Post by photoman290 on Mar 23, 2014 12:58:45 GMT -8
i have been experimenting with my RMH today and thought it might be useful to give an update on progress. i started with the basic design from iantos book using everyday red brick for everything. i found a short piece of SS flue liner 6" 150mm diameter so removed the brick riser and tried the flue liner. i cobbed it into the top of the burn tube and covered it with fibreglass roof insulation. i do have some rockwool but the fiberglass was to hand so i used that for experimenting with. the feed box and the burn chamber are still 7x7 so i know they are too large for a 6" riser, but wanted to get started on it. it worked fine with just the riser no smoke after it warmed up. the wood i have is less than ideal in being rather damp or not properly seasoned. i also tried some pine cones which worked very well. i then tried putting the 45 gallon oil drum over the riser. this immediately killed the draught totally and it started smoking back. i tried lifting the drum a bit at a time till the draught was restored. i dont yet have any sort of flue so the smoke just escapes from the manifold. i measured everything so i have a large enough gap around the manifold. i thought from what i have read that you should be able to fine tune the drum to get the right gap at the top. what am i doing wrong? i may cut the bottom off the drum and use the clip top so i will be sure i have the gap correct, as just dropping the drum over riser on ones own is difficult and a bit hit and miss. i measured 2 inches gap but noticed the drum is slightly indented at the top so maybe thats the problem.