My first rocket stove space heater

I would firstly like to thank ppotty1 for his designs, as he inspired me to make a space heater. The stove is based on the back half of his stove with a detachable fire box which I am hoping to burn saw dust when it is installed in a friends workshop. The secondary air comes in between the two sections. The lid lifts off to enable cleaning.

Very Nice looking RS James !   

Thanks.   

dkwelder wrote:

Very Nice looking RS James !   

The time you have invested in your build, shows!    Its not a slammed together RS leaving you woundering if it going to Rocket correctly or not?  

That is great. So the dust all burns in the first "bucket"? Is it a straight L tube to the second "barrel"?

Yes, I built it using ppotty,s plans

jameshookway wrote:

Yes, I built it using ppotty,s plans

Loz, has it going on,    :arrow: He knows a lot about many different things, because of his, having been there and done it !    Sure is nice to have a go to Guy like Loz, for that type of helpful knowledge!    

James

And when are we seeing a video of the stove working?

Hopefully I will be lighting up on Monday, so early next week

:) 

Hi James,
              I like the detachable fire box Idea, Will you have a separate fire box design for burning wood. :?: 

The idea is to be able to experiment with different fire boxes for different fuels. I think this box maybe too low. I have been thinking about using a car wheel to raise it.

The first photos. Video should be uploaded tomorrow.











There was a small amount of condensation for the chimney.

Unfortunately it was not smoke free. I am going to fire up again tomorrow. I try to get more secondary air in.

My total novice opinion is that there needs to be more air in the first cylinder. Is there secondary air in the first cylinder?   

*I haven't had a chance to check out ppotty's version.*

jameshookway wrote:

The first photos. Video should be uploaded tomorrow.
There was a small amount of condensation for the chimney.

Unfortunately it was not smoke free. I am going to fire up again tomorrow. I try to get more secondary air in.

I'll be following this with great interest!!

Regards, Matthew

Hitchhiker wrote:

My total novice opinion is that there needs to be more air in the first cylinder.  Is there secondary air in the first cylinder?   

*I haven't had a chance to check out ppotty's version.*

I fired the stove with the lid closed and open. It did not seam to make much difference. The secondary comes in between the two cylinders.

:) 
Hi James,
It maybe that your secondary air is not hot enough and the sawdust may have to much moisture.

The secondary air is flowing around the centre pipe where the flames are passing through and also the heat from the second cylinder is helping to heat it, so I do not know else I could increase the heat. I do not know how damp the sawdust is as I did not supply it and it was outside in a plastic bag under cover.

Hi James,
Was the draw strong. Did the smoke go away as it became hotter?

The draw was fairly strong, but it did not go away when it was hot. The only thing I can think of is how the sawdust burnt. It started strong with the flames going down, but as the sawdust burn away it was glowing and there were no flames. I am going to try this fire box with wood instead of saw dust. Also I have had another idea for the fire box were the pipe going into the RS where goes down in the centre first then does a right angle into the RS

:) 
Ok James.
Post some videos when you can.

Will do  :) 

It looks like the hole through the sawdust is smaller (about 1/4 the size) than your primary air pipe. That may be choking off the primary air. Maybe just a larger hole through the sawdust the same size as the primary air pipe will fix it.

Also, the hole in the top of the firebox lid may be too small. I would make it as large as the primary air intake pipe to the heater. You can always put a damper on it to slow down the air intake (burn).

:) 
Hi Mr,
The hole will become bigger as it burns, but I think it would be something simple to put it right.
It maybe that there is too much secondary air or that air is coming in from somewhere else, making for a weaker draw would not pull enough air in through the fire box and would account for the smoke.
When James posts a video we may see what the problem is.

I would suggest taping up the secondary air holes with foil tape to see what happens. Those look like a major air leak affecting the draw from the chimney into the firebox.

:) 
Hi, Yes I agree It can't do any harm, it's all about trial and error.
ppotty1 would be the guy to advise on this build as he has a very similar stove.