I wanted to comment on your hike to the chunk shed, but I’ve still not recovered from laughing ![]()
I thank God every day that I am NOT a collector of fine old mechines like you have Goran. I love seeing what you have collected through the years. It is great when you show one off.
I just have stuff and junk metals, and that is enough for me to stumble and trip over when looking for that piece of scrap needed to build on my gasifiers. I have one gas chainsaw and it no longer works. Just two electric ones now, good enough.
Thanks JO. I had considered routing the gas into the condensate tank first like you mentioned. But doesn’t that mean that the liquid is draining out of the cooler against the flow of gas?
But my tank is already really big so I have done what you said. Park indoors for a while and let it thaw out.
When I built my truck I actually did install a 12v heater cable like you said. Great minds think alike.
It is routed through the hay filter the condensate tank and the hopper tank. But unfortunately from my experience it doesn’t seem to have enough heat to keep the liquid from freezing enough to be able to drain right after driving. But keep in mind that is with our cold winters where it gets to -40c.
I have been thinking of routing some coolant through the tanks instead of the heater cable. Maybe even use a circulating block heater to be able to heat the coolant even after the vehicle is shut down.
Yes, it does. It’s been discussed earlier, even being a good thing - condensation evaporating over and over again and all the “extra” condensation helping with the cooling and even with cleaning of the pipes. I think it would work best on a tall vertical cooler on a stationary seup though.
On a vehicle - to let the cooler climb from the tank - the gas will eventually end up in the hayfilter and release even more moisture. Now we end up with a second drain point - that’s the downside with the counter flow setup.
Circulating coolant seems doable. It’s up to the mechanic - how much complexity he’s willing do deal with ![]()
I think I’ve only experienced -40C once - as a kid. In that temp I would probably stay indoors and certainly no driving whatsoever ![]()
That is the benefit of being on the opposite side of the arctic from me.
Hello Steve, well, i think the camera “lies” a bit, im really not driving that fast, only some 40-70km/h, this is pretty normal speed on these winter roads.
But i admit, after watching the video myself, it looks a little faster ![]()
As for frozen condensate tanks, my plan on the Volvo to try to stop that is to take a broken down laundry machines heater core and incorporate one in each of the tanks as it already comes with an expanding seal and all, downside is that it requires plugging in an extension cord when required.
Dishwasher heating cores are usually the same and it is not often the heating element that breaks in them but they are both readily avaliable for free. I like that the heaters are very open and should be easy to clean out if ever required and they are ss as well.
Hi Johan, i like that idea ![]()
I thought about putting an engine block heater in the hopper juice collector on my Chevrolet, but that never happened.
But keep in mind that thick layers of tar (if placed in hopper juice) may insulate the heating element that much it cant get rid of all the heat=meltdown.
But a nice thing is those elements can be connected in series in many ways, to get the power down some.
I was thinking of an in block heater too but they are rarely for free plus some are kind of knurled up and getting it out of a block I would not know what I would get plus I’m afraid that would mean a lump of tar armored with wood fibres in reality so I figured those from washing machines instead.
I often use big old electric hand drills but those are strong enough to hurt you if they bite so to mellow them quite a bit I put a 230/115V transformer in between and they still get quite some torque out, most from inertia since they are old but they are slower.
Enough ranting about drills
, what I was getting at, as you probably already figured out, was that one could put a transformer in between to get the power down.
Or put them both in series.
But if the heater is placed above the hopper juice outlet then the hot water would heat the tar down to the drain after a while.
Another good and cheap source for heaters is water kettles (about 79kr at ö&b) available in 1,7 and 2,2kw, small and with a mounting flange, only needs a round hole to put them in.
A long time ago i used them in a , hrrrm, moonshine still ![]()
Three of them, running on each phase to neutral, 3x2,2kw, when up to temperature, only two of them running in series. Have re-purposed them for a fast-heating parts-cleaner nowadays.
As you mention the drills, i have an enourmous old tig welder, good for, i think 440 amperes (!), now to the problem: it’s single phase, needs 63amp fuse, but as long as i don’t crank it up too much im able to run it between 2 phases, 16 amp.
But when starting it up, saturating the 200kg transformer core, it pops the fuses… i have used fake fuses, turned from brass stock… but if i happen forget putting the real fuses back, i may end up sorry, so… i start the welder in series with a 9 some kw boiler heater core, and as soon the welder “humm’s” nicely, i short the heater core with a switch, works as a charm.
But a total waste of typing here… i don’t use that welder anymore, as a better one showed up… ![]()
That’s a good one too with the three water kettles. Have to remember that.
It’s funny that stuff actually do just pop up either by a question if I want it or just stumble across as scrap or by an ad catching your eye.
I guess the question comes because I have a reputation of some kind ![]()
Yesterday black tar/water valve stuck closed. Today we are having a warming up trend this week in the North Central part of Washington State. 65°f or 18.33°C and sunny outside feels like the first day of spring but it is February 1.
Pull on the lever and the black tar/water valve opened. Not that much water is coming out just a little trickle. Removed the 2" cap the tar was solid. Had to do a little digging to get the water to start flowing out. Hopefully it will be even hotter tomorrow so the tar will begin to flow out of the tank.
Thank you Yehovah God for your Son and the warm sun shine today. DOW
How are you guys doing with the extreme weather? Is it over?
Some progress, ( 2 days later ) on my tar/water dumping. The water is out of the tank. But the tar is taking its time to drip out and into the bucket. Bob : Make a note to always while it is warm and before the winter sets in with freezing temperatures to dump all the black water/tar out of the tank.
Joep, I realise you’re refering to people across the pond. Seems calm now, so just a quick report from up here.
A harsh month past by our standards. A year’s worth of fallen timber all over the country, combined with low temps.
It was -24C or -11F last night when I went to bed. Wife’s on the phone this morning (as usual), getting reports from friends and family unable to crank their cars up. I feel lucky to be able to run a fuel that improves with lower temps. WIK - wood is king ![]()
I think the worst is over. It is no longer -10F, It is back to a balmy 30F around here so waiting for the bikinis to start appearing. ![]()
Apparently us trolls don’t have it so bad. Apparently Calumet In the Upper Penninsula has record cold temperatures, and 222" of snow so far for the season.
Here it is warming up as well. Been in the single negative digits (C) for the last couple days. Almost feels like I should leave the winter coat in the house. ![]()
But Goran mentioned something in the video and his spark plugs causing a misfire on wood gas only. When I last ran my truck on wood it seemed to be running kind of rough especially at idle. Now that I think about it may have been missing a cylinder as well. It harder to tell though with 8 cylinders. Maybe I should change my plugs?
Pfoe, I am getting cold too watching that. Stay warm overthere.
JO, you guys are used to this wether. If you are not it is a real fight.
And storm, we didnt have one for 5-6 years. We are finally catching up with the fire wood but didnt prepare the old conifers for the next storm. I hope not but probably to late. Whatever falls wont grow back.
Just as a note Michigan Tech university’s annual winter carnival is going on right now. They have a bunch of events like dogsledding, but their big one is their snow sculpture contest.
This is from last year

