Carlos Rodriguez

the system is designed to continuously recirculate and does have a built in pressure relief valve along the way from the masonry heater to the water heater.

Any thoughts on coil placement? Has any research been done on temperatures in the rmh whether in the cob of the thermal mass or in the bells?

Thanks

Glenn,

Do the regulations change if you heat shield the walls of the combustible materials so as to make them noncombustible?

I am currently building a rectangular one bell, 6 inch batch box Rocket Mass Heater out of soapstone that I am looking to use to heat my home and water this winter. I live in Virginia Beach. Winters are cold and wet but mild compared to other states to the north.
I have purchased a hilkoil stainless steel hot water loop to circulate water in and out of my heater. If you are not familiar with this device, visit http://www.hilkoil.com . I am trying to figure out the best place to put the coil to get consistent hot heat. I have ruled out putting it in the woodbox itself. Should I embed it in the top cap slab of my heater that sits above the riser (I am building the heater out of soapstone) and let the radiant heat of the stone heat it? Should I put it into the bell cavity toward the top of the rocket mass heater where it will be suspended in the space? Should I put it lower? They say that a consistent 800 degree temperature around the coil would be best. I know if I put it in the wrong place, the heater will eventually destroy it.

So, I am trying to figure out different temperatures in the stone and in the bell in order to figure out where to put this.

Many Thanks.

Sorry, my reply has taken so long. Here are the physical specs on soapstone. It really has some incredible properties regarding heat. I believe it is the countertop of choice for chemistry labs for those reasons.



I have a quick Code question. I am building my stove and using the specs from ASTM E1602-1603 per my states code, Virginia. They have also inserted this language about '36 inch clearance to combustibles'. This seems to be quite a difference to 5.2.3 of the ASTM code. I am concerned about the ramifications as the heater sits on my hearth next to my bookshelves. Can anyone give me their interpretation?

Thank you!

I have built the firebox and riser out of soapstone. I wanted to now put some insulation on it so I searched for perlite. The stuff I came up with is the fine perlite that is sold at a pool store. It is very powdery. What is the best way to apply it so its holds its form? If I dampen it with water and put it on, will it harden when I heat it? I would hate having to build another form around the box and riser just to keep the perlite in.
Thoughts?

Thanks!

Excellent. Will incorporate the p-channel design! Any other tips on altering to a side style? I would assume you need to load up the box with wood and then really can't mess with it until the burn is done because you would not want to open the door. Sounds dangerous to do so. How high to fill the chamber?

Do you increase the width to make room for the door so as to have a little clearance or just make the door the sidewall?

I've got two options. One is to build the rmh core so it sits sideways on the heart parallel to the fireplace opening. This would require modifying my current batchbox design to load wood through thr sidewall. Does anyone have information on how to modify the p-channel tube and the primary air intake for a side batch?
Other things to think about?


The alternative is to make the heat riser tunnel so it sits in the fireplace cavity, but it will be too tall. Can I curve the burn tunnel so it initially rises vertically but them continues at. 45 degree angle so it will end outside of the fireplace cavity out in the Hearth area.

Thanks for helping.

The door will be on the angle or side of the RMHeater. So instead of loading in the front. You will load it on the side. I am talking with a knowledgeable person on code issues to see if that is workable. Currently in a holding pattern......

Here is the best representation I can do.

The bell will have depth and butt up to the chimney cavity. Even though it is a one
chambered bell, the back part of the bell will drop down to a lower ceiling and
recess into the chimney Cavity. In that section in the bell in the
cavity is where I will put the plunger tube that will go up through the top of the bell,
through an iron plate into the flue.



Questions I have:
1. What diameter plunger tube should I use?
2. What material should it be made of?
3. How do I retrofit the flue for maximum insulation?
4. What design issues should I be thinking of?


I am currently building the 6 inch batch box core. All seems to be going well. Hopefully I will be doing some outside test firings by Thursday

Carlos

Greetings, I have looked over designs and I am think I am going with a design that looks like the one below. (HAve already begun on the batch box and heat riser) It will not have the height that this one has. I am looking at building it so that the heat riser is actually in the chimney cavity and I will build the bell over it and out onto the exposed hearth. So the heat riser will hit the back of the bell at about 26 inches and the gases will move forward into the rest of the bell which will come out of the chimney cavity and rise up to 35-45 inches in that trapezoidal shape. My question is. How best to deal with the exhaust. I believe my bell will have about 65 square feet of isa. The goal is for the gases to transfer their heat, to cool and then to exit out the bell. Should I be looking to create pathways that lead to an exhaust that I retrofit into the cleanout area on the bottom of the chimney floor (which I much prefer), or should I be looking to vent the exhaust through the upper flue of the chimney?

Many Thanks,

Carlos