I do have plans for remote instruments, bills being the only thing standing in my way. I need to get a side gig or something to make extra cash.
When I get home I’m going to check the gasket on the ammo box. Might pull it off and glue back down then coat with RTV. I couldn’t really bubble leak test that but I’m a little suspicious of the rubber seal it has.
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Cody,
You are getting a lot of good advice. My thought is still that there are leaks, especially if you are still not able to adjust your air mixture to both sides of the stoichiometric mixture.
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A hose vacuum guage costs 7feet of clear tubeand half a cup of coffe…
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Here’s the plumbing.
Reactor to filter is flex hose
The pipe running under the truck is solid leading to a rubber elbow hose clamped down.
Any joint that isn’t PVC glued has been siliconed then taped over.
I think the engine isn’t giving enough demand for the reactor because it’s a much shorter distance to the fresh air. While starting it up I run on gasoline then choke the air adjustment to almost closed, just barely enough draft to light it. I wait until all of the 5 holes are showing light and have been lit for roughly 5 minutes. I turn on my water drip to about a drop per second. By the time all of the holes show light the water will sizzle.
I turn off the gasoline valve and wait for the float bowl to get completely empty, then I turn up the idle all the way and shut the air off.
When I attempt to open the fresh air it just dies, not even a stumble just dies.
In my first test the valve was just barely open. Not sure why it has to be absolutely shut now.
Kristijan I do actually have one vacuum gauge but I dont know where I should tap it into.
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The short distance to fresh air is what is making me want to add a runner of sorts to make the engine work a little more for fresh air.
I’m thinking of taking the fresh air off with another Tee. One being a large valve that is either open or closed for gasoline usage and one that is smaller with a long runner for woodgas adjustment.
Here is my distributor with built in adjustment.
Looks like it pivots off of the center of the distributor itself and the plate is what lets you hard set the timing. My best guess to make that adjustable would be to add a cable control onto that plate itself.
What annoys me about the distributor is it doesn’t specify which direction retards or advances the spark. Owners manual doesn’t help either.
More of a just in case sort of thing, I applied Ultra Red to the seal of the filter box. The rubber itself is still in good shape but I want to make sure there’s extra material to squeeze a seal.
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Cody distributors with vacuum advance cans/pots are easy.
The sucked pot pulls the points breaker plate or sensor base INTO the rotation direction to advance.
Your distributor internally is rotating clockwise.
So to advance rotate the body housing toward your vehicle front.
To retard the timing rotate the body housing toward the firewall.
S.U.
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Cody, you probably already checked, but is it possible some of your flex tubing or rubbers collapse under vacuum when the engine is pulling hard? That would explain weak power and the need for almost closed airvalve. Just guessing.
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The ones closest to the original reactor did collapse under heat, but the ones closest to the engine after the filter are fine.
I also made sure to check the tightness on the clamps for all of my rubber joints.
I did make sure to see if they collapse under engine demand and they haven’t yet.
If they eventually prove to be a weak point I’ll just replace with hard elbows.
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Good to know, thank you Steve
How long did it take to Crud up ? if it was me i would stop a while and take a step back before moving or changing anything at all , start with your charcoal , you must have a decent sized feed stock other wise you will run the risk of rat holes through the charcoal try just tapping the charcoal with a block of timber then screen it through 3/4 inch mesh then sieve out the dust then try again before moving or changing the build , once you can prove the engine runs the same , then change 1 thing , if it was me have a look at the flare from the furthest point from the gasifier see how strong the flame looks colour ect and if your happy with it, then if you have fully soaked the whole system in soapy water with no signs of bubbles then start at the beginning by looking at the nozzle , pipework to filter , then filter & material used , and then from filter to engine compartment pipe work , gonna take time but least this way you can eliminate as you go along .
Dave
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Charcoal size is fine. I sieved with 1" round holes in a bucket and hand picked out any of the bigger pieces.
Already sieved for dust beforehand but it’ll always be dusty.
Between a few flarings and 4 driving attempts is how long it took to make the filter that dirty.
In the former downdraft unit it didnt get that dirty because of the cyclone I think.
Found a cheap wood chipper online. Got it ordered. We’ll see if I have to modify it at all. Was a certified refurbished electric chipper. Reviews seem bad for actual wood but with char it’ll have an easy life. I’ll just put a garbage bag over the output to control dust then sieve the dust out.
I was thinking about either storing my fuel in the small 15/20 gallon drums with a handle or maybe in the reusable vacuum space bags to keep it airtight. The humidity here in North Carolina is so bad I will have to keep it in some sort of airtight container to keep moisture out.
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I think the problem is with the filter head, it has a very small surface area and has a lot of gas resistance. My “sock” is 1.5 m² in size.
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I completely agree with Joni, should be the biggest problem.
I echo the others. Also what material is it made for? Seems to be quite tight?
For a quick test you can run the engine without a sack. This will show you if this is indeed the problem
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