Member BiggKidd
MemberForum Replies Created
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There is so much to look at and think of. Almost everything I did here in the early years I wish I had done differently, we’re 15 years in living off grid now. One of the first things to remember is the season you move or first seasons you’re there aren’t the only seasons you’ll have to deal with. One of my biggest regrets was clearing all the way to the road and not leaving a sight break! Granted my road may see 50 different vehicles in a year, but I doubt it.
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Looks like the hole saw and reamer won’t be here until next week. I can’t believe I hadn’t prepared for this. I must have been thinking my hole saw set would work but nothing I already owned was the correct size. Either a shade to large or a good bit to small, neither option was viable.
Debating fooling with the burner although I’d really like to see the system in action as it is before I go making changes. The burner itself actually works better than expected it’s feeding the beast that’s the issue. It needs a larger fuel hopper / chute. It’s only 3×4 inches and needs to be larger, a LOT larger! Problem is it’s feeding a burn chamber that’s only 2×3 inches.
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When I checked a little while ago the temp was still around 200f. Kind of disappointing if you ask me. It lost a little over 300f in 42ish hours. It has been really windy the whole time though and that may have some effect.
Back to a waiting game again, thanks to my lack of foresight. I had to order a 24mm hole saw and adjustable hand ream to fit the lifters in the plate properly. They need to be press fit and since aluminum expands about twice what copper does when heated it’s going to need to be a tight fit. I have the gut feeling this is also going to require changing the dimensions of the lifters some to account for more and better heat transfer the additional contact area will give.
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Going stir crazy today. I had planned to get the lifters made and installed on the module plate so I could do some active testing. The weather is doing everything but cooperate! Before I mount the modules I want to see the plates lift and settle and try and workout the temperature that happens to about 250f. Once I can get that done then I should be ready to mount the modules and see if this pig makes power. I still have to figure out how I’m going to bore the 3/4-1 inch holes for the lifters to fit in. I’m not sure exactly what size the OD of 3/4 ID copper pipe is. I also know that when drilling large holes they seldom come out round, more triangular in my opinion. This needs to be perfectly round since it needs 100% heat transfer it should also be a press fit. Making those kinds of tolerances is new to me, as in I have never made anything that required a press fit. Anyone have any tips?
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I burned the stove pretty much all day trying to drive all the moisture out. When I checked the temperature just now it was just pushing up against 500f. I’m beat and calling it a night.
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Woohoo it holds he heat well too! I just managed to drag my sore and worn out self out to check. The temperature is still over 200f. It does however have tons of moisture in it. A little rain got on the top but the insulation inside is soaked from the moisture cooking out of gravel and sand.
My daughter brought me a pack of disposable batteries for the camera so I can try videoing again the next time I fire it up. I don’t think that will be today though, I’m hurting and have tons of other stuff I need to do as well. Although I’m not sure how much if any of that I can do today the way I feel and after all the rain we had last night. -
Forgot to mention it DOES pull the heat out even better than I had hoped. The exhaust where the gasses leave the stove was only 50f hotter than the aluminum plate where the modules will be. So that part works at least!
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When I walked away a little while ago the temperature of the plate was about 220f. Gotta remember I’m heating just about 1,300lbs of mass so I knew it was going to take awhile. To be honest I’ll probably redesign the burn chamber. But I want to find some better / drier wood to work with. The crap I’ve been burning today I believe was lightening struck and it’s wet too, neither of which burns worth a damn!
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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!!!!!!!!!!!
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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.
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A few pictures from today and the toys I got to work with. I cut that entire tree up with that little baby Echo cs330t even though that big Sthil chainsaw was sitting right below it. if a little light saw will do the job why tote the weight of the big heavy saw
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For now this project appears to have more or less turned in to a pond project, I may revisit adding pumped solar / hydro power down the road, but one step at a time.
Whelp I decided to go ahead and attempt to get the dozer going. Which after an hour or so I did. Then I proceeded to make on hell of a mess! I didn’t count but I’d guess I managed to take out 6 or 7 medium size hardwoods, mostly over a foot in diameter but less than 18 inches. There were also several smaller trees that came down. This was all in the area being cleared for the pond. Now the real work of breaking them down begins, and I’m already pooped! -
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.
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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.
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What if your kids / grandkids need to see a Dr. and dollars are no good? That and taxes are two of my main reasons for wanting a small supply.
