So, just to make sure I have this straight. You can use the engine to charge the battery of the electric car that comes with the kit, but the battery is not included.

Kooky.

Batteries are never included...

74.95 on amazon and the link below is for the reviews


http://www.amazon.com/Thames-Kosmos-Alternative-Environmental-Stirling/product-reviews/B0033UWMMS

sounds cool

Seems a bit pricey for a deal. I've had stirling engines made from cheap stuff before and they are quite underwhelming. This one will never be useful for doing anything besides showing how they work, and for that the list price of $200 bucks is just ridiculously overinflated. Even the review on amazon says the guy got it for $35 and prime shipping.

Stirling Engine + Global Warming = Infinite Energy

Problem?

I saw this and got excited until I read this part:

"The home-made electricity is stored in a battery and used to drive the included electric car (battery not included)"

So for the original $200 retail you get a toy that creates electricity that can be then transferred to a toy car, but the part that makes this all happen is NOT INCLUDED.

That's just weird.

Wake me up when you include the battery.

No battery = No deal

ThunderThighs wrote:All this grumbling about a battery. We've sold a bazillion batteries on our site. Surely you have one lying around.

Ok, let me check, if I found one you got a deal.

ThunderThighs wrote:All this grumbling about a battery. We've sold a bazillion batteries on our site. Surely you have one lying around.

I found a battery but mine are all charged up already. I want a dead one so I can see if this thing works.

ThunderThighs wrote:I'll just wait here...

Nope, I only found the alcohol (Additional Items Needed)

Sorry for the delay but my wife wake up and she ask me what the hell was I looking for and when I told her "a Ni-MH battery that ThunderThighs told me I must have around" her answer was not polite... AT ALL.

Manual:
Use sighting stick to adjust the parabolic mirror every so often for 2-3 hours (in full sun) to enable the car to run an estimated 5 minutes.

I hope your kids are a lot more patient than I was at 12 years old. That or you trust them with alcohol burners.

I'm 26 and an engineering student and I might just buy this to play with. Except, I'd rather help out the hungry in Africa, google "WeCanBeHeroes", and I'm broke.

Carnot / Stirling heat engines are cool because they far exceed the efficiency of today's piston cycle engine; OTTO (regular cars), Atkinson (full hybrids) and HCCI (Diesel). I could see a Stirling engine being in a plug-in hybrid as a range extender for great MPG. The thing that Stirling lacks in is immediate power changes so it can't be a direct part of the drivetrain. Not to mention, probably not a lot of power output for a given physical size.

Youtube video of this kit!: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0mgEOEdPsrw

This is a GREAT learning experience for kids... It will teach them that ALTERNATIVE ENERGY is a joke and we better stick with oil, coal, and gas!

From the thumbnail, I thought it was a model of the Enterprise with a dish antenna.

We sell T and K kits in my museum store and typically they are high quality. I cannot speak for this kit as it is over our price point. T and K is fairly ruthless about selling below their suggested MSRP and actually will stop selling you their product if you do so online. So....if you are interested in this you probably won't find it cheaper anywhere online.

just looking at the picture, I thought it was a breast pump, then a small satalite dish, so now I'm just confused.

mkentosh wrote:just looking at the picture, I thought it was a breast pump, then a small satalite dish, so now I'm just confused.

I'm so glad I'm not the only one who thought it was a breast pump. My next thought was it must be cold and have super suction.

If you put a complete description of the product then nobody would ask about the battery. How about "battery not included" then you tell us what kind of battery it takes. If it's 4 AA recharges no big deal. If it takes some convoluted $50 tree huger battery that's no longer made except on a remote Russian military installation.... well then no thank you.

mikemiracle wrote:If you put a complete description of the product then nobody would ask about the battery. How about "battery not included" then you tell us what kind of battery it takes. If it's 4 AA recharges no big deal. If it takes some convoluted $50 tree huger battery that's no longer made except on a remote Russian military installation.... well then no thank you.

Under the Specs tab it lists additional items needed but not included. There you will find:

(1) AAA Ni-MH 500-mA Rechargeable Battery

ThunderThighs wrote:All this grumbling about a battery. We've sold a bazillion batteries on our site. Surely you have one lying around.

LOL Yep, I actually have about a dozen of them laying in a heap waiting to go to the battery recycling center because they don't hold a charge worth a cr@p. Woot fail.

Snarky pseudo-mod posts aside, if a company is going to sell something that the entire point of which is to charge a BATTERY... yeah, they should include the BATTERY.

molex wrote:LOL Yep, I actually have about a dozen of them laying in a heap waiting to go to the battery recycling center because they don't hold a charge worth a cr@p. Woot fail.

Snarky pseudo-mod posts aside, if a company is going to sell something that the entire point of which is to charge a BATTERY... yeah, they should include the BATTERY.

Thank you for the suggestion!

inkycatz wrote:Thank you for the suggestion!

My other suggestion would be taking this thunderthigh character, who is apparently affiliated with woot, behind the woodshed for a good old fashioned "talking to". He's a jerk.

danwat1234 wrote:I'm 26 and an engineering student
...
Carnot / Stirling heat engines are cool because they far exceed the efficiency of today's piston cycle engine; OTTO (regular cars), Atkinson (full hybrids) and HCCI (Diesel). I could see a Stirling engine being in a plug-in hybrid as a range extender for great MPG. The thing that Stirling lacks in is immediate power changes so it can't be a direct part of the drivetrain. Not to mention, probably not a lot of power output for a given physical size.

Another engineering student here and there's a few things you've got wrong. Stirling engines run on the Stirling cycle, not Carnot, which is purely theoretical.

Diesel engines run on the Diesel cycle. HCCI is closer to an Otto cycle that uses compression ignition, so it's like cross between diesel and gasoline engines.

HCCI engines are not commercially produced, though there are functional prototypes at GM, VW and others.

Finally, while Stirling engines are indeed very thermally efficient, they are not space or weight efficient. They are much larger and heavier than equivalently powerful gas or diesel engines. I don't see them being used in cars unless some breakthrough is made. They are much better suited to stationary applications than roaming ones.

molex wrote:My other suggestion would be taking this thunderthigh character, who is apparently affiliated with woot, behind the woodshed for a good old fashioned "talking to". He's a jerk.

If you have moderator specific feedback, Gatzby's PM box is always available. (He is in charge of us crazy lot of moderators, so you know.) Hope that helps!

inkycatz wrote:If you have moderator specific feedback, Gatzby's PM box is always available. (He is in charge of us crazy lot of moderators, so you know.) Hope that helps!

And I would find that... where?

molex wrote:And I would find that... where?

Usually by everyone's names there is an envelope, which makes it super easy cheesy to send a message. But since not everyone's usually around in every thread, what I did was a search for Gatzby, and then clicked on the envelope to give you this direct link right here to try to help you out. Hopefully it should work.

inkycatz wrote:If you have moderator specific feedback, Gatzby's PM box is always available. (He is in charge of us crazy lot of moderators, so you know.) Hope that helps!

Please don't encourage him.

;O)

(a real TT fan here)

pyrochild wrote:Another engineering student here and there's a few things you've got wrong. Stirling engines run on the Stirling cycle, not Carnot, which is purely theoretical.

Diesel engines run on the Diesel cycle. HCCI is closer to an Otto cycle that uses compression ignition, so it's like cross between diesel and gasoline engines.

HCCI engines are not commercially produced, though there are functional prototypes at GM, VW and others.

Finally, while Stirling engines are indeed very thermally efficient, they are not space or weight efficient. They are much larger and heavier than equivalently powerful gas or diesel engines. I don't see them being used in cars unless some breakthrough is made. They are much better suited to stationary applications than roaming ones.

OOOoooooooooooh, an Engineering Student Smack Down War!!!!

lstaff wrote:Please don't encourage him.

;O)

(a real TT fan here)

I get in trouble if I don't help people. It's kinda part of the job and all.

lstaff wrote:OOOoooooooooooh, an Engineering Student Smack Down War!!!!

Please tell me you brought popcorn?

lstaff wrote:Please don't encourage him.

;O)

(a real TT fan here)

Yes, don't encourage someone to report when a person affiliated with the site is being dismissive and rude to potential customers. That's just good business, right?

PemberDucky wrote:1. i think TT would be disappointed to know she rubbed somebody the wrong way. the truth is, she's probably the biggest customer advocate at Woot. (hence the fan club.)

2. we specialize in snark. it's all over the site. it's tongue-in-cheek. sometimes it bugs folks, but it's not meant to be malicious. most people kinda dig it.

3. we want you to be happy. that's not snark. it is true. i'll send you a battery. heck, i'll take it to you on foot, if it means you'll stick around and play with us. i'll need a place to crash overnight, though. do you have a spare room? i could just use your bath tub, i guess.

anyhoo, before i get anybody in trouble, i'll forward this along to the overlord so that he can summarily flog TT for her impudence!

Snark away then. I'll just put phasers on ignore.

this one got a lot of comments. Way to go parents!

I'm getting so sick of people calling everything an "experiment" when it's really just a demonstration.

If you're not trying to discover the previously unknown principle behind something, and writing down your findings, you're not doing an experiment.