thomas rubino

Stove Chat #39 starts in just a few hours!
Come see and hear what pearls of wisdom Matt chooses to share today!
Better yet, come ask questions live!  Matt will do his best to make things clear to all!

Hope to see you there!

Hi Vase;

On Ebay/ amazon  here in the US , we can order a copper still kit from 1 - 10 gallons for a few hundred dollars.

When I boil deer skulls I add Arm and Hammer Washing Soda to the water.   Makes short work of flesh. However if you boil to long it will eat smaller bones and cartilage.
Add about a cup to a good size kettle of water.

Well they say Noah did it with more than that  Andrea!  Couldn't be that bad...

Hi Korrine; Welcome to Permies!

Well you might say I'm in the neighborhood, little over an hour away from you, in Trout Creek.
You might enjoy visiting here, to see three different RMH's in use . Two batchboxes and a J tube.

I might be able to consult for your build.
I have already been tentatively approached by a lady named Trudy from Hot Springs.
I suspect she could be a part of your group.

Check out my RMH webstore    https://dragontechrmh.com/

Send me a purple moosage thru Permies.

To do so) Tap my name to go to my profile,  once there ,top right corner will show an envelope. tapping it will bring you to the in house message system.

Hi Richard; Welcome to Permies!  And Welcome to the world of Rocket science!

Nice clean build you made there Rich looks good!
Is that a 6"or 8" rocket?
I think that wrapping ceramic blanket  (if you have it) or other insulation (?rock wool maybe) around the entire lower unit. Including the lower barrel will help.  
Your firebricks will still need to come up to temperature. But you wont be losing heat before the riser.
What is your riser made of?   Heavy firebrick?  Or ceramic blanket?
If the answer is heavy brick then you should insulate around the outside of the riser.
You want your heat maximized inside the riser creating the super hot temps that you are hoping for.
You might, if you have the head room. Add a second barrel.   I added a second barrel on my shop build and it makes a huge difference in how fast it feels warmer in the room.
My brick bell takes hours to fully heat up but the barrels make the shop workable in no time.

Hi Arnon;
After reading your idea here is what I think will happen .
As this is a conventional wood burner. Your "suspended" brick channel, may become a creosote storage area. Waiting for the day when it can burst into flames...
A conventional stove needs a direct flow up and out. The chimney will need yearly sweeping for buildup.

Now depending on how large your metal stove is. Some folks have successfully built a "BatchBox  RMH" inside a metal stove after lining it with firebrick or ceramic fiber board.
A RMH will burn so hot and clean that creosote is never given a chance to form.

Using your metal stove conventionally and building walls of brick and cob to surround , "but not touch" your stove is a great way to save heat in your room.  

Hi Eric;
Great question!   I had to look up information about exactly what solar salt was... figured it wasn't the water softener sold at walmart.
Here is what I found.    
Today, molten salt (solar salt, 60% NaNO3, 40% KNO3) is recognized as the most successful material for solar heat transport. This eutectic mixture melts at 220 °C and remains a liquid at 290 °C in an insulated storage tank, called a 'cold tank'.

Ok cool stuff!   I did not read the whole mind numbing article, so I'm sure I do not have the complete picture.
Here is my take on this.

The only place in any RMH where you will reach  550 F  is directly over the riser.    
So ss starts melting at 428F  and is a liquid at 554F . Easy to reach and maintain those temps.
It remains a liquid in an insulated tank.   I wonder how long it would retain its heat in an uninsulated container?

So with just this tiny bit of information I see this as not very practical in a RMH setup.
I am envisioning a tank sitting on your barrel or bell directly over the riser.
How big a tank?  Well a second 55 gal comes to mind.  
So if we use that we would need to know expansion rates and also how slowly or quickly that 50 gallons of ss will share its accumulated heat?
Next question is weight?   How much are you sitting on top of your barrel/riser?  
I'm also thinking that in a dyi home situation having a 55 gallon barrel of  500F liquid could be hazardous situation.

So professor;
My synopsis is,   In an industrial application this is a fascinating product. As a RMH addition its dangers outweigh the benefits.

Hi Oski;
Welcome to Permies!
So it sounds like you want to build a batch box rocket mass heater?
Do you know how to make one?    Have you been to Peter Bergs website ?   https://batchrocket.eu/en/      Very specific sizes that they are built.
As far as putting glass in for viewing.
It has been done.  Finding see thru fire glass is expensive. Finding Large pieces is harder.
Normal glass or even "heat treated" Pyrex style can not take the temperature extremes.
Heat loss is high thru glass so your batch will struggle to reach high temp.
But the view is spectacular!

Hey James;
I have an artesian spring bubbles out of the mountain.  
Using 2200' of 1.5" poly pipe with 300' of vertical drop. I have 125 psi water pressure at the hydrant in my yard.
I use a Harris hydro, permanent magnet alternator with a single nozzle.  I only use 2-4 gal. per minute and I produce  100-140 watts @ 12 vt  24 hrs a day seven days a week.
The waste water goes down to my livestock pens and from there out to a draw in my fields.