A closer look showed why the unit kept running like there was no bridge. The fuel you see in the firetube fell from underneath the bridge and the hearth was fed and continued a good gas producing burn as seen in the last seconds of the vid. I like the gas color. I estimate I would only have had another 20 or so minutes of run time before the fuel was 4" above the nozzles. Much, much longer had the bridge collapsed.
One tap from a stick and the whole bridge collapsed just as you see it. Odd, too in that I ran the vibrator several times during the run. It’s now ready to start over with a new char bed established. I’ll just top off the hopper . I think I will move/rearrange the vibrator mechanism more to the hopper side.
Ambient temperature 65 degrees.
Here are the operating times and temps throughout the burn. I hope they’re dark enough to read.
All in all it was a good burn. The temps were slow to peak which I attribute to the fan being under powered for my particular sizing of gasifier. It certainly works well though as a good starter fan. The scrapping racket you hear from the fan on startup happens when I push on the motor or switch housing. It moves the blade closer to the housing and the tops of the mounting rivets. Just be careful.
Here are a short and long version of some flare action
.
short http://youtu.be/BqnjOxSNEvI
Your system and fuels will for sure be different than our systems. But when I set up our vibratro timer is usually off for only 10 to 15 seconds this is with the very light cedar. The on time is very short just a few seconds. I always start out with a close timed interval, this causes a rich condition and then back of the off intervals until I have a satisfactory flare. The Vibrator is as close to the top of the hopper as possible and in our case is very effective and touchy it does not take much. We want the machine to do some bridging to get the results you just experience. We try to get the shaker to shake down just enough to keep the hearth flowing and hot.
Hi Matt,
Thanks for the response. So your vibrator comes on approx every 15 secs for a couple of secs. This means you continuously run the vibrator thru the burn. Yes, our fuels have a lot to say about this. I haven’t timered mine yet, but I previously ran it manually 15 secs every 10-15 mins. I didn’t this time, only 2-3 at most for the hr+ run. Time to install that timer!
My vibrator will move, also.
Pepe
Hi All,
I finally got the flanges and bracket cut out and welded onto my hopper.
I welded one flange to the hopper using the hopper weld seam as a thicker base, shortened the original hanging bracket and bolted it together. I ran some beads on the pulley weight to increase the shake power. This certainly does shake the hopper now.
Now for another burn and hopefully the entire load will be consumed.
Pepe
I burned approx 30 pounds of fuel last night in 2 hrs and 22 mins. I was looking for a temp spike or point where I could refuel with the existing fuel still approx 4 " above the nozzles. I was about a 1/2 hr late, burned down to the restriction again, but I think I can start to get closer with my next burn. It’s pretty boring just burning wood and probably just as boring watching it. It was, however, informative for me. I ended up vibrating every 15 mins for 15 secs and had no bridging problems. I also shook the grate every 20 to 30 mins.
The vid is long.
This is the log I kept. The only real spike in temp was the hopper temp and (I learned the next morning) that by that time the fire had probably burned too far down towards the restriction. I’m thinking with a weighed load that establishing a time to refuel will be easier than depending on temps which seem to mostly stabilize .
Pepe
@17s note the new lip on the top of my hourglass hearth. There’s some charcoal on it, but it went through the hottest temps of the burn and hasn’t distorted yet. One of my improvements, see reply # 360.
@42s I discover there’s a drain problem.
@57s A quick shot of the cooler condensate. You’ll have to pause the vid to really see it.
@1m06s when I said it’s full, it was only full from the valve up, since the valve remained in the closed position due to a bad handle.
With the moat drain plugged, the cooler did a stand up job of capturing the moisture. This was a good burn n learn.
Pepe
Put together my new drain. The drain hole is 1 1’2" but the valve is 1 1/4". The main body is 2". A street el brings the shut off to the front. I could turn it a quarter turn to the right if necessary. to get it out of the way. I still have to insulate that heat shield around the hearth area. It sure looks better than the old one.
Pepe
Hey Everyone,
What a pleasant surprise I got this am when I started stripping a Reliance brand hot water heater. The shell has a plastic coating before the insulation is installed, so it comes off basically in one piece. First time I’ve seen this.
Pepe
Aren’t you the lucky one??? If you go for a hot water heater that is in tack, how do you know what diameter the tank will be. Do you go for a certain gallons. I have never used a hot water tank, but my be thinking about it.TomC
Hey All,
My wife picked up a some goodies for me at a local auction. The first item is a medium size squirrel cage fan I can use for drying fuel or moving air around. Five bucks and it runs well, just needs some minor housing bracing work, cleanup and paint.
This unit had one slightly bent fan blade and scraped when turned. No one bid on it and my wife got it for a buck, $1.00. Can you believe it! I took the cover off, used a pair of vice grips, tweaked the offending fan blade and it runs great, no vibration at all.
The fan has a 7 1/2" diameter and the ID is 11 1/2". Note the balancing weight attached to the top blade, quality unit. The outlet is 2 3/4". I’ll make a gasket for it, fabricate an inlet cone and give it a try. I really hate attaching anything to such a nice antique.
Pepe
