Whoohoo, perfect timing. My heater literally just arrived 15mins ago via UPS. Now I can follow along with your videos and try to destroy my heater just like you.😁
Another theory. The aluminium sitting in the bottom of the burn chamber acted as a dam, stopping unburned oil from running out of the inner tube. The oil pool sat there and burned cleanly as it was vaporised. What about tacking a stainless dam in the bottom of the burn tube? 1/3rd of the diameter of the tube.
Another interesting theory that I hadn’t considered… it is possible, although there is already a dam created by the reduction ring. Some oil does frequently make it past the reduction ring thing … so maybe 🤔
True, but you also have to consider how quickly any given piece of material can dissipate heat. They used to use iron for pistons, but wer able to switch to aluminum because of how quickly it transfers heat to the cylinder walls... despite being exposed to temperatures well over the melting point.
You want a metal that doesn't melt, obviously(maybe), the stainless mesh/screen is what you need..Have you ever considered candle stoves..Take an ammo box, put a piece of stove glass in it, have an exhaust pipe and inlet pipe with computer fan in the inlet pipe..The key is 100% carbon felt, to use as a wick, it is the only material that is capable of wicking up heavy oils like veg oil or motor oil, that I'm aware of, you have to start it with a torch, but it is simple, always works, provides a ton of heat...The oxygen, thickness of inlet pipe determines how many candles you can have inside, 3 containers with used veg oil and carbon felt wick works very good..A cheap project you could try in the future...People make those heaters with regular candles, which works, but doesn't get as hot, and goes through lots of candles..Carbon felt never burns like an ordinary wick, it just keeps on going 4ever..It's convection heat, but in small rooms, works perfect, you can have one on each side of a garage..If you can get free used veg oil or motor oil it will work forever..I've built several of them now and have it down to a science, just another form of free heat, the last one I built cost $135 dollars if memory serves...I think there are candle stoves built from ammo boxes on TH-cam, you just replace normal candles with your homemade candles made from used veg oil and carbon felt wick, much bigger flame, and free.....
You can also make a version with other pipes that go through the ammo box stove with no openings on the inside of the stove, open on both ends outside of the box stove which heats the air in the room that way too...Which is the better version...
@@loweredexpectations4927 It works very, very well..Few people know about carbon felt..There is no other material on Earth that will wick heavy fluids...And not burn itself away, like any other wick..Simpler is always better..Complexity is always a trap...It's known in the scientific world by the "laws of complex systems".."The laws of complexity" "Entropy" They are laws, not suggestions, and are non negotiable and the outcomes are inevitable..Although carbon felt is complex in itself, but once you have some, it will last and can be used for many different applications..You would probably end up with millions of views...Because of the times we live in...
@@loweredexpectations4927 The 100% version is a bit tricky to come by, I got mine from MIT, but I hear that the welding blanket type works, and the type used for industrial filtration..Even Amazon has some, your cloth might work..There is a scientist in England that sells it online cheaply...
I can remember Gerry "from GerrysDIY" making a change to his used oil stove. He switched to a thin stainless "puppy feeder" to vaporize the oil. Stainless for the durability but thin so it would heat up faster... only wondering if the forced air would remove too much heat. 🤔
The forced air is definitely a huge part of the challenge. The fuel comes in just behind the combustion air fan, and right next to the air inlet to the chamber... These things are all working against getting the temp up. I will be testing some similar methods in an upcoming video, with stainless, copper and fibreglass cloth.
If nothing else works, just play the old intro, works every time :) But seriously, there should be a way to stick a camera into that burnchamber, or maybe a thermal camera on the outside, just to get an idea what's going on in there. Wasn't it David McLuckie that did something like that?
Haha... The OG intro. Yeah, David cut the end off of his heat exchanger and put a piece of glass on it. That would be ideal, to he able to see inside when it's running, but I believe it only works (is visible) if it is running quite clean ...otherwise it gets a lot of soot very quickly.
You should cut the end off and add a stove glass window to the end of the heater like David mcluckie did, that way you can actually see what's going on and visually confirm your ideas in real time instead of guessing what has happened after you've already turned it off and disassembled it. Would make for good video footage too.
@@loweredexpectations4927 I like the combo of that disk, preheating, and air bubbler t'd in. You would get that burn chamber hot and help atomize the oil going in.
Try a turbine wheel of an old turbo instead of the aluminium disc. The wheel can withstand much greater temps and induce extra swirl in the chamber.If more flow is needed, cut the webs in between the blades. I would keep the blades intact, as they are very thin, can contain the heat and create a very nice swirl.
@@loweredexpectations4927 Too bad I live on the other side of the pond, otherwise I could send you a rotor for free. Worked as a test engineer for turbo's for many years. If you cannot find anything at the scrapyard, let me know....
@@bluethunderbugI live in UK And I would like convert my cdh for waste engine oil burn but don't know how to do it in DIY style.... Create easy access to burn head to clean plus start and finish burning on kerosene that's my only ideas
@@dd-rs5vcThat is a good starting point. Burning engine oil can be a bit tricky due to all the additives. I would recommend using a spray nozzle and high pressure pump and pre-heating the oil. I have had great succes with spent cooking oil (up to 70%). Starting and stopping on straight diesel is a great idea
The molten aluminum is hot so there might be a secondary burn for the unburned fuel. So if there is another glow plug instead of the washer, all the unburn fuel might be all burned off.
Thanks for the comment ! That would be ideal if I was able to make that happen. i have played with several different designs trying to get it right but it never seems to work exactly how you'd expect it to, haha.
Thanks for the comment. This is the goal really... DIY burners typically have a red hot burner where the oil is dripped in and it flashes off / boils off. I am attempting to get the area where the oil comes in hot enough so that this happens. When I can get the temp up fairly high, the heater works great, doesn't' make any smoke and makes lots of heat.... It turns out that getting this particular area of the heater very hot, is difficult. DIY heaters have the advantage of producing a lot more heat energy and are able to heat up an entire brake drum or rotor to the point of glowing red. These little heaters burn very little fuel, and as a result don't make enough heat energy to get that much thermal mass glowing red.
Need a tiny brake drum 🤣. I was thinking more like what the ash pan dose on the wood stove when you get to much oil in it. If you crack it open it roars good.
@@chrisloving6647 A brake drum form an RC car... haha. Yes, these heaters work with forced induction and should always be like the cracked open door. The issue is that the inrush of air is cooling the area where the oil flashes off. You need the air to get the correct air fuel ratio, but all that air also has a cooling effect. The trick is going to be getting and keeping heat in the area where the fuel comes in so that it flashes off immediately , makes lots of heat, flashes oil off etc, haha. I have been considering modding the chamber so that it works like a normal diesel heater, but then adding a second fuel line and reduction ring for the oil in the hottest part of the diesel flame. Basically run the diesel in at a low rate and use it to heat and burn the waste oil. 🤷♂
At the end of this series, I would like if you would take a brand new unit, modify it only with the stuff that worked. Thanks for you hard work you put into these videos!
I just finished running 3 gals of e85 with some klotz topend lube to lube the pump. And the max temp I could get was 165 after a couple of hours the average temp was 145 to 150 running at setting 6. It would flame out at 2.5 or lower. I mixed 2 gals with about a gallon of diesel and the average temp was 180@ 6. straight diesel it bounces around 205 to 220 @6.
I have considered this, but it is not a modification that your average person can do … you would need to braze or silver solder the fuel line on after exiting the burn chamber, as the line would be too hot for any sort of hose. I might do this at some point by removing / drilling out the original steel line and running a new one 👍
Im definitely keen to see if you can run it by gravity feed more than anything. One of the biggest downsides to these heaters is the ticking pump, so removing that would be a great idea.
Getting the flow to remain consistent would be nearly impossible. Fluid viscosity, temperature, depth in the tank. Different types of fuel would require adjustment also. Would be nice though. Insulating against the noise would be much easier.
... it's a cool idea and I'm 99% sure that it will work... BUT it will be tricky to control ... I have some drip feed things from IV bags, haha... However ... The largest drawback is that there is 1. There is no safe shutdown if it flames out ... it will drain all of your diesel unless you rig up a electric valve with a thermal cut off of some sort 2. Starting the heater might be tricky as you're going to have to manually control drip feed without either flooding or starving it.
Gravity feed works under certain conditions. The feed must be in the fluid puddle under all working conditions. Otherwise soot will clog it in minutes after the oven reaches operating temperature. But if you shrink your oven to such a small size like these heaters have, the working window will get tiny too. Extra hard to hit that with waste oils of every kind. So fluctuating conditions will give you a lot of trouble. And flame out with drip feed without an automatic shutoff will result in Diesel soaked surroundings faster than you think. But try it, otherwise you'll always stay dreaming. Don't burn your shop down. Insurance might not cover that. And i'd try not to flood my living area. Diesel fumes or evaporating Diesel cause liver disease. The dog in my avatar died from that, because i had a diesel flooded heater all winter long and didn't realize it, due to my destroyed mechanic's nose. And it's not the only one i know, who died from that. Only realized it, because i started feeling sick myself, finally. The bigger dog and myself got away, had to bury the smaller on the following summer after month of trouble. So, take care. Safety hazards aren't just funny stuff.
I mean, it doesn't have to get complicated - you can get waste oil burnt clean and even with an surprisingly simple oven, just not with these tiny sophisticated heaters. They're not made for that purpose. Size is wrong, design is wrong, materials are wrong. How wonder, they're made for cars. All you need is a real chimney with sufficient draw, a barrel shaped steel oven for the swirl, an easy to remove bottom pan for easy daily cleaning, an oven heated oil tank made of steel, with gravity feed outlet plus shutoff valve, in case the flame goes out accidentally, a small fan at the bottom for clean burn. Easy and cheap to build yourself. But the chimney is, where the problem starts, because there it comes to building codes and chimney sweeper costs twice a year - plus, probably especially in Germany, idk, the oven needs to be certified. And because it simply is forbidden here, to burn waste oil of any kind, there is no way, the chimney sweeper in charge will allow this or any other self built ovens on your chimney. And if you just want a drip feed oil oven for your hobby shop - you can buy them everywhere ready to run. No ticking pump, no noisy fan, no 12v supply, no electricity at all.
@@werner.x For drip feed I would be beside it the whole time controlling it. This is more or less going to be to prove that the system does not rely on pressure at all, like many have claimed. The pump is basically a metering system and so that your tank placement can be variable. The area where the fuel comes in never really gets very hot, that is one of the issues with these heaters, when attempting to burn waste oil. I have put a thermocouple on the oil feed tube right at the glow plug and it never got over 104C. Sorry about your dog, that sucks, and thanks for the heads up on that. Doing this would more for the curiosity of the experiment / the entertainment value ... I don't know that this would ever be practical even with automated controls.
Wall mart has the Hcalory diesel heaters on sale today 3/10/23, for 89.99 for the black one and the white one, I bought both, the black one is nicely made I disassembled it and it has a heat-resistant outer shell made of durable plastic the aluminum was poured and was quality built, the inner burner tube was made of stainless steel very nice, lots of heat and runs nicely. the white one has an aluminum outer shell that is made perfectly the heater is 95% the same the only difference is the burner tube is steel not stainless and works the same with a lot of heat.
I believe that the disc with holes in it is the answer. It allows the heat to build up in the burn chamber while allowing the flame to maintain. Just got to find something that will not melt. Maybe a graphene disc? I like the videos thanks.
I find the blob result interesting. The melting point for aluminum is 660.32 °C, (i.e. 1220.58 °F). The temperatures in the burn chamber are only reaching 240ish °C. Where's the extra 400+ degrees coming from that would be needed to create the aluminum blob?
I'm guessing that there a misunderstanding. The temperature in the burn chamber is obviously hot enough to melt aluminum, based on these results (as you pointed out) but the exchanger (temperature reading on the controller) is only about 220C because the fan carries away heat and is able to keep it cool. The chamber is suffering from the same problem. Even though the temp inside is getting over 660C, the amount of air going into the chamber is enough to keep the entrance of it cool. The heat sensor on the burn chamber is on the outside of the chamber, where the combustion air fan is and measures the temperature right where the fuel goes in. The aluminum disc is sitting right in the flame path, and is only in contact with the bolt to get rid of the heat. It can't get rid of the heat fast enough so it eventually reaches melting point. IF my idea actually worked, and the bolt was able to transmit a lot of heat back to the entrance of the chamber, it wouldn't have melted. I don't know what you do or don't know about heat and heat energy, so I'll say that you need to think of heat not only as temperature but quantity. This is measured in BTU or jules, for example. Similar to how with water from a tap you would have pressure and volume, the pressure would be the heat and the volume would be the quantity. A Bic lighter flame is around 1900C but you'd have a hard time to melt a hole in an aluminum can with it as there isn't enough BTUs ... The can can get rid of the heat faster than it is absorbed.
@@loweredexpectations4927 Thanks for the explanation. You are right. I was assuming that the probe temperatures where from inside the burn chamber. My bad.
maybe you have to start out with the aluminum disk intact initially so it forms a 'good blob' and guarantees thermal contact with the wall of the tube to conduct back in to the burn chamber? would you need a new disk each time to melt and weld to the wall or do they make a high temp thermal transfer paste? 🤔
Haha... that is possible but not practical eh... a new disc every time you restart. I think any thermal paste would burn up at these temps, but with such a large contact area, it shouldn't need any help with transferring heat.
Since the flame front is so hot and you are melting or oxidizing away the metals I wonder if you would be better off with a ceramic like the core of a catalytic converter or fire brick to provide a surface that can handle and retain the heat while providing an area for it to flash off the oil and mix with air for a better burn. No idea if that would work but it was a thought I had when I watched the video where you tried the stainless steel scouring pad.
Try using a steel disc. This takes up about half the space of the combustion chamber. Maybe a little less. In principle, it is only a matter of retaining the heat.
I like that idea. What I was thinking is running a very small amount of diesel, from a separate tank, instead of mixing, and then have a second mesh downstream of the diesel flame, where the oil is injected ... That way the diesel would just be used to keep the oil burning nice and hot and cleaning out the waste oil area. It could help.
Use that big tube of aluminum again but cut the opening in the top bigger to let exhaust out and hold the oil back in a puddle so it can burn. Just thing, Keep it up I'm learning with you.
I did eventually try some tungsten from a tig welder... Not sure how well I documented it, but it quite surprisingly (to me) oxidized quite badly. I haven't tried titanium, but from what I understand it is quite reactive.
Sort of... There are a lot of different paint thinners. I have tried mixing them with used motor oil. Varsol and another unknown "paint thinner". I have not tested pure paint thinner, but I assume, like kerosene, it would work well.
@@joebloggs487 Old school paint thinners, for old school paints are generally like turpentine, verosol and other similar solvents. More modern paints use thinners more similar to acetone... I have not used acetone or what most people would consider modern automotive paint thinner.
well..... think you are on the right path..... maybe back to your stainless bolts BUT.... instead..... make a Porcupine.... weld stainless bolts onto each flat of a nut. then spin them onto the center bolt. Maybe do a TIGHT fit? . so spines are touching also the combustion chamber walls so not is it only hotter at end of bolt but thruout. BTW- thru out all this is your ring/wick-like material removed?
Yeah, for most of my testing, the wick material was removed. Turns out that it is not really necessary once the heater is up to temp. I have found that there is a fine line between capturing enough heat to have a noticeable difference and creating too much of a restriction. One of the reasons they work poorly with just a little soot is because they are sensitive to air flow changes.
12:21 Incredible results in the last video! I have an idea. I think it started working great at first because the aluminum was whole. Eventually it formed a blob, but was already hot. Did you cold start it after it had presumably blobified [I might have missed a clip]? I'm wondering if cold starting, it's pulling the heat away too quickly and allowing fuel to pool. This would explain why it continues to burn after shut down.
Yes, This was continued from the last video, so it was a little hard to follow. I had run it the day before for a few hours, the footage in this video starts with the second day of testing, after cold starting the heater. If I understand what you are saying, you could be right...but I assume that the disc was a melted blob when I started the heater at the beginning of this day... It could be that the shape of the blob changed enough to not allow it to get up to temperature.
I wasn't even aware that tungsten screen was a thing ... haha... interesting. I don't think I filmed it, so I'll tell you... I put a tig tungsten, tungsten for a welding torch, and to my surprise it oxidized quite a bit. This doesn't make sense to me... but it happened. I believe this could be due to a few things, like the heater not running well so it is very oxygen rich.
@@loweredexpectations4927 you will always have excess oxygen, otherwise you're on the edge to black smoke and to keep you there would need a tight feedback loop with expensive wideband O2 Sensor. But even then, because of inevitable hysteresis you'd be either constantly partially black smoking or end up completely on the lean side again. So - no way to get rid of excess O2. Tungsten is a consumable, too. And expensive. But may last a while. Don't use the thorium ones. Btw: I'd stop before making a tungsten plated cup. Never let insanity carry you away 😅
@@werner.x You put it in to words much better than I ever could. I kinda had that thought that there always needs to be a little excess oxygen, as the alternative is too little and that is not good. What I was trying to say is excessive oxygen.... and I don't know if that makes any difference at all... I'm trying to apply my two cycle engine tune knowledge. You're always aiming for the stoichiometric ratio but stay of the safe side of fuel rich to avoid melting and or detonation. WIth a heater all we are concerned about is a complete burn and want as much heat as possible. Haha... Yes, it's easy to get carried away.
@@loweredexpectations4927 That's, why they banned old diesel cars out of larger cities. You can operate gas cars on the rich side and use the excessive fuel to drive the reaction in the catalytic converter. That's why this technique needs more fuel than gas cars of the generation before. And diesels liked to smoke black in former times, this was taken care of, the price was even more NOx. And that's, why we have to deal with banned areas today. I don't know, if increased airflow delivers so much excessive oxygen, that this ignites steel. If we want to burn steel, we add pure oxygen. Then steel starts to burn, before that it's only dripping away as molten steel. Haven't actually tried it with air. If that would work, we'd have used it in the industry. Much, much cheaper that way. But maybe, also a little bit more oxygen reduces the life of an expensive tungsten coating ? Where are the experts ? And was it oxygen, that burnt your washer - or was it another chemical reaction, that changed the material ? It's like in real life. The more you're looking for answers, the more questions show up. And the point, where you have to hire a manager, comes closer and closer 😂 But, really, a metal worker should know that 😒 Unfortunatelly all my metallurgy teaching books got lost in a fire. And the free internet does cost far too much time to sort the crap out.
@@werner.x Yeah ...at some point you get a cooling effect from the air that is not oxygen, and then you need to increase the percentage of oxygen in the air (use pure oxygen). I have smelted aluminum a few times in the past. If you use a mild steel crucible and don't feed your fire pressurized air, the crucible will last quite a long time. However, if you force air in with a fan, every use end with large amounts of oxides flaking off and your crucible gets consumed pretty quickly. I'm guessing that this may not have anything to do with the amount of oxygen but the temp at which the metal reacts with oxygen... see... as I start talking my way through it I figure it out 😂. When I started that last paragraph I was thinking. "more air, more oxygen, more oxidizing" haha. Haha... yes... the more you know, the more you realize you don't know.
I get a lot of comments the old Mini, haha. It's a 1976 Classic Mini that I bought in 2008 ... it is a project that has been sitting for many years now.
Hey... I think the version of it that I have is 235 and then it shuts down.... Not sure if that is what you are asking. I know that some of them have a higher safety limit. My heater generally runs about 180 - 210 ... going off memory from months ago.
@@martinpanks992 Do you have the blue controller with the blue digits, or red digits ? The red one offers more adjustability and has a higher shut down temp... I believe around 245C . 240 seems high, I would check to see if you have a restriction of air flow into or out of the air vents, and also if you have a restriction into the air inlet. Diesel tends to run hotter when rich, so if you are at high altitude this could also have something to do with it. The thinner air will make it run rich.
Its the blue controller with red digits and there isn't any air restrictions at all that I can see, I've had it up to that temp at roughly 5.0hz 4500. And turned the pump speed back down my self as I thought it was getting hot. But I suppose if I had left it a bit longer it might have throttled back. Its saying my altitude is roughly 200 ish metres above sea level.
Why not try some stainless steel it wont melt not sure about warping at least you might have something that will turn cherry red just a thought of mine i enjoy your video's
Thanks for the comment !! In one of my next videos I believe I tried a stainless steel washer... and other bits ... the results were unexpected. Cheers !
I wonder if that liquid aluminium would transfer enough heat to heat exchanger wall if it should get in contact with it? Will it be able to cool down fast enough or make heat exchanger to melt as well...hmm? :D
The heat exchanger is much more massive (has more thermal mass) and has cooling fins with a fan blowing over the outside. It is able to dissipate huge amounts of heat without any fear of melting. This one small piece of molten aluminum would have to raise the temp of the entire housing from 210C (for example) all the way to 660C. The small piece would cool immediately and the exchanger would only go up a few degrees C I'm sure there's a engineer or physics nerd somewhere here that could tell you the formula 🤣 but I have no idea.
Why don't you buy a block of copper and make something similar in shape to that engine cover that was working so good. Copper has much higher melting temp ,but at the same time it transfers the heat as effective as aluminum.
Put some cheap camera out side that you see whole time smoke out side and in side you can connect it on tablet-laptop that you can video every thing whole time,and see it 🍻
I'm not sure what part of the video you are referring to exactly. Perhaps you already know... Aluminum oxides form at room temperature in normal atmospheric conditions. The only reason aluminum doesn't disappear very quickly is because this oxide layer bonds ot the surface and protects the aluminum.
@@loweredexpectations4927 correct. What I should have said is Hydrogen is being created ...or more released and destroying the oxide layer that is being created. The takeaway is there is some hydrogen in that process.
Just thinking "LIMELIGHT" back in the days before tik tok booty dance videos the only way to get a bright white light for spotlights was passing burning gas through porous lime(chalk) which made it glow white hot perhaps a chunk of chalk or even better a chunk of ceramic catalyst from a catalytic converter might help wick upand superheated the fuel? Been busy lateley so just got a chance now to binge watch your amazing vids! BTW I really want to donate buttoo lazy to setup patreon- TH-cam has a 'superthanks' button which you can setup to receive tips/donations
I have had similar suggestions and have a cat that I will be testing 🤟 also apparently the ceramic catalyst that is use in butane soldering irons can be purchased cheaply ? Thanks !
I'd discard every thought of aluminum completely . It just melts too fast, as soon as surrounded by heat. Had my hobby shop burn down some years ago and all the aluminum was gone. If you're still looking for some kind of heat storage, take nothing below steel melting temperatures. And if heat has not only to be stored to radiate locally, but transferred, this stuff must be a good conductor too.
Yeah... I know that aluminum has a pretty low melting temp and that it would probably melt ... I did state that a few times before the test, but my thought was that I wanted something that dissipates heat well ... and I have aluminum, haha. The aluminum cone that I made actually didn't melt where it was in contact with the tube, so it was sort of doing what I thought / wanted it to do, the only problem was that it was too restrictive and didn't allow the heater to actually get up to temp. I don't know that there's much difference between storage and transfer, but what I'm hoping for is heat transfer ... well... in this particular test. Oh... jsut read the last line of your comment, haha... yeah.
@@loweredexpectations4927 For heat transfer the bolt can't be stainless steel. Your bolt keeps the heat in place. But non-ferrous metals - which are good conductors - have a too low melting point. The compromise would be heat resistant steel.
@@werner.x I have done some testing to see where the heat is focused in the chamber using copper and it may be possible to use a non-ferrous metal of the right shape and with the right placement. Altho, the results of the test may have been influenced by the stuff I had in the chamber. (almost certainly) Now that I think of it... I don't think that I filmed any of that testing, as I had a friend over and don't always film when others are around.
@@loweredexpectations4927 then you can expand to cooking grilled cheese on it and eventually a steak. You'll get great grill marks off the heat exchanger.
any piece of aluminium will melt ... replicate your original with carbon steel 3/8 or even 1/2 inch will do and last for a while ( many weeks of testing at least :-) ) . . aluminium is crap to retain heat , it suck the heat and disperse it fast but it's hard to control where . Steel is the opposite , that's why a good old wood burning stove were made of thick steel or cast iron they retained heat fot a long period and even more with masonry heater . You will never transfer much heat back to the burn chamber because of the air flow , wath you did with your drilled motor end cap , you create a secondary burn chamber that burned the remaining oil ( or wathever was in that thank) . ;
Thanks for the comment. Aluminum. like any metal, will melt when it gains more heat energy than it can dissipate. As you have pointed out, aluminum is very good at dissipating heat. If it melts or not depends on how much of the surface area is in contact with something that it can transfer heat to, what temperature that thing is and how well it absorbs heat. This is why the tube of aluminum didn't completely melt like the discs and this is why a piston in an engine doesn't melt. I grew up in a house with a cast iron wood furnace and we had a cast iron wood stove for a while... I don't know that it is used for those properties... I would think it's more the cost, ease of manufacture and durability. Also, heat energy was very cheap and efficiency was not a concern... An aluminum furnace would start up much more quickly, build draft more quickly and heat up your living space more quickly... but it would be expensive and not terribly durable. Materials that hold heat do just that, hold heat. They are also slow to gain heat. The only time this is of any benefit is if you have a very well insulated space and your fire will be out for extended periods of time. The ability for cast iron to hold heat means that it os very poor at heating a space quickly.
20 videos later, and i'm still watching. Not sure why but here we are :D
🤣 Just saying what every other viewer is thinking😂
Whoohoo, perfect timing. My heater literally just arrived 15mins ago via UPS. Now I can follow along with your videos and try to destroy my heater just like you.😁
Oh no !! I knew I should have made a longer safety warning! Haha. Have fun, be safe… and thanks for the comment !
Another theory. The aluminium sitting in the bottom of the burn chamber acted as a dam, stopping unburned oil from running out of the inner tube. The oil pool sat there and burned cleanly as it was vaporised.
What about tacking a stainless dam in the bottom of the burn tube? 1/3rd of the diameter of the tube.
Another interesting theory that I hadn’t considered… it is possible, although there is already a dam created by the reduction ring. Some oil does frequently make it past the reduction ring thing … so maybe 🤔
Aluminum becomes soft from a temperature of 300°C to 400°C. The combustion chamber with ethanol should easily reach this temperature.
True, but you also have to consider how quickly any given piece of material can dissipate heat. They used to use iron for pistons, but wer able to switch to aluminum because of how quickly it transfers heat to the cylinder walls... despite being exposed to temperatures well over the melting point.
Except ethanol LOWERS the temperature
Try copper inside.
Copper
Fahrenheit (f): 1,983
Celsius (c): 1,084
I will be doing this for sure ! It is also an awesome conductor.
@@loweredexpectations4927 That is why I posted it.
You want a metal that doesn't melt, obviously(maybe), the stainless mesh/screen is what you need..Have you ever considered candle stoves..Take an ammo box, put a piece of stove glass in it, have an exhaust pipe and inlet pipe with computer fan in the inlet pipe..The key is 100% carbon felt, to use as a wick, it is the only material that is capable of wicking up heavy oils like veg oil or motor oil, that I'm aware of, you have to start it with a torch, but it is simple, always works, provides a ton of heat...The oxygen, thickness of inlet pipe determines how many candles you can have inside, 3 containers with used veg oil and carbon felt wick works very good..A cheap project you could try in the future...People make those heaters with regular candles, which works, but doesn't get as hot, and goes through lots of candles..Carbon felt never burns like an ordinary wick, it just keeps on going 4ever..It's convection heat, but in small rooms, works perfect, you can have one on each side of a garage..If you can get free used veg oil or motor oil it will work forever..I've built several of them now and have it down to a science, just another form of free heat, the last one I built cost $135 dollars if memory serves...I think there are candle stoves built from ammo boxes on TH-cam, you just replace normal candles with your homemade candles made from used veg oil and carbon felt wick, much bigger flame, and free.....
You can also make a version with other pipes that go through the ammo box stove with no openings on the inside of the stove, open on both ends outside of the box stove which heats the air in the room that way too...Which is the better version...
That sounds interesting... I have carbon fibre cloth... I wonder if it would work.... I may try this at some time in the future.
This is like the high tech version ! haha.
@@loweredexpectations4927 It works very, very well..Few people know about carbon felt..There is no other material on Earth that will wick heavy fluids...And not burn itself away, like any other wick..Simpler is always better..Complexity is always a trap...It's known in the scientific world by the "laws of complex systems".."The laws of complexity" "Entropy" They are laws, not suggestions, and are non negotiable and the outcomes are inevitable..Although carbon felt is complex in itself, but once you have some, it will last and can be used for many different applications..You would probably end up with millions of views...Because of the times we live in...
@@loweredexpectations4927 The 100% version is a bit tricky to come by, I got mine from MIT, but I hear that the welding blanket type works, and the type used for industrial filtration..Even Amazon has some, your cloth might work..There is a scientist in England that sells it online cheaply...
Doing some experiments on one of those myself too, after several modifications to the burn chamber I had to order a new one 😅
Lol … I’m probably in your shoes, as well… but I’m just too stubborn to admit it. 😂
do make a setting TXT somewhere maybe config
Is this a joke that went over my head... or instructions that went over my head 🤦♂
I can remember Gerry "from GerrysDIY" making a change to his used oil stove. He switched to a thin stainless "puppy feeder" to vaporize the oil. Stainless for the durability but thin so it would heat up faster... only wondering if the forced air would remove too much heat. 🤔
The forced air is definitely a huge part of the challenge. The fuel comes in just behind the combustion air fan, and right next to the air inlet to the chamber... These things are all working against getting the temp up.
I will be testing some similar methods in an upcoming video, with stainless, copper and fibreglass cloth.
If nothing else works, just play the old intro, works every time :)
But seriously, there should be a way to stick a camera into that burnchamber, or maybe a thermal camera on the outside, just to get an idea what's going on in there. Wasn't it David McLuckie that did something like that?
Haha... The OG intro.
Yeah, David cut the end off of his heat exchanger and put a piece of glass on it. That would be ideal, to he able to see inside when it's running, but I believe it only works (is visible) if it is running quite clean ...otherwise it gets a lot of soot very quickly.
You should cut the end off and add a stove glass window to the end of the heater like David mcluckie did, that way you can actually see what's going on and visually confirm your ideas in real time instead of guessing what has happened after you've already turned it off and disassembled it. Would make for good video footage too.
I agree... very cool... I will look into it. I have seen those videos and it would make testing a lot easier.
What if the aluminum disk was working great until it melted? What if you use stainless so it doesnt melt.
I had the exact same thought … I will be testing that soon, I hope.
Yes.
@@loweredexpectations4927 I like the combo of that disk, preheating, and air bubbler t'd in. You would get that burn chamber hot and help atomize the oil going in.
@@fmemories That's the plan anyway, haha.
Try a turbine wheel of an old turbo instead of the aluminium disc. The wheel can withstand much greater temps and induce extra swirl in the chamber.If more flow is needed, cut the webs in between the blades. I would keep the blades intact, as they are very thin, can contain the heat and create a very nice swirl.
I like this idea. You are the second person to suggest this. Now I just need the money and motivation to go to the scrap yard and get a turbo, haha.
@@loweredexpectations4927 Too bad I live on the other side of the pond, otherwise I could send you a rotor for free. Worked as a test engineer for turbo's for many years. If you cannot find anything at the scrapyard, let me know....
@@bluethunderbug Thanks, appreciated.
@@bluethunderbugI live in UK And I would like convert my cdh for waste engine oil burn but don't know how to do it in DIY style.... Create easy access to burn head to clean plus start and finish burning on kerosene that's my only ideas
@@dd-rs5vcThat is a good starting point. Burning engine oil can be a bit tricky due to all the additives. I would recommend using a spray nozzle and high pressure pump and pre-heating the oil. I have had great succes with spent cooking oil (up to 70%). Starting and stopping on straight diesel is a great idea
I thought the intro on the last video was great,keep up the good work.
Haha. Thanks !! I just wish it was 100% a joke and I hadn’t actually spent an hour trying to shoot tue intro 😂
The molten aluminum is hot so there might be a secondary burn for the unburned fuel. So if there is another glow plug instead of the washer, all the unburn fuel might be all burned off.
Thanks for the comment ! That would be ideal if I was able to make that happen. i have played with several different designs trying to get it right but it never seems to work exactly how you'd expect it to, haha.
Any way to make the oil pool in the burn chamber. Something similar to the diy burners. Most of them work by boiling the oil like a grease fire.
Thanks for the comment.
This is the goal really... DIY burners typically have a red hot burner where the oil is dripped in and it flashes off / boils off. I am attempting to get the area where the oil comes in hot enough so that this happens.
When I can get the temp up fairly high, the heater works great, doesn't' make any smoke and makes lots of heat.... It turns out that getting this particular area of the heater very hot, is difficult.
DIY heaters have the advantage of producing a lot more heat energy and are able to heat up an entire brake drum or rotor to the point of glowing red. These little heaters burn very little fuel, and as a result don't make enough heat energy to get that much thermal mass glowing red.
Need a tiny brake drum 🤣. I was thinking more like what the ash pan dose on the wood stove when you get to much oil in it. If you crack it open it roars good.
@@chrisloving6647 A brake drum form an RC car... haha. Yes, these heaters work with forced induction and should always be like the cracked open door. The issue is that the inrush of air is cooling the area where the oil flashes off. You need the air to get the correct air fuel ratio, but all that air also has a cooling effect. The trick is going to be getting and keeping heat in the area where the fuel comes in so that it flashes off immediately , makes lots of heat, flashes oil off etc, haha.
I have been considering modding the chamber so that it works like a normal diesel heater, but then adding a second fuel line and reduction ring for the oil in the hottest part of the diesel flame. Basically run the diesel in at a low rate and use it to heat and burn the waste oil. 🤷♂
Yes Nice testing all kinds !
great videos
Thanks !
At the end of this series, I would like if you would take a brand new unit, modify it only with the stuff that worked. Thanks for you hard work you put into these videos!
Yes... that would be ideal. I hope that I can make that happen. Thanks for your comment.
I just finished running 3 gals of e85 with some klotz topend lube to lube the pump. And the max temp I could get was 165 after a couple of hours the average temp was 145 to 150 running at setting 6. It would flame out at 2.5 or lower. I mixed 2 gals with about a gallon of diesel and the average temp was 180@ 6. straight diesel it bounces around 205 to 220 @6.
Haha... funny, I just came in from testing Gasoline and Methanol separately. I expected gas to do better but got similar results.
cant you feed the oil true a stainless pipe that goes in to the burn chamber / flame and then goes back to feed the burner. that should gasify the oil
I have considered this, but it is not a modification that your average person can do … you would need to braze or silver solder the fuel line on after exiting the burn chamber, as the line would be too hot for any sort of hose. I might do this at some point by removing / drilling out the original steel line and running a new one 👍
Im definitely keen to see if you can run it by gravity feed more than anything. One of the biggest downsides to these heaters is the ticking pump, so removing that would be a great idea.
Getting the flow to remain consistent would be nearly impossible. Fluid viscosity, temperature, depth in the tank. Different types of fuel would require adjustment also. Would be nice though. Insulating against the noise would be much easier.
... it's a cool idea and I'm 99% sure that it will work... BUT it will be tricky to control ... I have some drip feed things from IV bags, haha... However ... The largest drawback is that there is 1. There is no safe shutdown if it flames out ... it will drain all of your diesel unless you rig up a electric valve with a thermal cut off of some sort 2. Starting the heater might be tricky as you're going to have to manually control drip feed without either flooding or starving it.
Gravity feed works under certain conditions.
The feed must be in the fluid puddle under all working conditions.
Otherwise soot will clog it in minutes after the oven reaches operating temperature.
But if you shrink your oven to such a small size like these heaters have, the working window will get tiny too.
Extra hard to hit that with waste oils of every kind.
So fluctuating conditions will give you a lot of trouble.
And flame out with drip feed without an automatic shutoff will result in Diesel soaked surroundings faster than you think.
But try it, otherwise you'll always stay dreaming.
Don't burn your shop down.
Insurance might not cover that.
And i'd try not to flood my living area. Diesel fumes or evaporating Diesel cause liver disease. The dog in my avatar died from that, because i had a diesel flooded heater all winter long and didn't realize it, due to my destroyed mechanic's nose.
And it's not the only one i know, who died from that.
Only realized it, because i started feeling sick myself, finally. The bigger dog and myself got away, had to bury the smaller on the following summer after month of trouble.
So, take care.
Safety hazards aren't just funny stuff.
I mean, it doesn't have to get complicated - you can get waste oil burnt clean and even with an surprisingly simple oven, just not with these tiny sophisticated heaters. They're not made for that purpose. Size is wrong, design is wrong, materials are wrong. How wonder, they're made for cars.
All you need is a real chimney with sufficient draw, a barrel shaped steel oven for the swirl, an easy to remove bottom pan for easy daily cleaning, an oven heated oil tank made of steel, with gravity feed outlet plus shutoff valve, in case the flame goes out accidentally, a small fan at the bottom for clean burn.
Easy and cheap to build yourself.
But the chimney is, where the problem starts, because there it comes to building codes and chimney sweeper costs twice a year - plus, probably especially in Germany, idk, the oven needs to be certified. And because it simply is forbidden here, to burn waste oil of any kind, there is no way, the chimney sweeper in charge will allow this or any other self built ovens on your chimney.
And if you just want a drip feed oil oven for your hobby shop - you can buy them everywhere ready to run. No ticking pump, no noisy fan, no 12v supply, no electricity at all.
@@werner.x For drip feed I would be beside it the whole time controlling it. This is more or less going to be to prove that the system does not rely on pressure at all, like many have claimed. The pump is basically a metering system and so that your tank placement can be variable.
The area where the fuel comes in never really gets very hot, that is one of the issues with these heaters, when attempting to burn waste oil. I have put a thermocouple on the oil feed tube right at the glow plug and it never got over 104C.
Sorry about your dog, that sucks, and thanks for the heads up on that. Doing this would more for the curiosity of the experiment / the entertainment value ... I don't know that this would ever be practical even with automated controls.
Maybe the molten blob made the air swirl more so the oil got a better chance to evaporate?
That’s definitely possible. I was thinking the same thing, or perhaps even just the placement of the restriction 🤷♂️. More tests to come.
I can't wait for the methanol vids! I'm really interested to see what you can do with that.
Doing the same experiments as we speak, haha. Very interesting stuff.
Wall mart has the Hcalory diesel heaters on sale today 3/10/23, for 89.99 for the black one and the white one, I bought both, the black one is nicely made I disassembled it and it has a heat-resistant outer shell made of durable plastic the aluminum was poured and was quality built, the inner burner tube was made of stainless steel very nice, lots of heat and runs nicely. the white one has an aluminum outer shell that is made perfectly the heater is 95% the same the only difference is the burner tube is steel not stainless and works the same with a lot of heat.
This sounds like an advertisement for Walmart ... What's up ? "the aluminum was poured".
I believe that the disc with holes in it is the answer. It allows the heat to build up in the burn chamber while allowing the flame to maintain. Just got to find something that will not melt. Maybe a graphene disc? I like the videos thanks.
I appreciate the comment, thanks. I will be testing this theory in an upcoming video. I have a feeling that this could be correct.
Using some stainless steel, for the parts that melted, and SS washers on the bolt. It should heat up without the lava effect. Cheers
Set it up like the 1st experiment with the washers, which seemed to be working. Adjust washers in/out to find the sweet spot.
This could be the answer... I have a lot more testing to do...
I was thinking more of a rounded or cone shape. Thinking of the aerodynamics of it.
I think something like a
“finishing cup washer”.
@@markcoyle8003 I'm on it ! ... haha Test coming soon.
I find the blob result interesting. The melting point for aluminum is 660.32 °C, (i.e. 1220.58 °F). The temperatures in the burn chamber are only reaching 240ish °C. Where's the extra 400+ degrees coming from that would be needed to create the aluminum blob?
I'm guessing that there a misunderstanding.
The temperature in the burn chamber is obviously hot enough to melt aluminum, based on these results (as you pointed out) but the exchanger (temperature reading on the controller) is only about 220C because the fan carries away heat and is able to keep it cool.
The chamber is suffering from the same problem. Even though the temp inside is getting over 660C, the amount of air going into the chamber is enough to keep the entrance of it cool. The heat sensor on the burn chamber is on the outside of the chamber, where the combustion air fan is and measures the temperature right where the fuel goes in.
The aluminum disc is sitting right in the flame path, and is only in contact with the bolt to get rid of the heat. It can't get rid of the heat fast enough so it eventually reaches melting point. IF my idea actually worked, and the bolt was able to transmit a lot of heat back to the entrance of the chamber, it wouldn't have melted.
I don't know what you do or don't know about heat and heat energy, so I'll say that you need to think of heat not only as temperature but quantity. This is measured in BTU or jules, for example. Similar to how with water from a tap you would have pressure and volume, the pressure would be the heat and the volume would be the quantity. A Bic lighter flame is around 1900C but you'd have a hard time to melt a hole in an aluminum can with it as there isn't enough BTUs ... The can can get rid of the heat faster than it is absorbed.
@@loweredexpectations4927 Thanks for the explanation. You are right. I was assuming that the probe temperatures where from inside the burn chamber. My bad.
@@larrywerring9674 I'm glad we got that sorted out. 👍
maybe you have to start out with the aluminum disk intact initially so it forms a 'good blob' and guarantees thermal contact with the wall of the tube to conduct back in to the burn chamber? would you need a new disk each time to melt and weld to the wall or do they make a high temp thermal transfer paste? 🤔
Haha... that is possible but not practical eh... a new disc every time you restart. I think any thermal paste would burn up at these temps, but with such a large contact area, it shouldn't need any help with transferring heat.
Since the flame front is so hot and you are melting or oxidizing away the metals I wonder if you would be better off with a ceramic like the core of a catalytic converter or fire brick to provide a surface that can handle and retain the heat while providing an area for it to flash off the oil and mix with air for a better burn. No idea if that would work but it was a thought I had when I watched the video where you tried the stainless steel scouring pad.
If he knows anyone who makes ceramic items and be willing to make a disk like the motor end cap from ceramic that would be worth a try for sure.
All good ideas ... I'm sure it's just a matter of time before I find something that will work, haha...
That would be cool... but I do not ... Maybe I can come up with something from an odd source... Like grandma's china cabinet ?
Try using a steel disc. This takes up about half the space of the combustion chamber. Maybe a little less. In principle, it is only a matter of retaining the heat.
Thansk for the comment. I will be trying that soon.
How about a second fuel atomizer screen
I like that idea. What I was thinking is running a very small amount of diesel, from a separate tank, instead of mixing, and then have a second mesh downstream of the diesel flame, where the oil is injected ...
That way the diesel would just be used to keep the oil burning nice and hot and cleaning out the waste oil area. It could help.
Use that big tube of aluminum again but cut the opening in the top bigger to let exhaust out and hold the oil back in a puddle so it can burn. Just thing, Keep it up I'm learning with you.
Hmmmm I may give that a go... maybe slice it in half.
My guess is that the shape of the aluminum piece and it's placement is what made it burn well.
That could be... More testing to come.
Hey buddy, try to publish at least 1 Short every week. This will push your chanel for sure. Have a good one. Thanks for sharing your experience 😊 🙏
Yeah... I think this is a good idea... TH-cam kinda punishes anyone who doesn't play the shorts game, haha.
how about to replace the aluminum with titan or even tungsten?
I did eventually try some tungsten from a tig welder... Not sure how well I documented it, but it quite surprisingly (to me) oxidized quite badly. I haven't tried titanium, but from what I understand it is quite reactive.
this is becoming a physics experiment
A physics experiment with little rhyme or reason, and amature level observations 🤣
Make it out of steel. You've not failed but created a oil burning forge.
Haha... I was thinking that... All I need is a way to pour the molten metal out.
Have u tried paint thinners
Sort of... There are a lot of different paint thinners. I have tried mixing them with used motor oil. Varsol and another unknown "paint thinner". I have not tested pure paint thinner, but I assume, like kerosene, it would work well.
Like car paint thinners
Cellulose thinners
Be careful it’s strong smelling can dissolve sponges tried it on foam it melts it
@@joebloggs487 Old school paint thinners, for old school paints are generally like turpentine, verosol and other similar solvents. More modern paints use thinners more similar to acetone... I have not used acetone or what most people would consider modern automotive paint thinner.
Make a cast iron washer to go in there .
Cast iron could probably withstand the heat, eh... Not sure how good it is at transferring heat though.
well..... think you are on the right path..... maybe back to your stainless bolts BUT.... instead..... make a Porcupine.... weld stainless bolts onto each flat of a nut. then spin them onto the center bolt. Maybe do a TIGHT fit? . so spines are touching also the combustion chamber walls so not is it only hotter at end of bolt but thruout.
BTW- thru out all this is your ring/wick-like material removed?
Yeah, for most of my testing, the wick material was removed. Turns out that it is not really necessary once the heater is up to temp.
I have found that there is a fine line between capturing enough heat to have a noticeable difference and creating too much of a restriction. One of the reasons they work poorly with just a little soot is because they are sensitive to air flow changes.
12:21 Incredible results in the last video! I have an idea. I think it started working great at first because the aluminum was whole. Eventually it formed a blob, but was already hot.
Did you cold start it after it had presumably blobified [I might have missed a clip]? I'm wondering if cold starting, it's pulling the heat away too quickly and allowing fuel to pool. This would explain why it continues to burn after shut down.
Yes, This was continued from the last video, so it was a little hard to follow. I had run it the day before for a few hours, the footage in this video starts with the second day of testing, after cold starting the heater.
If I understand what you are saying, you could be right...but I assume that the disc was a melted blob when I started the heater at the beginning of this day... It could be that the shape of the blob changed enough to not allow it to get up to temperature.
Have you considered tungsten rods to increase heat and not melt down ? Or a coarse tungsten screen?
I wasn't even aware that tungsten screen was a thing ... haha... interesting. I don't think I filmed it, so I'll tell you... I put a tig tungsten, tungsten for a welding torch, and to my surprise it oxidized quite a bit. This doesn't make sense to me... but it happened.
I believe this could be due to a few things, like the heater not running well so it is very oxygen rich.
@@loweredexpectations4927 you will always have excess oxygen, otherwise you're on the edge to black smoke and to keep you there would need a tight feedback loop with expensive wideband O2 Sensor.
But even then, because of inevitable hysteresis you'd be either constantly partially black smoking or end up completely on the lean side again.
So - no way to get rid of excess O2.
Tungsten is a consumable, too.
And expensive. But may last a while.
Don't use the thorium ones.
Btw: I'd stop before making a tungsten plated cup.
Never let insanity carry you away 😅
@@werner.x You put it in to words much better than I ever could. I kinda had that thought that there always needs to be a little excess oxygen, as the alternative is too little and that is not good. What I was trying to say is excessive oxygen.... and I don't know if that makes any difference at all...
I'm trying to apply my two cycle engine tune knowledge. You're always aiming for the stoichiometric ratio but stay of the safe side of fuel rich to avoid melting and or detonation. WIth a heater all we are concerned about is a complete burn and want as much heat as possible.
Haha... Yes, it's easy to get carried away.
@@loweredexpectations4927
That's, why they banned old diesel cars out of larger cities. You can operate gas cars on the rich side and use the excessive fuel to drive the reaction in the catalytic converter. That's why this technique needs more fuel than gas cars of the generation before.
And diesels liked to smoke black in former times, this was taken care of, the price was even more NOx. And that's, why we have to deal with banned areas today.
I don't know, if increased airflow delivers so much excessive oxygen, that this ignites steel.
If we want to burn steel, we add pure oxygen. Then steel starts to burn, before that it's only dripping away as molten steel.
Haven't actually tried it with air. If that would work, we'd have used it in the industry. Much, much cheaper that way.
But maybe, also a little bit more oxygen reduces the life of an expensive tungsten coating ? Where are the experts ?
And was it oxygen, that burnt your washer - or was it another chemical reaction, that changed the material ?
It's like in real life. The more you're looking for answers, the more questions show up.
And the point, where you have to hire a manager, comes closer and closer 😂
But, really, a metal worker should know that 😒
Unfortunatelly all my metallurgy teaching books got lost in a fire.
And the free internet does cost far too much time to sort the crap out.
@@werner.x Yeah ...at some point you get a cooling effect from the air that is not oxygen, and then you need to increase the percentage of oxygen in the air (use pure oxygen). I have smelted aluminum a few times in the past. If you use a mild steel crucible and don't feed your fire pressurized air, the crucible will last quite a long time. However, if you force air in with a fan, every use end with large amounts of oxides flaking off and your crucible gets consumed pretty quickly.
I'm guessing that this may not have anything to do with the amount of oxygen but the temp at which the metal reacts with oxygen... see... as I start talking my way through it I figure it out 😂. When I started that last paragraph I was thinking. "more air, more oxygen, more oxidizing" haha.
Haha... yes... the more you know, the more you realize you don't know.
Hey, What's with that sweet little car in the background? Looks like a fun project.
I get a lot of comments the old Mini, haha. It's a 1976 Classic Mini that I bought in 2008 ... it is a project that has been sitting for many years now.
I know this is an old video but im only just watching it.
What is the maximum internal temp you've had, the reading on the blue controller..
Hey... I think the version of it that I have is 235 and then it shuts down.... Not sure if that is what you are asking. I know that some of them have a higher safety limit.
My heater generally runs about 180 - 210 ... going off memory from months ago.
Yes that's what I was meaning so around 200°c I've not had my heater shut down or throttle back yet and I've had it up to 240.
@@martinpanks992 Do you have the blue controller with the blue digits, or red digits ? The red one offers more adjustability and has a higher shut down temp... I believe around 245C . 240 seems high, I would check to see if you have a restriction of air flow into or out of the air vents, and also if you have a restriction into the air inlet.
Diesel tends to run hotter when rich, so if you are at high altitude this could also have something to do with it. The thinner air will make it run rich.
Its the blue controller with red digits and there isn't any air restrictions at all that I can see, I've had it up to that temp at roughly 5.0hz 4500. And turned the pump speed back down my self as I thought it was getting hot. But I suppose if I had left it a bit longer it might have throttled back.
Its saying my altitude is roughly 200 ish metres above sea level.
Why not try some stainless steel it wont melt not sure about warping at least you might have something that will turn cherry red just a thought of mine i enjoy your video's
Thanks for the comment !! In one of my next videos I believe I tried a stainless steel washer... and other bits ... the results were unexpected.
Cheers !
Maybe a ceramic disk.
That's probably a good idea... I was thinking the insulator off a spark plug, but it's fairly skinny.
I wonder if that liquid aluminium would transfer enough heat to heat exchanger wall if it should get in contact with it? Will it be able to cool down fast enough or make heat exchanger to melt as well...hmm? :D
The heat exchanger is much more massive (has more thermal mass) and has cooling fins with a fan blowing over the outside. It is able to dissipate huge amounts of heat without any fear of melting. This one small piece of molten aluminum would have to raise the temp of the entire housing from 210C (for example) all the way to 660C. The small piece would cool immediately and the exchanger would only go up a few degrees C
I'm sure there's a engineer or physics nerd somewhere here that could tell you the formula 🤣 but I have no idea.
Interesting, so it must have had the molten blob of aluminum while it was running smooth...
I assume so... I mean... when it was running the hottest, I assume it would have been the most molten🤷♂️
I just posted a video of a cfm test on the compressed air injection you will be surprised by the results
I'll check it out. These days I'm surprised at everything and nothing all at the same time, haha.
@@loweredexpectations4927 I just posted a video of the heater running on a large fish bubbler air pump
@@lanceulbrich6249 Oh, cool...
Why don't you buy a block of copper and make something similar in shape to that engine cover that was working so good. Copper has much higher melting temp ,but at the same time it transfers the heat as effective as aluminum.
I believe I did this in one of my next videos. I may not have documented it well though.
Put some cheap camera out side that you see whole time smoke out side and in side you can connect it on tablet-laptop that you can video every thing whole time,and see it 🍻
I like that idea.
Me to,and I'm pretty sure all other like it
ceramic washers now ?
That may be one solution... I won't melt ceramic.
Try graphite instead of aluminum.
🤔 hmmm. That would be interesting.
yea its hit the wall bro ! So what have we learned run ONLY diesel and kerosene !!!
Lol... unless you want to start a TH-cam channel making two videos a week...
@@loweredexpectations4927 lmao
Aluminum oxide is being created.
I'm not sure what part of the video you are referring to exactly.
Perhaps you already know... Aluminum oxides form at room temperature in normal atmospheric conditions. The only reason aluminum doesn't disappear very quickly is because this oxide layer bonds ot the surface and protects the aluminum.
@@loweredexpectations4927 correct. What I should have said is Hydrogen is being created ...or more released and destroying the oxide layer that is being created. The takeaway is there is some hydrogen in that process.
@@thekiltedkamper2855 Cool ... Chemistry ... Crazy stuff.
It may be an interesting experiment to add water vapor to the air mix with the aluminum..theres a video idea for you
A aluminium smelting furnace
Haha... yup. A mini smelter.
Just thinking "LIMELIGHT" back in the days before tik tok booty dance videos the only way to get a bright white light for spotlights was passing burning gas through porous lime(chalk) which made it glow white hot perhaps a chunk of chalk or even better a chunk of ceramic catalyst from a catalytic converter might help wick upand superheated the fuel?
Been busy lateley so just got a chance now to binge watch your amazing vids!
BTW I really want to donate buttoo lazy to setup patreon- TH-cam has a 'superthanks' button which you can setup to receive tips/donations
I have had similar suggestions and have a cat that I will be testing 🤟 also apparently the ceramic catalyst that is use in butane soldering irons can be purchased cheaply ?
Thanks !
I'd discard every thought of aluminum completely .
It just melts too fast, as soon as surrounded by heat.
Had my hobby shop burn down some years ago and all the aluminum was gone.
If you're still looking for some kind of heat storage, take nothing below steel melting temperatures.
And if heat has not only to be stored to radiate locally, but transferred, this stuff must be a good conductor too.
Yeah... I know that aluminum has a pretty low melting temp and that it would probably melt ... I did state that a few times before the test, but my thought was that I wanted something that dissipates heat well ... and I have aluminum, haha.
The aluminum cone that I made actually didn't melt where it was in contact with the tube, so it was sort of doing what I thought / wanted it to do, the only problem was that it was too restrictive and didn't allow the heater to actually get up to temp.
I don't know that there's much difference between storage and transfer, but what I'm hoping for is heat transfer ... well... in this particular test. Oh... jsut read the last line of your comment, haha... yeah.
@@loweredexpectations4927
For heat transfer the bolt can't be stainless steel. Your bolt keeps the heat in place.
But non-ferrous metals - which are good conductors - have a too low melting point.
The compromise would be heat resistant steel.
@@werner.x I have done some testing to see where the heat is focused in the chamber using copper and it may be possible to use a non-ferrous metal of the right shape and with the right placement. Altho, the results of the test may have been influenced by the stuff I had in the chamber. (almost certainly)
Now that I think of it... I don't think that I filmed any of that testing, as I had a friend over and don't always film when others are around.
Still waiting on the bacon grease video. Mmmmm bacon
I hope to be able to get it done and published soon. I'm excited for it as well.
@@loweredexpectations4927 then you can expand to cooking grilled cheese on it and eventually a steak. You'll get great grill marks off the heat exchanger.
@@PUBHEAD1 Lol... that's genius !
Iron or Copper
I will be testing all sorts of materials.🤟
try cast iron
A few have suggested this. Thanks.
any piece of aluminium will melt ... replicate your original with carbon steel 3/8 or even 1/2 inch will do and last for a while ( many weeks of testing at least :-) ) . . aluminium is crap to retain heat , it suck the heat and disperse it fast but it's hard to control where . Steel is the opposite , that's why a good old wood burning stove were made of thick steel or cast iron they retained heat fot a long period and even more with masonry heater . You will never transfer much heat back to the burn chamber because of the air flow , wath you did with your drilled motor end cap , you create a secondary burn chamber that burned the remaining oil ( or wathever was in that thank) .
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Thanks for the comment.
Aluminum. like any metal, will melt when it gains more heat energy than it can dissipate. As you have pointed out, aluminum is very good at dissipating heat. If it melts or not depends on how much of the surface area is in contact with something that it can transfer heat to, what temperature that thing is and how well it absorbs heat. This is why the tube of aluminum didn't completely melt like the discs and this is why a piston in an engine doesn't melt.
I grew up in a house with a cast iron wood furnace and we had a cast iron wood stove for a while... I don't know that it is used for those properties... I would think it's more the cost, ease of manufacture and durability. Also, heat energy was very cheap and efficiency was not a concern... An aluminum furnace would start up much more quickly, build draft more quickly and heat up your living space more quickly... but it would be expensive and not terribly durable.
Materials that hold heat do just that, hold heat. They are also slow to gain heat. The only time this is of any benefit is if you have a very well insulated space and your fire will be out for extended periods of time. The ability for cast iron to hold heat means that it os very poor at heating a space quickly.
Try some coal
Genius ! .... I don't know where to get actual coal... maybe bbq briquettes ?!