The biggest problem with J style stoves is what you saw a bit of here, smoke rises straight up at you. (I know it's not an issue for this man because he has the lid/cover and his stove has a lot of ways for air to get in, but many rocket stove builds by amateurs have the J tube with the OPEN end of the J for the air. Unless your setup is very good, the sticks can "burn upward at you" toward the opening and then smoke out the house. (The bottom of the sticks are still sucked into the riser while the top of the sticks can burn UP and smoke the house.) For this reason, I think the "Batch" style is best if you can create a little door with air flow. Smoke will rise UP toward the top of the box, and not BACK at you in a batch. I am not sure why so many people "close off" the end of the batch toward the riser with the smaller slit. Everyone does it, but I doubt it's necessary. Why restrict the flow at all? Since the J is a very easy build most people start there so...., I would say make sure you have a COVER on the top like this man does and make sure the stove then has a nice air inlet at the bottom of the J toward the ground. The smoke won't be able to get out of something very low to the ground.
I bought a rocket stove here in the USA called the Liberator. The riser body is 16" diameter and It has a metal "J" tube insulated on the inside with refractory board. I modified the inside by putting mineral wool insulation around the tube at the bottom and 6" up the riser tube. This helps the high temperature heat go to the top instead of loosing the heat out the exhaust port ( 6" dia, reduced to 4" to match my double wall pellet stove pipe) since it is at the bottom too. The temp increased by 100F. I also made a "screw" type levels inside to have the hot air flow around to extract more heat. always keep in mind to not restrict the air flow too much that prevents a hot clean burn and causes creosote. The aprrox temp difference at top and exhaust port is 400F.
Thanks for the update. I came years ago because of the rocket stove and stayed as a viewer. I also enjoy your knife projects and lathe refurbished video. Keep up the good work and I'll be watching!
Thank you so much for the update and refresher course on this beautiful stove. I was hooked when I saw your first mention of the vortex riser !!! So many years ago. Salute !!!
Bravo, sir. Your understanding (and kind and very erudite explanation) puts you right up there in the top 1% of all "rocketeers". Presently working on a riser using light ceramic bricks I've 'inherited' from a nearby kiln relining job. Perfect circular tube being fundamental to an easy flowing and efficient vortex, I'm stacking the bricks flat, four set in a swastica pattern in each layer, with each brick having a semi-circular cut on one end of its inside face, such that, after 6 layers, I have a perfect tube. Plan is to support this brick structure in a vertical steel framework made from 1" angle. Fingers crossed!
Loz, you are correct about the riser (and everything else) and I'm not teaching you how to suck eggs or to argue with you. However, I made a similar size one (using a 47kg propane cylinder as the exchanger), inspired by your efforts here but used a steel pipe riser, albeit it is 10mm wall thickness. Schedule 80 I think. It's something I discovered in scrapyard over ten years ago and snapped it up at a little over scrap price because I knew I would find a use for such a chunk of steel some time in the future. I have about a 12 foot length of it left. It would be punishingly expensive today or even two years ago, before the insane price rises, and that's even if you could find such a spec for sale 'off the shelf'. It's unlikely you would find such stuff in a scrapyard either and besides, the yard I purchased it from has now 'banned' anyone from entering and buying stuff from them. Elf and Safety see. So, the riser is still in good condition, perfectly fine, including the foot piece that forms the J shape, which is also fabbed from 10mm plate. It hasn't de-laminated or perished in any way. I made it this way because - (1) I had that pipe and (2) I was able to weld the whole thing to (or slightly through and into) the firebox exit thus negating the need for a rope seal between the firebox and exchanger. It's all one weld-sealed unit. Bloody heavy of course and especially with that pipe inside. I made it five or six years ago btw. I also compare it to a fire-pit that is the body of a little coal forge I made 9 years ago. That's 10mm plate too, a bottom draught forge and has had hundreds of glowing coal masses in it with the air draught in play. There is no de-lamination or degradation of that either. Anyway I'm just saying. If I had to build another and didn't have any of that Sched 80 pipe I would of course cast a riser like you have and the cost would be much, much less than steel, along with the longevity.
Hi mate. I did mention steel risers but maybe I cropped that bit out. Yes thick stainless. Wrought iron or cast are about the only things I would consider using the little pizza oven I made had an SS riser around 2.5mm thick and had t held up fine but for extended use thicker better like you say the cost is the big factor now bud, cheers 👍👍
Hello Loz Harrop I got to know about you 2 days back. The whole primary air entry system looks like a great design! It's so important to actually take-in fresh air from 'outside the space/room you are heating' .. and if I understood your explanation correctly... that's exactly what you have done. And you have a damper to shut off this primary air once you achieve the right temperatures. Wow! I didn't understand the secondary air thing very well, though you did demo the suction with a burning paper. How do you clean the ash build up? And, how often? Best wishes from Bharat (India)
hi just found your comment, the top of the stove comes off and I use a hoover to suck out the fine ash around the base of the exchanger, never much there so I only do that every 2 yrs or so. Cheers.
Ahh Loz, I thought you were going to answer my question that I emailed you this week. Maybe it's gone to your spam. I asked whether you think your rocket would completely burn MDF once up to temperature? I create a lot of MDF through my CNC business and it'd be great to put it to good use... Good to see you're well.
No I did see your message mate. Honestly thought I'd answered it. Obviously did in my head but forgot to use the keyboard 😁 I'll send a reply over mate. Cheers 👍
loz .. laurence here [ back from the dead ] almost ! have you still got that single phase motor of your centec mill what horse power is it? and could it be made to run in reverse ? keep in touch regards laurence
Hi laurence, you not been well mate? Yes I will still have that motor will have a look for it but think its around 1 hp maybe slightly less, you can reverse single phase motors the myford lathes have a switch that does that. Cheers
I was given a fan and tried it for 7 or eight months of 8-12 hour burns, and have decided the fire heats the house in a more pleasant way without it. Why fill the room with turbulent hot air, when you can have radiant heat and more laminar flowing, rolling air? I can't detect any difference in the temp. of the heat coming out of the chimney either way. What are your observations?
The biggest problem with J style stoves is what you saw a bit of here, smoke rises straight up at you. (I know it's not an issue for this man because he has the lid/cover and his stove has a lot of ways for air to get in, but many rocket stove builds by amateurs have the J tube with the OPEN end of the J for the air. Unless your setup is very good, the sticks can "burn upward at you" toward the opening and then smoke out the house. (The bottom of the sticks are still sucked into the riser while the top of the sticks can burn UP and smoke the house.) For this reason, I think the "Batch" style is best if you can create a little door with air flow. Smoke will rise UP toward the top of the box, and not BACK at you in a batch. I am not sure why so many people "close off" the end of the batch toward the riser with the smaller slit. Everyone does it, but I doubt it's necessary. Why restrict the flow at all? Since the J is a very easy build most people start there so...., I would say make sure you have a COVER on the top like this man does and make sure the stove then has a nice air inlet at the bottom of the J toward the ground. The smoke won't be able to get out of something very low to the ground.
I bought a rocket stove here in the USA called the Liberator. The riser body is 16" diameter and It has a metal "J" tube insulated on the inside with refractory board. I modified the inside by putting mineral wool insulation around the tube at the bottom and 6" up the riser tube. This helps the high temperature heat go to the top instead of loosing the heat out the exhaust port ( 6" dia, reduced to 4" to match my double wall pellet stove pipe) since it is at the bottom too. The temp increased by 100F. I also made a "screw" type levels inside to have the hot air flow around to extract more heat. always keep in mind to not restrict the air flow too much that prevents a hot clean burn and causes creosote. The aprrox temp difference at top and exhaust port is 400F.
Its good when you can improve heat output nice work
Prin cate parti, si prin care parti ale gratarului de ardere soseste aerul necesar arderii la soba liberator ?
Thanks in advance !
Thanks for the update. I came years ago because of the rocket stove and stayed as a viewer. I also enjoy your knife projects and lathe refurbished video. Keep up the good work and I'll be watching!
Thanks mate there will be another stove project in the future for sure 👍
Nice to see it's still burning bright Loz. Thanks for posting and enjoy your warmth.
cheers bud, Thanks for watching!
Thank you so much for the update and refresher course on this beautiful stove. I was hooked when I saw your first mention of the vortex riser !!! So many years ago. Salute !!!
Awesome! Thank you!
Bravo, sir. Your understanding (and kind and very erudite explanation) puts you right up there in the top 1% of all "rocketeers".
Presently working on a riser using light ceramic bricks I've 'inherited' from a nearby kiln relining job.
Perfect circular tube being fundamental to an easy flowing and efficient vortex, I'm stacking the bricks flat, four set in a swastica pattern in each layer, with each brick having a semi-circular cut on one end of its inside face, such that, after 6 layers, I have a perfect tube.
Plan is to support this brick structure in a vertical steel framework made from 1" angle.
Fingers crossed!
Go for it bud. The firebrick make amazing risers 👍👍
Hello colleague, warm up the workshop
Greetings from Germany
Yep can't work well in the cold bud 👍
Always liked this stove....
Cheers bud 👍
Loz, you are correct about the riser (and everything else) and I'm not teaching you how to suck eggs or to argue with you.
However, I made a similar size one (using a 47kg propane cylinder as the exchanger), inspired by your efforts here but used a steel pipe riser, albeit it is 10mm wall thickness. Schedule 80 I think. It's something I discovered in scrapyard over ten years ago and snapped it up at a little over scrap price because I knew I would find a use for such a chunk of steel some time in the future. I have about a 12 foot length of it left. It would be punishingly expensive today or even two years ago, before the insane price rises, and that's even if you could find such a spec for sale 'off the shelf'. It's unlikely you would find such stuff in a scrapyard either and besides, the yard I purchased it from has now 'banned' anyone from entering and buying stuff from them. Elf and Safety see.
So, the riser is still in good condition, perfectly fine, including the foot piece that forms the J shape, which is also fabbed from 10mm plate. It hasn't de-laminated or perished in any way. I made it this way because - (1) I had that pipe and (2) I was able to weld the whole thing to (or slightly through and into) the firebox exit thus negating the need for a rope seal between the firebox and exchanger. It's all one weld-sealed unit. Bloody heavy of course and especially with that pipe inside.
I made it five or six years ago btw.
I also compare it to a fire-pit that is the body of a little coal forge I made 9 years ago. That's 10mm plate too, a bottom draught forge and has had hundreds of glowing coal masses in it with the air draught in play. There is no de-lamination or degradation of that either.
Anyway I'm just saying. If I had to build another and didn't have any of that Sched 80 pipe I would of course cast a riser like you have and the cost would be much, much less than steel, along with the longevity.
Hi mate. I did mention steel risers but maybe I cropped that bit out. Yes thick stainless. Wrought iron or cast are about the only things I would consider using the little pizza oven I made had an SS riser around 2.5mm thick and had t held up fine but for extended use thicker better like you say the cost is the big factor now bud, cheers 👍👍
Hello Loz Harrop
I got to know about you 2 days back. The whole primary air entry system looks like a great design! It's so important to actually take-in fresh air from 'outside the space/room you are heating' .. and if I understood your explanation correctly... that's exactly what you have done. And you have a damper to shut off this primary air once you achieve the right temperatures. Wow! I didn't understand the secondary air thing very well, though you did demo the suction with a burning paper. How do you clean the ash build up? And, how often?
Best wishes from Bharat (India)
hi just found your comment, the top of the stove comes off and I use a hoover to suck out the fine ash around the base of the exchanger, never much there so I only do that every 2 yrs or so. Cheers.
A spoonful of peanut butter will cure your hiccups instantly. Maybe two. Hasn't failed me yet.
Hi from Albuquerque,NM USA. It's -8 c here right now....need your stove!!
Been down to -11 here bud sure glad I've had the stove 👍
Hello Loz, long time no see you. Looking forward seeing your next video 😊😉
Thanks mate just catching up now
Nice one.
Thanks for the visit Tony.
Id love that in the workshop if it wasnt almost bigger than my workshop....😂👍
haha yea would cook you in 20 mins mate
Any update on your rollers Sir
Instead of casting a riser tube or using firebrick, could you use a vitrified clay pipe, would that last longer?
Ahh Loz, I thought you were going to answer my question that I emailed you this week. Maybe it's gone to your spam.
I asked whether you think your rocket would completely burn MDF once up to temperature? I create a lot of MDF through my CNC business and it'd be great to put it to good use...
Good to see you're well.
No I did see your message mate. Honestly thought I'd answered it. Obviously did in my head but forgot to use the keyboard 😁 I'll send a reply over mate. Cheers 👍
@@LozHarrop Cheers Loz, I do that all the time too 😂
May I ask if there is a damper installed at the connection between the rocket stove and the chimney?
no damper at all between the flue and stove.
Keep referring to no mass between the heat riser and the bell, thats normal, usually the mass for holding the heat is after the bell around the flue.
No not always plenty of stoves where the exchanger is part. Of the mass.
loz .. laurence here [ back from the dead ] almost ! have you still got that single phase motor of your centec mill what horse power is it? and could it be made to run in reverse ? keep in touch regards laurence
Hi laurence, you not been well mate? Yes I will still have that motor will have a look for it but think its around 1 hp maybe slightly less, you can reverse single phase motors the myford lathes have a switch that does that. Cheers
May I ask where is the best place to put the secondary air inlet? Horizontal pipe or vertical pipe
May I ask what is the problem with the white smoke coming out of the chimney?
Its actually condensation that exits the flue, that comes off the wood as it burns and is the only thing visible
why no stove fan on top? .happy xmas . gl
I was given a fan and tried it for 7 or eight months of 8-12 hour burns, and have decided the fire heats the house in a more pleasant way without it. Why fill the room with turbulent hot air, when you can have radiant heat and more laminar flowing, rolling air? I can't detect any difference in the temp. of the heat coming out of the chimney either way. What are your observations?
I don't really need one to disperse the heat besides I have an air filter just in front of the stove which I run most days. 👍
@@LozHarrop Great update. Thanks. I am a big fan. Do you think you can run tubes through the exchanger to transport air to other rooms?
You've probably got enough juice to pipe the exhaust into a bell or two.
You answered the question!
Yep cheers mate 👍