Viewers ideas/ my skills.

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brad068

Feeling the Heat
Hearth Supporter
Nov 20, 2007
445
Central Wisconsin
I'm thinking of building another homemade boiler and would like some fresh input from all members old and possibly new ones. I know, the Garn is 99.99% perfect, but there is that .01% I'm curious about. I have the skills and alot of ideas but I am always open to other suggestions. I just can't leave the mouse trap alone. I'm looking to build the perfect crescent wrench, (englander)! Fire away!
 
I think there would be a market for a garn style boiler that was smaller in size. By that I mean with out the huge tank surrounding it with the storage pumped to an other tank. I would have been interested in a garn but I had the ability to build my own storage tank to fit my situation and didn't want to pay the extra for the huge tank. I think a 8x8x8 tank in the ground would give over 2500gal useable storage And would take up less space. So if you could make one that would put off the heat and pumped into an exterior tank that would be more useful for most people
leaddog
 
I share your interests, i have found that if you want air modulation the least disruptive ,without torching anything a , variable speed drive and a 2 hp 3 phase motor on a intermetic timer is the least expensive way to start, a 56c class frame 2 hp motor will direct bolt to existing holes, the drive will get you over 5000 rpm, somewhere around 750cfm , i dont know what rpm the fan will start to cavitate, I tried to find a different fan but the space limitations made it futile, the 2 hp is needed to overcome the 2'' wc at the stock set up of approx 500cfm, the increase is unknown but you could mod down to any speed at any time desired.
 
Leaddog, where about is Heasperia locatede? You seem to be very interesting,and quite knowalageable on boilers. I"m 35 miles north of Detroit. Sorry to get off the subject.
Keith
 
eekster said:
Leaddog, where about is Heasperia locatede? You seem to be very interesting,and quite knowalageable on boilers. I"m 35 miles north of Detroit. Sorry to get off the subject.
Keith
35miles North of Muskegan on Lake Michigan side. I don't know about being that knowegable but I love to tinker. I retired from gm as a machinerepairman and now go to garagesale, auctions, and think up projects of which I have many. I'm open for visits from anyone. I can be PM'ed
leaddog
 
TCaldwell said:
I share your interests, i have found that if you want air modulation the least disruptive ,without torching anything a , variable speed drive and a 2 hp 3 phase motor on a intermetic timer is the least expensive way to start, a 56c class frame 2 hp motor will direct bolt to existing holes, the drive will get you over 5000 rpm, somewhere around 750cfm , i dont know what rpm the fan will start to cavitate, I tried to find a different fan but the space limitations made it futile, the 2 hp is needed to overcome the 2'' wc at the stock set up of approx 500cfm, the increase is unknown but you could mod down to any speed at any time desired.

Tom, what hp, voltage, and rpm is your fan motor?
 
garnification, 400 cfm at top of flue stack door closed, 415 cfm with door open to safety on latch, 430 cfm with door wide open
 
I found some 12" wheels on the web that are similar to the 9" wheel that Garn installs in the exhaust. I was thinking that multiple tubes could be used, more like the way steam boilers are designed. With the bigger fan and air movement, you should be able to transfer more heat with smaller pipes but greater quantity. Also, if there was a way to put baffles in the exhaust system, the air could be mixed which makes for better heat transfer.
 
garny,
What I would look at as an improvement for that last few hundreths of percentage points of perfection would be to make it work natural draft! I have been intrigued with the rocket stove concept and believe that it's possible to make a submarine version aka garn without a draft fan! The concept takes awhile to wrap your head around (at least it did for me) but eventually makes total sense. Check out the rocket stoves web site based around the book by Ianto Evans/Leslie Jackson.
 
The concept of electrical generation with wood gas adds a lot of technical variables to the system...if you REALLY want to go deep!

Here is another concept. As Gulland said in the most recent podcast, the stuff we are talking about is NOT gasification, it is downdraft. Gasification technically involves completely cooking the wood in one chamber and then piping and burning the gas somewhere else..... such as the wood burning cars. I don't know if this is an efficient technology, but it could be fun.
 
canyon said:
garn,
What I would look at as an improvement for that last few hundreths of percentage points of perfection would be to make it work natural draft! I have been intrigued with the rocket stove concept and believe that it's possible to make a submarine version aka garn without a draft fan! The concept takes awhile to wrap your head around (at least it did for me) but eventually makes total sense. Check out the rocket stoves web site based around the book by Ianto Evans/Leslie Jackson.

My opinion, natural draft is a waste of time. Induce, force, or both. I did an experiment that High E recommended with my boiler the other day. I fired it up and then put my leaf blower in the intake pipe, running an induced draft and a forced draft together. There was a flame in the firebox like I have never seen before. I only did it for about 5 minutes because I was afraid that I was going to have a meltdown like Chernobyl and I would be responsible for the evacuation of thousands of Wisconsinites into Minnesota. What a disaster that would be. :lol:
 
High E finished up another sub and he has been taking in alot of knowledge from a book about wood burning that he ordered. I can't remember the name of it, but to me it looks like a second grade coloring book or a old Hooked on Phonics book. More literature to add to his grail diary. :coolsmile:
 
Garnification said:
canyon said:
My opinion, natural draft is a waste of time. Induce, force, or both. I did an experiment that High E recommended with my boiler the other day. I fired it up and then put my leaf blower in the intake pipe, running an induced draft and a forced draft together. There was a flame in the firebox like I have never seen before. I only did it for about 5 minutes because I was afraid that I was going to have a meltdown like Chernobyl and I would be responsible for the evacuation of thousands of Wisconsinites into Minnesota. What a disaster that would be. :lol:

What about the east side of the state? Would they jump in the lake?
 
garnification, how big was the leaf blower, backpack or push, i dont think opening the door would be a good idea, you must have had quite a black stain on the snow or elsewhere! I think i will try it tomorrow with the echo backpack, today i installed a thermocouple 2 ft off the back of the garn and another one almost at the top of the flue, i will post temps tomorrow, something else that falls into the category of dunno never tried, i ordered a 2 hp 3 phase 56c motor that will bolt up to the existing holes and fan to be controlled by a variable speed drive, am told that max rpm should be 4600 and a cfm near 600 at 3.25 inches w/c , i am curious how it will behave at the higher rpm , if that is a bust i can still mod down towards the ends of the burn, any ideas?
 
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