Jerry had asked me about my oil stove, and since I'm visiting my father right now and he has high speed I was able to upload a video of it in action.
This oil stove was built by converting my old garage woodstove to burn oil instead of wood. I did this for a few reasons: First, the stove ate wood like crazy. Second, it didn't throw any heat, or not enough, anyway. Third, I was wasting valuable firewood that could otherwise go toward heating the house. Fourth, I did it because I wanted something different (and free).
The conversion was done by cutting a 2" hole in the top of the stove to feed the air feed pipe through. The oil feed tube goes inside the air feed pipe. The burner itself is made using two old brake rotors and an old brake drum (courtesy of my sister's old Neon). The oil tank is an old water tank from a travel trailer. I will upload a graphic of how it's built later, but here is the video of it in action:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3pI900HB4w0
This thing throws LOTS of heat! The rotor on top of the burner assembly glows (you can't tell in the video, but trust me, that rotor is bright orange). I'm sure if it was dark inside the garage the sides of the stove would be glowing dull red too. It burns about a quart of waste oil per hour of operation.
Here's the diagram of how the burner is assembled
And photos of the burner, air pipe and oil tank
Maybe a dumb question, but how is it vented? Obviously you're not filling your shop with oil fumes. Also, is the blower blowing into the oven? I'm clueless as to how these things actually work since I just use a cannon-type propane heater for my garage.
Now imagine if that garage was all insulated and such.
It's vented using the original chimney (remember, it's a modified wood stove). The original chimney is simple black pipe from the stove to the ceiling, with insulated Selkirk going through the attic. The blower is blowing directly onto the top of the fire, which makes it burn really hot with little to no smoke. The blower pipe is the one you see going into the rotor in the first photo.
bhazard: Insulation may come next year. I need a new door for it, too - the existing doors are literally old barn doors.
What size is the building, and what does the temp get to in there?
The questions I'd ask have already been, so I'll just say 2 thumbs up!
I have some old rotors, drums...and I wonder if a steel 55 gallon barrel would be enough "meat" for the body..? Hate to melt it, or burn a hole in the side. If not, I could probably find an old woodstove somewhere.
Sounds like a project I need to start on soon :D
Is the oil gravity fed to the burner,or is it pumped?
wow, this is pretty cool that this came up because im in the middle of doing something similar to this right now, from some of the other stuff i have read tho i was going to use a old cast iron pan and some quarter inch plate for the burner pan, but i like your ceramic tile wick. i think ill try your idea first, it seems more efficient then the one i was going to use. im also looking for a old hot water heater to convert into the furnace. what are you using for your blower? i've seen people use leaf blowers but i think thats way to loud and to much air... is it like a range hood blower fan or something?
Jerry: the garage is a 24X30 with an 8X12 side room. I don't have a thermometer in there, but it gets warm enough that I turned the oil flow down because it was getting too hot in there.
Beau: A 55 gallon drum would be too thin. An old electricx water heater like Nate mentioned below would be better, as it is thicker metal.
Chooglin: The oil is gravity fed.
Nate: You must be talking about the Mothers design, which was what I was originally going to build. I even went to the dump and got an old water tank (I got a 40 gallon water pressure tank instead of an old water heater), but then realized I could do it easier with my existing stove. The way I built mine is similar in concept to the Mothers design, except instead of cast iron frying pans and the steel plate I used cast iron brake parts. Oh yeah, and mine's forced induction ;)
The crushed ceramic tile idea came to me only because I have a whole bunch of old ceramic tile lying about, and I figured it'd be as good as the (no longer available) asbestos that the Mothers plan calls for.
The only problem with a waste oil stove is that waste oil does not burn readily. To get it going I pour about a cup of furnace oil into the burner and light it (without the fan going), then once it gets burning good I turn the waste oil on. I should also note that I had to dilute the waste oil with some furnace oil - I used about 2 gallons of furnace oil to about 20 gallons of waste oil. Without the furnace oil the waste oil wa stoo thick amd would not flow through the copper fee dline fast enough to support a good flame. With straight waste oil I had to open the valve all the way and still couldn't get a good fire going, but with the furnace oil the valve only needs to be opened about 25%.
very good, i was wondering if i would have to cut the oil with something to make it run better through that line. do you use a water separator? i think when i swap brake parts on my tbird, i'll use it's rotors and a drum to make that burner setup, and i also have a case of half broken ceramic tiles... looks like i am on my way to a new heater!
I don't use a water seperator. I figure if any water gets in there it can just burn away. I suppose it's possible that water could freeze in the line and block it, but I doubt that would happen - the tank's outlet is about 2" from the bottom, so it'd take a lot of water for it to get that high...
http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel_library/ethanol_motherearth/me4.html
the above discussed solving the two problems,, which he did with his new oil collection plate **and no blower**
flow
flame direction.
in effect, the flame torches outward not letting as much heat out.
It also discussed the science behind the right and wrong flow adjustment valve. The ones you find easily are not pointed enough to actually have a calibrated regulation of flow.
location of the source oil with respect to temp makes the viscosity change so storing the oil in the garage may not be best.
My 400psi water tank is very thick, impressive amount of metal there to be used to heat up a space.
in the end, my impression of the biggest problem was getting reliable and accurate flow rates without constantly babysitting the flow valve due to the tubing heating up.
Second was the filtering of the oil.
a huge benefit is efficiency as it burns so hot, the emissions are barely on the charts compared to all other sources of heat we have.
i just watched the vid,, that MF gets hot!!!!!!!!
white flames!
I had read about the Roger Sanders design, but didn't want to bother about having an aluminum burner made up. This stove was made using s parts and cost me nothing except the valve (a few dollars).
I had also read about another forced air design (http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel_library/ethanol_motherearth/me8.html). Mine is similar to this one except my burner uses old car brake parts. When mine's going really hot the flame is white as well. I can fine tune how hot it burns by either adjusting the oil or by adjusting the airflow. When I installed the blower on the end of the pipe I welded a onto the pipe, then spaced the blower away from the with a washer in each corner. This small space (about 1/16") allows me to throttle the air from the fan by sliding a piece of sheet metal in between the blower and the pipe.
I should note that my video above was taken shortly after the fire was lit, so it wasn't at its hottest. After running for an hour or so, with the air wide open and the oil valve at about 25%, I had white hot flames and bright orange rotors (and zero smoke). Next time I light it I'll have to take a video of it when it's REALLY hot. The nice thing with forced induction is that it burns so hot and clean there is no ash left over. I've only cleaned the burner once, and the soot I removed wouldn't have filled a teacup.
I actually have the complete magazine article from the original Mother earth News magazine. An old guy I know had it and I scanned it out of the magazine, which was from the mid 70's. Next time I have access to high speed I'll have to upload it.
My father was concerned that this stove could be unsafe, but I fail to see how it could be. When the stove was burning wood, if it ever got out of hand (say, a chimney fire) you'd be stuck waiting for the wood inside to burn up. With oil, if it ever got out of hand I just turn the valve off and within a few minutes the oil in the stove is burned up. Similarly, when I'm done working in the garage I can turn off the oil and know the fire will go out shortly (or I can turn it off about 10 minutes before finishing and it'll be out by the time I'm done), whereas with a wood stove I have to leave it burning until the wood is gone.
I have decided to call this a prototype design, by the way. I will build a new burner assembly next year that addresses some shortcomings of this one. The brake drum is too small, not deep enough. A Cherokee drum should fix that issue nicely. Also, the air induction pipe is ugly, having been made using old s exhaust parts, so I'll have to make a new one up using shiny new paint. I will also not bolt the top rotor down, rather I will just set it over the studs and let gravity hold it down to make cleaning easier. And finally, I will have a second, smaller tank holding furnace oil and a T-fitting into the existing oil line so I can add furnace oil to start the fire without having to dump it into the drum, which is a PITA.
One more possibility is to add a metal shroud around the stove itself about 1" from the stove body and force air through it with a second fan so that the hot air is forced out into the garage...
Here's a better photo of the glowing rotor, you can just make out that it's glowing here in this cellphone pic but it's really quite bright to see it in person.
Good tips...I WILL surely as hell be doing something like this in the summer...I can deal with a dirt floor, but I need heat for what I've got planned.
Pretty cool you shared your diagram. :bowdown::D
Umm...I wonder if a drum from the back of a 92 ford truck would work?...I have a coupla those :hick:
that works great, we use a wood stove now in the shop, i have a fan holder with maybe 24" steel fan hanging from it maybe 12" from the heater with a shroud made of aluminum plate forcing it around the heater and out the other side. just the 2 plates guiding the air around it heats up the space faster and more evenly. instead of having a hot spot and everything else being chilly the entire side of the garage gets toasty and fast. even with out the plates and just the fan blowing on the outside of it it heats up quicker. defiantly a good investment.
dont over complicate it,, do what i did.
mount your blower motor on the wall and let the air blow directly on the tank which will do exactly what you are asking.
I currently do this with my wood burner.
I cant wait to hear more about the lessons your learning about the flow rate. do you know what i mean about the needle in the oil adjustment valve?
good idea on not bolting the top rotor down,, wondered why you did that in the first place.
This would not be an unsafe application in a home to tell you the truth.
the problem with these things are that they produce too much heat.
an old hot water tank or a diy welded stell plate box would be the best.
Beware of newer hot water tanks,, they arent the PSI rating of the ones like made in the 70's / 80's.
Mine three fourths as thick as a pencil if not more. Wayyy good nuff for this kind of stuff.
I know exactly what you mean about the needle valve. That's another mod that will be made next year. I have a ball valve in there now and it's very difficult to get the flow right, especially when cold. I've actually had the brake drum overflow, which is one of the reasons I want a deeper drum.
The wood stove I've got this installed in is 1/4" thick plate steel, so burn through won't be an issue.
Truthfully, the only reason I don't have this installed in the house is that it's too ugly. Some day I will have a pretty one inside the house. Now I'm working as a mechanic again I have access to all the waste oil I need...
the sign at the end of my driveway says "free oil changes, parts on you"
1qt an hour eh,,compared to what temperature? Id like to do some real efficiency numbers on this,,although its probably already done.
when you burn,, do you have to leave the damper open,,? sounds like a stupid question but i would imagine not with forced air.
i was wondering if smoke got out the damper hole or is it all sealed.
Once the fire is nice and hot I leave the damper closed. Until then I leave it open, but just so I can keep an eye on it to make sure it's not getting too much oil and spilling over the drum. Once it's hot that's not an issue, as the extra oil will burn off anyway. I also close the chimney draft (to keep the heat inside the stove). No smoke comes out of the damper at all - in fact, when the fire isn't quite hot and is smoking you can actually see where clean air is being drawn into the damper.
That 1 quart an hour figure is based on the extremely scientific method of "when it gets really hot" :D I've never measured the temperature, but when it's going so hot that you can't stand to be near it, that's when it's burning a quart an hour.
OK, I cleaned the burner today and while doing so I made some minor modifications. I only put half as much crushed tile into the drum (reduces risk of overflowing) and I reinstalled the top rotor upside down (makes it easier to light, also makes it easier to see how the fire is burning).
I think the extra air space afforded by the higher rotor and lower crushed tile makes it burn much hotter, too. At least it seems like it.
New vid: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hjKP4b6jeVU
And this one shows the chimney, which as you can see is emitting no smoke:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t04Kz_gBdfs
i really dont like you much:mad: actually, wish i had time to do mine.,, Oh well yours looks good and i envy all your heat your making in a clean manner.
what a flame you got there for sure,, the tiles seems to make a more white flame.
kudos!!!!!!!
That thing is awesome. I Like your design.