Brian, it is true that I get by without fins and without heat sinks on the 3/8 inch thick burn tube. Keep in mind that I do employ a baffel system to force all the incoming air down and around the outside of the finless fire tube. And also keep in mind that even with an exhaust heat exchanger, my fuel economy is much worse than a genuine, fully finned W.K. gasifier. I totally LOVE my WK proportioned fire tube. And luckly I love to chop wood, too.
Keep on truckin’
JohnS
I have the opportunity to spend a couple weeks in New Mexico. I’m in the country about 135 miles west of Albuquerque. I have found a couple sources of huge steel pipe in Oklahoma City, and if all goes well I will be able to resume construction when I get back to Nashville.
Hey Brian,
Haven’t heard from you in while. Just curious if you have the welder still going or still taking some time off?
Bill, thank you for your comment. I took a week off in New Mexico and was able to buy a piece of pipe that I can cut in half and use for two fire tubes. That was fortunate for me, because I didn’t seem to have any luck finding any used pipe here. Now I need cooling fins and blowers. The lumber yards just stopped using steel strapping. I called the local sawmills, and they don’t have old blades. I can buy 55 gallon drums for $7 and that is my best option so far for cooling fins. They are pretty think. But that will require a lot of grinding with the cutoff wheel.
I am taking my time with the purchase of parts because I am also saving a bit of money in the meantime. At the same time, it’s hard to keep hauling soon-to-be motor fuel to the dump and PAYING for the privilege of giving away good wood. But I must be patient. Everything will come together in it’s time.
Finally, I have been repairing my truck. Brakes: I installed a new combination valve and ran new brakes lines. Just replaced a wheel cylinder. Steering: a worn rag joint caused a mean shimmy at 40 mph, but a new one fixed that up without too much trouble or cost. Wheels and tires: my truck came with 6 split ring rims that are next to impossible to break the bead on. I need new ones, and I’m working on that. My truck came with tires that were made in West Germany. Fuel economy: I just removed the air cleaner and set the choke for cooler weather. I was getting 4 mpg recently, and that’s not too good. Today it’s closer to 7. Can’t wait to DOW so I can SWEM instead of stopping at the gas station every other day.
I did a compression test and I have low compression on cylinders 1, 2, and 3. I would like to try some Engine Restore, but I am a bit concerned about creating more problems. The devil I know is bad, but I would like to have a plan B in case that causes bigger problems. I wouldn’t mind 7 miles per gallon if I’m burning wood, so getting the gasifier going is a priority over engine rebuild type work.
I am back in the saddle and ready to go wide open until I finish. $56 per barrel crude oil aside, I have more than all the free wood I need in my tree pruning and removal business, and I love the idea of being energy independent.
I am trying to start a new topic in the builder’s discussion area, but something is not letting me.