Hi Dan,
How do I find you videos?
Bill Schiller
Hi Bill; You may already be subscribed to me as your name sounds familer.
Type in docdcox on youtube to access my channel or http://www.youtube.com/feed/UCBg4kZhd0J4QebBQ7osadMg/u
I no longer take comments on youtube due to a few idiots. Hope this helps. Dan
I hear you on the comments Dan, I still do, but that is the primary reason why I don’t say anything in my vids usually… Keep up the good work brother… i always look forward to a new video of yours, and I have shared your video’s many times to make a point with someone…
LOL Arvid; Thats how we first got aquainted(thru comments). All worked out and we each got a friend out of it.Thanks for your support for my gasifier and the time you spent helping me to try and figure out problems. You also have a great unit and knowledge to share. Video to come soon I hope as I am still fighting with health problems and college football season:-). Take care now, Ya hear!
I second that Dan. Arvid has been a great help to me as well and he is my competitor!!! lol. Thank you Arvid!!
Thanks ChrisKY. Bills efforts desrves it’s own recognition.
S.U.
Hi steve, I am new here and noticed your in Washington state. I am on the Olympic peninsula and totally off grid. Gasification is new to me but I have already started a prototype mostly out of recycled metals from my junk collection out back. So where is Yacolt I have never heard of it? You facing the same moist climate as me I would think you might be one to share a few Ideas with.
Thanks Steve, I am on the coast so it may be even damper here. I fired my prototype off today just to see what temps I was getting and see if it would burn at all. I wanted to know if a cooler was necessary. my outlet from the filter was at about 95 degrees. It was to the point of almost burning but just wouldn’t stat lit. In my eyes this was a success. Note that my filter is small and the gas was pretty dirty but it seemed dry anyway. I did make a ventura out of a propane bottle and that’s about as high tech as its got so far. Just out of curiousity what percent air to fuel mixture do you think I am shooting for? I mean just to make the torch burn.
David,
Did you follow a specific design? Do you have pictures?
Before I found this site I went over a lot of designs and thought the stratified downdraft would be the easiest bet. Now that I read on they are referred to as tar babies and am wondering if this was the best choice. You would think you could filter it enough to make it work. I have no pics yet and I am sure some will laugh at the setup when I do post them, but you got to start some where right? 2 months ago I never heard of gasifiers so I think I am learning a lot each day. Being designed for a stationary small generator set up I figure if it breaks down it a t least wont have to be towed home during this learning curve model.
Hello David ,
If I had never made tar or stuck an intake valve it may have taken me twice the years to learn this strange animal we call gasifiers .
BBB
Wayne
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Even though I usually eventually have to learn the hard way,I have a 2 cylinder military standard 3 horsepower generator that’s brand new and was hoping to avoid gumming it up. I put a cloth over the end of the discharge pipe and it turned black pretty quick but felt dry. Still a little dirty for me , pretty sure I can do better than that.
David
don’t count on filtering out tar on a fema or any other design for that matter.
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I don’t think its tar, seems more like soot but I am definatly listening! any input will be appreciated, I am here to learn. David
I made a gasifier kind of like a FEMA but had somewhat preheated air jets. It’s an ugly unit, but I wanted some honest criticism from the veterans here. The problem is, they’re too nice. Although what it did was give me a direction. I also have a much better understanding of wood gas than I did before I joined.
Welcome to DOW David, you will enjoy.
BIll Schiller
Hi David L,
Ditto Steve U’s “nobody’s going to laugh”. A lot of us started out with propane tanks or 30 to 55 gal drums and odd pipes and fittings, got some gas to burn and felt pretty darn good about ourselves. It’s a fun trip. You’ll find that folks ask for pics or diagrams. That’s so we can relate your direction in relation to our progress and throw out some tips/facts. I’ve received many from the guys here, it’s great, it’ll save you so much time and effort to see stuff that works.
I built a FEMA down draft to start. It got me back into welding, etc and I was able to produce gas ok. Then I caught up on my reading and found out that the burnable gas from the FEMA would in a relatively short time tar up he engine valves, etc. FEMA temp is too low to crack tars and they can’t be filtered out. Hmmmm, more reading needed here! Check out my FEMA video here. Tar sizzling starts about 7 min. in (there’s also some moisture present). I never tried to run an engine on this gas even though it “burned well”. It was quite a learning experience but I won’t build another FEMA.
I chose to build an imbert style gasifier using an hour glass shaped hearth. I wanted to learn how to make cones. You can check out what I’ve done in the Small Engine User’s forum under “my first small engine run” by Richard “Pepe”. This is pretty much a picture history of my build with a few vids thrown in. I posted diagrams with my numbers related to the imbert dim. chart posted. Note that the imbert chart starts with your proposed HP requirement then moves to the dimensions. I used obtanium as much as possible, mainly 100 lb propane tanks, used 4-7" d fire extinguishers, swing set frame tubing, etc.
Most everybody here freely shares info and pics. Here’s what we did, here’s how it worked, here’s what I won’t do again, here’s where I’m at.
So, this isn’t “the plan”, it’s what I built using the ideas of others and a lot of cast off material.
Have fun, Pepe
thanks Steve and Pepe, Yes mine is made out of a propane tank for the main fire box because they were available,I used old truck drivelines for tubing and copied a ventura type system I saw on another u tube video. Up until I found this sight most of the info was gathered in bits and pieces off there. I am so happy to find you guys and Wayne is already my hero. I actually have quite a few pics on my phone but haven’t got the knowhow to get them downloaded yet. Would be glad to share. My plan was all in my head and subject to change anyway so I guess I am not a whole lot different than most of you…I have only fired it up twice and didn’t try to ignite it the first time. This is why we use the term prototype any way isn’t it? David
Pepe,
I just watched your video. I noticed you used a stove pipe for a firetube surrounded by sand. How long did it take to burn a hole through it? My very first wood gas experience, I used a 3" vent pipe with a 1 1/2" reduction in a 5 gallon tin can with pine shavings… It was good for one firing, but that’s what got me hooked. I was amazed I was able to make gas.
Bill
Bill,
I only ran the FEMA about 5 or 6 hours so it didn’t burn up. At that point in my journey I never even considered that it would burn through. The FEMA is sitting in my shed waiting for it’s next use. I suppose I could build an imbert type burner insert for it, but for now I’m working on paper to consolidate some ideas on my present unit. Waste not, want not so to speak.
David, Yes, prototype and we’ve all pretty much been there. Just putting the parts together is a trip even if there is no fire up the first time. I have several fire ups that didn’t self sustain either. It gets better though, keep at it, read a lot and ask questions. Here’s a link to the All Power Lab’s site and some great vids on explaining the science of gasification. They’re long but the info is spot on, imo, and a must read for all gassers. He’ll put the pieces together for you. There are more vids, but number 2 is a real good tutorial for a start. From his successful units you can bank on this info.
Pepe