Victoria's Corner

Small Engines
#141

HI Wood Gassers,

I just achieved my first true off grid start up with the Gas Station Lite:

There was no compressed air or electricity going to the unit. The blower power source was a single car battery from a 2008 Honda CRV. I am going to make a special cable to use the car battery to crank the generator and run the ejector. Neither battery was taxed at all.

Looks like I will be OK at the logging museum demonstration.

Stephen

3 Likes
#142

Hi Arvid,

When you get sawdust to run in your new machine will definitely have my admiration. I suspect you are not far off.

Stephen

#143

I’m working on it… I think I tried it send you an email from my Hotmail account… not sure if you got it. I have issues with pics and Gmail on my machine at the shop.

#144

Good Morning Wood Gassers,

I have some bad news. I will not be able to make the Dover Mini Maker’s Faire this year. I just found out that my wife is planning a C-section litter of Lab pups on the same day. That means all hands on deck here at the farm. Hopefully we will exercise better planning next year.

Stephen

1 Like
#145

Hi Wood Gassers,

Tomorrow I will be demoing the Gas Station Lite at the Maine Forest and Logging Museum. It is their “Heavy Metal” event. Here is their event description:

August 1, 10-4 Sat. Heavy Metal. Machines of all sizes–16-ton Lombard and maybe some even bigger. Belt-driven machining equipment. Blacksmiths–lots of forges for demonstrations and a chance to try your own hand with the hammer. Bean-hole beans and biscuits! $10 adults $5 kids

http://www.maineforestandloggingmuseum.org/

near Bangor, ME. Come out and enjoy the fun!

Stephen

2 Likes
#146

Hi Wood Gassers,

One of my customers asked me to do a video outlining how to run the Gas Stations and what to expect. Below is a video showing proper fuel sizing for the chip grate, fuel prep, and what to expect when doing a raw wood start.

Enjoy!

Stephen

2 Likes
#147

Hi Wood Gassers,

As most of you know I own Northern Self Reliance:

I make the Gas Stations, the Victorias, Isabellas, and Anastasias. Two weeks ago I took a job teaching at a university. Since then I have struggled to get my latest order out the door. My customer has been great and I have kept him informed the entire way through. I also tried to make up for my tardiness by including extra hardware. HOWEVER(!!!) this is completely unacceptable on my part. When I promise a delivery it needs to be met. That means there needs to be some changes.

From now on I am not going to accept orders or promise hardware until it is COMPLETE and on the shelf available for sale. You will be able to check my inventory by looking at the bottom of the “Get Hardware” pages like this one:

I am also going to train my welder to do the assembly work so I can fill his winter slow periods. Hopefully this strikes a decent balance between production and the craziness of my schedule.

Stephen

3 Likes
#148

Hi Stephen,
I’ve only got three things to say, honest, professional and courteous. You can’t beat that.
Pepe

2 Likes
#149

Hi Wood Gassers,

I have two Isabellas ready to ship if anyone would like a nice little beginner’s machine to power a 4-8hp engine on pellets.

They are $350 each plus shipping.

Stephen

1 Like
#150

Hi Wood Gassers,

This is a little off topic but hopefully useful. Yesterday I taught at the Camden Maine Maker’s Fair. It was a great time. Instead of dragging Victoria down, I taught a class on control with Arduinos. Here are the slides if anyone is interested:

I used the automixer as my guinea pig example.

Stephen

3 Likes
#151

Very cool my friend…

#152

2 posts were split to a new topic: Welder question for Stephen Abaddessa

#153

Hi Wood Gassers,

Yesterday I went to the Common Ground Fair and met a very interesting retailer:

http://www.bragdonfarm.com/about-us.html

I have been unsure about where to go next with gasification because the Victorias just boringly run. Sure, I could make them bigger, but that is not a huge technical challenge. Running 24 hours doesn’t interest me because the Gas Station will eat more fuel than I(and others) am willing to make if you try run it that way. Plus you really don’t need to. Six hours of battery charging is all I would ever do. I need something with more interest factor. I think it is time for the Ranger to run on hay hockey pucks.

The challenge will be to control the temperatures so the ash blows through and does not clinker. This is a fuel with a known high ash content and problems. That could be an interesting project, to have closed loop control with an Arduino so I stay below water gas shift temperatures and make just CO.

I just thought I would post the link in case any one else wants to try this fuel. It’s a major step forward to my end goal of ag residue powered farm equipment.

Stephen

#154

Did you actually see and touch the haylog? Is it dense enough to cut hockey pucks out of it with a saw?

#155

Hi Don,

Yes. It was like a wood pellet on steroids. They are made by packing hay into a cylinder so they can be cleaved easily with a hatchet to make logs into pucks.

The salesman had all the correct answers(to me). He understood liquification of lignin and proper pellet making temperatures so I am pretty optimistic about running them.

Stephen

#156

Hey buddy,

When you say high ash content, how high? I think as long as you have gas flow and you keep the flow… flowing you may not need to worry about clinker… id break up one of those logs and see what it does in your victoria as is.

#157

Hi Arvid,

No question I will give that a try. I will just have to either take off the nozzle caps or make up a new smooth wall hearth so the large fuel doesn’t hang up. The logs are about 2.5" in diameter.

Stephen

1 Like
#158

Hi Stepen, I should know this but what fuel do you use in your Gas Station?

#159

PTO chips or pellets.

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#160

I am of the impression that woods that burn to ash quickly don’t make enough char bed. You may get the pyrolisis gases bur not the CO.TomC