Polished Ultra Low Temp Stirling Engine by KONTAX

Kontax KS90 Low Temperature Differential Stirling Engine

This listing is for one POLISHED STAINLESS STEEL ready built engine. If you would like a self-assembly kit or another colour please see our other listings

The Kontax KS90 Low Temperature Differential Stirling Engine is the ultimate eco-friendly device, showing with one spin of the flywheel a clean and simple way of converting waste heat into motion.

Because these engines rely on a temperature difference for operation, they will run on almost any warm surface. Typical heat sources include hot coffee or tea, warm sunlight, CRT monitor, TV digibox and the human hand.

Yes, that's right: these engines will run from the heat of your hand.

Even the most cynical of observers will not fail to be amazed when they see your brand new Kontax engine spinning merrily away in the palm of your hand!

Transfer the engine to a cup of hot water and your observer will see a dramatic increase in speed, and will be scratching his head in puzzlement.

Then take the engine off the cup and allow it to cool for a few minutes and put it on a bowl of crushed ice. Wait a few seconds before giving the flywheel a little push and the engine will run backwards!

Take the engine outside on a warm, sunny day and allow the sun to warm the top plate for a few minutes. Give the wheel a gentle spin and the engine will start running, and like on the bowl of ice it will be running backwards.

This engine is so well made that you can leave it on top of your TV digibox or satellite box and it will run indefinitely.

We have engines running on transformers (telephone, fax machine etc) in our office, the only time they stop is when we have a power cut. We regularly hear from past customers who tell us that their engine is running on their coffee machine, computer, fax machine etc. and hasn't stopped since they bought it.

Earlier in the year we were visited by the President of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (ImechE), Mr John Baxter. He was very pleased and impressed to find out that such a beautiful and precise Stirling engine was being manufactured by us here in England.

Mr Baxter was so pleased with our engine that he decided to feature it in his series of lectures given all around the world to senior figures in the alternative and clean energy industry.

ImechE have taken 40 of our engines for Mr Baxter to give as gifts to dignitaries as an example of the quality of engineering and manufacturing still being done in England.

In addition to this honour, our engine has also been endorsed by the Glasgow Science Museum in Scotland, where they will be displaying it alongside the original 1800's engine designed and built by the Rev. Robert Stirling.

Because Stirling engines have a theoretical 40% greater efficiency than photo-voltaic (PV) panels worldwide energy companies are investigating using them as a way to provide energy in a more sustainable and environmentally friendly way. Such companies use our KS90 to demonstrate the principles behind generating electricity using Stirling engines.

A large number of schools and universities all around the world have bought our engines for educational use, the transparent chamber and cylinder make it very easy to explain the Stirling cycle to students.

All of the parts for this engine are manufactured by ourselves in our modern CNC equipped workshop located in Maidenhead, England.

This allows us to maintain very high standards, and gives us absolute control over the precision parts used in our engines.

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1. Rim: beautifully rounded flywheel, machine finished to avoid unsightly hand marks
2. Hub: Rounded and polished wheel hub, engraved with KONTAX UK
3. Glass: Borosilicate glass cylinder with graphite piston, almost ZERO friction
4. Plates: (aluminium plates pictured, supplied engine will have POLISHED STAINLESS STEEL)
5. Foam: Super-lightweight styrofoam displacer
6. Spokes: Super-lightweight aluminium spokes machined from a solid disk
7. Crank: Unique ultra-low friction connecting rod joints
8. Pillar: Beautifully curved aluminium main pillar with domed top
9. Gland: Beautifully curved aluminium main pillar with domed top
10. Posts: Elegantly styled brass chamber pillars, insulated from bottom plate
11. Brass: Attractive curved cylinder holder, directly screwed to top plate, sealed with O ring
12. Base: NO protrusions on bottom plate- allows full contact with heat source

The physical dimensions of this engine have been fine-tuned and optimised to allow the engine to operate from hand heat.

The materials the engine has been made from have been carefully selected to give the best possible performance.

Take the piston and cylinder, for example. Together, graphite and borosilicate glass are subject to a phenomenon known a 'superlubricity', which means they have almost ZERO friction.

Another example of using the right materials for the job can be seen in the top and bottom plates, which are made from a specially selected grade and thickness of POLISHED stainless steel.

Now while it is true that polished stainless steel is not as efficient as Dark anodised aluminium in terms of thermodynamics, by careful selection of grade and thickness we have been able to produce an engine that to all intents and purposes is as efficient as our dark anodised aluminium engines. The only real difference in performance is that the polished engine takes a few seconds longer to reach full operating speed.

In addition to the polished stainless steel version the Kontax KS90 Low Temperature Differential Stirling Engine is also available in four anodised aluminium colours:

black, blue, red, dark green.


running on ADSL router	running on tiny transformer	running on hand heat

Technical details:

82mm (3.5") diameter brass flywheel rim with aluminium spokes.
90mm (3.5") diameter anodised aluminium plates.
127mm (5") overall height.
9.5mm (3/8") diameter piston.
Airtight seals made with high strength precision screw threads and nitrile O rings.
Stainless steel screws throughout.
Both connecting rods are positively located using low friction PET and stainless screws.
Micron precision Borosilicate glass cylinder and Graphite power piston, the best combination for this application.
Ultra low friction demagnetised and degreased bearings, NO lubrication required.
Fully CNC machined, giving crisp, clean tidy edges all over.
Engine parts ultrasonically cleaned before hand assembly.

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