As someone who has worked on, and has a number of patents on Z-Crank type engines I would not recommend buying one of these "green" steam engines. The design/construction appears to emphasise appearance over function and doesn't look like it will operate reliably for more than 10-100 hours. In particular the open unlubricated design is not sensible - unlubricated spherical bearings do not work reliably in wrist joints over extended periods of running with the high loads that such engines have, they are extremely likely to be a big ongoing maintenance hassle. Also very large bearing overhangs on thin shafts in an open space frame that lacks diagonal bracing is not good for bearings, and the torque reaction method (to stop the "spider" spinning) does not look at all durable either.
To me the engineering all appears rather amateur, and while probably fine to run as a demonstrator for a few hours I would not be relying on it to run for any length of time. A normal crank mechanism steam engine might not look as cool, but it is far more likely to give you long term reliable running. On 6 December 2011 03:34, Aussie Guy E-Cat <[email protected]> wrote: > This piston based steam engine looks very doable and market ready for a > home CHP plant: > http://www.greensteamengine.**com<http://www.greensteamengine.com>1,500 rpm. > 10 HP (~6.5 kW.e) at 125 psi steam or 4 HP at 50 psi steam. > $1,995 for the commercial 2 cylinder unit without a generator. Ok needs a > control system to hold Ac cycles at 50 / 60 Hz but that will not be hard to > build. > >
