Vortex Stove

[patamos]

Hi Folks,

Finished this vortex last spring. Then we had a long summer drought so no one dared light a fire.

Finally got around to filming a video.

www.dropbox.com/home/vortex%20bell?preview=aukle+vortex+finish.MOV


I only have a small bench bell on this due to size limitation, and another bell in the back rest. All in all about 5+sq.m. ISA.  But with over 20ft of flue stack it could handle a much larger bell.

I love this design.  Might still play around with ways to preheat secondary air, but all in all it was very satisfying to build, and the clients love it.

[dustylfc]

Love to see the Dropbox video but for some reason mine won't work .....sad face ...

Pics maybe ?

[Vortex]

Hi Pat, I cant get your video on Dropbox either, if you can email it to me I'll upload it and put the link up on the forum.
I'm really glad to hear you're pleased with the Vortex stove. I still love mine after 7 years! Keep thinking I should tinker with the design to see if I can improve upon it, but dont want to mess up what I've got. Have an idea to build a test-bed model in my workshop this winter, got some ideas I want to play with

[DCish]

HI Pat, also can't see the video... looking forward to seeing it!!!

[Vortex]

Pat has sent me the video twice but I cant get it to play on anything. It's a .MOV file, I've tried Quicktime, VLC Player and several others but all I get is a still image. Maybe someone else can figure it out. I've uploaded it here:

www.vftshop.com/images/others/Stove/aukjefin.MOV

Edit: I deleted this file as it didn't work.

[satamax]

So, 446kb file can't rely be a video.

Youtube tells me that it's a still image.

[Vortex]

Thanks Max, That's exactly what I'm getting. Glad it's not just me.

[patamos]

Strange that it is such a small file. It plays okay here at home but the quality is noticeably low.
I borrowed my wife's camera and have learned only the basic functions (in protest of all the millions of things that more and more technogadgets are telling me to remember…)
So it must have been set on low.

Maybe all the viewer programs don't recognize a video that small… weird

Time for another visit i guess

[DCish]

Often a video will have an accompanying image that has the first frame of the video for reference. Perhaps that's what got posted...

[patamos]

Well, the second time i tried to export the MOV file from i-photo it came to 1.4GB and won't load up to drop box.

Here is a 356MB video i took of the heater last spring while still under construction. Please let me know if this link works...

www.dropbox.com/home/vortex%20bell?preview=aukje.AVI

[satamax]

Can't access, it's restricted, either private or else, not made public.

[wibo]

Hi Patamos,

Just checked in dropbox, see below for the steps to follow when sharing files:

The Public folder lets you easily share single files in your Dropbox. Any file you put in this folder gets its own Internet link that you can share with others -- even non-Dropbox users!



Step 1: Drop a file into the Public folder.



Step 2: Right-click this file, then choose Dropbox > Copy Public Link. This copies an Internet link to your file that you can paste anywhere: emails, instant messages, blogs, etc.



That's it! To share your file, just send the link to a friend.



Happy Dropboxing!

- The Dropbox Team



P.S. You can only link to actual files within your Public folder, not to folders. For help with sharing files visit www.dropbox.com/help/16

Maybe this can help?

cheers..

[Vortex]

Pat, if you can send me the 1.4GB video by WeTransfer: wetransfer.com/ I'll convert it into a much smaller file and format and upload it to youtube.

[Vortex]

Pat has kindly sent me both the videos. I've converted and uploaded them below.

A couple of things I'd like to make clear. My secondary air supply is hidden in the door design, there's a 2mm gap between the top of the door and the door frame (not the frame and the firebrick), it acts like a P-channel, allowing air through and heating it between the hot metal surfaces before delivering it just in front of the port, so it mixes with the gases there. www.vftshop.com/images/others/Stove/door-frame.JPG

The other thing is the long slow burn mode ONLY works when the stove is VERY HOT BEFORE you shut it down. Otherwise it will just smoulder and soot up. It also only works on a full load of fuel because you need enough wood left when it reaches full temperature to then gasify. It would typically be about half an hour after starting before I shut it down.
The reason for this is the firebox has to be thoroughly heated right through so it is radiating back a lot of the stored heat into the fire, this allows the wood to gasify slowly on a small amount of primary and secondary air without any apparent loss of efficiency.

This video shows my stove coming up to temperature, being shut down and settling into slow gasifying mode:




Pat's video of his stove being built:



Pat's video of his completed stove working:

[patamos]

Thank you very much Trev for sorting all that out.
Figuring out cyber stuff just doesn't find its way too far up the list, and i appreciate the help when it is there.

About a week away from finishing the third skin of a 600+ sq.ft. addition to our double wide modular.

72 yards of backfilling fora an AGS heat system… stud frame with discarded forestry seedling trays ripped down the centre as infill between the bays. cob plasters all over… earthen floor… the list…..


That heater was a lot of fun to build. The night my brain tuned into the modular tweaking of the fire box and realized it could come down to three cuts…. maybe a few more in the down draft base depending on what is or isn't laying around.

Will have to see how that front lintel holds. I insulated the inside a fair bit with clay perlite/vermiculite. and might have even put an 1/8th of ceramic felt on the outside to keep people from getting a burn if/when the lean up against it. ALso fiberglass around the outside with sodium silicate and sand just in case it cracks. Hopefully that combo will keep it skookum enough with all the heat coming at it.

This forum is such a great source for learning. Thanks for the sharing….