DjuiinoStar Mini Hot Air Stirling Engine: A High Performance Pocket-Sized Working Model

Well made and well packaged. This was the least expensive Stirling Cycle engine I could find. It runs well and even had some spare glass parts. Great for teaching, or if you just like cool toys...

A great working little Stirling model! Ran right out of the box with the simple addition of isopropyl alcohol. Very nice quality construction for the price, and several thoughtful details such as the magnet under the glass alcohol jar to hold it in place, as well as a couple of spare glass bulbs and the fan/belt kit.As someone else mentioned, the flywheel is slightly wobbly but not enough to detract from the running model. Be sure to use +95% isopropyl as the lower grade stuff doesn't work as well. Also, don't heat the glass bulb with a butane lighter as I warped the bulb a little by doing that...Really happy with my purchase, and I'm feeling inspired to build a larger model myself.

The media could not be loaded.  The kit is fully assembled. Oiling the push rod helps to make it run smoother. The wick holder is too small for the bottle and the wick to close to the Glass Globe. However it worked just great. Fun Kit.

It's more than a toy, it's an educational device! From chemical potential energy to thermal energy to mechanical kinetic energy, you can easily see all the working parts and the engineering behind it. The key to success is the sealing ring around the Heat Tube. Any air escaping results in slower rotation. Something to consider if you want to tweak operating speed. Another bit of advice: keep your wick small. The first time I ran my engine the flame got too big and burned the rubber ring. Good thing it comes with spare parts!I only had 91% Isopropyl Alcohol and it ran just fine. I also tried Ethanol which burns much hotter but is used up very quickly. The instructions are very informative and have all the troubleshooting tips to make it easy to keep it in good working order. I definitely recommend this little engine to anyone who has a curious mind.

I fueled it up with denatured alcohol and it ran beautifully right out of the box, no adjustments or tinkering needed. Good speed and it develops a good bit of power for such a small engine.

My 7-year-old son bought his with his own money. He basically spent his last penny on it, and he has no regrets. It works fine with little assembly or tweaking. It doesn't power the little fan that came with it very well, but that was a bonus anyway.He's been asking me to light it for him multiple times per day. He created a makeshift display shelf out of cardboard so that he could display it in his bedroom. He carries it around as if it's his most precious possession.I don't know what else is relevant. I've never seen him love an inanimate object more than he loves his sterling engine. He now asks me when he can get any one of fifty other types of mini engines that he sees online, so be prepared for that!

Oh, I love my little engine! I'm watching it run now... The vendor was/is excellent with their customer service. It was cheap enough that I was comfortable taking it apart, sketching and photographing the parts to see how they fit, put it back together and make an adjustment here and there to get it running again. I'm going to upgrade to another unit, probably by the summer, but I get a kick out of seeing this tiny little apparatus go clickety-clack... More expensive units have better balanced flywheels and crankshafts, and run an onboard dc generator that lights an LED.... With a little work, you can make a USB phone charger.... Although this one came with a plastic fan kit, I don't think it has the oomph and torque for a USB charger project... Great introduction into the hot air engine concept.... several friends bought one after they saw how much fun I was having.... did I mention that it's cheap? Cheap, but not cheaply made. Just don't expect too much out of it - you're not going to power your house off the grid with it, let's put it that way.

The media could not be loaded.  This thing is super tiny. I have lamp oil handy so that's what I filled the little bottle with. The bottle has a magnet on the bottom so the vibrations don't jostle it off the metal platform. The noise, it has to be said, is unpleasant.It also doesn't provide much torque at all but that's expected.The whole thing is about as long as my middle finger from knuckle to tip. And the hot bulb is closed from what I can tell, so it's a true stirling cycle engine.Edit: mine broke on day 2 and Djuiinistar customer service sent a new one out to me, no questions asked, literally within a few minutes of my email letting them know about the issue. Absolutely stellar.