Peter Chauffeur

Hello Fellow Permies!

Well, after 10 years of building Gravity Pelled Rocket Mass Heaters and documenting them here on Permies, I would like to introduce you to a Portable Smokeless Fire Pit that is made from a repurposed 20 LB Propane tank!
Now, PSA - do not go cutting into a propane tank unless it has been devalved and filled with water and drained to rid the tank of propane gas!!! Unless you want to win a Darwin Award!
Chech out YouTube to educate yourself on how to do it! Or else….
Here is a pic of what I built in an afternoon! Inspired by my bypass heater for my “Aloha RMH”.
Go to Peter Chauffer in the Rocket stove forum on this site
Be warm, Be Safe, Be Kind

Has anyone, besides myself, just visited a foundry or a foundry supply store and asked to purchase ceramic sleeves? They are specifically manufactured to take the heat of molten metal!  I have used them in my last four RMH builds an they are still rocking. I think I paid $100 Beaver Bucks for a box of 9 x 4” ID x 12” long pieces ( minimum order on site) in Y’all tariff territory, it should be easy to get. See picks below.

To see moreof my Vertical RMH builds and how I used unconventional methods to most ideas on these forums, check out “Petter Chauffeur “ on Rocket stoves where you will experience over a decade of builds using materials I had at hand with propane tanks used as heat bells instead of flimsy oil barrels. Also you will find these RMHs run on wood pellets for ease of use, lack of spiders and other critters and lack of storage of split wood where I live.

Be Safe, Be Warm, Be Kind!

Hello Fellow Permies and RMH builders and enthusiasts!

Last post I included the prototype stainless steel water bottle prototype. That one has run for about three seasons now. The sunken ring in the middle is actually an add on as to many pellets were falling into the burn chamber and causing an acrid black smoke so I had to reduce the fall rate and increase secondary air from the bottom of the stove yet another stainless steel modified thermos( handy and cheap thrift store purchases I tell you!))

So, without further ado, here pics of the new pellet basket after first firing!

Hello Fellow Permies and Rocket Mass Heater Builders and Enthusiasts!!!

Well! Where do I begin? I guess I can thank everyone who has viewed this exhaustive thread of close to a decade on the trials and tribulations to a staggering number of close to 16,000 views! Thank you so much for your interest in my designs and in some cases banter!

Of course, after years of thermal cycling of my Frankenstove Mark 5, I thought it was time to take a peak and check out what was going on inside the 100 lb propane tank bell and consider expanding the radius of the refractory insulation to the 10” like it’s predecessor the “Aloha RMH” I built for my Aquaponics Greenhouse.

Since I was adding more refractory (thermal mass) I also made a channel to pipe the bypass heater to be within a few inches of the exhaust inlet. I also found a 4” extension of 4” ceramic tube that I added to the top riser bringing it level to the weld at the top of the 100 pounder propane tank bell. That gives me ~4” of clearance for the flames traveling up the riser

It took some work to get F5 outside and rebuilt, which added about another 100 pounds of refractory thermal mass and getting it back in the house was even more difficult and required the assistance of my neighbor.
Conditioning of the freshly poured refractory included two weeks of curing followed by a week of increased heating periods using my propane torch followed by a second week of firings starting with 15 minutes every four hours on day one , 30 minutes every four hours day two,  45 minutes every four hours on day 3, 1hour every four hours on day four. Then on day 5,6 and 7 two hours firing twice a day. By day 7 very little steam was observed. It was important to slowly bring up the heat to prevent the thermal expansion cracking that I experienced on my first Frankenstove build ten years ago.

The running temperature increased from a standard 425 to 525 and I can only attribute it to the extra 4” of riser height as I’m certain that the extra thermal mass wouldn’t contribute to temperature increases.

Finally, if you have followed this thread and read everything I have written, I have a confession I must disclose to you and it follows after a little discussion.

As you have observed, one of my greatest challenges in the building any of these gravity fed wood Pell RMHs is designing a pellet basket that doesn’t thermally self destruct due to the extreme temperature of combustion in the burn tunnel. This challenge was resolved during the development of the Aloha RMH in my greenhouse.
The Aloha RMH has the bypass heater that is slid in the vertical Tee to prime the exhaust to induce a draft to facilitate a faster, less smoky startup. This “secret weapon” as I referred to it in the above video, started out as stainless steel thermos.  I noticed how tough and resistant / resilient it was to heat cycling whilemaintaining integrity and shape. This was my light bulb moment!  I found a large stainless steel insulated  40 ounce water bottle and got my trusty grinder and found out the inner part fit perfectly inside my 4” heavy walled square tubing. Subsequent design now operating in F5 has increased temperatures to 600*F on my top gauge using a slightly bit more secondary air and which increases the draft! Win win win!
See the picks below!

If you own land that has a lot of downfall wood, harvest it and split it! Fill up your pickup truck and sell it to the city slickers at a premium, take profit, fill your truck full of fuel and bring home a load of factory made wood pellets.  That is an income generating stream, selling your surplus downfall wood and having someone paying you cash for it!  Paying cash for wood pellets may even demand a slight discount over using a credit card.
That is what I call being 2% smarter!

here is a suggestion to "fall in Love" with wood pellets;

Since you have lots of burnable wood that you can harvest, do it! Harvest the wood and split it. If your harvestable wood is hardwood ... all the better! Fill your pickup truck with said cut and split wood and advertise it for sale to all those who own woodstoves in the city and are more than happy to pay a premium price for a cord of cut and split dry firewood.  Hell, you are going to the big smoke to stock up on something for the farm and that cord of firewood delivered at a premium is cash to fill your truck with fuel and buy wood pellets! limit your deliveries to when you are city bound and finance heating cost with wood you have.

I call this, "Being 2% Smarter" In some places that sell wood pellets, paying cash will give you a discount over using plastic! Cash is King!!!

hi! Check out my version of "Frankenstove Rocket Mass Heaters" I have a thread under the name Peter Chauffeur on Permies and I have showcased the build of six vertical (low footprint) RMHs that may interest you.
They were built to heat a home, shed and even an Aquaponics greenhouse ( which may be the one you're looking for by where you are planning to install one). All my designs use decommissioned propane tanks as I feel that they are thicker than flimsy oil drums, transmit heat safer and take up less than 4 square feet (less than 0.5 m2) My design uses gravity fed wood pellets and ceramic tube core encased in refractory material. Everyone that sees my design working thinks it a still. lol

Check out my thread on Permies (which will show you how I built the 6 similar vertical RMHs ; what went well and what didn't (including autopsies of the first two builds). to find these builds on a single , almost 4 page thread on permies look under rocket mass stoves for "Peter Chauffeur"

hello Fellow Permies!
I have designed and built a total of SIX Rocket Mass Heaters and have posted them on One thread here on the Permies site under the section of Energy, Rocket Mass Heaters under the "Peter Chauffeur" handle. Three designs are in current use in my shed, my home and finally, my greenhouse!  Here is a video of the greenhouse build: https://www.youtube.com/@Mr.PinkBuildsIt The picture is the Verticle RMH I have in my home that also heats my hot tub via copper coils but the video on youtube can be seen on my channel where you get to see everything in the "Frankenstove" builds! It uses old propane tanks instead of flimsy oil barrels and 4" ceramic tubes as the riser. Also it uses hardwood pellets that are gravity fed so you know how much calorific value by weight you are entering into your greenhouse.

Be Kind, Stay Safe, Stay Warm
Peter Chauffeur

Thank you Mr. Fox James for your technical support and helping me put this video on the site / thread.
I am grateful that this video has been posted for those who have patiently scrolled through almost 4 pages of one thread to see what can be done when rocket mass heaters are taken to the next level past traditional building methods and materials.
Kudos to you Fox for lending a hand!

Again, Thank you! Much Appreciated!

Be Safe, Bewarm, Be Kind

Hello Fellow Permies!
I attempted to put a video on this thread but I couldn’t do it. (Mainly due to my digital incompetence) so I posted an 8:44 minute video on YouTube.
Here is the link if you wish to see it in action. Thank you for your interest in my version of a more advanced gravity pellet fed vertical Rocket Mass Heater.

https://www.youtube.com/@Mr.PinkBuildsIt

I think my work on this particular thread is over.
I will be making videos of how this was built along with some really interesting side developments that may be useful in your current or future build.

Again, thank you for your views, encouragement during its development from it’ conception of the first “Frankenstove” Mark 1 thru 6. Mark 6 being renamed the Aloha RMH.

It’s been a slice…… Aloha! No pun intended. It’s time to move on!  

Sincerely,

Peter Chauffeur AKA Mr. Pink