Posted 7 years ago
hotairfan
(385 items)
Pictured are five of my antique "Essex" hot air (Stirling) engines.
The first photo shows, on top, a Buffalo hot air engine made by the Essex Co. It is powered by an alcohol burner. Below is an Essex that I made from castings supplied by a man in England. This model Essex is powered by L.P.
The second photo shows two Essex engines powered by L.P..
The third photo is of my first Essex hot air engine that I purchased and is powered by the alcohol burner visible in the front of the center of the photo.
The fourth photo is the way I display my Essex engines at engine show.
All of the engines are cooled by a fan blowing air over the displacement cylinder, except the engines in photo #1. the upper engine is air cooled, but it does not , nor ever had, a fan.
The lower engine in photo #1 is cooled by water. The water vessel is located at at the far left of the photo, at the end of the displacer cylinder.
All hot air engines are in the configured by the way that the displacer cylinder and the power cylinder are in relation to each other. They are called Alfa Engines,... Beta Engines, ... and Gamma Engines.
Essex made most of their engines using the Beta configuration.
All of the engines shown are from the turn of the 20th Century except the red and silver engine in picture #1. I built that engine in 20010.
I'm not sure what L.P. stands for, maybe liquid propane. These engines are really neat!!
sorry about the L.P. reddyq, Yes the initials does stand for liquid propane. They also used natural gas in some of their models
Hello I would like some information on one of your Hot Air Engine in the second picture I have the same one not the top one but the bottom one??
hi jesse,
I'd be glad to answer any of your questions.
Do you know the year and what it could be worth. I never seen one till I got one at a yard sale it almost remind me of an hit and Miss without gas...
hi jessie,
the engine is a Stirling cycle engine or, often called a hot air engine. They are usually powered by an alcohol burner, sometimes powered by a liquid propane (PL) gas burner. This particular hot air engine was manufactured by the A. O. Smith Co.
not certain of it's age, probably from the turn of the 20th century.
valued in the $900 to $1,000 range.
I never found this A. O. Smith to be used in a commercial atmosphere as many of the other engines pictured were. This model was made for the modelers and the toy collectors. Email me with your email address and I will send you several other photo's of this fine collectable
I like your collection! I have a Stirling engine that my dad found in a dump several decades ago. It is similar to one of yours (bottom unit in second image.) It also has a red flywheel and silver-colored cylinders (repainted by me at about age 10) and is stamped (in the sheet metal part, above the burner area):
W.H. Smith Mfg. Co.
Buffalo, N.Y. U.S.A.
PAT. MAR 24, 1903
The unit I have is missing the belt and fan. Do you know where I could locate those as originals or reproductions? This unit still runs like a clock, and it would be neat to have it connected to something when running it.
Thanks.
hi postalnoteguy,
thanks for your interest in my hot air engines. They do run great, I especially like the way that my engine that is similar to your engine runs. The linier fins on the castings are unique to that model. I never before saw one with this fin arrangement
I wish that I could help you in finding the fan that belongs on your engine, but I think that you are going to have to fabricate the fan and mount.
the fan can be made from an small early brass room fan and the belting is common round leather belting.
If you email me , I'll send you some close up photos of my fan and mounting post to better help you with this project.
my email address is .... navarreauctions@ptd.net