Matt,
I sure like your use of the camlock fittings what a great idea. could you or is there a reason to not just hook the camlock that goes to the generator to the blower to prime the filter and hoses at start up, then when you have good gas production reattach it to the generator? I was thinking that this would prime the hoses and filter, but I was thinking it might restrict flow and make a slower start up. I was thinking that with recoil start applications it would save my arm a bit of pulling the cord. Maybe this is not needed, but I also thought it might save cost for high temperature hose and fittings.
I showed this to an Amish friend who liked the idea, but will not use electricity. Are there any off the shelf handcranked blowers? If not I might build a couple of protype hand blowers, both for this application and a few blacksmiths who want hand cranked forges.
kent
You can still buy new made hand crank blowers, the trick is finding one with a threaded inlet and outlet. Or use it as a pusher blower to the nozzle.
I reckon if you knew a good brazing or soldering guy you could glue on an inlet pipe over the side port. But then you’d want to silicone all the seams since it comes apart in two halves.
But I would just use it as a pusher. You could also make an air powered venturi to suck on the Gasifier using compressed air.
Cody, thanks! I have built blowers for when I ran small cupolas, sized for the application. I might just play around in the shop and build some ideas after I get all the other things built, (laugh here, ha, ha, when everything else is built).
kent
If i would have been thinking I would pulled the engine over by the recoil start a couple of times to prime the generator and then it would have fired right up off the electric start.
I dont know about the hand crank blowers I dont see that as a practical solution and it will be very cumbersome.
Like Cody Suggested you could use compressed air with a venturi. But wouldnt he be running electricity to run the air compressor?
I agree and can add that Terry from the yahoo wood gas list tried this prior to 2004. He had built a solid setup, but could never get his producer to make good gas, because he would get tuckered out turning the blower. He had a sweet Louisville Ford to run on gas too.
Maybe the best solution would be to turn Beachy Amish and use an electric blower.
Hi guys a bit off the current thread trend now but I had to wait for a sunny day to get these new pictures of my Redi-Line motor-generators.
The smaller 800watt 115VAC are 25 pounds. The larger 1600 watts 115VAC units are 55 pounds. 60 hertz only. One of the first working applications put to use for the then new rare-earth permanent magnets.
These were the late 1980 solutions in motorhomes, boats, manlifts, and portable service vans like lock smiths.
With my alternator, generator, starter shop these came in for repair and rebuilding. Only ever needed bushes and commutator, and slip rings turning. Maybe a new constant duty solenoid. Or, very rarely, a new control board.
Here BruceJ. is one types of your roller brush spring in the bit of my Leatherman:
The circuit control boards primary purpose is sensing an applied AC wattage load applied and then switching on the 12/24 DC voltage motor solenoid. Takes a minimum 40 watt incandescent loading or more to do this. (one of the factory recommend testing procedures)
The DC motor winding are co-axially wound on the same laminated spinning armature core as the AC output windings. So a sure true full clean sine-wave AC output.
Mostly the output voltage and RPM are windings determined.
I did run the smaller 800 watt types without a circuit board just solenoid flip-switched off and on. Worked o.k. Everything I plugged in back then worked.
A better picture of the AC output brushes:
Opps. No cropped out. See in the next picture.
These units are high 60% to low 70% conversion efficient.
The up-side is I never saw one with burnt out armature winding. Never saw one with stationary damaged permanent field magnets that had not been intentionally crack up with a ball peen hammer. ???
The solenoid is common. The circuit control board is discrete components. Repairable by a true radio man.
AND all made USofA.
I got these E-bay using instant Buy Now. I cherry picked out offerings over a six month period.
These are still floating up, available. Just too damn good of metals investment to end up as scrap.
This is what to look for:
Redi-Line Generators. Three different named companies manufactured, owned the patents, and built these. I see no deference’s in the quality.
These six I got for a total off 5600 watts VAC cost me the same as some of these Chinese full wave inverters you guys are quoting.
And these heavy metals Redi-Lines do surge load at 2X-3X.
Steve Unruh
Those units look really good Steve!
1 of 5 M-4 Alpha gasifiers. This compared to the little M-2 looks like it was designed for giants. lol. The M-4 is designed to run larger V-twins and small trucks. Teaming them may allow for V-8 engine applications.
Installed the water tank and blower unit on the BFG today. Now waiting on parts to finish the finer details. They just dont look complete without that water tank.
So here is the updated nozzle assembly I am using now. Rather than bang a tap into the pipe that makes up the body and threading in the smaller pipe that makes up the nozzle. I now just cut a cross on the end of the body pipe and insert the nozzle. The tapered pipe thread then clamps the nozzle in place like a taper lock coupling. So if you have to remove the nozzle is will be very easy to do.
Just finishing up a M-1. This will be the first unit I will test as a wood gasifier. Drying fuel now but it is still very wet.
How long does that nozzle last Matt?
I have not seen one of them melt yet.
Ok here we go!! lol. If I am to believe my moisture checker gadget this fuel is 10% or less MC. I baked this fuel in the oven last night in a cake pan haha. Glad I dont have a wife haha.
Okay baking is done. Video please…
Bob
I took some short video, Ill see if I can upload to my site and then post here.
But yup it worked exactly like a wood gasifier unstable. lol But so far I think it was successful, now just a matter of letting that generator cool down and inspecting the valve train if its good it passed the test. Judging by the filter I see no sign that tar passed through it. It was fairly dry, just discolored from heat. I packed some pine needles in front of the filter screen to try and relief the dust from packing there. Id say it worked marginally. But I think the needles were too delicate, they definitely helped though.
Run time was around a half hour, and it does not really show in the pics but it was down pretty close to empty. As these units typically funnel down to the nozzle. It could have ran a little longer if I were to agitate the unit to knock the fuel from the back to the front. This run time is about what I expected on this unit. Its actually not designed to run this large of generator. The exhaust hose did get a little warm at times but also ran cool at other times.
All in all it ran stable enough where I could just leave it alone. I could not do that with any of my old systems unless they were automated with at least a hopper and grate agitator. I also used the water drip and that did have some effect to stabilize the system. If I had to guess I had a two second drip so not a lot or what I would drip running charcoal.
So now I need to wait and let that engine cool so I can inspect it. If all is good Im calling this a success and Ill do a demo video this weekend. The only thing I did not like is shut down, it had the typical presure build up as the processes do not just crash and shut down like charcoal. So I had flames shooting out the air intake. I guess that is just something users will have to live with when running in this mode.
I thought I heard a guy a while back with a name just like yours say “no more wood gasifiers” 
Oh believe me Im still pro charcoal. At least with these units users will have the choice and they will see first hand how much better and more eficient charcoal is. Charcoal fuel will still be the primary fuel choice for the units. 