This may sound difficult, but it
isn‘t. You can change the crank arms easily for testing and we will talk about this later in this
construction manual again.

Do the work that is shown in figure 105 on the displacer crank arm No.23 and the power crank arm
No.25. Make sure to drill the bores perpendicular to the surfaces of the parts. If this is not the case,
the axles that go into these bores will not be well aligned and this causes high friction to the
bearings.
Place a nut No.34 in each crank arm as shown in figure 106. Because of tolerances they may fit not
well into the openings. If the openings are too small, you have to enlarge them with a small file. If the
openings are too big in size and the nuts fall out again, you should lock the nuts in the openings with
the help of some glue.

Screw the screws No.50 and No.51 into the depending crank arm (Fig.107).
5.3.4 Step 4: The flywheel

The flywheel axle No.49 is made from 3mm spring steel wire and has a length of 47mm. If you cut it
to the right length make sure that you don’t bend it. It has to be absolutely straight. The ball bearings
No.48 must fit to the flywheel axle. Check that they slide all along the axle easily without clamping
(Fig.108). If this is not the case, you will run into problems during assembling the crank drive. You
should polish the axle with some sandpaper if necessary.
The design of the hub of the flywheel No.15 is the same as it is at the crank arms. A M3 nut and a
screw for clamping the flywheel to the axle. Make sure that the 3,1mm center bore is absolutely
perpendicular to the surface of the flywheel. Otherwise the flywheel will wobble during operation or

it will hit the mounts and blocks the engine. If your printer is not well calibrated you should do the
drilling with a drill press to make the bore perpendicular.
Place the flywheel as shown in figure 109. The screw No.51 shows up! Place M6 nuts No.55 in all
openings in 12 o’clock, 3 o’clock, 6 o’clock and 9 o’clock position. Place M4 nuts No.56 above and
under the 9 o’clock position as shown in figure 109. Glue all nuts to the flywheel. These nuts are
counter weights that are important to balance the whole crank drive, so make sure that all nuts are
in the right position!
Glue the flywheel cover No.16 to the flywheel No. 15. Grind the gluing surfaces with sandpaper
before gluing. Superglue is a good glue if you made these parts from PLA (Fig.110).

5.3.5 Step 5: The Flywheel mount
Do the work on the parts No.18 and No.19 as shown in figure 111. Do the same work on the displacer
mount No.17 as you did it on the power mount No.18. Check that both mounts are absolutely free
of warpage. If they are not, the ball bearings will not be well aligned to the flywheel axle and this
causes a lot of friction! Make sure that the center lines of the ball bearings are perpendicular to the
surfaces of the mounts. Lock the ball bearings in the openings with some superglue.
Screw the parts of the flywheel mount as shown in figure 112. Take attention to the orientation of
the single parts to each other (small figure!). Don’t tighten the screws. Push the flywheel axle No.49
through both ball bearings. Align the mounts to each other in a way that the flywheel axle is
perpendicular to the mounts surfaces and that it slides easily through the ball bearings without
clamping. Tighten the screws with low torque only.

5.3.6 Step 6: Assembling the crank drive
When assembling the crank drive ensure that all parts are free from distortion and move without any
friction.
Place the prepared flywheel mount on the displacer cylinder and fasten it with the screws No.53 and
washers No.52 as shown in figure 113. Align the flywheel mount in a way that the connecting rod of
the displacer piston stays in the center of No.17 mounts bore (small figure 113). Fasten the screws.
Slide a collar bushing No.35 on the connecting rod so that it rests on the flange. Take a thick glue (eg
Uhu Plus) and embed the collar bushing with the adhesive. Ensure that you do not glue the
connecting rod! After the adhesive has cured the collar bushing is well aligned to the connecting rod
(Fig.114). After the curing of the adhesive place a drop of thin oil (eg WD40) on both collar bushings
and on the connecting rod. Move the connecting rod up and down and rotate it between the
fingers until it smoothly slides up and down all the way!

Open the displacer cylinder and set a about 1 - 1.5mm thick spacer on the bottom cylinder plate. You
can use some cardboard or some business cards for this (Figure 115). This spacer serves the distance
between the displacer piston and the bottom cylinderplate during assembling.
Place the displacer piston in the displacer cylinder (on the spacer). Place the upper module of the
displacer cylinder with the flywheel mount on the displacer cylinder. Insert the adjusting ring No.54
on the connecting rod (Figure 116). Align the displacer cylinder top and bottom module in the way
you did it before. But do not screw them.
As stated above, I recommend to use the "D-crank arm_8" with 8mm stroke for the first test runs.
This is part No.23. Push the crank arm on the flywheel axis No.49 in a way that the axis is flush with

that surface of the crank arm on which the mark with the stroke is applied (Figure 117). This point is
important! If you push the crank arm the other way onto the axis the assembly will not match to
the counter weights and the position of the fylwheel. Clamp the crank arm to the axis with the help
of the screw. Make sure that it is well clamped, but do not give too much torque to the screw. If you
do so, you will deform the crank arm and it will wobble during operation.
Push the axis through the ball bearing of the displacer mount as shown in figure 118. Place a washer
No.57 on both sides of the ball bearing.
Place the flywheel into the mount. The glued “flywheel cover” faces in the direction of the “D-crank
arm”! Slide the axle through the flywheel and through the ball bearing of power mount No.18. Slide
the flywheel and the crank arm tightly together that only a very small clearance between these
components and the displacer mount No.17 is left. Clamp the flywheel by tightening the screw No.51

in this position on the axis. The clamping screws of the crank arm and flywheel must be exactly
pointing in the same direction! See Figure 119. If you turn the flywheel it has to rotate completely
smoothly, without any friction and without hitting the mounts. It is nearly impossible to avoid a little
wobbling. This is does not matter, as long as the flywheel does not hit the mounts. If this is the case,
there are usually two sources of error:
1) The center bore of the flywheel is not perpendicular to the rotation plane of the flywheel.
May be the z-axis of your printer is not perpendicular to the x-y-plane. You should build a
new flywheel. Use a drill press to drill the center bore. This will avoid this bug.
2) The flywheel axle is not perpendicular to the mounts, respectively the rotation plane of the
flywheel is not parallel to the mounts. In this case you have to loosen the screws between
the two mounts and the top flange. Now loose the screws between the mounts and the
mount spacer. Move the mounts to each other in a way that the rotation plane of the
flywheel is parallel to the mounts and fasten the screws again. Before you fasten the screws
between mounts and top flange, hit the displacer cylinder a couple of times softly on the
work bench. These vibration will help the flywheel mount to align with the connecting rod.
Now fasten the screws with low torque. This should solve this problem.
After this trouble shooting check that the flywheel runs without friction and without hitting the
mounts.
Because it looks very nice if the flywheel runs without any wobbling, here is a very good method how
you can rework a bad aligned axle:
Drill a 4,5mm bore in a piece of plywood or in your workbench. Place the axle half the way into the
fylwheels hub and clamp it with the screw (Fig.119a).

Place the axle in the bore, that the hub of the flywheel is placed flat on the workbench (Fig.119b).
With a help of punch marks you can press the axle in the right direction to align it well. With a little
practice this method works very well and you will get a really nice running flywheel, without any
wobbling! The important point is, that the axle is clamped with the screw when you hit the punch
marks(Fig.119c).

Lock the flywheel that way, that the pivot screw No.53 of the D-crank arm is in 6 o’clock position.
This is easy to do with the help of two normal pegs that you clamp to the flywheel (Fig.120).
Bolt D-piston rod and crank arm together. Depending on component tolerances you need to put a
few washers No.57 between D-piston rod and crank arm to form a 1mm wide clearance gap to the
mounts flange. Tighten screw No.53 in a way that there is still a small axial clearance between D-
piston rod, washers and crank arm (Figure 121).

Insert screw No.51 through the lower D-piston rod bearing and screw it into the adjusting ring No.54.
But don’t clamp the connecting rod! Check now by lifting the connecting rod, that it slides up and
down without clamping. Turn the connecting rod between your fingers and raise and lower it at a
time. In general there is one position where the friction is minimal. When you found the best
position, bring the displacer piston to it’s lowest position (standing on the cardboard spacer) and
fasten screw No.51 to clamp the connecting rod (Figure 122).
Take the cardboard spacer out of the displacer cylinder and screw upper and lower cylinder modules
together, like practiced before. But please: fasten the bolts crosswise and only very slightly. Put some
thin oil (eg WD40) on connecting rod and collar bushings. If you turn the flywheel now, it has to
rotate smoothly without friction. The displacer piston must not hit the top or the button
cylinderplate!

If all components are straight, without distortion and if the ball bearings are well aligned, the D-
piston rod will be guided by the crank arm bolt. In this case the lower ball bearing of the D-piston rod
will stay somewhere in the middle of screw No.51, also during operation. If the D-piston rod hangs
down, this is easy. Later, as a solar stirling engine, it will be operated nearly upside down. Than this
point is much more critical. It may happen that you have to guide the lower ball bearing with the
help of some washers No.57, as shown in figure 123. This way the bearing is well aligned and will
operate with lowest friction. But take care not to clamp the bearing with the washers!
You should push the flywheel a couple of times now to run in the connecting rod and the collar
bushings to lower the friction between these items (Fig.124).

Push the P-crank arm No.25 on the free end of the flywheel axis. The crank arm must be flush with
the axle. Clamp the crank arm to the axis that way, that the clamping screw of the crank arm and the
clamping screw of the flywheel point in the same direction, as shown in figure 125. Finally all the
clamping crews of D-crank arm, flywheel and P-crank arm have to point in the same direction. This
ensures the following:
1) Both pistons will be driven by the crank drive with a angular offset of 90°. Have a look back to
figure 1 of this construction manual: The connecting bolt of the P-piston rod is in 12 o’clock
position, the one of the D-piston rod is in 3 o’clock position. This is an offset of 90°. If you
would connect the D-piston rod in 9 o’clock position you also get an 90° offset and your
engine will also work…..but it will operate with the opposite rotation direction!
2) The counter weights of the flywheel are in the right position to balance the crank drive.
3)
Screw the P-piston rod into the power piston as shown in figure 126. Make sure not to stress the
membrane when doing this. The best is to hold the power piston with a gripper when screwing.

Connect crank arm and hinge block with the screw No.51. Place a washer No.57 between crank arm
and ball bearing. Fasten the screw in a way that there is still a small axial clearance between these
parts (Figure 127).
If you rotate the flywheel the power piston should be in the position shown in figure 128, when the
connecting bold No.51 in the crank arm is in the corresponding position. In the 3 o 'clock position,
the parting plane between the power piston and the P-pistonplate should be at the same height as
the edge of the cylinder. This will ensure that the piston extents into the cylinder the same way as it
emerges out of the cylinder in the 6-o’clock position and in the 12 o'clock position. You can adjust
this by screwing in or out the P-piston rod. When the adjustment is done, place some glue where the

P-piston rod goes into the power piston. This will seal this connection to make the power cylinder
airtight.
Figure 129 shows the stirling engine with completed crank drive. If you push the flywheel it should
rotate without any friction or clamping. If not, you have to look for the errors and correct them. If it
works like it should, you can go for the first test run.
5.4 First test run

Close the 3mm bore in the top cylinderplate with a small piece of adhesive tape as shown in figure
130. If you push the flywheel now, the engine will compress the air inside when the power piston
runs into the power cylinder. If this is not the case there must be a leakage somewhere. You have to
look for the error and correct it. Watch the video “Compression test” for this.
Put once again a small drop of thin oil to the two collar bushings, so that the piston rod is well
lubricated. Take a large cup of boiling water and place your stirling engine on it. Wait about 30
seconds and then give the flywheel a push. The engine runs in one direction only. Try, which is the
right one. If you have followed the instructions step by step and if you did everything right, then your
stirling engine will run with a silent motion (Figure 131). Watch the video “Operation of the stirling
engine” for this.

When your engine is running, let it run. The engine will stop running when the water is cooled down.
For the “running in” you should opperate the engine with 5-10 cups of hot water. This will reduce the
friction in the collar bushings and in the bearings.
5.5 Optimization of the crank arm stroke

After the “running in” on the “tea cup”, you should try to optimize the crank arm stroke of the D-
crank arm. Give a try to the D-crank arms with 9mm and 10mm stroke. The bigger the stroke the
better. But take care that the displacer piston does not hit the cylinderplates and blocks the engine.
Also if your engine runs well on the “tea cup” you should try to optimize the crank arm stroke. Later
you will operate your stirling engine as a solar stirling engine and then there is less energy to drive it.
Every little optimization is welcome then.
5.6 If the engine does not run – troubleshooting

In general there are only three reasons of error. But take care, these errors can occur in combination:
The „piston timing“ is not correct:
The piston rods of displacer piston and power piston must have an angular offset of 90° on the crank
drive. The clamping screws of flywheel, D-crank arm and P-crank arm have to point in the same
directions!
Air-tightness:
The whole engine must be air tight. Repeat the test described in chapter 5.4. Open the 3mm bore in
the top cylinderplate. Rotate the flywheel by hand. It has to move without any friction. Close the
3mm bore again. Rotate the flywheel again. Your hand at the flywheel you will feel a little power of
the compression. If this is not the case, there is a leakage somewhere. Check all glued construction
groups. May be you have to rework with some extra glue. Check the gasket. It seals well if you put
some grease or vaseline on it. Make sure that you tightened the screws that hold the cylinder
modules together only slightly and crosswise. Check that the membrane is tied to the power cylinder
airtight. The membrane easily gets cuts if the edges of the printed parts of power piston and power
cylinder are not well smoothed. Last not least check the diameter of the connecting rod. If it is
smaller than 2mm the collar bushing in the top cylinderplate seals not well. Take time to find the
error step by step and repeat the test from chapter 5.4 after single corrections.
Friction:
Your little stirling engine is not a “power-engine”. If there is too much friction or some clamping it
will not run. Repeat the test from chapter 5.4. Open the 3mm bore in the top cylinderplate. The
engine is free from compression now. In this mode the engine has to rotate without any friction or
clamping. Check that the displacer piston does not hit the cylinderplates, that the flywheel does not
hit the mounts and that the D-piston rod is well aligned (Fig.123). Repeat the test from chapter 5.4
after single corrections.
The most important thing to detect errors is to watch the engine and to follow each component
during it’s movement. Take yourself time for this and you will find and correct the errors.

5.7 Solar post and solar mirror
In the darkness, on cloudy days or in the office you can operate your stirling engine on a cup of hot
tea or water as shown in chapter 5.4. But it’s getting really interesting when it’s driven by solar
power! You need a few additional parts for this, only.
Print the parts No.26 to No.28 from the parts list. Clean and deburr them. Screw both parts of the
solar post together, as shown in figure 132.
Screw the solar post to the mount spacer with the help of screw No.58, nut No.56 and 2 washers
No.44. Fasten the screw in a way that you can still move the hinge. This allows you to adjust the
bottom cylinderplate into the direction of the sun without the need of tools (Fig.133).

Congratulation! You completed your solar stirling engine. In this configuration you can operate the
engine as a solar engine on real sunny and cloudless days. Put it in a sunny place. Adjust the bottom
cylinderplate in a way that the sun rays come perpendicular to it. Allow the bottom cylinderplate to
heat up for 1 or 2 minutes (this takes some more time than it did on the tea cup and depends to the
power of the sun) and give the flywheel a push. If your engine works proper and the sun’s power is
strong enough, it will run.
In summertime, when the sun stays high and there are no clouds, there is enough solar power to
drive your engine in this configuration. In wintertime or when the sun is low it often is not enough. In
this case you can adapt additional solar mirrors to your engine. They will guide more sun rays to the
bottom cylinderplate to give more energy to the engine. Watch the video “Operation of the stirling
engine” for this.
Place one of the solar mirrors No.28 on the backside of the self-adhesive mirror film No.59. Mark the
outline and cut it out with a scissor. Make four of these (Fig.134).
Grid the surface of the solar mirrors with sandpaper (240 grid) and drill the mounting bores to
3,1mm (Fig.135).

Stick the self-adhesive mirror film to the solar mirrors. Press it well to the printed parts with a soft
piece of cloth (Fig.136).
Screw the solar mirrors to the bottom flange No.2 as shown in figure 137.

Figure 138 shows the stirling engine with mounted solar mirrors. The way to operate it is the same as
it was without. Place the engine in the sun and adjust the bottom cylinderplate perpendicular to the
sun rays. The solar mirrors will now guide additional sun rays to the cylinderplate. Let it heat up and
start the engine with a soft push to the flywheel.
You will see that the solar mirrors increase the power of your engine enormous. But watch out! You
should only use the additional mirrors if the sun’s power is not strong enough to drive the engine
without these. If you use them in good sunny conditions they may cause overheating and damaging
of some plastic parts that will deform.
I wish you sunny days and lots of fun with your “3D printed solar stirling engine”.

Legal disclaimer
The use of this manual and the associated electronic records, data file and the information contained
therein is expressly at your own risk. The author cannot take over a guarantee for the freedom of
mistake, exactness and completeness of the information and excludes any liability for any accidents
or damage of any kind arising from the use of this manual and the associated data file.
Copyright notice
This document, including all associated electronic records and data file is protected by copyright. All
rights reserved. Commercial use, reprinting, reproduction, also in an electronic way or in parts
thereof or the disclosure to third parties require the express written permission of the author. All
rights reserved for translation.
© by A. Haeuser, August 2014

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The 3D printed

Solar Stirling Engine

The 3D printed solar stirling engine © by A. Haeuser, August 2014 Seite 1

The 3D printed solar stirling engine © by A. Haeuser, August 2014 Seite 2

Table of contents ..................................................................................................................................... 3

1. Operating mode of the stirling engine ................................................................................................ 5

2. Advices for printing the components .................................................................................................. 9

2.1 The Printer ......................................................................................................................................... 9

2.2 The STL date files ............................................................................................................................. 11

2.3 Calibration of the printer................................................................................................................. 11

3. Required tools ................................................................................................................................... 11

4.1 Printed parts .................................................................................................................................... 13

4.2 Other parts ...................................................................................................................................... 16

5. Construction of the solar stirling engine ........................................................................................... 19

5.1 Assembly 1: Displacer cylinder and displacer piston ...................................................................... 19

5.1.1 Step 1: The printed parts ...................................................................................................... 19

5.2.1 Step 1: The printed parts ...................................................................................................... 55

5.3.1 Step 1: The printed parts ...................................................................................................... 69

The 3D printed solar stirling engine © by A. Haeuser, August 2014 Seite 3

5.5 Optimization of the crank arm stroke ............................................................................................. 87

5.6 If the engine does not run – troubleshooting ................................................................................. 87

5.7 Solar post and solar mirror .............................................................................................................. 88

Legal disclaimer ..................................................................................................................................... 92

Copyright notice .................................................................................................................................... 92

The 3D printed solar stirling engine © by A. Haeuser, August 2014 Seite 4

The 3D printed solar stirling engine © by A. Haeuser, August 2014 Seite 5

The 3D printed solar stirling engine © by A. Haeuser, August 2014 Seite 6

The 3D printed solar stirling engine © by A. Haeuser, August 2014 Seite 7

2. Advices for printing the components

2.1 The Printer

The 3D printed solar stirling engine © by A. Haeuser, August 2014 Seite 9

The 3D printed solar stirling engine © by A. Haeuser, August 2014 Seite 10

2.2 The STL date files

2.3 Calibration of the printer

The 3D printed solar stirling engine © by A. Haeuser, August 2014 Seite 11

The 3D printed solar stirling engine © by A. Haeuser, August 2014 Seite 12

4.1 Printed parts

2 Bottom flange.stl 1 ABS ABS because of

3 Top flange.stl 1 ABS ABS because of

4 Piston inset.stl 1 ABS ABS because of

5 Piston template.stl 2 PLA or 80% Infill

6 gluing tool.stl 1 PLA Preferably PLA

9 Power cylinder.stl 1 ABS or 80% Infill

10 P-Cylinder base.stl 1 ABS or 80% Infill

11 Power piston.stl 1 ABS or 80% Infill

The 3D printed solar stirling engine © by A. Haeuser, August 2014 Seite 13

13 Piston tool.stl 1 ABS or 80% Infill

14 Cylinder cover.stl 1 PLA Preferably PLA

17 Displacer mount.stl 1 ABS or Preferably PLA

20 Hinge block.stl 1 ABS or 80% Infill

21 D-piston rod.stl 1 ABS or 80% Infill

22 D-crank arm_7.stl 1 PLA Preferably PLA

The 3D printed solar stirling engine © by A. Haeuser, August 2014 Seite 14

The 3D printed solar stirling engine © by A. Haeuser, August 2014 Seite 15

No Fig. Material Quantity Note

32 Cylinder window 1 Model shop, onlineshops

35 Collar bushings 5 mm 2 Model shop, onlineshops

36 Cylinder head screw 8 DIY market, onlineshops

37 Cylinder head screw 6 DIY market, onlineshops

38 Displacer piston 1 DIY market