It turned out very well with the ski box, not much show that you are running on wood. 
12 Likes
Only bad is, ski boxes are a little disgusting… 
7 Likes
If you go to 4.20 of this video you will see that Spock’s coffin looks just like JO’s ski box. I knew I saw that thing somewhat. I guess the alzheimers hasn’t got me yet.
11 Likes
Ha, disgusting coffins or not 
Since every other car have them here, it’s hitting two birds with one stone - fuel storage + blending in. Some extra wind drag of course, but not a noticeable difference.
15 Likes
@Wayne Mr Wayne, I have a question for you if you don’t mind.
I was out running an errand today and stopped at the roadside to drain some hopper juice. The result was nothing. I’ve seen stripes of tar for a while, but I’ve procrastinated draining tar because of the low outdoor temps. So, I ran the heat gun for a few hours inside the garage, heating up the juice tank with the bottom drain open and came back checking for the result - nothing. I ended up drilling up into a 3 inch thick solid bottom sediment of hardened tar. I may have to remove the tank and cut the bottom open to clean it out.
Sorry for the long preludium. My question is - have you ever been forced to remove the tank/open it up to get rid of buildup?
13 Likes
Well, im not mr Wayne, but i have some input, on my chevrolet i had a 10 liters hopper juice tank, fixed mount under the truck, close to gasifier and exhaust to get some heat. Because at that time i didn’t know about Waynes clever solution, to drain the juice on a higher lever, and let the tar settle in bottom, i had much trouble with this… i had it in mind when i built it, so i used a 2 1/2" ball valve-but it got clogged from time to time, to push a screwdriver through the tar layer from under the truck… imagine the mess , hopper juice running down the shirt sleeve, not the most popular husband…
I tried to fix it by turning the tank over, and put in a new hose fitting right over the drain, then i was able to lift the hopper hose and poke the valve from above…no good solution, the heavy tar running/dripping directly on the valve… 
It seems our sometimes colder climate may get the heaviest tar to settle as pitch in the bottom, especially if it gets in contact with air from time to time?
It gets pretty stiff, and needs much heat to become flowing.
I can’t remember if i have told you about when i tried tar cleaning in the winter? After the stinky tank had been next to the boiler 48hours, over a bucket, and only one rubbery drip was hanging from it, i decided to try something else. I built a fire in the garden, with a big water bucket, and boiled the tank, with hoses and everything, for some hours.
What a result. Have you ever seen that kind of art-work, when the put paint on the water surface in a big bucket, and then dip stuff in it, the floating paint sticks everywhere? 
12 Likes
Haha! Tar art! It seems I’m not the only one struggeling with tar
That’s interesting information. I just assumed tar would settle in different fraction levels regardless of surrounding temp. Very true though. Seems the runniest tar is always on top and the thick stuff on the bottom.
11 Likes
Sometimes i’ve got, runny tar under(!) the bottom layer, like the “skin” on gravy standing to long, anyone else experiencing this?
Edit: this tar “skin” often acts as a sort of check valve, very annoying.
8 Likes
No, not unless I saved tar in an open container and the surface has ben drying 
8 Likes
Yes, about exacly the same, therefore my theory air could have something to do with it?
5 Likes
I guess my bottom drain should keep “air-free” though - or I should have noticed a leak.
6 Likes
Hey JO , My best advice is to go south young man 
I had a time or two in cold weather where the tar solidified about like biscuit dough and would not drain . I ran a glowing red 3/8 inch steel bar up through the drain then heated the outlet tube with a hand torch.
The outlet tube needs to be big ( at least 2 inches ) with a straight shot to the tank , no turns . Should be metal so you can use a torch . I use no valve on this dump tube but a 2 inch cap .
I have never needed to pull the tank but try to have the tank located where it can get some heat from the gasifier or the motor exhaust .
13 Likes
Thank you. That’s a trick I will try.
My bottom drain is a short metal 2 inch with just a cap on it. The drill-bit I used was 1 1/2" and the tar shavings falling down were nothing like dough - closer to lead
13 Likes
JO, and others. I have a idea that I am going to try when I need to pull my gasifier out to put a new tartank in place. The original tank that Wayne built is still be used in the truck.
As of right now when I drain my tar tank I take the truck on a long drive. This helps soften the top hard tar up with hot hopper juice. When I get back form the drive I open 1/2" valve if I can in the cold weather and drain a little of the upper juice off the upper part of the tank. Close the valve and then I remove my 2" cap on the bottom of the tank. If the tar thick tar starts to come out this is great. If not, stick a rod up through the harden tar and let the hot tar juice help with getting the tar to flow. The other thing I do is close my intake wood gas valves and turn on my reverse blower with the hopper still closed. The heat will flow into my tar tank from the top from the hopper and out the 2" drain valve of the tar tank. The engine is running on gasoline when I do this.
I also clean my tar tank out more ofen then most I think.
My new design I want to try will have a line in it that will come from the exhaust line with a shut off valve going into the tar tank. This is like the roofing tar trucks use on the tar trailer tanks for keeping the tar hot when patching roofings.
12 Likes
Hello JO, I don’t know if my thoughts on your tar problems will help you, but I will give you some thoughts anyway. In my gasifier, the condensate collection chute is directly heated by the gas coming out of the gasifier, so I haven’t had any problems with solidified tar so far, the discharge pipe has a diameter of only 20mm. Now I plan to install a barrier between the direct heating, which will be represented by a fresh air channel, so the heating will be less intense. To solve your current problem, I would try to pour the charcoal you collect into the gasifier, so that water removal is not necessary and you can slightly insulate the outer surface in one run. The temperature will be higher and the tar will melt, and the steam will prevent excessive temperatures in the core.
9 Likes
I remove the tank for the hopper and place it on the boiler, then it usually runs out, I’ve always had very hard tar, I think it’s called beck, it must be because it’s very hot in my unit.
Hmm, now the map sensor broke, can I manipulate it or can I just run on wood until rock auto sends a new one?
12 Likes
Fellows. How much is a factor to the amount of refined down tars, and their thickness is in the woods being used.
Tone; BobMac; and WayneK are using now 100% some types of hardwoods.
J.O. using still some conifer woods?
JanA. using his conifer spruces, yes?
Regards
Steve Unruh
11 Likes
JO, I apologize for burdening your topic with my writing, but Jan stated something that I think is very important, he stated that at high temperatures a lot of tar is released in the gasifier. I also agree with this statement, because I notice the same thing with my tractor. The goal of the condensation zone is to remove excess water, and retain the tar and convert it into a strong gas.
When is tar released from wood and when only water? It is obvious that water is released at a lower temperature. What should be done to remove the water and retain the tar? The facts show that this works well at low loads, when the glowing zone is buried deep below with relatively cold charcoal and does not radiate directly into the raw wood. Thus, pyrolysis proceeds slowly, water vapor rises (it is lighter than tar gas) under the lid and thus prevents the rise of tar gases, which flow of gases moves downwards through the hot zone, the gas produced in this way is really strong.
What can we do? The situation is improved if we constantly maintain a full hopper of wood.
11 Likes
Thanks to all for good advice.
Last time I drained tar was at work a few weeks before Christmas. I parked indoors next to the 130 MW boiler during an 8 hour nightshift. When the shift was coming to an end I noticed I had managed to drain only a cup or two of tar, but I had no choice but plug things up and DOW home.
So, this time, with tar reaching up to water drain level and a hardened bottom sediment, I followed Wayne’s advice. I shoved a red hot 1/2 inch rebar up into the drain. I had to wipe the rebar off and heat it up several times until I managed to penetrate the solidified layer. Putting positive pressure on the tank with the heat gun I managed to drain a gallon of tar within 5 hours.
Throwing in a bonus pic of this week’s charcoal harvest.
13 Likes
What happens if I unplug my MAP sensor?
The engine will run badly if the MAP sensor is part of a speed/density air fuel control system (common in the mid 80s to early 90s). If the MAP sensor is part of a Mass Air Flow (MAF) type system, you will lose some fine-tuning of the air fuel ratio related to altitude changes.May 13, 2021
8 Likes