welding fittings really near the thread, it is very helpfull to look for old fittings where the whole thread enters( not all do this)…the best method to avoid deformation…
really nice your cruncher!
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Another run with the charcoal gas to test my new additions. This time just over an hour. I was going to stop at my normal half hour but it was running so smooth and I was babysitting another batch of charcoal so I left it running and charging my batteries.
Collected around 2 ounces or about 50ml of liquid from this hour long run.
This was the main difference in how smooth the generator was running. Every once in a while I gave it a squirt or two of water from a plastic bottle with a pin hole in the top. In less than a minute I could hear the engine running smoother. I tried plugging the air compressor in again but it still won’t run that. After a minute or two I could hear it get just a little rougher running and I’d give it a couple more squirts and it would smooth back out again.
I knew the water drip was supposed to keep the nozzle cooler and add a bit of hydrogen to the gas but didn’t really expect the change in how the engine ran to be that noticeable. Wasn’t a great big difference but enough to notice.
I carefully opened the top of the gasifier and, as I expected, the level dropped lower than the shorter runs. I also gave the gasifier a shake once in a while while it was running.
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Tom (or others), I got some pipe fittings to either modify my gasifier when the nozzle burns up or for a new build.
These are 3/4" fittings except for the 1" x 3/4" bushing.
Did I get the wrong fitting or do I need to cut this down or get a big tap and thread the inside?
I also got a couple different 3/4" plugs but forgot the 1" coupler.
I dumped out my charcoal again and run it through a screen to get rid of any ashes but mostly to check on the nozzle.
This picture is hard to see but it still looked OK as far as I could tell so I put the charcoal back in and added enough extra to replace what I used during my hour long burn.
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Brian if nothing else ,it has saved me a load of money because i would have bet you a thousand bucks against that there nozzle even standing up to 3 hours of run time , from that photo it looks like nothing has even touched the front of the pipe yet ,just shows you what a mr know it all knows huh !
But it does maybe hint towards the compressor of yours not starting on the generator when running on charcoal , maybe just maybe its not pulling it hard enough its a strange one indeed , maybe next run you could have a water drip going and then try starting the compressor on a empty air tank
As most charcoal guys would confirm on a pipe and simple fire design they just don’t last that long so you must be working some magic somewhere .
Dave
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I have to agree with Dave. I have melted several plain pipe nozzles just as an experiment. There are mysteries beyond the ability of man to fathom. Anyway about the bushing. They do have ones that are internally threaded all the way but I’ve never seen them at a hardware or box store. Usually just plumbing supplies. You can just force the internal pipe/nozzle into the bushing. You may need to file or grind the threads a little. It will still be changeable. You can also experiment with making a flute nozzle that can be fitted into the bushing the same way. I think that coating the threads of the bushing with anti-seize before screwing them into the coupling is a good idea.
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As far as I can tell, my gasifier has only been run around 3 or 4 hours total. The engine on my generator is only 212cc so it probably is not pulling a lot of air into the nozzle. I think I still have some air leaks in my hoses between the gasifier and the engine so this would reduce the pull and lower the power that the engine has.
I’m not complaining that the simple piece of pipe is lasting as a nozzle so far but the small engine and other factors are probably the “magic” that kept it from melting down so far. I did get one of the Hexaloy Silicon Carbide Tubes as a possible replacement nozzle and I would like to try a water cooled nozzle and a flute nozzle but no reason to change the one I have until it quits working. It would be different if I had built it in a way to make that nozzle easier to replace but it will need modified to gain access to that pipe.
As far as the air compressor goes, it just barely works with the generator when running on gasoline so it isn’t surprising that it won’t run with the charcoal gas. I haven’t checked it out yet but I might be able to change the pulley on the motor and slow it down to lower the current draw of the motor. I’ve changed that pulley before to help keep the motor from getting so hot but maybe going smaller would allow it to run on the homemade fuel. It would make it slower to fill up but better than having to run it using gasoline and being able to run that air compressor is one of my main uses of the generator.
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Turns out what I thought was a 3/4" nozzle is actually only 1/2" pipe. Not sure if this has anything to do with why my nozzle is lasting longer than expected but all those fittings I just bought won’t fit the gasifier as it is now.
It is obviously working (runs my generator) but makes me wonder if the “right” size (3/4") would give me more power or if the 3200 watt generator is just not capable of running my air compressor on charcoal gas.
I took my compressor apart trying to put a smaller motor and pulley on it but now I don’t have the right length belt.
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Brian,
There is a pipe fitting called a “double-tapped tank bushing.” Pipe can be screwed in from both sides. I think Matt Ryder has another arrangement for creating a removable nozzle, but I have not been able to find it.
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This a video I made a couple of years ago Brian. The first part is about a fire brick composite nozzle. That was a complete bust and even fire brick would not hold up to the kind of heat generated at core. AussieDave said it would happen and I should have believed him. Anyway the other nozzles I showed have all worked well in a small simple fire. I agree that half inch is probably too small to work well but I don’t think that explains your durability. I doubt you have a leak from your outlet to your engine or it wouldn’t work at all. It is interesting to follow your efforts and valuable to people afraid to give a build a try.
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Hi Brian , if your pipe is 1/2 inch then don’t worry that size will run your generator fine , i have gone from 12mm up to 25mm on the same generator with no real difference to power so just carry on using it till it melts , the smaller dia pipe is creating more velocity and maybe that is what keeping the heat further away from nozzle …
As far as your thoughts on less power due to air leaks ,i have found that if there is a air leak it will show up in the form of you having to almost close your mixer valve so really there is no lack of power from that as if there was too much air the engine just wouldn’t run properly at all ,
Dave
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Thanks for confirming my thoughts that I must have an air leak. This is the exact symptom when I had to shut the mixer valve almost completely off to get it to run right. It would even run with the valve completely closed but a bit rich. I did pick up some more hose clamps to try to get the hoses to seal better.
You could be right about the smaller diameter pipe keeping the heat further away from the nozzle. Glad to hear that the smaller pipe should be good enough for now.
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Thanks for the video Tom. I watched most of the ones you posted on YouTube and got some ideas for possible future builds.
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I wasn’t sure if I could post a link to it or not but this is from Matt’s forum.
“This here is how we build the nozzles now. From top down. 1/2 SS pipe, 1 to 3/4 reducer. 3/4 nipple. (note the 1/2 pipe is inserted into this nipple, when you tighten this nipple into the reducer it clamps the 1/2 pipe. Then clamped in the vise is a cap. We feed the water in through that cap and the holes you see here are the air intake. The water drip tube extends to these holes. As the air feeds in it will grab and atomize the water into mist and eliminate surface tension that can stop water flow :). If reducing the nozzle does not work then try a different fuel. That lump charcoal may not work.”
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That amount of water in the gas is concerning to me… seems alot. Is the charcoal wet?
Indeed, adding water to the nozzle can make a huge difference. One thing to note thugh is when you add water the gas gets richer so you need to give it more air in the mixer to get best power.
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Kristijan, yes, the charcoal was likely wet. It had been raining and I didn’t have the charcoal sealed up so it likely absorbed some moisture. Some of my earlier batches I didn’t wait long enough before dumping them out and they were still smoldering the next day so I put them out with water and some of that charcoal might have been added before it dried back out fully.
I thought about running the gasifier this morning when I had to plane some more boards but I just used gasoline in the generator to get them done.
I didn’t have a chance to get a water drip set up on the gasifier yet but want to do that as soon as I have time and find a valve and some tubing. Hopefully this weekend I’ll get time to try it again and maybe make another batch of charcoal. My last batch had nails in it but I ended up with another bucket full plus more that I haven’t separated the nails from yet. Had several larger pieces that didn’t fully convert that went back in the barrel for the next batch.
I keep meaning to set up a forge using some of the charcoal but didn’t do it yet. Don’t really have a use for the forge right now but could save some oxygen and propane for heating and bending steel and would be another use for the charcoal. I want to set up a foundry too but my green sand and other casting tools are in another location right now.
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Tried another engine on my simple fire.
This time it was a log splitter.
When I visited Gary he showed me his simple fire running a log splitter and he told me that the last time it was run using gasoline was when he loaned it to a neighbor.
I took my air cleaner off and just stuck a hose from my mixer valve inside the air inlet on the log splitter. I didn’t want to permanently adapt this one since I wasn’t sure it would run on my little gasifier. You might notice my foam isn’t in my homemade filter. I took it out because my mixer valve must be a bit too small and this engine and the generator can’t get enough air through that little hole when running on gasoline. I still have a leak somewhere so my air inlet valve has to be almost closed to run on using charcoal.
I wasn’t prepared to split wood so I only had one small log and some slabs and junk boards but it split everything fine. The engine didn’t run as fast as it could on gasoline but I never liked having the engine screaming unless I had a really tough log to split anyway.
I could see this being as useful as the generator. Kind of cool to think that it used wood (charcoal) to split the firewood. I didn’t have much wood ready to split and it didn’t take long to split what I did find close by so it used very little charcoal.
The engine on the splitter is only 196cc (6.5HP) which is just a bit smaller than the generator so I imagine an hour long run wouldn’t be any problem and I could split a lot of firewood in an hour if it was cut and dumped close to the splitter.
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A hour worth of gas is plenty, trust me. Mr Wayne says he never has to stop driving just for the purpose of refueling, l found it to be similar with runing a machine. After a hour of work its time for a cold one.
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I really didn’t want to resort to silicone but obviously duct tape isn’t sealing good enough.
These were the connections to the filter that was likely my air leaks.
This is the top of my water collection jar that might have been leaking since I only brazed it from the inside of the pipe.
This one shouldn’t have been leaking but I coated it just in case. It is the welded connection from the gasifier to the cooler.
It has to cure now but hopefully that eliminates my leaks.
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I have been using Gorilla tape instead of even good quality duct tape. It is thicker and a little hard to pull off your fingers when you cut it to length. A little more money be worth it. T-Rex tape is about the same.
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If you have to use silicon on fittings or anywhere other than the real real hot places then save money and just use the cheaper bathroom silicon it works just as well and cures even faster plus a advantage is you can use the clear stuff that makes it a little more stelfie 
Tom , when ever i use duct tape i call it plastic welding , i am forever taking apart and trying to improve and its so much easier than having to use a grinder to cut the welds apart !
Dave
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