Okay, idiot moment of the day! LOL
Do I need to load a video onto “youtube” and then from there to here?
I FINALLY went out and sized up the charcoal and got the generator running and am pretty darned proud right about now.
2 Likes
Yes, upload to Youtube and just copy paste your video link here. Congratulations!
2 Likes
Cool, thank you Sir.
14 Likes
SHAZAAM! Y’all might end up teaching me something after all if you can kick hard enough.
I know it needs a filter and some other “stuff”, but I really have to thank you all for all of the input you’ve had in making this thing work.
9 Likes
Congrats of your first generator engine run Allan , something i did notice was when you stopped the engine i could hear what sounded like a fan running ? did you still have the in line mattress fan running while the generator was running at the same time ? i have never managed to start my engines while the fan was running , so well done
Dave
5 Likes
Yes I did, but afterwards turned it off and the generator kept running by itself. After I do some changes I need to make a better video.
3 Likes
Hi Allan ok thats interesting , like i said before not 1 of my engines would ever fire up and run if the fan was left on .
If i can now make a suggestion , can you remove the fan from where it is now, that would then be a good spot to put your filter , and then you can use your fan to draw through from the very end of the line so when its ready and you have a flare you can unhook the fan and plug the hose straight onto the engine , that way your fan will not get a build up of soot and should last you a lot longer .
Cheers
Dave
9 Likes
Good call. Thinking on it now I agree that it would probably get filled with soot. Thank you.
I either had a leak somewhere or am just missing something simple because the gasifier itself never heated up to more than just barely warm anywhere on it. Quite possibly something to do with me getting the charcoal much closer to the right size?
3 Likes
How good did that feel Allan? Great job. Now you’re hooked. Honestly, I was really hoping you were going to plug something in the generator before the video ended. What I would try is, plug in a trouble light in one receptacle so the generator is pulling something before you plug a circle saw or something else big in the other receptacle. If that works, load the saw down with a 2x4 or something. Find out what the limits are.
Good on ya Allan.
I can’t wait for more videos. It gets more exciting for you.
7 Likes
Allan , getting the charcoal graded to the correct size will help a lot in keeping rat holes down to a minimum and help keep the Gasifier cooler, and as long as there is enough charcoal above the nozzle it should stop your hoses melting for a while and make strong cool gas for your engine .
No i don"t think you had any air leak because if you did then the gasifier would have got a lot hotter and you would be able to see hot spots on your drum for sure .
Agree with what Bill mentioned though , now you have a engine that runs start off with a full drum of charcoal and run the generator ( with a filter if poss ) on a small load maybe a few hundred watts to start with and build up to maybe around the half total out put of your generator till you start feeling there is no more to get from the engine , then you will start to feel a bit more heat from the unit once its doing some real work .
Dave
6 Likes
Thanks guys.
I’d let it sit running for a few minutes and ran and got a heat gun and plugged in. It worked fine on the low setting, but didn’t seem to pick up much more on the “Hi” setting.
I just went up to the shop to put everything away and I don’t think I burned very much charcoal at all.
3 Likes
Seal everything up tight— or tomorrow you will find your char all gone-- just the littlest air leak causes that car to keep burning. TomC
3 Likes
YUP, got the valve off on top and a screw in plug in the inlet. Thank you.
2 Likes
Good to see it going, Allan. Yes, a success for sure and now the refinements.
When I first started making charcoal I had a 2 qt. stainless steel bowl of fresh charcoal. I set it out side
in the snow to cool down. Checked on about 1 1/2 hrs later only to find all ashes. ONE little spark left can definitely
ruin your day. Cool it positively airtight!
Pepe
6 Likes
Way to go, Allan! The fun has just begun.
4 Likes
Your looking good Allan 
3 Likes
Great build Allan, a simple filter and you are set to go.
Bob
3 Likes
Thanks guys.
I’d planned on working on it more today to figure out more about it and get a filter in place, but got sidetracked and helped butcher a cow to fill our freezers.
2 Likes
Time to get the lemons out… 
3 Likes
Hi! Im pretty new to this charcoal gasifiers. Im running a small business producing charcoal and have looked for ways to use the small pieces of charcoal that we screen out. The finer dust we sell as bio-char but the pieces that are 8-12 mm we just didnt know what do do with.
Until i saw a video where Gary Gilmore showed the simple fire!
Ive put one together and have it connected to a 13hp engine. I had some problems with airleaks at first but now it runs fine. The reactor is a 5 gallon bucket and the motor runs 30-40 minutes on each load.
Im planning on using the motor to run our old potatoe/charcoal-sorting machine.
Ive got lots of good tips of charcoal gasification here at DOW, its a fantastic place for lots of knowledge.
Best regards!
Jörgen, Sweden
11 Likes