I was an old subscriber to the MEN (mother earth news) back when the rag first started. This is where I learned about savonious rotors, digesters and a whole bunch of alternate energy stuff. Well, I moved to Florida back in 1980, and really didn't need all that then, but now I live in Arkansas and let me tell ya...it's a bit colder here. Well, still being into the alternate energy stuff, I got tired of cutting the tree, chopping the tree, splitting the logs, carrying the logs, stacking the logs, carting in the logs, burning the logs, and emptying the stove. Not to mention having to sit around in yer jockey shorts and having a boiling pan of water on the stove because you can't regulate the heat output worth a hoot without alot of expense and besides...cleaning the chimney isn't all that much fun either. Well... along came the idea of making the waste oil burning stove. Since I was already making my wood stoves out of old hot water heaters, I had a source for them. I downloaded that brief article from the old MEN article and built my version of that stove. Let me tell ya, I'm STILL sitting around in my jocky shorts cause it gets so hot, but have learned a few things from it as well. First, that burner design lends itself to oil being splashed out into the sand bed and it clogs up the holes in the burner. It doesn't go too long before you have to rip it apart and clean it up to get it working again. The longer you let it go, the more fuel it uses and smokes like the dickens. Well, I looked for other designs without much luck. I saw a few variations on the subject, (like Bruce from Canada's and others) but for the most part found lots of professionally made devices for sale, but the price tag was way above what I wanted to spend. I'm kind of a cheapskake when it comes to this stuff. I figure if I can't build it out of bailing wire and bubble gum wrappers, it ain't worth building. I have done a small windplant using a servomotor, but the wind quality around here is the reason my sailboat is still in Florida. But I still like to tinker with it. Seems that when you need the heat the most in the winter is when the wind starts to howl... (Imagine that) So now, when it howls, I put the output across some heating coils with a little muffin fan blowing the hot air out. Anyway, back to oil...I came up with a much better design on that burner, but the only downside to it is that it needs forced air. Do you want to know how many GM cars that are in my local junk yard without the heater motors in them now? (Heh heh) They work perfectly!!! This design starts up without smoking, and runs without smoking, and burns extremely hot. The original intent of just sipping oil has been kept foremost in my design also. I get my oil at the local jiffy lube for next to nothing, and with this design, am burning some old peanut oil in it too! Smells so good you want to keep the door open. Bottom line is to see if anyone is interested in pictures or a write up on the burner or the water heat exchanger stove I built to heat my pool water. If you built one of those original MEN design stoves, this will help you. You can reach me at snipped-for-privacy@aol.com or.. i'll be watching this board. Thanx... rj
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19 years ago