Just do not all the “bad” things I have to modify on this donated horse!
Kristijan!
11.12.2016
J-O asks about “fingers” meaning the struts holding the flap!
There is a tin with perforated sides (6 rows on each side) to let in the air.
The tin is concentric with the threaded center-tube holding the “social box” in place.
The tin’s back end (facing the back-plate, removed for photo)
is split up to be elastic and semi-tight against the back plate.
This, to avoid air supporting the lighting fire near the backplate.
Through the cap-hole on the back-plate, a white spirit or denaturated spirit saturated paper towel is put in.
Starting a low fan-push, you light the towel, pushing out a flame.
Fast screwing on the cap and full blow on. The fire roars into the air-intake and if the silo lid is open, smoke starts to bellow out.
Closing the silo lid and lifting the distribution tube off the cyclone, puting a 0,5 m straight out-blow tube on the cyclone
sends the initial wet gas into the sky, disturbing no passers-by!
That’s the way to avoid public aggrevation…
3 – 4 minutes and the gas is lightable. A few minutes more and all yellowish components vanish.
The top-tube off the cyclone, distribution tube in place.
Then a stir in the silo lets you start and drive.
You have heard the tale of the shoemaker’s kids having the worst shoes in town?
To appreciate Max’s once-a-year soot removal service instructions for a TRUE Imbert based style system you must go back to Imbert construction techniques.
There is and excellent 1940’s Swedish factory Imbert sales video showing this up on youtube.
Look at Max’s system pictures and observe the top row bolt ring to the outside to the hopper fill lid.
Remove these bolts.
Unbolt ans seal break at the lower side air-in “social-box” then the whole inner-works hoist lifts up and out as one assembly.
De-soot all.
Outer and inner housing walls, throats/hourglass, air tubes repair/modify to your hearts content.
Lower grate pieces then opened up for repair/modification.
The use-ease evolution to Imbert manufacturing.
Downside as Max says: you need fairly dry fuelwood as no moisture removal capability. All air and fuel in moisture’s must be superheated and ran through the system to downstream coolers.
Thanks for the “boost”, Steve! Making the obvious more obvious!
One more detail, at assembly, fill the hearth-sides with good, well-glowed
blacksmith charcoal ~3/4" size through the side-lids. The hearth inside
up to 1/2 the silo funnel as well.
Thank you Steve for putting more light on Max’s descriptions. It is below 0 F out tonight but after Max and your comments about a mantle around the hopper, I took a very quick run out to the shop to see if I could still incorporate a mantle in my rebuild. With the wind chill included, the temperature tomorrow is not suppose to get above 0 F so I think I will work on my rebuild in the basement with a pencil and paper. Again thank you. TomC
Have you done self-scraping grates? Manually or motorpowered?
I am looking for inspiration for a “full diameter” (like in Imberts)
which can scrape itself during use. So far Chris has made an animation
of a type, where two sets of grate bars scrape the slots of the other set.
In an Imbert type, the speculation is, that the periphery should be left
alone, to avoid consuming the hearth-side insulating char.
Even if it is partly restored by side-blowing “new” char.
TerryL is about to test it out… with less than full diameter.
Hi Max,
No, I have never had a grate scraper. I have a manual grate shaker handle that I operate from the outside at the very end of the grate basket support that exits the bottom of the unit. I also had an electric motor with an offset weight on the outside of the hopper that shakes the hopper and the grate somewhat. I’ll eventually get a little more automated with a timer to activate the shaker motor. I’ve seen some elaborate arrangements to activate the handle, don’t know if I’ll attempt that, but they look interesting. I’ll keep you updated if I do.
I had to remove the electric motor vibrator when I installed my new much wider monorator hopper. So far the slope of the inner hopper approx 45* hasn’t been a problem, although if I build another, it will be a steeper slope probably nearer 60*. If not and I have a fuel feed problem, I’ll remount the vibrator motor. I didn’t do diddly squat this year on the gasifier, darn!
Pepe
Sorry the next to the last pic got out of order and darned if I could cut and paste it in the correct order.
Good evening max.would you happen too have a pic of the mantel or heat exchanger you use on your auti.for the warm up just before the paper filter.Thanks
Good supply working so far. Tractor powered screw choppers among the gassers outside town provide me with good “flake-bit” fuel, about the size of a cigarette pak .
Variation (spread) is ~1 to 2, but the mean size is about a cigarette pak.
Works good, but egg-size eaven fuel made by cutting branches gives
the best power for “record driving”.
You know the old saying: The shoemaker’s kids have the worst shoes in town!
That applies to a large part on my equipment too…
So there is no reheating and paper filter on the Audi; it has falling temperature from the gasifier and cyclone on, forwards to the condensing cooler and the “baby” filter with open-cell foam disks.
But it is nice to see how applied ideas do work grand on colleges’ vehichles. That guides for new undertakings and interresting tests.
