Fox James

Rocket Scientist
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since May 30, 2018
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Guernsey a small island near France.
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Recent posts by Fox James

Hi Phil, that would be fun.
i have found a very useful mix for use in pizza ovens just by mixing in some silica sand, one part cement, two parts silica sand and two parts vermiculite. That makes a strong mix but is not particularly insulating or lightweight
I think the commercial board has some type of binding agent as well as clay but I really dont know what it is.

19 hours ago
It seems most members on this forum are living in the states of America where vermiculite is not readily available in sheet form.
I think this is unfortunate due to it versatility and ease of use to work with.
From my own experiments it can last for many years, however I tend to stick to smaller size systems that dont often exceed 8-900f
In my 6” J tube the vermiculite will last at least two seasons even in the loading area of the fire box.
In my vortex stove it has lasted for many years in the hottest parts of the stove where the temperatures are constantly over 1000f.
What is does not like is moisture or being used in large pieces.
The beauty of the board is how quickly you can build a prototype or experiment and how easy it is to work with.
I think it would have limitation if building the larger batch box stye stoves that get extremely hot mainly because it does not like to be used in big slabs.
Anyway here is a little experiment I did a few month ago…
Thank you Peter, unfortunately I cant personally open those links on my apple but, I will past on what you have posted.
2 days ago
I am sure all the accurate dimensions are in this thread somewhere but can somebody please point it out to me or if not, tell me where I can find them.
I am asking for a friend ha ha, no really I am asking for a person on facebook who asked for the plans and dimensions, I have spent an hour searching so far…..
3 days ago
Ok well the videos you have watched are not really up to date with the latest designs  so I will give you a quick and basic run through without hopefully, repeating what you already know.
So as a rule of thumb a RMH is situated in the room where the heat is most wanted and not remotely.
The actual stove itself is part of the heat storage and more often placed inside the actual mass.
Although some folk (namely Thomas) will continuously burn their stoves, as a more general rule RMH are only fired up a couple of times a day to maintain the heat stored in the mass.
Most of the modern designs are designed to run flat out like a raging fire  and not an air restricted, long, slow burn.
A fully loaded stove can run for an hour or so with lots of visible flame and then another hour ish on coals.
Heating water with a RMH is a topical subject that some folk claim to have mastered but the vast majority of of threads on the subject dont really offer a conclusive or satisfactory solution.
In your case, it may be possible to pump water through an enclosure placed remotely but I dont think the situation will be ideal!
In conclusion, when a modern design batch box, is placed in a central position, inside a building using the ‘Bell’ concept, then they are very efficient at doing the job they have been designed to do.
Outside of that concept, nothing is so well tried and tested.
No to say your idea cant be done, just that you may be pioneering a lot of new ideas…..
4 days ago
I was not sure exactly what an open end geothermal system is but, a quick AI result shows this ….

Geothermal technologies -
An open-loop geothermal system, sometimes called a "pump-and-dump" system, uses an open-ended pipe to draw groundwater or surface water from a well, pond, or aquifer, circulates it through an indoor heat pump for heating or cooling, and then discharges it back into the ground, a pond, or a drainage ditch. These systems are highly efficient and have lower upfront costs than closed-loop systems but require a plentiful and clean water source, proper water discharge, and can have higher maintenance requirements due to water quality issues.

So I think we would still need more info about how your present system works and how your  present gasifier  works, how much fuel it uses and how often it is burning?
5 days ago
Pretty easy concept to place a hot tub over a heated mass with insulated sides and an insulated lid.
Use a batch box of similar and feed the heat into a low flat bell or bench, the bench could be made from cast concrete to support the water.
However, at the end of the day a rocket stove is just a smallish efficient  wood stove and will have its limitations  so dont expect to easily heat large volumes of water in cold weather with one burn, more like multiple burns over several days.
Also this could be a quite expensive build.
1 week ago
Well you wont see much action inside a bell but this video I made does show what happens to any smoke!
1 month ago
I use ceramic glass quite a lot in y builds, it is good for around 700c but eventually goes opaque.
My latest designs use glass as the top of the burn tunnel but there is a cooling  secondary air supply above the glass.
The main issue when using ceramic glass is sealing or joining the stuff, it is ok in a frame but trying to join two bits together doesn't work so far,  not for me anyway….
1 month ago