Introduction: Gas Bottle Wood Burner
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
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9 Comments
9 years ago on Introduction
I realize this is 3 years late but, they are correct in saying you need to alter your air/ exhaust routing. I have a homemade wood stove that heats my shop. It has a 6" chimney and there is a series of 1" holes drilled across the bottom of the door with a sliding damper to control airflow in. I have a damper in the chimney pipe to control the out flow of combustion by products. With a little educated guessing you set both of the dampers to achieve max efficiency in the burn thus helping to control the temp in the shop. My stove was constructed out of 3/8" wall rectangular tubing and has what is commonly referred to as a smoke shelf. The shelf allows the gasses to flow out while keeping the actual flame out of the chimney. As I understand this it is a safety feature that eliminates chimney fires.
Another thing to consider is adding a layer of sand or even clay cat litter in the bottom of your burn chamber. It will increase the amount of heat you feel. You could also use some sort of an actual fire clay but it will cost more.
11 years ago on Introduction
Nice looking heater. I would agree with the others in that your air vents need to be in the front of the door and be adjustable as to allow different air flow amounts in.
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.
12 years ago on Introduction
The details of any burner/stove are in the interior so a diagram, with dimensions, of the interior would be helpful for us to have. But I'll make some educated guesses based on what we have now.
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.
Reply 12 years ago on Introduction
That makes perfect sense to me, lob off the extra bit of flue/chimney on the inside and see if that works. I'll be building a bottle stove myself at some point as soon as I have the materials.
12 years ago on Introduction
As well as Shannonlove's comments I have the following.
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.
Reply 12 years ago on Introduction
the pictures have not made this clear ,,, and thats my fault ,,,
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
Reply 12 years ago on Introduction
Hi Spamfritter
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. :-)
Reply 12 years ago on Introduction
I toatally agree with Kelticpaddler, your vents need to be on the opposite side to the flue to draw the fresh oxygen across the fire.
12 years ago on Introduction
It looks like it will be a great little heater when the bugs are taken care of. I'm going to agree with the others about the exhaust stack, if you look inside any woodburner be it a franklin stove or a bbq smoker the exhaust is at the top and as unhindered as possible. If the 3" of intake don't seem to be enough after that fix, personally, Id add a reducer and 2.5" extension to the exhaust to get the smoke above head height, of course Im assuming this is going to be used on an outdoor patio