Great place to find....people thinking of Rocket Stoves as heaters, Was "cruzin" on Youtube looking for ideas for a big rocket stove.
I'm trying to come up with an idea for a R.S. so that I don't have to make one about a dozen times. I know that, that is taking the fun out of it, but maybe I'm getting lazy...as time goes by. Anyhow, my thoughts are a 6" box tube (1/4" thick or so) inside of a discarded 100 LB propane tank, (perlite, vermiculite, or the latest, next best insulation) between the 6" box tube and 100 Lb tank....all inside of a 420 LB propane tank. A 55 gallon drum for the outer skin seems too lite, yet a 420 LB tank is overkill....I'm thinking a 6" exhaust for the chimney....that happens to be what I have. Being that laziness thing is going on, I can't sit next to the RS all night to feed it every half hour, so I need to incorporate a "batch box" on it, and I need to have something for secondary air.
I've spent a lot of armchair hours researching this...YT, permies, here, the "internet" (bonjour) and am trying to save myself from reinventing the wheel. So if ya'll could save me some trouble, with your collective "years of experience", should I be looking:
1) thicker steel, or stainless steel box tube...or for the long term, just go to firebrick/masonry design?
2) what happens long term to the "J" part of the hottest section of the rocket stove over time?
3) chimney (6" box tube...inside the 100 Lb propane tank) needs to be about 2" below the outer skin (270 or 420 LB propane tank) Question is: Can the outer skin (420 LB tank) be too big? (in diameter, for the system to work properly)? How about overall (inside height)?
4) Is 6" square box tube the right size to use with a 6" round stove pipe? Could I go larger? Maybe rectangle 6"x8" (horizantal)to 6" square? (verticle)
Using all heavy metal, I realize it would take nearly an hour to heat up, to fry eggs on the top of the 420 tank...? I know that a race car, or an AR15 is just "begging" to be "tinkered" with, but I'm not wanting to redesign it 5 times. My 25'+ chimney is a 13"x13" (measures 11x11 inside) but has a 6" thimble...original owner can be thanked for that....I wish it was 8". Overbuilt like this, can I hand it down to my Grandkids....?
Years ago...I had a regular wood stove with a glass door, no firebrick, and between me and it....it was the creosote master...Then I had a Central Boiler outdoor wood boiler, which was the cats meow...but I cannot own a stove like the new ones that have all those sensors and gadgets to make upside-down fire.
It is OK if every reply starts off with: Well, If I was you________
Thanks in advance
Hey drj12567: it said today was your birthday, so have a great one! From another "tarheel"...