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Post by Donkey on Dec 4, 2011 17:43:28 GMT -8
Oh.. If it's just the riser..
Get it going, then place something (non-flammable) on top of the riser. It will back up and smoke.
Look around to see if there's smoke coming from the wrong place, seams in the brick, etc. Good way to be SURE that everything's sealed well.
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Post by josephjcole on Dec 5, 2011 10:27:39 GMT -8
Donkey,
that's good advice, thanks! I'm going to give it a try this evening. Then finish up the first bell and see if I can't do the same thing to search for cracks. That's one thing I didn't take into consideration with this design, all the curved walls take a lot more care to make sure they are actually sealed....
a couple pictures of where things stand:
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Post by josephjcole on Dec 5, 2011 10:28:17 GMT -8
another pic:
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Post by josephjcole on Dec 5, 2011 10:29:54 GMT -8
the second "bell" pretty small due to size constraints.
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Post by josephjcole on Dec 27, 2011 18:17:12 GMT -8
It's all up and going! Here it is almost dry... It's looks patchy because I had just added a little more cob in those spots (for aesthetic reasons).
Bricks in front of the burn tunnel to control the draft.
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Post by josephjcole on Dec 27, 2011 18:22:04 GMT -8
A shot from the other side you can see the pyrometer in the top of the stove in this picture. I pulled it out of our kiln, as I thought it might make a good learning tool while I try and figure out what makes the stove tick as it were....
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Post by josephjcole on Dec 27, 2011 18:27:39 GMT -8
It took longer than I would have liked to get warmed up... probably do to the fact I was too cheap to buy anything for the stove in way of riser insulation, and too lazy to make some kind of insulating bricks... there may be a rebuild in the future.
Once it got hot though everything was smooth sailing... once it got above 1000 F it really seemed to be burning cleaner and it started putting off some appreciable heat. Note that 1000 F is taken from the very top of the stove... whether that's the hottest part of the stove or not... who knows.
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Post by josephjcole on Dec 27, 2011 18:34:53 GMT -8
So here's my question, I know that in general people aren't putting dampers into their stoves. I'm really considering putting one in though. The stove really draws strongly, and even when the stove is completely cold you can put your hand up to the burn tunnel and feel it pulling air in. I ended up mudding the door over this evening after the last of the wood was burnt. This is what we do for our pottery kiln and it certainly works well. However we only fire our kiln every three months or so. I can't say the thought of mudding over the stove every evening sounds like much fun. So two questions:
1- any good reason not to put a damper in, assuming I don't close the damper while it's still burning and back the exhaust into my room?
2- any advice on fabricating and installing some kind of airtight door? Metal working isn't exactly my forte, but I could get access to a welder and put something together if there are any good looking plans out there.
thanks so much
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Post by peterberg on Dec 28, 2011 12:46:15 GMT -8
It took longer than I would have liked to get warmed up... probably do to the fact I was too cheap to buy anything for the stove in way of riser insulation, and too lazy to make some kind of insulating bricks... there may be a rebuild in the future. What I could make of the pictures: there's indeed no insulation around the riser. Not very sensible, no wonder it'd take some time to warm up. Besides that, the riser is sharing one side with the outside of the "barrel", which also doesn't help to establish a high temperature inside. I very much hope you are not offended by the following remarks: Every quick and dirty unsealed rocket built out of loose bricks is capable of reaching 1000 F. in about half an hour. The temperatures in a well-built rocket mass heater are close to 2000 F. This is calling for a rebuild, yes, definitely. |
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Post by josephjcole on Dec 28, 2011 15:56:19 GMT -8
not to worry Peterburg, I'm not offended, and I appreciate your input. This was my attempt to make some kind of masonary/rocket stove with our very limited available space and materials. Definitely a learning experience, and an enjoyable one at that.
The stove worked well today as it was still warm from yesterday. I stayed warm all day, and I don't think the stove burnt too much wood compared to the cast iron one we have in the house. So I think I need to get back to work in my studio for the winter. However I will definitely be rebuilding the stove this summer or coming fall. I know there is a lot of room for improvement, but it was great being all toasty warm working next to the stove today. I'm excited to give it another go, and just wish I had the time to tear it all down right now...
Joe
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