Post by gadget on Jun 3, 2019 22:28:28 GMT -8
Its time to retire the mini turbo rocket so I can start on the next heater. I am looking forward to have a burn box instead of this tiny little feed tube. Learned lots and the next one will be build as a more permanent heater.
Some pics of the tear down;
PVC Exhaust pipe. I never cleaned them out after over fueling with the vegetable oil. They had lots of carbon in them. They where not glued together
The second barrel was very clean. I cleaned it out completely after I stopped running veggie oil and made the cyclone filter
. It was very clean inside with just burning wood. You can see some of the water that collects at the bottom. I had added a small drain hole at the bottom after I found 5 gallons of water inside.
First barrel removed exposing the very small CSA riser. Yes, the bricks where mostly held together with gravity.
Riser bricks removed and kids decided to come join in on the fun
Inside the first barrel and you can see the copper coils. The held up very well considering I was seeing 1000F above the copper on the outside of the barrel at times.
Even the little one helped out. Interesting how the cob closest to the core turned a red/orange color. Iron oxide most likely
Down to the core now. Saving the cob for the next build
Some ash fusion on the first brick over the burn tunnel. This brick would get to a very bright orange glow
When I was burning veggie oil I just dripped it into the feed tube. I was suspicious that some of the oil made it down through the seams between the fire bricks. Sure enough, it got all the way down to the cement under neath the cob under the core. Left a stain on the cement pad This could be very dangerous if this was over a wooden floor and not on top of cement, All the dark areas is veggie oil. The brick with the oil under it was the floor of the feed tube
My final thoughts;
- I don't think I will ever build another classic rocket mass heater. I will say they work well and are simple/cheap to make but the constant feeding is not practical for me personally. Also, I plan on using ceramic fiber boards and wool and no fire brick in the next one.
- I am really impressed with how well the blower works. I can't express enough how well it works. I think my next heater may have more then 1 blower and less of a restrictive flow path for some serious heat output. My goal is for a much quicker heating of the large amounts of water thermal mass in the green house.
Thanks for reading. I hope this thread has helped some. Especially anyone that wants to run a blower and is not sure. From what I have experienced, it works very well.
Some pics of the tear down;
PVC Exhaust pipe. I never cleaned them out after over fueling with the vegetable oil. They had lots of carbon in them. They where not glued together
The second barrel was very clean. I cleaned it out completely after I stopped running veggie oil and made the cyclone filter
. It was very clean inside with just burning wood. You can see some of the water that collects at the bottom. I had added a small drain hole at the bottom after I found 5 gallons of water inside.
First barrel removed exposing the very small CSA riser. Yes, the bricks where mostly held together with gravity.
Riser bricks removed and kids decided to come join in on the fun
Inside the first barrel and you can see the copper coils. The held up very well considering I was seeing 1000F above the copper on the outside of the barrel at times.
Even the little one helped out. Interesting how the cob closest to the core turned a red/orange color. Iron oxide most likely
Down to the core now. Saving the cob for the next build
Some ash fusion on the first brick over the burn tunnel. This brick would get to a very bright orange glow
When I was burning veggie oil I just dripped it into the feed tube. I was suspicious that some of the oil made it down through the seams between the fire bricks. Sure enough, it got all the way down to the cement under neath the cob under the core. Left a stain on the cement pad This could be very dangerous if this was over a wooden floor and not on top of cement, All the dark areas is veggie oil. The brick with the oil under it was the floor of the feed tube
My final thoughts;
- I don't think I will ever build another classic rocket mass heater. I will say they work well and are simple/cheap to make but the constant feeding is not practical for me personally. Also, I plan on using ceramic fiber boards and wool and no fire brick in the next one.
- I am really impressed with how well the blower works. I can't express enough how well it works. I think my next heater may have more then 1 blower and less of a restrictive flow path for some serious heat output. My goal is for a much quicker heating of the large amounts of water thermal mass in the green house.
Thanks for reading. I hope this thread has helped some. Especially anyone that wants to run a blower and is not sure. From what I have experienced, it works very well.