Rocket Stove M.H.

Hello.

I'm wanting to build a Mass rocket Stover heater for my home. So far Iv seen a lot of video and I want to start a proto type. then moving it inside once I know it is working right. I looking for some one that can offer any suggestions.

I have a good claw I believe that on my land i think I can use. my big problem is getting steel barrows where I live I may have to go in a city to get one   Anyway any suggestion are welcome!

Carryion

here a pic of what Im building or close to it. at least as much info I can fine

I didn't know that they sold Cod Earthen Mix at building supply stores? Is it clay and straw?

You don't need the lower air intake and I'm not sure why you want it. ?

Fire brick is expensive but it would work. 

You might check the newspaper or on line for barrels. Barrels are 5 bucks where i am... I saw some stainless steel barrels that wud be ideal, but i couldn't get my hands on them.

Burn paint off barrels outside b4 using inside.

Is "good claw" supposed to be "good clay"?

I agree with ronie about the air intake - I think that might not be a good idea.

Ok Cool No intake.

I made my first attemt to make one out side today! I found out my flow area was not big enoght! witch I ajusted! I just useing fire brick that old but it work

Also the I have a idiea Ill get back with you once I have tryed it!

Thx again any more suggestion let me know Please

Carryion

How about add a damper at the T, clean out and use another T  to connect upper Pipe  for easyer start up!

Carryion, unless you have a good reason, stick with what works.... other sizes and materials will work, but you better have a lot of time and money to experiment, tear down and rebuild...

The materials and interior square inch area of the ones that Paul has shown works because it has the right sizes for that area of gases to flow.  If one wanted to build using other materials many things may have to be adjusted in order to get it right.

Even using the fire brick ,instead of the insulated vertical chamber, will present problems.  The fire brick will take longer to get hot...the rocket stove works best after the burn chamber and riser get hot. That's why the insulated chamber- in the RMH Paul shows - works so well. (The insulation allows the burn chamber and riser to get HOT quickly.)

I'm pretty sure that the whole concept of a damper is contrary to the design of the rocket stuff.  I think (and I could be wrong) that adding a damper anywhere is a recipe for trouble.

Well Iv keeping to the spect and to what I seen in the veidos. Thats whys Im expmenting out side as far as cost its just man power! Making the birck is my problem. I can make them but have no way to fire them. Unlesss I build or kenal or somthing.

The Damper was just a idia. forgive my english and spelling

BTW Witch Barrow was u using Look like a 30 Gal Barrow?

There's been some mention of alternative air inlets, also of piping outside air in through the cob mass to pre-heat it and inlet it next to/around the wood. As always the key is to experiment thoroughly before you set it in stone. Any of the "professional "rocket stove sources will say that almost none of this is exact science, and it's a wide-open field for experimentation & innovation.

This includes the problem you stated with air flow area not being right. Test & experiment.

It seems that eliminating the vertical pile of bricks, and using the insulated pipe is a much better choice.
(Note especially the mention of the results on the outdoor test rig, of simply placing the pre-warmed updraft chimney over it.)
rocket stove mass heater workshop summary
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hmYaIrHRMLM

I also wonder about building as much as possible of this whole apparatus out of local materials. The problem is the liner of the vertical combustion chimney needs to be as rugged as concrete, without the thermal mass. The ideal would be something custom, like the Shengzhou stove cores. (anybody got a 1000 degree kiln?)


Aprovecho Research Center Publications
ARC has published eight manuals on cooking and heating technology which are designed for a non-technical audience in simple, un-intimidating language, with easy to follow diagrams.
http://www.aprovecho.org/lab/pubs/arcpubs

Good discussions of local mud techniques
Woodstoves for Uganda: Testing stoves and finding better designs
http://www.bioenergylists.org/stovesdoc/George/WoodstovesforUganda.pdf

HOW TO BUILD THE IMPROVED HOUSEHOLD STOVES
http://www.bioenergylists.org/stovesdoc/apro/guide/HOUSEHOLD%20Stoves%20Construction%20Manual%20Nov%202004.pdf

Thanks John...there's enough info there to keep me busy for a while.  I've seen some of that info all scattered about..It's great to see that someone has organized and brought it all together and tested and provides us results.

Ya thx Man.. This progject has been fun I know had to brake out my test Rocket 2 times and I got it working Good! Now if this rain will stop Ill try setting it up inside. I like the heating the floor Idia. I thought about that but sence I would have to redo all my floor maybe you can descrip how your heating the floor.

Copper pipes?  and vermiclight (Forgive my splling)? I see that have a square type that are fairly  wide like 2inc what part of the rocket are you heating with? Anyway off to check all these link and book mark them. Thx for all your info and input.

Carryion

Anyone who is or going to build a RMH stove needs to look at the link John provided :

http://www.aprovecho.org/lab/pubs/arcpubs

and study "Designing Improved Wood Burning Stoves"

They are using a 30 gallon barrel inside the 55 gallon barrel...also a treasure of info.

Iv been reading that! Anyone have any info on Fireing the Brick? I founds some Fire brick 2inc thickness x 9inc long x 4inc wide for 1.50 ech Have not seen them and And i dont know if they work good.

so any sugestion on Fireing?

if Store bought Fire brick will work

I know I use some old Fireplace bricks on my first attemp and it Crack the brick lol

Thx

Carryion

Looky thar!  Aprovecho updated their heating document.  Spiffy!  they now mention the rocket mass heater! 

That document skims the surface of what to do.  For the really nitty gritty, you really need the book.

Just got the download pdf a few weeks back is it a updated book?

I think the pdf is missing a lot of detail and as I read through it, there were a couple of things I thought were less than accurate.  The book is the real deal. 

 

Well I thought I was buying the complet Book! Im writing where I boiught it for my money back becauuse ists incomplet! I dislike doing it! But I want what I payed for!

If you have the Ianto Evans book in pdf form, you're good. 

The approvecho PDF is not the same thing. 

barrels are easy just ask the local jiffy lube.
you dont need fire brick you can use common brick.
dont put dampers in the system is made to burn hot and the feed tube is your air controll. remember if it starts smoking back, add wood or place a brick so it is only drawing enough are for the wood in the feed tube.
if you are going with a vertical stack you will want the exhaust gases to be at least 90 degrees.

how big a house are you trying to heat? and where are you located?

both questions will help folks give suggestions. ah and aprovetcho does not have the latest book on PDF. sorry to disappoint folks. you can get a PDF copy of the thermal mass heater book from www.rocketstoves.com

I have ask the one here about barrows They use them in to put use oil. to send off to be recycled I did fine a place I could get new ones for 60.00 or so!.

And as how big 20x20ft ruffly Sofar Im just working out my floorplans And I live in North Alabama Adv Temp in in Winter months 30 to 40d

Carryion, 

Whereabouts in N. Alabama are you?  I'm in East Central Alabama and there are a number of places around here that are selling good used 55 gallon barrels in the $20 to $35 range.

And yea, the average low temps around here are 30 to 40, but we've been seeing some low to mid teens the last few days.  Was 13.3 F here 2 nights ago and I suspect it will be lower tonight.  That's the main reason I got to looking at the Rocket Stove Mass Heaters and found this forum.  We heat with wood and I'm tired (in both senses of the word) of getting up every 2 hours to feed the Ashley woodburner and still being cold.

Dave

Im in Baileyton Alabama not to far from Cullman, Im still playing with one I made out side. There not that hard once you learn a little bit.  And its a open play grown if you like to play around with many of the other stuff u can add to it like water heaters to running pipes in the flloor to heat it. Once I get the one I have out side right I'll be starting my Greenhouse first. Welcome to the forms

Thanks for the welcome!  I'm about 70 miles south east of you outside of Weaver, Al.  Seems like I have seen barrels for sale in Sneed or somewhere up that way.  May have been going into Cullman.  We sell at trade days and flea markets and get up that way from time to time.  Used to be someone at Mountain Top that handled barrels and steel but I don't remember seeing any in a while.  There's a trailer place on 77 just south of Ohatchee that sells them but don't know how much they charge and that's a ways from you too.

I'm gonna try to mock one up tomorrow out back and see what all I'll need to get.  Think I have everything but the perlite/insulation, just have to round it up. 

Quick question.  Has anyone tried using ash for the heat riser insulation?  Not meaning to hijack your thread, just thought I'd ask.

Later,
Dave

Yes I seen wood ash used. Ya went to the Cullman Feamatket they didnt have any. Ill check around cullman when it warms up!

use the perlite and clay mix. the ash wont do as good a job mixed with clay.

in the heat riser you want something that will remain when the pipe burns out.
the temps are high enough that unless the liner is SS its going to eventually degrade. remember that the temps at the top of the heat riser are 12 to 1500 degrees and plan accordingly.

what this all means is that you want enough clay in the insulation that it will be able to maintain its shape without a support structure.

I've got a 7" x 7" x 24" ceramic flue liner that I am planning on using for the center of the heat riser.  Have got a fairly heavy gauge (1/8") water heater tank that I am gonna cut top and bottom off of to use for the outside of the heat riser.  Was thinking of using a sand/clay mix at the base to seal and then filling with sifted and packed ash and toping with more of the sand/clay mix.

If money wasn't quite as tight right now I would go with the perlite but... 

Does this sound like a viable plan?

If not I do have some SS 6" triple wall that I can tear out of another building but would rather not if the ceramic would work.

Thanks,
Dave

the flue liner will be fine its not subject to burn out. the water heater is a bit over kill as an outer surface cause its not subject to the same temps.

Rather than ash i would suggest saw dust from either a table saw or a chainsaw mixed with clay slip and packed into the space. as the unit heats up and drys out the wood will burn out of the clay matrix and leave you with a clay foam filled with ash. far better insulation than the ash alone. and you dont have to make the plug ends that will degrade the performance of the heat riser. you will have a good thick insulation layer so your going to want to remember to sculpt the top of the heat riser with a slope so ash wont build up on the top edge and choke off the stove over time.



it looks like you are building an 8 inch ish system, make sure your cross sectional area in the burn tunnel matches the heat riser as near as possable
the burn tunnel will need to be 7"X7" as well. use the ash mix around and under the fire box. these areas are where it will work best.

the ceramic will work just fine... you will need another bit of flue liner unless you are using a 55 or thirty gallon drum, the bricks wont fit very well in a 120# grease can. one reason we have been moving to the metal lined heat risers is that 55 and 30 Gal drums are getting hard to find in some places but 120# grease cans are all over the place.