[BiggKidd]

My oldest daughter happened to stop by today at just the right time to help me get the 9×10 sheet of metal up for the lean-to roof, so that’s done. I started building a dry stack cinderblock retaining wall along the backside to hold the earth and hopefully turn the rain water away. I still need to move a yard or two of earth before I can put the generator in there and get everything hooked up. I’ll try and get a pic tomorrow.

ETA: Turns out my daughter got a pic today.

• This reply was modified 1 year, 1 month ago by  BiggKidd.

[SLINGSHOT]

Sounds like you been busy for sure. I like when people stop by at the right time when i need help.

[BiggKidd]

Me too!

[SilverLining]

That’s great! Might as well put you a rain barrel at the corner of that roof!

[BiggKidd]

@Silver lining I probably will at some point.

A few pictures from today. Moved A lot of dirt!

[SilverLining]

Oh wow! You’ve been busy! What are you going to do with this area.

[BiggKidd]

This is where the thermoelectric generator is going along with a supply of firewood.

[BiggKidd]

Today was pretty much a failure. I must have mostly used up my energy yesterday. I did manage to get the retaining wall on the other side built but that was about it. If the weather holds I’ll try again tomorrow.

[SLINGSHOT]

BK do you ever feel the need to take 2 one a day vitamin pills in the morning like i do to get busy lol.

[BiggKidd]

Vitamins never seemed to make a change for me. I do take things to get going but that’s mostly to ease the pain long enough to get started. I have several significant health issues and consider myself lucky to do all I do.

• This reply was modified 1 year, 1 month ago by  BiggKidd.

[SLINGSHOT]

I’m the same way if i wake up and get moving I’m doing good. I try not to think about the pain to much. Most pain meds cause other issues like liver and kidneys etc. so what are you going to do?

[BiggKidd]

Keep on going until I drop!

[BiggKidd]

Got the base set and leveled. Which took a whole lot longer than expected! Now I need to move the generator/battery in there so I can take measurements for the pony firebox and chimney. I’m trying not to go through the roof with the chimney pipe, I’m hoping to lean it out the side against the roofs edge.

[SilverLining]

That’s great Biggkidd! One bite at a time!

[BiggKidd]

I should have gotten it moved today and gotten the measurements. I had to go get hay instead we were out and I had bought & paid for this many months ago and still need to go back for the last two rolls.

[BiggKidd]

Got the stove moved in to place today. Still trying to figure out how I want to work the pony fire and chimney. Guess I could go ahead and start putting all the mass in while I work on figuring out the rest.

[BiggKidd]

Looks like I’m going to go ahead and put the mass in the box today. Anyone want to take a guess as to how much it will hold weight wise? It’s an old washing machine skin that makes the outer case equaling about 13.5 cubic feet and the internals take up around 2 cubic feet. I’m going to weigh a bucket of gravel and then count the number of buckets used. I will also be filling the voids between the gravel with sand as I want it dense as possible.

[BiggKidd]

17 buckets full at an average 65lbs each but I’m only calling it 60lbs each to account for moisture in the rock. so 17×60=1,020 plus another 180lbs of sand or just shy of 4 bags for a total mass weight of 1,200. So I would guess the entire stove with mass weighs in right near 1,300lbs. Still a lot of work to be done before I’m ready to fire it off for the first time.

[BiggKidd]

sorry for the poor quality picture but somebody wanted a shot of it on another site so this got taken by flashlight with no flash on the camera and my shaky ass hands

[BiggKidd]

This time of year we make way more power than we consume so that got me thinking. Then I got a hair brained idea and unhooked 4 solar panels from the house and hooked them to the heating element in the stove about 3:30 and by about 5 even with the terrible sun angle at that time of day the temperature of the stove had risen about 4 or 5 degrees. I was pleasantly surprised considering it’s a 1,500 watt heating element and only has 1,200 watts going to it, plus it’s heating 1,300lbs give or take a pound or two. Once that was up and going I started putting insulation around the stove and hunting up pieces of short roofing metal to wrap it with. Hopefully I can get more done tomorrow but the weather forecast doesn’t look great.

ETA: I will likely go back and tag another panel on that set to give the heating element full wattage and get the voltage a bit higher. It was only at 65 volts with the 4) 300 watt panels in series.

[BiggKidd]

Alright I got the outer sheet metal finished and I’m actually pretty happy with the way it came out. I think all that’s left is making the pony firebox and chimney to get the stove part going. Waiting on some 3/4 inch copper pipe caps to make 2 more of the lifters for the electronics plate. Once I get them made and tested then I’ll start assembling the electronics. I want to be sure the plate rises and falls at the right temperatures before I load it with $$$ electronics.

[BiggKidd]

Believe it or not I think I am almost done with the chimney and pony firebox. There is a fair chance I will attempt to light the first fire tomorrow. If I do I will also video it and attempt to upload it to youtube. If I do I will put a link here.

[BiggKidd]

Well folks getting this far has been a long haul but here we are. Tomorrow I need to find, cut and work up some wood as the stove part of this project is ready for testing. I want to burn it a few times to cook off all the moisture before I can start experimenting with the plates for the modules, and I’m still waiting on the pipe caps. They claim they were delivered Thursday but I haven’t seen them.

[BiggKidd]

Well folks I guess it’s time to see whether I’m an idiot or not and try firing this puppy up for the first time. Today is March 28th 2023 and the time is almost 11 am. Wish me luck I will be attempting a video.

[Hanidu-Acres]

LUCK!!!

[BiggKidd]

Camera batteries didn’t last thirty seconds even though I charged them overnight. Guess it’s time for new ones.

Got the old bad news good news routine. Bad news first, It doesn’t work without a blower. Good news it does work with a blower. But it was after 3 once I found something sacrificial I was willing to destroy to try, which happens to be an old computer type fan. It’s literally stuck in the end of the chimney but it’s been going for an hour or two. I KNOW it will not last in the heat of the exhaust gasses. But it did let me see it works and doesn’t require a whole lot of air movement since we all know those little 4-5 inch fans don’t move much air. I’ll let it run till the stove gets hot or the fan dies which ever comes first! lol

Now for a little better news the mass of the stove does grab most of the heat before the gasses exit. When I loaded it full and walked away just now it had been burning at least an hour and probably two and I can still put my hand on the bare metal of the exhaust right where it leaves the stove. I can only hold it there about 20 seconds but still I would say that much is a win! Because on the other end everything is glowing hot!!!!!!!!!!!