George Brabant

Al and Jennifer : I have almost completed the rebuild .I have been running it hard for a week now and have come to know how my dragon operates before posting again. It runs smooth and steady on calm days , but when the high winds came through the other night I would get puff back. I think adding a H made of three T's at the end of the exhaust will stop this. Any thoughts Al? .My exhaust comes out under a raised deck rather than above now and this forms a wind tunnel.I could go straight through the roof if necessary . My other concern is the fire can climb as much as 3" up my feed tube . when the logs are loaded loose or no brick used to channel the flow.I am slightly concerned that my heat riser could be taller ?
This being said I am extremely happy with the results. 18 degrees outside and 76 in the greenhouse when I went to bed and in the high 50's when I woke up. This was with the mass not entirely dry yet .
The air gap between the wall and the mass combined with the 4' gap below the rocket mass keeps the floor cool but a strong heat convection up the wall and out into the room.
Getting this cold snap ,I had to run it hard causing some cracking ,but have added following thin coats to make sure it seals any co2 or other harmful gasses .

Nice ! That is a tall heat riser....I bet it was very strong jet. Thanks for sharing ! you mentioned the materials, I assume the cinder block won't be part of the house rocket ?. I see the small pocket rockets you have also .Love to see more people experimenting !

Jennifer: How did the test go ?
I used clay from our property , we have a high clay content down about a foot or so.
I added some masons sand (crushed rock not rounded beach sand ) you can get at any gravel/rock or mason supply . I did a soil test (shake a jar full of soil and water ) and I have a fair amount of sand in the soil already also.
I add pictures with the attachments tab next to the options tab when posting.
We finished the rocket stove /barrel and exhaust this weekend.
I am very pleased at this point with the operation of it all(BIG THANKS TO BIG AL! )
I will post some more pictures of the changes to the system .

Al: I have began the rebuild .I covered the floor with tin foil,left a 2" gap built off of condrete board at that point. I then made a 2 1/2 " base for my j tube from solid used brick and sived cob.
I also changed the transition from the barrel to the T clean out .more pic.s soon .
I thought I woul post this in hope you would see it before I was to deep to address any concerns you might have ?
Thanks Again
G.H.T.B.

Al: LOL - George golden honey toasted Brabant may have to be my sign in name . Thanks ! it was a large slice of humble pie that I am thankful for and will eat with a smile (eventually )! I am glad I caught it when I did. I am looking at the village vieo FB page and have requested to join the group. I will certainly buy the video and do more home work. I see some pictures and a reference to Ianto's book about leaving an air space . I am excited to start the rebuild but will settle in and read for today!
I have a few ideas but want to read now and view the video's then consult with you again . your help is and has been much appreciated Al !
Peace -George golden honey toasted Brabant

lessons learned : SAFETY FIRST !!! ,if you read on line 4" of insulation use more (not less ) putting a piece of $10 masonite/hardibacker or the like is money well spent. when II covered the periltie my cob was very wet and most likely mixed in that spot and I think the clat transmitted the heat ... Any thoughts ?.
It gave me a huge scare so I will read the book and increase the insulation, I will go to 6" with durarock under and two layers of perilite sandwiched ,between thin layers of firm clay/cob above being sure not to get any mixing where the burn chamber is.
Something else I noticed is that by test firing it before ading the final mass and drying it out the two layers did not bond well .I put divits in it and wetted it before starting .
Feeling a little over whelmed right now but what doesn't kill us (almost) makes us stronger .I will add a picture of the poor bonding

AL: (and any one building over a wood floor: I suggest a minimum of 6" insulation between the floor and the burn Chamber !

Al: I put down a slurry layer of cob and then 2" of perlite and then another 1" or so of cob .then the fire brick burn chamber. Underneath thfloor joist ,that run perpenicular, I built a double 2x 6 to carry the load on two new footings . I have swung a hammer my whole life .I f there is any movement I will reinforce .
The 7 elbows an 2 T's did concern me. I have the last horizontal pipe just below the bench surface and with minimal effort (Ihope) I could exit next to the barrel straight through the roof , removing2 elbows and a T.I am exiting the building between the green house and my home, on the leeward side of the green house . In your opinion would I be wiser to go ahead and o this for fear of slow performance ? It is working well but is probably sluggish as you suggest . How do you feel it woul flop ?
I have the PDF for RMH's By Ianto an will dive in in the next few days.
Thanks for helping me stop being a marshmallow !

Al : thanks for spending your time with a novice like myself . I am passionate about things I do and tend to jump in head first. I believe one of the permaculture concepts 90% observation and 10% effort. I am 50/50 at best and tend to go backward often as a result(learning the hard way).
It appears I have been some what lucky on this build . I seem to be getting a good burn and my dimensions are close - My feed tube is 13" deep,my heat riser is 38," my burn tunnel is 18"-4" of heat riser and -4" of feed tube (if I understand it correctly ) so 3 x 13" =39" /heat riser 38". my burn tunnel ,if I am understanding where one starts and the other stops,is only 10"so could be lengthened the 3" by turning the one vertical fire brick in the back of my feed tube horizon tal(or stop being cheap and purchase one more box of fire brick) and moving the feed tube back 3" before finalizing the mass?
I am going this moment to purchase Ianto's Rocket mass heater book and thank you again for the help Al (do you go by Al ,Allen hope" big Al "didn't offend
I will post some pictures of it in action this morning . I am getting a good clean burn as far as I can tell from the exhaust being mostly heat waves and I have sanded almost all of the paint off and the barrel is blueing nicely .when you put your ear to the fee tube there is a definite rocket soun

Al: I see what you mean about the ash catch lower than the horizontal pipe , making a wind eddy of sort . I also thought a ash catch built into the bottom of the feed tube would help. After reading your post this morning I was feeding it to fast I think an some of the more solid coals were pushed into the burn chamber choking it a bit an causing some burn back. I think I will try to increase the burnchabber length and incorporate a ash catch or low spot for the coals to collect while they complete there burn . Any thoughts on this ? I