"BLUE" Gasification flame, Fact or fiction?

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maple1 said:
Armaton said:
I really like the Varms, either the Vedolux 30 or 37 will do for me since I intend to have 1000 gallons of storage. Not that I "Dislike" any of the others. I feel the Lamda control units are nice, but for my application, not worth the cost, (since I'm certain to be voluntarily playin with the thing for the next 5 years anyway). The Vedo's have a smaller footprint, easy cleaning, and lighting, and I like the fact that even though I have a bigger chimney right now, when it burns out, as it surely will, I could go to a less expensive 6 inch if I so choose. I have just been waiting for Clarkbug and Floydian to get theirs online and get some experience with them. It's too late in this burning season for me to realistically put one in, so gonna closely monitor their threads just to make sure, before I pull the trigger.


Armaton

I'm in that boat too - move over. Beer?

I can't get enough info on the Varms - continuously watching this place for more real world feedback. My eyes are firmly on the 40 though - the fact that it operates on natural draft with no blower required (if your chimney is high enough, that is) seems to me to be a hugely understated advantage. Add in what looks like real easy cleaning and very efficient design, and they've got all my attention. I hope to have my own Varm install thread on the go this time next year.

Sorry to go OT here in this thread, but its just a reply to the above.

Ill keep you posted on my adventures with the boiler for sure. Got my diverting valve sorted out, and the house is now heating away happily on wood. Still got a little puking out of the pressure relief at the top end, but thats since I did a fast fill from a garden hose, and had too high of a fill pressure.

My wife had to light the boiler up tonight, and was very happy with how easy it was. She likes that its simple, and I like that there arent really any settings for her to worry about if Im not around.

I had thought about the 40 to get the extra BTU output, but my chimney wouldnt support the natural draft. I guess that if you lose power you just need the overheat loop and to have some natural circulation going, since it would continue to burn even if your loading valve stopped. I guess if I bought one of those I would consider a UPS for the pump. (Also, in looking around the web yesterday I see that LK now makes a loading valve using the Grundfos Eco circ to get the consumption down, kinda nifty)
 
Pete Schiller said:
hobbyheater said:
Dr Hill's Jetstream design still shows a very efficient operation. Pictured is the flue gas temperatures before and after the draft inducer port.
Low flue gas temps may be due to efficient operation through nearly complete heat transfer, but they can also be due to excessive air being introduced. If the temp in the secondary chamber is averaging 1800 F and the average flue gas temp is 350 F, that seems to indicate a fairly efficient boiler. It's not clear to me how your photo is confirming efficient operation of your Jetstream.

Pride goes before the fall. :bug: You really got me thinking on the external temp gauges and my assumption! So the only thing available was a BBQ gauge with a 2 1/2" probe. It installed pretty easily. The combustion air and draft inducer air is supplied by one blower. I ran one heating cycle of the storage tank at max full out air for the temps seen in the other pictures. Today, I reduced the air flow resulting in much higher flue temperatures on the magnetic gauge and internal gauge. But the surprising result for me was a 2 % rise in efficiency in heat going to the storage tank. There was snow on the roof today so I was unable to go up on the roof and do a sniff test. I am working on getting an old CO2 tester going!
Thanks again for the wake up!
 

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hobbyheater said:
About three hours into a burn I climb up on the roof inhale the air that is coming out the top of the stack and if I don't start coughing its burning clean :exclaim:

I would hesitate on this as there is usually condensibles in the exhaust stream. Stuff that condenses in your lungs. Further, you might read up on the on-going research in micro-particulates as the research has some disturbing info on what happens when the Nano-sized particles get into our bloodstream. Besides, a good whiff of CO2 and some CO, hot water vapor, condensible hydrocarbon chains, etc might make the knees wobbly and the next you know the ground is rushing up to whack you on the head! Please be careful.
 
thecontrolguy said:
hobbyheater said:
About three hours into a burn I climb up on the roof inhale the air that is coming out the top of the stack and if I don't start coughing its burning clean :exclaim:

I would hesitate on this as there is usually condensible in the exhaust stream. Stuff that condenses in your lungs. Further, you might read up on the on-going research in micro-particulates as the research has some disturbing info on what happens when the Nano-sized particles get into our bloodstream. Besides, a good whiff of CO2 and some CO, hot water vapor, condensible hydrocarbon chains, etc might make the knees wobbly and the next you know the ground is rushing up to whack you on the head! Please be careful.

Thanks good advice !
 
hobbyheater said:
thecontrolguy said:
hobbyheater said:
About three hours into a burn I climb up on the roof inhale the air that is coming out the top of the stack and if I don't start coughing its burning clean :exclaim:

I would hesitate on this as there is usually condensible in the exhaust stream. Stuff that condenses in your lungs. Further, you might read up on the on-going research in micro-particulates as the research has some disturbing info on what happens when the Nano-sized particles get into our bloodstream. Besides, a good whiff of CO2 and some CO, hot water vapor, condensible hydrocarbon chains, etc might make the knees wobbly and the next you know the ground is rushing up to whack you on the head! Please be careful.

Thanks good advice !

Maybe instead it'll give you a good high so the fall would be painless.

Har.
 
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