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Don't build one of these ...


johnny.race

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Dear johnny,

I write to you with a heavy heart due to the time and distance this great war has put between us. Thankfully your draft dodging brother is hot and....

Sorry, you sound like a GI with johnny as a name and sweet arc welding skills.

I place my vote for "oww gee, do us a write up of your sweet wob setup".

Looks bad ass!

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Ive built one of these also, pretty much exactly the same as the above. Have placed a radiator in it to heat water for my hot tub. Kinda works, still improving it.

 

Amazing how much heat you can get out of these things and fairly simple to build.

 

Sounds like a bloody jet plane taking off which is a huge bonus.

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I am a clutz with modern tech. My phone is so old it doesn't have a camera (I get teased about it, haha!) I don't got a FB page or anything and this is the first time I have posted a vid clip to a message board. So bear with me ... This clip was taken the second time I fired it up and was never intended to be posted anywhere. I ran it for 7 hrs straight in order to see what it went like, to test my welds (lol!) and see if I could zero in on the tune. First up haha ... it sounds like a fuckin tractor in this clip (I knowwww!) but I was still coming to grips with understanding what it wanted/needed. When it started getting super hot and making the tractor sounds, I thought the fucking thing was going to vibrate to pieces, lol! Get a load of those flames though, eh? They are rounded. They are trying to get at the outside air whilst getting sucked back in to the combustion process (if that makes sense) there is some intense combustion going on in there :-) This is what flame looks like in an oxygen depleted environ I reckon. Big suck matched with big heat.

All this with no power plug lead required. Fuck yes! The other thing to check out too is the absence of smoke. Really - have a look at the top of the flue - nothing, nada zilch.

 

All bullshit aside and in simple terms ... I have determined that these things have a sweet window in which they run hot and clean. Either side of this is going to be either too lean or too rich. I have proven this to myself by finding a sweet spot in which i was happy with noise and smoke absence. I then slowed the fuel feed rate down (leaned it out) and got smoke and less heat. Did the same going the other way and got the same results but with a heap more smoke (and more heat) Each time I returned it back to the sweet spot and it was all good again. Don't give a toss what others have to say about tuning - this was my experience and observations with this badboy and it works for me.

 

The heat can be truly intense dudes. 

 

Since this clip, its been running sweet as. Next step is its installation. Original plans were for it to be installed inside the shed but I am not going to now. Insurance ... paranoid about an open flame in the shed, no balls yada yada. Instead its going to be installed in a closed off little enclosure next to the shed where upon i will duct the heat from it - inside. I was thinking of doing the thermo-syphon thing also but have not got the drop needed. But jury is still out on the entire installation thing. Churr.  

 

And it does not sound like a tractor anymore ... still makes some noise though but not loud or intrusive sorta sounds (incase you were wondering, haha)

 

 

 

http://vid528.photobucket.com/albums/dd329/race_hemi/P7240509.mp4

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They use shit all oil, like 500ml an hour or something.

 

When i was "tuning" mine i found the flames would "blip" out the sides like that too until i starting covering up the holes in the base plate above the pot. Seems to draw the air through better in the flame tube.

 

I need a better flu like yours has. Its really important to have the flu as big and long as possible to get the draw going.

 

Ill post up some links to websites about making them when i have the time. There is a fair amount floating around. The dimensions of everything dont seem too crucial.

 

If you can get your head around the whole fuel to air mixture and tuning the size and amount of holes in the tube/base plate which im sure most on here would understand, its easy.

 

I might get mine cranked up this weekend and take some pics/vids. Motivated to have a play with it again now.

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Hey, it uses 3 liters per hour when in its sweet spot mode. Its actually 2.9 liters but its free so who's counting (there is a small cost of uplifting the stuff if you have not got free and unimpeded access to tons of the stuff though - but I digress) It afterburner mode (like in the clip) it uses 3.3 liters per hour. I've looked on TM and have looked at heaps of clips on youtube ... looked at their claimed rates of fuel usage of like 1 liter or 1 point something liters per hour fuel usage and resigned myself to the fact that not only was mine more 'rusticky' looking than theirs, but that mine also was never ever going to be as fuel miser as theirs either. It took me quite a while to get over this fact ... something like 2 seconds or enuff time to wip out a 'pffffft' when reading their claims  :badgrin:  I came about the fuel rate usage by getting it up and running sweetly then diverting the feed line into a measured container and using a clock to count/measure. 

 

This is a ghetto build. There is no 'finesse' about this thing. The guy who got me into these things built his own one too. He used quite a finicky (to me) way to dispense the fuel but with increased scope for tuning. As a result, his one only runs on finely filtered oil, lol! We know because he tried to run his on the crap I run on and his blocked up, hahaha! Fuck we laughed  :badgrin: This one on the other hand .... this runs on unfiltered waste straight from the sumps and tanks of scrapped vehicles ... this thing spits and pops when lumpy shit goes through or antifreeze etc but seemingly takes it all in its stride. There is something to be said for rudimentary shed rat engineering I say.     

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Have had similar idea for a home heating system a boiler room ducted inside was thinking of an engine running on hydrogen oxygen with waste oil injection running a 10kw generator for the electrical side of house.... this looks easier :)

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Mk2 coming together. This one is going to be smaller but with the same size exhaust as the big one above and going to try an even deeper drop/bigger area in the primary pot.  1950 Youngs Welder made in Onehunga, Auckland. Type F (I think) Got it at an estate sale years ago. The oldmans kids didn't want it and were getting rid of all of his gear. What a waste. This thing probably helped build NZ. Will outlast me I bet. Grunter and unliftable.

 

Learn from someone that has been there - Don't build one of these waste oil thingies ... they are addictive. 

 

P8100553.jpg

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Very interested in building one (or more) of these, And I had never seen one until reading this.

What sort of issues did you have with tuning it?

Is it just a mater of getting the oil flow right?

Also from what I've read now do you have any problems with the oil getting thinner and flowing faster as the unit warms up?

How do you initailly light it?

Sorry for all the Q's but you got me hooked.

Basically just measure everything you've done, make some drawings and put them on here      Please :)

By next winter every OSer and their mates will be rocking one and power companies will be forced to drop prices to encourage people back to electric heating.

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