JO's -91 Mazda B2600

[Wayne]

Hello JO .

Yes , Many times fixing a problem can be simple and easy . Finding the problem can be a PIA

[mggibb]

Several times I have found pin hole leaks in my rusting system at a hot shutdown with valves closed and
Say is that smoke?

[Bobmac]

Hi JO, yup with old hoses cracking slowly it probably didn’t happen over night. As the cracks got bigger that added air making for weak vaccum and weak wood gas and the performance droped off. With my truck it was one little leak at a time developing not very noticeable, it was a slow process in the making. Glad you found them and it was only 2 rubber connections, replace them and it is fixed.
Thanks for sharing this. I hope it will help others that have a similar problems.
Bob

[JO_Olsson]

Thanks guys,
I remember when attending the Swedish woodgas meetup, 83 year old Ivar stressed over and over again the 3 major reasons for a gasified vehicle not running right - LEAKS, LEAKS and LEAKS

[JO_Olsson]

With days off and the truck running as it should again, I’m looking for reasons to DOW. So, I brought the dogs for a ride to check out the lumber I milled this fall.

[taitgarry00]

Great ride. Makes me want to get out in the bush…

Looks like the dogs had a great time.

My brother has a Scottish terrier much like yours, I think he wants help getting in vehicles too.

[bsoutherland]

Yes, “LEAKS, LEAKS and LEAKS.” Would someone please comment on the relative merits of using smoke versus soapy liquid and any other tips for checking this biggest problem.

[pepe2000]

From my bicycle days I’ve always used soapy water and never had a reason to change.
If you’re out of matches in a situation, you can always spit or p.

[Wayne]

Would someone please comment on the relative merits of using smoke versus soapy liquid and any other tips for checking this biggest problem.

With my wood gasifier I can cap the wood gas line before it inters the motor , cap off at the heat exchager ( if this conection is high enough it will not need to be caped ) also cap off where the starter blowers are connected . Pipe water in to the top of the hay filter and let the system fill with water . Let the system flood with water except the heatX and the gasifier . Any leaks should show up .

The easiest way I have found to detect air leaks is light a fire above the charcoal in raw wood . ( this will cause lots of smoke ) Reverse and forward the air until plenty of heavy smoke is in the system . Cap the fuel hopper and continue reversing and forwarding the air direction . Leaks should show up .

[Bobmac]

Hi Bruce, because my 92 Dakota truck gasifier was built in 2012 most of the original metal parts built by Wayne have been replaced by Chris S. Or myself. The Cooling Rail Trees that Chris S. built connect the cool rails together have been developing leaks. And the other leak areas are rubber coupling connections leaking. The easiest way to find leaks for me is after getting the gasifier started and before it gets up to running temperature shut the suction blower off and look all over your gasifier for leaks. Also after running your gasifier after it has warm up to running temperature shut it down and start looking for leaks, there is a positive pressure inside the gasifier when it is down. Not a lot so you have to look carefully. Most of my leaks are found at the starting up of the gasifier when it is cold. If I think there is a leak I can verify it with some soapy water.
If you want more positive pressure to check for leaks just turn your intake pusher blower on if you have one. Put some soapy water on the spot that you think there is a leak, it will make bubbles at the leaking spot.
I think it was @gasman Max that suggested to turn your pusher blower on with the gasifier cold, do not light it up, leaving the gasifier cold the leaks will be more prevalent. Putting soapy water on all the piping and gasifier just give it a good old hot soapy wash cleaning it up it probably needs it anyways. If there are leaks they will show up bubbling out the leaking spot.
In the hot summer time when all the connections are expanded your leaks might disappear, but when it gets cold the connections might start to leak again. Cold weather is a great time to tighten things up. I have found lots of loose fittings at this time of the year. Heat cold, heat cold a never ending battle on connecting parts and connections.
Bob

[KristijanL]

You are having way too much fun JO good thing its free and untaxed

Bob, with your automixer, how big of a leak starts to cause a/f ratio problems?

[Bobmac]

Hi Kristijan, when using the auto mixer it does not seem to take much of a air leak going into the gas side to give you a lean reading and cause a weak gas conditions. Maybe a 1/4" hole and I will start seeing the air/fuel ratio meter change more to a lean and less rich read out on the meter. This is one of the disadvantages of having a auto mixer. You need to keep it in a no air leak mode of operation. I normally do get a rich gas conditions using the auto mixer more then the lean reading on the air/fuel ratio meter, so I have a 3/4" valve air line that I can control from the cab of the truck to add a little extra air into my gas/air mixing chamber when conditions call for it.
Just to be fair about it, my next build will not have a auto mixer. It is a lot of extra things that can cause problems if not maintain. If you have a air/fuel ratio meter you can adjust your manual air valve from the driver’s seat. And if you do develop a air leak you can still close your air valve and keep going and get home on wood/char gas. Then fix the problem at home.
Bob

[don_mannes]

Why couldn’t we just have a stepper motor that adjusts just the air inlet damper automatically using the signal from the oxygen sensor to make the 50/50 mix?

[JO_Olsson]

Don, I think that’s pretty much what Johan Linell did on his old Volvo back in 2007.
Personally I don’t mind adjusting manually. An a/f guage would be nice though, but I never got to the point installing one. If I feel like fine tuning, a short click on fuel switch tells me if there’s still oxygene left to go with the fuel.

[trigaux]

If I feel like fine tuning, a short click on fuel switch tells me if there’s still oxygene left to go with the fuel.

Jo This old pickup has a screen that shows the O2 vs hydrocarbon ratio?

[KristijanL]

I dont mind a manual air valve neither. Its just l am trying to make my system wife-driveable.

Ha, 1/4". My whole air suply has about that cross section

Don, that wuld be great. But a high level in electronic knolidge wuld be nessesery to design a circuit. I hope some good guy is willing to draw it down for us to be able to copy, or buy for that manner…

[JO_Olsson]

Jo This old pickup has a screen that shows the O2 vs hydrocarbon ratio?

Hi Thierry. I’m sorry. I wasn’t clear.
No, no screens What I meant was, a quick click on the fuel switch will give me a short burst of extra power as long as I’m running lean. If the a/f mixture is already on the rich side nothing will happen. Way too rich and the motor will bog down if gasoline is added.

[JO_Olsson]

At lightup and DOW home from work this morning it was -22C. Tires and suspension rock hard. Made me think of -40C @taitgarry00 and @TomC , but also of DOW people during WW2 and what they had to endure. Winters of the early 40s were what we call “wolf winters”, with long term below -40C temps.

Avaraging 200 pounds of wood a day for heating and another 20 for transportation. Cost saving eq to about $20 a day.
If I turn the heat up some and go for another ride I should be able to quit work

Blessed with plenty of accumulated solar energy

[don_mannes]

If I turn the heat up some and go for another ride I should be able to quit work

JO you are too funny!

[JO_Olsson]

A cool hopper allows for condensation and dry wood.
Lightup early morning, going home from work.