This thing works great and has been a great conversation piece! My dad and brother are both science geeks who love to see how things work and they loved this thing! I got a mini glass display case from the craft store for it to keep it preserved when not in use. (Don't run a flame inside of the display as you'll probably crack the glass, the flame needs air, etc.

Fun experiments- experiment with various heat sources. It doesn't take much heat either! But a little night light bulb up under there (non LED) could run this thing... There are other ways i'm sure. Just be sure to turn the light off and blow out the flame when not in use of course to prevent fires!

Hack for the little wick that won't stay up: Do yourself a favor and get a bread twist tie and strip it of the plastic (you can get a lighter and burn it off if need be. Just hold it with something like needle nose pliers and take a lighter to it. Do it over a surface like a scrap piece of paper or something so you don't drip plastic on anything) Now that it's stripped of that, wrap that around the wick all the way up to the top and it'll hold it upright so you can put it in the little glass bottle and it won't slip back thru. If need be- put a length of it on top and bend it down over the bottle lip. Worked perfect for me. Using a tealight candle could work possibly, just trim the wick down a bit because this little engine doesn't need a huge flame.. The reason it comes with spare glass pieces for it is that if you overdo it with the flame you'll break that glass. So keep the flame down a bit.

Works as advertised and solidly built. Used isopropyl alcohol (rubbing alcohol) for the heat source. Started running after 15 seconds!

Did not use the free fan kit since it had to be assembled. It's also made of cheap plastic, had no assembly instructions although I'm sure I could have figured it out, and it seemed kind of silly - use heat to run an engine to run a fan.

Overall, kids and I love it!

Item is as described and responsibly packaged for delivery. Engine runs great and efficiently! It even came with extra parts and a free DIY fan model; it was missing a rubber band.

However upon the first minute of the sterling engine run time the bottom section of the glass alcohol lamp broke away. Luckily I was able to blow the flame out before the spilled alcohol ignited. I contacted Sunnytech on options for replacing broken lamp. They made no actions to acknowledge the defective lamp or even refer me to a replacement part.

I eventually found a tinny alcohol lamp on amazon (also sold by Sunnytech) for $12. So to make the engine work again as designed I would have to pay a third of the cost again. Admittedly they did respond to the minor concern the missing rubber band - refunding $1.

This thing is fantastic. Extremely well made, all metal and glass construction and runs like a dream. The only complaint I have is that the base could be a bit heavier. This thing vibrates and walks across the table unless you secure it somehow. Mine also came with a bag of plastic pieces and metal pins (cogs, pulleys, auger, fan, etc.) labeled "free DIY parts." I'm not sure what I would actually do with them, as I plan to use this more as a display/demonstration piece, but it was a nice surprise none the less.

Very neat engine! Understanding the thermodynamic properties of this engine was interesting to me as a mechanical engineer. It puts a smile on your face. Be aware that when you light this thing up, all engineers within proximity will be summoned.

Jokes aside, I am satisfied with the build quality of the engine and am pleased that a spare glass cylinder and O-ring were included, as I accidentally ruined one of the glass tubes and needed to insert the replacement tube.