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Originally Posted by Alan Wheeler  And honestly, I am not picking on you, but this statement is simply not correct. A Stirlign engine does have moving parts and sadly the one major issue with them is that they wear out rather quickly when compared to a regular lubricated engine. |
No, you are not picking on me. The Coleman Stirling powered Cooler is not powered by a Stirling engine. It uses the Stirling principle to move heat. It does this by using a magnetized piston that is moved back and forth at high speed by electromagnets. This piston rides on gas bearings and therefore it has no wearing parts. I did not say that it has no moving parts. It does not use freon either.
Also the "one major isssue" with sterling engines is not that they "wear out rather quickly when compared to a regular lubricated engine". That is absolute nonsense. Stirling engines are lubricated just like regular engines. The reason Stirling engines never became popular is that they cannot, without a lot of added complexity, be throttled quickly. Therefore they are not suitable for use in vehicles. They are not very competitive in stationary applications either due to their higher costs.