david omondi

paul wheaton wrote:

david omondi wrote:one more question. is it ok to arrive on the 16th? fyi, i will not be bringing a tipi. my friend will drop me off, but will not be staying.

You are welcome to join the bootcamp until the PDC starts - so you get experiences and food.

Or, if you prefer, you can pitch a tent and watch the clouds pass.  

Thank-you Paul. It has been my understanding that arrivals begin today leading up to the peasant pdc starting next week, hence my reticence to arrive "late". If there is in fact some breathing room, I would opt to take a couple more days before traveling - a friend died a couple days ago, and would be good to spend a bit more time with the family...in which case I would arrive Friday evening. If this is not optimal, I can still come tomorrow...but either way I would prefer to take my time getting settled and catching up on some communications i.e. watch the clouds pass, until the pdc starts. Thanks for all your helpful communication.

one more question. is it ok to arrive on the 16th? fyi, i will not be bringing a tipi. my friend will drop me off, but will not be staying.

i have a couple questions:

1) is it acceptable to get a ride to the site from a friend who will not be participating in the workshop?
2) any chance there might be 13 tipi poles lying around unused? would be for a small tipi...14 footer

i was planning to travel there with my truck at the end of april and get some work-trade time in...but my truck blew up! a friend is willing to help me get there before the 15th...but she can't haul tipi poles on the roof of her car

that's awesome...look forward to meeting you in april!

Thanks for posting this Paul. I'm registered for the peasant pdc in May, but am definitely interested in work trade also...does this just mean that i would pay the $100 gapper fee, come in April and stay for two months?

ok, just one more thing...and i know you've heard it before but it bears repeating. smaller than 6'' systems are hard to get working well...increased resistance (more surface area vs. csa) makes the draw unreliable sometimes. Peterberg (brilliant innovator) says:  

"The advantage of mass heaters is that it is not a problem to oversize them. With cast iron stoves, it becomes much more of a problem because if you oversize your heater, then you will have to make slow, dirty fires in order not to overheat your house. With mass heaters the fire always stays hot and clean, you just have to light it less often."  

"The very important point is to always oversize the heater. Of course, it is possible to fire a mass heater that isn't powerful enough three or more times a day, but this will lower the overall efficiency because the mass needs time to deliver the accumulated heat."

ok, i will shutup now.

for a 5" system....

length: 5 x 3.14 = 15.7
csa: 2.5 x 2.5 x 3.14 = 19.625
gap: 19.625 / 15.7 = 1.25 (no less than)

also remember that the point at which the barrel connects to the flue (transition area/ash pit) should be at least twice csa and more if you can manage it, then tapering down to original system size to travel through the flue/mass.
was also thinking that you might want to consider a stratification chamber (aka bell) instead of traditional flue and mass if this is going where i think it's going.

really curious if this is in fact for your trailered tiny house...wishing you success in any case!

fyi, the csa consideration at the top of the riser should be conceptualized as a sort of chamber around the riser, between the top of the riser and the barrel...the first point at which air leaves the riser and enters the barrel. so to be consistent with system size, csa for this area is calculated using the length of the top of the riser (inner circle rim).
if you do feel the need to calculate the gap based on csa, the proper way to do it is to find the length of the top of the riser...so in an 8'' system with a circular riser, the length is pie x diameter...3.14 x 8 = 25.12.
the csa in a circular 8'' riser is pie x radius squared...3.14 x 4 x 4 = 50.24.
then the gap is found by dividing csa over length, so 50.24 / 25.12 = 2.
in a square riser, the length is simply the sum of all four sides...but remember that it's best to use calculations for a circle that fits inside the square...and also, as Glenn pointed out, that more space is better.

Hi Nathan,

One of the best innovators on RMHs (Kirk Mobert aka Donkey) suggests that the best way to place the barrel over the riser is to fire up the stove without a barrel over top, get it going good, then lower your barrel over the riser listening for the "sweet spot." You will notice that the rocketiness of the stove increases to a roar as you lower the barrel, then quiets down again as you get too close to the riser. The idea is to find the spot at which the roar is loudest, which means going through it up and down a few times, then backing it off the most roaring spot (up away from the riser) so that it's a little quieter, but still rocketing. Kind of hard to explain in words, but if you try it you'll catch on pretty quick. Of-course if you use this method, be sure to have some really good gloves on so as not to burn your hands...and a buddy to help you place supports underneath the barrel as soon as you get it where you want.

I think the principles at work with this method have to do with finding the most efficient placement for your stove, as each stove is unique...formulas give a good general idea, but i've found this to be the best way to find the right placement. Too much rocketiness means the gasses are being pushed through too fast and not burning super clean.

Curious if you decided on a rmh for the tiny house after all?

Hi Kenneth,
I have built a couple RMHs in the past, and was at Standing Rock until december '16...returned in March '17, and have been on the Cheyenne River reservation since August last year. I am actually setting up a tipi right now that will have an rmh inside it (6'' batch box edition). I would love to assist with a workshop, depending on where/when...or even have people come check out the one i'll be working on pretty soon. My past builds, though successful, are no longer in use, structures taken down and re-purposed and alas, i did not take pictures. I will document my next build and share it here