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rocket mass heaters

Shorty Core Montana Version the first burn

thomas rubino

rocket scientist

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Location: latitude 47 N.W. montana zone 6A

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posted 8 months ago

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Today was the day! With rain outdoors, we used a jack and rolled Shorty over to the shop doors.
Note how all bricks are numbered to allow her to be disassembled and moved indoors later.
The refractory slabs must be carefully dried to avoid cracking or early failure.
So small fires over the next few days slowly increasing the amount of wood, by this weekend it should have dried enough to let the Dragon Roar.

As expected with any new core that is stone cold and with wet bricks, it wanted to vent out the missing door rather than the riser.
A sheet of foil convinced it to go up the riser.
Then we removed the riser cap and with a few bricks and a piece of stovepipe, we helped the wood get burning really well.
After a few minutes, we removed the extra parts and returned Shorty to her normal configuration.
After all, we still need to cure the riser cap.

We easily monitored the slab temps with Gerry's thermal imaging temp gun.
While the slabs cool off we will start work on manufacturing the intake airframe needed to supply Shorty with the correct amount of air at the proper locations.
Original batchboxes require the air supply at the bottom front of the firebox and utilize a secondary air tube to supply more air directly into the riser port.
With the Shorty design air is supplied from the top and sides and the secondary air supply has been eliminated.
A nice feature of this design is the door can be built with a much larger window than my dragon tech doors have.

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Happy Dragon Tech Rocket Scientist Gerry

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Bricks heating up, Shorty burning well on her own

For all your Montana Masonry Heater parts (also known as) Rocket Mass heater parts.
Visit me at
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Carla Burke

Rusticator

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Location: Missouri Ozarks

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posted 8 months ago

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So, guys - what it's the end game, for Shorty? Will she be for a smaller building? For portability? Something else?

"The only thing...more expensive than education is ignorance."~Ben Franklin
"We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light." ~ Plato

thomas rubino

rocket scientist

Posts: 6355

Location: latitude 47 N.W. montana zone 6A

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posted 8 months ago

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Shorty is going to live in our 100-year-old cabin.
Finally, we will have an RMH in the house.
And the shop and the greenhouse and the smoke shack... RMH central around here.

For all your Montana Masonry Heater parts (also known as) Rocket Mass heater parts.
Visit me at
dragontechrmh.com Once you go brick you will never go back!

Carla Burke

Rusticator

Posts: 8593

Location: Missouri Ozarks

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posted 8 months ago

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That's awesome, Thomas!

Glenn Littman

rocket scientist

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Location: Sangre de Cristo Mountains, CO - Lat 38°14' - Zone 5b

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posted 8 months ago

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Three cheers (hoy, hoy, hoy!) for the baby dragon lift-off! Way to go guys. Love the dragon mobility too.

Rocket surgeon and soil builder... healthy plants are all about the soil.
- My 6" Batch Rocket specs and materials list: https://permies.com/t/248275/Batch-Rocket-Double-Skin-Bell
- Batch Rocket detailed build thread with Q&A: https://permies.com/t/238503/Batch-Rocket-Build

thomas rubino

rocket scientist

Posts: 6355

Location: latitude 47 N.W. montana zone 6A

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posted 8 months ago

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Yesterday we added tabs to the airframe and built some offset angle pieces for the rear.
5/16" All thread will hold the airframe in place and keep the core bricks from moving.
The core will be covered by 1" of #8 Superwool, the All thread will retain the Superwool and act as a buffer to keep the core bricks from being bumped outward from inside.
We need to build a flap to shut off the incoming air after the fire is out.

Short video of double ram horn fire in Shorty
https://youtube.com/shorts/vgqa2YJVsbM?

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For all your Montana Masonry Heater parts (also known as) Rocket Mass heater parts.
Visit me at
dragontechrmh.com Once you go brick you will never go back!

thomas rubino

rocket scientist

Posts: 6355

Location: latitude 47 N.W. montana zone 6A

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posted 8 months ago

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Today I saw my baby dragon "Shorty" leave the cave and soar around our valley for the first time!
This morning we built the largest fire yet.
We started the burn with no door and then added our tin foil and sheet metal door after it was burning well.
After startup we let the first load of wood burn to coals, no smoke was coming from the riser and flames were dancing against the rear wall, just as Peter said they would.
We opened our "door" and added a new load of dry fir and larch wood. We are not filling the firebox up "yet" as we are still curing our refractory slabs.
The second load was added and the door was shut.
We got no visible smoke, the flames were dancing at the rear of the riser, the new airbox was working perfectly, and all the core and riser walls were soot-free!
This is what a Dragon should do!
I do not have Peter's test equipment, but I do not doubt that Shorty, is working on par with the traditional Batchbox design.
Over the next week, we will continue to have increasingly larger and longer burns as we fire-cure the refractory slabs.

Shortly after adding the second load of wood, Gerry lifted off the riser slab for me to make a video.
Removing that slab and having a straight-up exhaust for the riser did not change the output from the firebox at all, no over fueling or smoke!

I started work on a door for her today, in a few days we should have a real door that seals with a 7 x7" window!

https://youtube.com/shorts/FxTMaHoF4F4

https://youtube.com/shorts/GPxeaG-E2ck

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For all your Montana Masonry Heater parts (also known as) Rocket Mass heater parts.
Visit me at
dragontechrmh.com Once you go brick you will never go back!

thomas rubino

rocket scientist

Posts: 6355

Location: latitude 47 N.W. montana zone 6A

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posted 8 months ago

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Shorty Core's door is under construction!
I hope to mount it to the airframe tomorrow.
Gerry designed a flapper plate to shut off the primary air supply.
I have the window ready to bolt into place.
The door handle is mounted and the latch plate will be finished soon.
Building and installing the door hinges is the first job of the morning.

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For all your Montana Masonry Heater parts (also known as) Rocket Mass heater parts.
Visit me at
dragontechrmh.com Once you go brick you will never go back!

thomas rubino

rocket scientist

Posts: 6355

Location: latitude 47 N.W. montana zone 6A

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posted 8 months ago

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Today Gerry and I completed the new door for Shorty Core!
It is still unpainted and needs sanding but it is installed and working great!
The new large window is a nice improvement in Batchbox construction.

We have been experimenting with the air supply by cracking the door during startup.
We have tried Peter's top-down burn method and the conventional burn from the bottom up.
With a stone-cold stove, the bottom-up method allows us to have a small fire directly in front of the port.
This heats the riser and makes for an easy start. However, that traditional burning style, allows the wood to settle and has the potential to block the riser port.
Using the top-down method your wood does not collapse and has very little chance of blocking the port.
It starts slower but soon catches up, with a raging fire blasting through the port.

Shorty Core is another design masterpiece from the Master Builder, Mr. Peter Berg... no surprises there.

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For all your Montana Masonry Heater parts (also known as) Rocket Mass heater parts.
Visit me at
dragontechrmh.com Once you go brick you will never go back!

Peter van den Berg

gardener

Posts: 1058

Location: +52° 1' 47.40", +4° 22' 57.80"

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posted 8 months ago

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Thanks for the updates and for the compliments in particular. I think it's safe to call it a succes, I am very pleased with that!

But... what's the next stage of the plan? Are you going to build something around it, equipped with a chimney of some sorts? Of course, there are more possibilities than a brick bell, a tower of two or three barrels might be one of those. It would be interesting to see whether or not the limited burn rate is affected by the chimney draw.

regards, Peter

thomas rubino

rocket scientist

Posts: 6355

Location: latitude 47 N.W. montana zone 6A

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posted 8 months ago

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A success it is!
Thank you very much for your help and guidance, Peter!

Shorty will be moved into our 100-year-old home later this summer, replacing a traditional wood burner.
Due to size and weight restrictions, I will make a single-skin brick bell with a bypass for her to sit in.

For all your Montana Masonry Heater parts (also known as) Rocket Mass heater parts.
Visit me at
dragontechrmh.com Once you go brick you will never go back!

Tongue wrestling. It's not what you think. And here, take this tiny ad. You'll need it.

Rocket Mass Heater Jamboree And Updates

https://permies.com/t/170234/Rocket-Mass-Heater-Jamboree-Updates