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hi everyone ,,,this is my first attempt at a log burner ,,,, it seems to be OK so far, but i have few questions I'm hoping one of you can answer
as you can see in the pics i chosen to have my bottle on its side ,, and my door is bottom from second bottle .... the chimney is 4 inch in diameter and protrudes about half way into the bottle ,,, but has baffle plate in front of outlet on the inside .
my question is when i close the door the fire goes out or dies to a point of going out but burns fine with door open .....
the vents in the door are approx ,,, 1.1/2 inch with butterfly's but do not seem to flow enough air to keep fire going ..
can anyone shine any light on were I'm going wrong
thanks Ian
as you can see in the pics i chosen to have my bottle on its side ,, and my door is bottom from second bottle .... the chimney is 4 inch in diameter and protrudes about half way into the bottle ,,, but has baffle plate in front of outlet on the inside .
my question is when i close the door the fire goes out or dies to a point of going out but burns fine with door open .....
the vents in the door are approx ,,, 1.1/2 inch with butterfly's but do not seem to flow enough air to keep fire going ..
can anyone shine any light on were I'm going wrong
thanks Ian
You might think about re-working the legs so you could cut the bottom out to allow for easier cleaning of the unit.
Good job though. Post some results of how it works after the modifications.
The most likely cause of the problem is that the chimney terminates "about half way into the bottle." That would mean that half the bottle's interior is above the exhaust. Since hot air rises, the most heated air, and the most oxygen depleted air will rise to the top and stagnate there. This will (1) kill your "draw" (the pulling in of fresh air by the rising of hot air out of the chimney) and (2) it will fill up the top half of the bottle with fire smoothing oxygen depleted air. The depleted air layer will grow larger until it smoothers the fire.
Ideally, the chimney opening should be at the highest point inside the interior such that the hot air will naturally rise towards it. This creates a built-in air pump to supply the fire with oxygen.
If I am correct, the burner works with the door open because the open door disrupts the layer of stagnant in the top half.
I can't tell from the photographs, but it looks like your vent tubes and your chimney are ont the same side of the stove. With the door shut and the vents open, the "draw" of air across the fuel is virtually nil. With the door open the "draw" of air runs across the fire (from the open door), hence keeps it alight.
You may need to move your vents to the front of your stove to encourage "cross flow".
I also heard that airflow should be "under" coal, but "over" wood. Maybe weld your vents to the door, just above the level of your wood.
I hope that this helps.
the vents are fitted to the bottom of the door ...... but after the the pics were taken..... . so they are only shown in the last pic up close !!!!!
so they are at the opposite end of the burner from the flue,,
,but i take your point about having them above the level of the wood will make another door and try that
What I forgot to say was, that is a stunning looking burner...what a great job!
I hope that it eventually "behaves" for you.
It reminds me of some of the earlier steam engines, in particular "Stevensons Rocket" built and run from my home town of Darlington.
A couple of wheels welded to the side of your burner and you would have a "themed" wood burning stove....even if it is a little cheesy. :-)