Office of Steam Forum for Model & Toy Steam Gas & Hot Air Engines

The Regular Stuff: Chat, Buy, Sell, Off Topic, etc. => General Discussion - Model & Toy Steam Engines – Stirling Cycle – Flame Lickers – Small Antique Originals => Topic started by: RedRyder on March 21, 2026, 03:03:40 pm

Title: Re: Ernst Plank Hot Air Stirling Cycle Engine - Largest Horizontal Engine by E Plank
Post by: skeptic49 on March 22, 2026, 11:46:38 am
Well built and a good runner! Congratulations, Gil!
Title: Re: Ernst Plank Hot Air Stirling Cycle Engine - Largest Horizontal Engine by E Plank
Post by: Stoker on March 22, 2026, 11:44:57 am
What a delightful machine you have there Gil!

I especially like the audio as it sounds to be rather powerful for a relatively small Stirling Cycle engine!!

It seems somewhat reminiscent of a Reichelt, though obviously from a much earlier era, so visa-versa would be more apropos!!t
Title: Re: Ernst Plank Hot Air Stirling Cycle Engine - Largest Horizontal Engine by E Plank
Post by: RedRyder on March 21, 2026, 03:31:25 pm
pictures



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Title: Ernst Plank Hot Air Stirling Cycle Engine - Largest Horizontal Engine by E Plank
Post by: RedRyder on March 21, 2026, 03:03:40 pm
Here is a nice large Ernst Plank Hot Air Engine (Stirling Cycle) that was a recent auction find.

It had a leak where the displacer cylinder met the rest oh the engine.

Thanks to Brent for a some coaching on this. 

I believe I called it a Defiance in the video however after watching Brent's video again, 
I learned that Defiance was a name for it applied by the retailer Gamages.

My paper gasket material from Garlock was not thick enough so I wound up using Teflon thread sealing tape. I kept an eye on the temperatures during testing and they remained in the 200 to 300 degrees range which ought to be OK. Teflon becomes toxic over 500 degrees and that is to be avoided.

The previous owner repainted the engine so not quite original looking however still looks nice.
Looks good enough for me to not be concerned with unrestoring it at this point.

Here is a video.

Enjoy!

Gil

https://youtu.be/E0NJcuEKz8g