Right something like this thing here haha. It just runs and runs, and we just kept making more and more fuel from the unit while it ran and ran lol. No automation just stupid simple and this was charging my bank, while running the entire shop on top of the chop saw. Oh and that generator has ran daily for over a year now it is shot we need a new one and then can rebuild this one for back up.
Fairly easy processing not very much work to do this. Kiln is not a single batch run, you just keep filling it and agitating it until the lower catch barrel is full. If we had larger multiple units we could make tons a fuel in a days time to run for possibly a month. If we had the storage.
Yep. Thatās pretty much how I do it except I just have a barrel with one two inch hole at the bottom. Stick a bunch of pine cones and some half burnt brands on top of them right at the hole put in a load of cut up branches and light it off. Iām only using forced air at the very start of the burn and only get any significant smoke at start up. Since Iām working in the area anyway I just keep throwing in another layer of wood every half hour or so. Smokes a little until it catches fire and then none. At the end of the day I kick some dirt over the hole and put a lid on the barrel. End up with about a half barrel of good charcoal. Iām actually thinking about building a shed to store it because Iāve been pulling it out of the barrel when cool and sticking it in doubled up contractor trash bags and they are laying all in a pile. To get the charcoal out of the barrel I dump the barrel into a large plastic mortar mixing tub and then itās easy to shovel into bags. Long post for a really simple process.
Yeah Ive rebuilt them, they are a PITA!. But you can get a ring and gasket set for them. You should hone them out.
Good long running unit? For off grid? I dont think it matters, these off the shelf generators are not designed for this. Regardless of engine make they will need a yearly refresh. Its the rings that wear out, not the engine. But this is where an off grid generator should be built with a divorced generator head so you can pull just the engine. Then it would only take you a few hours time to rebuild the engine and be back up and running.
Its really not hard to do if you can build a gasifier, you can rebuild a small engine. I dont understand why everyone is looking for bullet proof engines, when you can rebuild these engines so easily and cheap in a short amount of time. Generally long lasting engine mean is a heavy duty engine and generally they are expensive, and not very efficient. And you still going to need to rebuilt it, its an engine.
You could maybe get harder rings but then you wear out the cylinder walls and the engine will only be good for a few rebuilds and will be more expensive as you will need to up size the piston each time along with punching out the bore. If you take a day out of the year to re ring these small engines they can lest forever.;
No this not how this one works. This is a two barrel set up, the lower barrel is just a catch. Kind of sorta what you are doing but not really. Because char never accumulates in the kiln, its always dropping out and allowing new fuel to be processed and layers much like a down draft gasifier. This small unit can fill that lower barrel in less than hour.
Hi Mat , iām trying to work out how your fire drum is working and how you empty the coals once the bottom barrel is full , or do you intend to auger out the coals from below so this is a continuous charcoal retort ?
Dave
Sounds like these engines eat rings and the rest of the engine wears more slowly. It sounds like dust or other grit is getting in there. Would you think these engines would benefit from high end filters?
Rindert
You dont need a filter on a generator unless you live next to a farm. A generator is like a boat there should not be enough dust kicking around to make a difference. Run the generator and check your filter and if it stays clean then you dont really even need it. If you in an area where dust is kicked up then yeah its up to you. I dont run a filter on wood gas engines and the filter system generally gets the dust out and the acids are far worse than small amounts of dust getting in there. All the filter does reduce your power output. I want as much power as possible and if that means I have to spend an hour of my time and 20 bucks once a year Im ok with that. Regardless these engines need refreshed to make them last.
The cylinder walls are not like the old days. I dont remember what the sleeve material is but it is harder and the rings are by design made to wear out. Think of a refresh as part of your maintenance. The engine is the cheap throw away part of a wood gas system anyways. If your off grid running this system, its saved you money, you should be able to afford to spend 20 bucks on your engine and put a little time into it.
Right. Right. About the decision to make one part softer sacrificial.
This is done by various engine manufactures with piston rings versus cylinder walls āhardnessā.
Also done by choice with wheels brake pads harnesses versus the metallic disc hardness.
I was shocked back in ~2002?3? with the first PT Cruiser front brake job I did at the dealership. Barely 40,000 miles and worn out brake pads and severely dished worn out front brake rotors. They machined in under their marked legal minimum thickness.
I was called to task for āruining themā. And they made me buy the customer new rotors.
Wrong. All PTās were found to be coming in with the same situation. Why? Daimler (European) ownership of Chrysler then migrated down the Euro way of hard disc brake pads and soft sacrificial rotors.
MattRās right. Re-ring on a single; even twin is cheap and easy. Versus having to re-bore, hone to size for new oversized pistons.
Soft rings. The Toyota Corolla and Honda 500CC motorcycle way. Works good too. Gives a chance to really de-carbonize the pistons ring lands for the best rings movements and back side pressures sealing.
Canāt remember the last time I had rotors turned. I just buy new ones with the pads. Not that much difference in price for just standard rotors over machining them.
OK i sorta switched my brain on and re read a few posts and watched the video a little more , i thought the bottom of the burn barrel was just a 1/4 the size of the top barrel and thought you must have to empty that too often , but it seems you may have sunk a full size barrel into the ground , that of course would allow a much longer burn time .
Yup, it is the same size I just keep feeding and agitating the center grate to drop the char out. The heat drive out the oxygen of the catch barrel.
I let the fuel burn down about 1/4 the hieght of the barrel. I then shake the crap out of it to
drop the chare that will break apart and drop and then top it back off and then repeat.
Matt that is a interesting way to do it , i have a very large cone that stands about 3 foot high and is 3 foot square with a very heavy lid to seal it up after a burn , just like the air curtain kilns that are popular now over here but on smaller scale , my cone you just throw in what ever will fit and keep it topped up starving the coals of oxygen below works well on crappy pallet type wood once cooled i shovel it out into 55gal drums through a magnet to remove nails and staples and then seal drum till needed , we only have a small window of time to make charcoal this way over here due to fire restrictions , so most of my engine grade charcoal is made in the wood heaterās in my house , i may have to give your way a go very soon , see if it can save me shoveling out the coals afterwards .
Dave
