Well I did buy a new battery to replace the blown up one Dave. Then me being chickenshit to mess with it and a hundred other more pressing things came up so I haven’t messed with it. Chicken shit is actually the operative word though. The new battery only cost 30 bucks more that the other ones I got a year and a half ago. 30 per cent inflation. No that can’t be right. The government says it only 3-5 per cent. They wouldn’t take the blown up one as a core exchange either so there was another 25 bucks.
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Well Tom when your ready if you want any help let me know , mixing new and old batteries is never a great idea as it will unbalance the pack , but sometimes it has to be done .
Dave
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I stopped in for Bungie cords for the loader chains, and left with the inverter generator. Used, scratch and dent, 46 hours, $788…now to see if I can rig up the plasi cutter and load this fella down.
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Hi Guys digging down thru archived boxes to sort - decide to keep, or dispose, to then load up for our house final moving . . . .
I finally re-located my High-Performance Auto Fuels and Fluids book. Packed in with all of my Propane and Natural Gas motors fuels training information:
That last picture was supposed to be for the ISBN #0-7603-0054-2
DYI fuels for today’s available IC small engines this book is valuable to see how what decisions were made on spec fuels developed during and since the WWII war years. Written by Jeff Hartman and published in 1996. I got this in ~1998.
This book is still available on Amazon and Thrift Books and others I am sure others. As one Amazon reviewer said not exactly light, or easy reading. But what you do need to know trying to match Dino pump fuels power.
Today’s pumped delivered spec fuels can and do get cross mixed then leading to problems. Watch here for some of the reasons how this can happen:
I last ran into this bad four years back with an adult nieces PT Cruser that all of sudden would not run right. Turned out to be a station that does sell Ethanol-free “Clear” gasoline in addition to regular E-10.
They got delivered by mistake a tanker full of E-85. And she had filled up.
Keep your engines running purring along to be working for you and yours.
Steve unruh
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Here you go Mr Wallace . . .
I did not know about these newer imported Chinese slant-cylinder air-cooled diesel singles until today.
The best video I’ve found so far. Finally, after himming&hawing taking the cylinder head off (been nice if he’d shown the breakaway head bolts angle for later re-torquing) they did some comparisons of cylinder heads, and gaskets to a Chinese gasoline clone engine.
Hope you like this one and that Life is treating you well.
Regards
Steve unruh
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Hi All,
May be not the best topic to put this video up on. But since this topic has much about my own wood-for-my-power activities . . . .
An old video that was sent to me today. Old, and the youtube channel not had any activity for over 10 years so watch before it unsponsored, goes down unveiwable.
Note the actual SS tall skinny gasifier. This one is my personal unit now since 2012.
I was not at this particular BBQ-Picnic-Demonstration. You will not see me there.
This gasifier unit was Grandfather to the later commercial production all-SS Victory model, Victory XL and Hotwatt units.
This developer unit; set up this time, I think, was to use raw hardwood to make over-augured out charcoal(with the ash), with the reduced offgases as engine grade fuel gases.
Note the tubes sock baghouse filter.
S.U.
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I still have no idea how you guys can get them. I’ve asked about them before at the couple of HF stores in my area and they had no idea what I was talking about.
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Excellent BruceJ.
Two of the ways I found to make raw wood gasification to make electricity Easiest:
Use a big enough engine
Let an engine driven Inverter system free you from most all of the gas-strength; gas-volume, synchronous RPM lock-step futzing’s. If the engine runs by being supplied a gas mix fuel you will be making clean safe electrical watts.
And now you are your own spare & back-up parts supplier.
Keep it up man.
Steve Unruh
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This is what they have going on. Take these pictures and show the manger at your store. My manager told me they get a truckload of this stuff. They never know what they get. I have to keep stopping by, to get the deals.
The Marquette store has the same deal too.
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As far as these generators go…I have been just buying gasoline for them. I hate that I have big plans, but always get pulled into the minutia of life. Oops! I can’t do welding on the reactor because the tailgate just fell off the truck. Oops! The toilet chain broke, whups, I smell brakes dragging etc, etc. The generators are a godsend this year though, electric start has really helped my shoulder situation.
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Well BruceJ. it is O.K. in my book that you are still using bought out gasoline in your electrical generator units.
It IS still available. Reasonable to still use - just use much LESS - and that allows a fellow the daily time/focus to take care of all of the real-Life needs-doing as they pop up.
Yeah. Those toilets, and such. Five in my life in three separate houses. One keeps popping off it’s bowl fill plastic tube supply line. The needed Seal-All sealant-glue and lengths of new plastic tubing 60 miles away and I keep forgetting. Another one the chain pulled rubber flush valve will hang up not sealing back down depending on just who is doing the handle flipping.
And that house has 72 year old iron pipes and took me three try’s to find a flush-fill valve assembly that could handle the old pipes constant black shedding particles. Not any modern plastic one. A New-Old-Stock all metal one.
Just yesterday I had to drag out of winter storage the walk-behind mower and sacrifice one quart/one liter of gasoline pump juice to keep the wife happy and satisfied.
But in perspective I started this topic 7 years ago with a 1000 day stated goal. A goal that turned out too lofty.
From the old flathead push mower, I was using back then I moved on to a wife garage sale gifted well used OHV type. With power drive wheels. Saved ~30% gasoline used for the same jobs done. Half as tiring on me. Then with forethought moved onto Honda’s latest, greatest engines in power wheel drive decks. Even with the driving power still Saved another ~20% in mowing fuel usage.
Your ability to make and use woodgas to run a spark ignition engine loaded working is already proven.
Your ability to make a drop-in diesel fuel replacement for your diesel-electric gen set is already proven too.
So-what you buy some gasoline out now to be able to have power and do other things for now.
Ever come the real need for 30, 60, 90 days or longer NO GASOLINE you know you could go-without. And now have the tool-sets to still have your daily electrical power. Snow. Blizzards. Aliens. Come what may.
Seven years man. I was only 63. I did not then need a power drive wheels mowers. And I’ll bet your shoulder wasn’t so bothersome back then.
Ha! I just checked. I can still actually edit this topics title-goal.
How’s-about this instead:
COMMITMENT - Make wood-sweated DIY electrical power for 365.
Any objections if I moving-on change it?
Wife’s latest wall hanger:
—> Don’t Look Back. —>
—> You are not going that way. —>
Regards
Steve Unruh
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Agreed. I don’t know why we should not relish any fuel we have available. What ever lets the task at hand get done. Marcus with his hundred plus mile commutes or Wayne constantly working the farm with vehicles makes a great case for WG but if I’m just wanting to go out and fire up the generator for some half hour task why would I spend 10 or 15 minutes to get the gasifier going only to shut it down in short order. That just becomes a hobby then. I am not a driver but I am a tri-fuel electricity producer so as long as all my bases are covered I’m pretty satisfied.
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One store about 2 hrs from me does that. and there is another one over in GA that I know of that sell entire lots at a time. we were there at the right time once gave $200 for a minivan loaded with stuff. man tools I am still using. but anyway the other three stores that are close enough for me to visit have ever heard of the idea either. I think a lot of it has to do with the managers.
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Steve,
Please change the topic title to what ever you see fit! I know you are right. I also think it would help stir up the conversation.
We are very close to the equinox. We are getting lots of sun now. Enough, that we don’t really need the generators. So my store bought fuel use is rapidly being confined to this guy…
It absolutely astonishes me how much more versatile this Volvo is compared to the twin engine blower truck.
Let’s say we use a gallon of premium to heat it up, and 5 gallons of off-road to open the road. Plus we get to go places that aren’t frozen. All of this with controls that anyone can drive. Its a different world, one that is much more convenient.
So it’s this huge contrast between solar powered electric appliances and pump diesel powered appliances. Both have huge capitalization costs but daily operating costs are tiny in proportion. The blower truck was a low capitalization cost, but huge daily operating cost. (4 gallons per mile, premium. Or 10 to 20 gallons per day). Over the last 20 years, I have spent more on fuel for the blower then the loader cost.
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Exactly why I’m copying Wayne’s dakota builds. Super short trips( less than 5 miles and then shut down for hrs) and the ability for any one to still drive it on dino fuel but if and when it becomes necessary i can drive on wood only
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SergL. has a new woods fueled small engine generating video up now:
(weird. click onto the top bar title line to run this)
Shows once again that necessity is the real drive to things getting done real.
WTSHTF, a system that can fuel on what is immediately available will be the gold.
Regards
Steve Unruh
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Oh! I haven’t seen his channel in a while. It usually isn’t as fun to watch because it seems light on information, but every once in a while he drops tidbits.
like at about 2m into this video, he mentions using ceramic refractory that is used for knife sharpeners as a catalyst for tar cracking.
Then there is this one, where he is trying to reverse engineer the patent and he gives a ton of details, but it is a high tar gasifier that burns grass and leaves.
This soviet design is neat because among other things the grate and tube that typically burns out is designed to be replaceable.
He mentions aluminized steel, which i looked up and apparently that is one of two things, both hot dipped one with pure aluminum for atmospheric corrosion resistance, the other type has 5-10% silicon in it, which is heat and corrosion resistance up to 550C. And I assume this is the type that was used in imberts since it doubled the lifetime over cast iron. (which he mentions the time in yet another video) prior to moving to heat resistant stainless steel.
This video doesn’t get interesting until 4:49 but it is explaining a two layer air feeding system. Then emphasizes the air filtration/heat exchanger system which obviously is important, but the part that is more interesting is the picture isn’t showing the bell shape grate.
Sorry for the long post, I was trying to reverse engineer his design. 
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He goes light on information because he has a monetized membership access on YouTube where he goes more in depth.
The main issue with that is it’s exhorbitantly expensive and is a recurring monthly fee.
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I thought he was just light because of his consulting/manufacturing company revenue and his viewer kickback. I didn’t realize he had a membership thing too. I guess I don’t read the comments section enough.