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List Price: $199.99
Sale Price: $132.89
Today's Bonus: 34% Off
This is the first time that I have ever purchased a product from this company and so far I have been impressed. I bought the Thames & Kosmos Stirling Engine Car and Experiment Kit from Amazon on sale around Christmas for $34.95. Since we have Amazon.prime, 2nd day shipping was "free." This was a real bargain since the full retail price for this thing is $199.95 and the cheapest that I was able to find it on eBay was around $54.95 plus shipping.
After placing the order, the kit arrived promptly from Amazon.com so I could package it under the tree without a problem. My wife's family is from the Los Angeles area and we always celebrate Christmas there with our son. We did not have time to assemble the kit after Christmas so I packaged the thing in my checked baggage for travel back to Michigan and here is where I want to point out one of the pluses. The factory box that this item is packaged in is very rugged and the foam packaging inside is very adequate for the rough abuse of airline baggage handling. The only problem was that, upon closer inspection at home, I found the parabolic mirror had been slightly scratched. This was not due to Thames & Kosmos but rather my fault for not properly securing the parabolic mirror mount when we first opened and examined the kit in California. So please not that if you intend to ship this item after inspecting, make sure that all of the parts are properly secured in their original positions and that all factory packaging is in its proper place.
Once back in Michigan, we assembled the kit with very little difficulty. In fact, the kit went together so easily that I don't really consider it a "kit" at all. Inspecting the Stirling Engine itself I was really amazed at how relatively simple it is and, thereby skeptical that it would work. I thought that the tolerances and heat involved would be above what the manufacturer could functionally provide with a simple plastic, glass and aluminum assembly.
The base piece is large enough to adequately support the entire assembly but I should point out that the little rubber foot pads on the bottom easily pop out and can "disappear" out of site. These feet help to keep the whole affair on firm footing because, as I found out later, the engine does vibrate quite a bit and needs to be secured on a table or level surface.
I found the sighting rod to be relatively useless. The instructions say that you should use it to position the parabolic dish properly but it is awkward to use. In order to mount the sighting rod you first have to remove one of the four screws that attach the parabolic dish to the mirror mount. This seems awkward and would be better if the designers simply placed a separate hole off to the side of the existing four mount holes where one could then easily mount the sighting rod. It is pretty easy to get the dish in position without the rod anyway so I simply tossed the sighting rod aside.
This Stirling Engine uses common steel wool as a "fuel source" meaning that the focal point of the parabolic dish is where the steel wool is positioned. The steel wool then absorbs the blunt of the heat and, as a result, eventually will turn to ash. The manufacturers provide an extra bundle of steel wool in the kit along with instructions on how to take apart the engine and replace it. However, if you run out, steel wool is pretty common and can be found at most hardware stores. I would not use an SOS pad since these pads contain soap and other byproducts which may dirty up the Stirling Engine.
Thames & Kosmos also provide an extra glass cylinder. I think this is mainly because the temper in the glass may become eventually weak due to the repeated heating/cooling and, eventually break. They say in the instructions that the focal point on the cylinder may get up to 482 degrees F. I have not yet had a chance to measure and confirm this. Also, they give good warnings not to screw the glass cylinder on too tightly as it will crack. I think this is another reason why they provide an extra one!
We had a rare sunny day here in Michigan after Christmas and we were able to set up the engine. It worked beautifully, making a nice loud clattering. I took a video which is attached to this review. You will note in the video that I mistakenly plugged the cable from the voltmeter jack and then into the car jack. The car does not come with an AAA battery and I had not had a chance to get one when I took the video. I thought at the time that I made the video that since the Stirling Engine was not under load, the voltmeter would not move and it didn't. However, it did not move because I did not have the cable plugged in properly. You see there are two cable jacks on the Stirling Engine. One jack is on the side near the generator part of the Stirling Engine proper (opposite the voltmeter). A second jack is located directly beneath the voltmeter on the base. A third jack is located onboard the little experimental electric car.
If you just want to observe what operating voltage the Stirling Engine is providing you are supposed to plug one end of the cable into the Stirling Engine jack and the other end into the jack beneath the voltmeter. If you want to charge the car, you then need to plug one end of the cable into the Stirling Engine jack and the other end into the jack onboard electric car.
I was so excited when the engine started to run in the sun that I failed to read the instructions properly. Since the video was made I bought some AAA batteries but we have not had a sunny day so that I can try to run the engine again to properly charge the car. What is neat is that you can use the voltmeter on the base to check the voltage of the car's battery. Simply plug one end of the cable into the voltmeter jack and the other end into the car jack.
For the little amount of time that I have had the system running, I have been impressed. However, I am curious about the long-term "play value" of this item. The instructions explain that you will need 2-3 hours of charging time for the single onboard electric car's AAA battery to run for about 5 minutes. That means you will need to continually track the sun which require constant adjustments. The same instructions also explain that "for smooth operation (of the Stirling Engine), maintenance is required after 10-30 minutes of use." So if one needs to run the engine for 2-3 hours to properly charge the car's battery... you see I'm scratching my head a little. I have not yet run the engine for more than about 10 minutes and, during that time, the engine ran fine.
The engine does come completely apart relatively easily and I have taken it apart and reassembled it several times prior to first having it operate in the sun. And as I stated above, it ran fine the first and only time so far that I've run it.
The only major design flaw that I have seen in the kit is not related to the Stirling Engine proper, but to the little electric car. The car is pretty rugged and assembled with screws, (yes screws!!!) so that you can easily take it apart. I also love the European look and design (almost IKEA like) of the car. My complaint is that the car has a little A-shaped cover that hides the lone AAA battery compartment. The cover simply lays on top. There are no latches or anything to keep it in place so when you "play" with the car or transport it, the cover easily falls off. Why they did not include screws or some other latching mechanism is a mystery. I easily fixed this by simply placing some plumber's putty underneath to help hold the cover in place. Awkward, but functional.
I also found the accompanying Experiment Manual very well written and illustrated. It was easy to follow and seemed to address most questions and or possible problems that one may have or encounter.
Overall, I would say at this point "hats off" to a very nice kit. I would not pay full retail for it but I would shell out a max of say around $60. I felt I got a real deal with Amazon's $34.95 price... a price I have not seen listed since I bought mine.
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The Thames and Kosmos Stirling Engine Science Kit is a good demonstration of how electricity can be generated from solar energy. The kit is well packaged and comes with an excellent instruction manual that includes ideas for how to use your solar generator as part of a science fair exhibit.
The engine is completely assembled. You only need to assemble the major components and you are up and running very quickly. The kit includes spare parts so that your science fair project won't be ruined at the last minute by a part failure.
You will have an opportunity to disassemble and reassemble the engine if you run it very long. It uses a steel wool displacer, which creates a need for periodic cleaning of the interior of the engine. There are detailed instructions for how to disassemble the motor for servicing. The main downside of this kit is that the performance does deteriorate after a while.
The generator puts out enough voltage to prove that the concept is possible, but it does not create enough current to be very usable. I don't think you will be charging your cell phone from this device.
The kit includes a small alcohol burner (smaller than the one you see in my video) so you can operate the motor in doors.
If you are looking for an affordable kit that is ready to go out of the box, this is it. The current Amazon price is around $80, which is a really good deal for an kit of this quality. If you want a kit that will be rock-solid reliable and will run for years and years, then you should plan on spending a lot more money.
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Well, this is the first stirling engine we have purchased. We looked at many stirling engines, and we liked the fact that it had a built in generator, burner, car, and parabolic mirror. It comes in a very nice package, easy to assembly with just 6 screws and 4 nuts. The booklet really helps. We tried it in the Arizona sun and after a few minutes it generated electricity and would have kept running until the sun went down. The cost is easily in line with all the hardware and support in the booklet. I suppose there is some way this could be better, but not sure how.
We would like to build a big unit for the backyard to generate electricity or store water. But, this is easy kit to demonstrate the real idea behind stirling engines.
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I can't believe this thing ever sold for the list price, as I feel I overspent at 80% off. Took forever to get the generator running even in midday sunlight in Southern California (yes it's winter, but still). Even when we did get it running it mostly petered out or couldn't sustain more than 1 volt output. When we plugged in the electric car toy all of a sudden the generator picked up a bunch of speed, because the battery in the car was powering the generator instead of the reverse! I don't know if it's bad design or just poor build quality (both the car and the generator station are made of light plastic and have a very cheap feel), but this thing fails big time.
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This one has it all. It is an eye opener to power of the sun and what we can do with it. I have always been fascinated by those large solar power plants and I wanted to see one in action. This Thames & Kosmos Alternative Energy and Environmental Science Stirling Engine gave me a working replica of those power plants. It is a great tool to show young kids (in a very simple and fun way) a new trend in renewable energy.
