New rocket stove video for my No weld easy to build 55 gallon drum style rocket stove heater

This stove was made to act as a super efficient rocket wood stove heater to heat part of my pole building, but for insurance reasons I decided to move it into my semi trailer shop and it does a fantastic job heating it using very little wood, the reason I build it the way I did was I wanted to be able to change things on it easily and have it be somewhat portable  "the whole thing weights probably less than 50 pounds", also I wanted to put out heat very quickly I was not really interested in storing heat because generally I go out to the shop to work an hour or 2 at a time I don't spent the whole day out there so a mass heater would not really be beneficial.



I also did a quick design explanation video on it and how a rocket stove works "don't kill me if some of my terminology is off I was just trying to explain it simply and quickly.

I've only skimmed your video, but the prevailing advice is: don't use metal in the burn tube and riser. It will function for a while, but eventually corrode.

https://permies.com/t/40/52544/metal-burn-tunnel-heat-riser

Matt Coston wrote:I've only skimmed your video, but the prevailing advice is: don't use metal in the burn tube and riser. It will function for a while, but eventually corrode.

https://permies.com/t/40/52544/metal-burn-tunnel-heat-riser

When I originally built it years ago, I don't know if that was prevailing advice then or not. But anyhow because this one is basically modular its not a big issue, nothing on this is welded on the worst part is the few areas I used stove cement, which should not be to bad to remove. The lid comes right off for inspecting the riser/cleaning. One of my next videos will probably be a clean out and lid replacement video the lid I have on there now was never flat but it was all I had when I originally built it I have wanted to replace it with a flat lid for a while to see if I get higher temps on the lid and so that its easier to place flat bottomed things on it to heat them.

It has been the prevailing advice from researchers for well over a decade. However, probably 3/4 of the youtube videos are of first-time builds using all metal; very few of those follow up to show how they lasted.

The better your stove functions, the hotter it will get deep inside and the quicker it is likely to corrode. Your riser with loose perlite between the walls will fail rather dramatically when it does burn out near the bottom. Using a mix of just enough clay to hold the perlite together will let that hold its shape when the liner burns out, and the outer shell should last for many years using that construction method. You could do the same thing with the feed.

Glenn Herbert wrote:It has been the prevailing advice from researchers for well over a decade. However, probably 3/4 of the youtube videos are of first-time builds using all metal; very few of those follow up to show how they lasted.

The better your stove functions, the hotter it will get deep inside and the quicker it is likely to corrode. Your riser with loose perlite between the walls will fail rather dramatically when it does burn out near the bottom. Using a mix of just enough clay to hold the perlite together will let that hold its shape when the liner burns out, and the outer shell should last for many years using that construction method. You could do the same thing with the feed.

Ok so this one I originally built in 2012, but I have probably only used it a couple dozen times since then because I never had gotten around to finishing insulating the room it was in and later caring more that my insurance doesn't cover any kind of wood stove in that structure let alone a non certified home built one . Hopefully now that I have it moved into my semi workshop which is pretty much fully insulated I will use it more often. "edit just started reading the thread you linked" I haven't inspected the heat riser yet but the feed/burn chamber seem to be in good shape still and it had been sitting in a semi damp shed most of my tools out there get rust on them if I don't oil them. I mean the whole thing has a slight layer of rust on it where the carbon/ash from burning off the paint didn't partially protect it.

I think the way I use this stove "maybe a few hours at a time maybe a bit more" and not every day I think it should last a sufficient amount of time, for one thing my heat riser is shorter than a normal RMH, because of coming in the side of the barrel instead of from the bottom my top of lid temps have not gotten much over 600-700 "I think I hit 700 can't remember now" and the burn chamber right past the tube is somewhere above 1200F but not sure how high that is just the highest reading my laser temp gauge is able to take, its hotter than that and the recycled bbq grate that I have in there for air space under the wood has deformed quite a bit from the heat.

I will search if I get a chance but do you know the mix on the perlite/clay I assume you mean bentonite clay? I did mix my perlite with that but not sure on the ratio, I think at first I was going for half and half but then because I wanted it lighter I ended up adding more perlite. I did use that mix around everything in the build. Both the feed and the riser are sleeved so about 1" around both have that mix 6" pipe sleeved with 8" and then the bottom of the barrel where the burn tunnel is is completely covered and surrounded with it.

I do plan to make more stoves in the future, also do you have to wet the perlite/clay mix to get them to hold there shape or does just firing them dry work?

The idea from my stove originally came from reading forums here/elsewhere on rocket mass heaters and also seing a few youtube videos on welded ones, I didn't like ether design completely for what I wanted to do so I figured I would just try my own thing and this is what I came up with and I rather like it. It works good for my use, didn't cost me very much and its a heck of a lot of fun . Especially that now I can actually get some actual use out of it.

The best perlite-clay mix uses just enough clay to wet the perlite particles and make them stick together. The more clay, the less insulating it is. Bentonite is generally a bad kind of clay to use in any construction because it swells so much when it gets wet. I think in this application it probably wouldn't be a problem because you would expect to drive all water out and keep it out, though there might be an issue with it cracking when it dried, in a bulk application.
Some people make a thin soup of clay and then mix in as much perlite as possible; I like the technique of misting the perlite with water, dusting on some powdered clay, mixing it, and repeating until all the perlite grains have a thin coat of clay, and you can make a firm snowball with it which will pop with finger pressure. After firing, the clay will become pottery and be stronger and water-resistant.