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Forum Index : Other Stuff : Made a pot belly stove.
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Gizmo Admin Group  Joined: 05/06/2004 Location: AustraliaPosts: 5012 |
It gets cold here. Well, for someone who spent the last 40 years living in the tropics, it does. Minus 5c some nights. I noticed most of the neighbours had a wood stove, and my home didn't, so decided to make one. My little pot belly is based on a 9kg gas bottle. After I started building it I picked up a 15kg bottle, which would have been better, but I'll stick with the 9kg for now. 
I carefully removed the gas fitting and let it vent for a week, then filled it with water and cut out the door with a cutting disc. 
I then cut off the handle, as this bottle would be used upside down, and cut holes for the ash pit and chimney. Welded on 3 legs, other fittngs and the air inlet pipe. 
The ash is collected in a saucepan, which is easily removed. 
Air inlet is via a 40mm pipe that sits under the grate. The grates can be removed if needed. 
Air is regulated with a home made valve. 
The door latch pulls the door tight shut. 
The stove sits on a steel frame supporting 4 400mm square concrete pathers. 
Behind the stove to protect the wall from heat is a barrier made from two sheets of miniorb. It has a hinge in the middle, so can be folded up and packed away in summer if I want. In fact the whole stove can be removed in about 5 minutes if I want to reclain that room corner in summer, nothing is too heavy for one person. Chimney is 100mm, 1.6mm wall stainless steel tube. I found stainless tube is cheaper than exhaust tube of this size. I also bought a stainless 90 degree bend to keep it pretty. 
In my situation is was easier to go out through a wall, much easier. I fabricated a 3 layer wall flange from 2mm mild steel. Outside the chimney becomes a T piece, easier to mount. The cap is a stainless steel kitchen mixing bowl and extends 1.5 meters above the gutter. 
The stove works pretty well. Air control is good, I can adjust it from a roaring fire to smoldering. The only changes I want to make are to the chimney cap and the door. If the winds are strong and from the same side of the house as the chimney, the cap acts like a funnel and forces smoke back down the chimney. Only happens on windy days, but I will modify the cap next summer to see if I can fix it. I would also like to see whats going on inside the stove, so will add a glass window to the door. 
Glenn The best time to plant a tree was twenty years ago, the second best time is right now. JAQ |
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| greybeard Senior Member  Joined: 04/01/2010 Location: AustraliaPosts: 157 |
Nice 
Mean handle on the door of it though  |
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| M Del Senior Member Joined: 09/04/2012 Location: AustraliaPosts: 155 |
Nice use of a throw away item. 
Have you put any thought into installing an air intake from under the house? The difference in output can be surprising when you are not using room air in the fire. It is a lot more potable than the welded truck rim ones we made years ago. Nearly need a forklift for some of them. Mark |
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| govertical Guru  Joined: 11/12/2008 Location: United StatesPosts: 383 |
Super job, thanks for posting. just because your a GURU or forum administer does not mean your always correct :) |
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Downwind Guru Joined: 09/09/2009 Location: AustraliaPosts: 2333 |
Nice work. You could try adding a lightweight butterfly flap to the bottom leg of the flue tee outside, this may allow any wind back draft to vent. (or even leave it part open ended) Although wind back flow is normally a result of design error, of several areas, 1 being the flue is too large in Dia for the emissions of the fire. Basically the emission flow is too slow due to the area of flue, and it stalls easy. Doing above suggestion may cause other problems like lack of upward draft effecting the situation mentioned below. Then there is the horizontal section of flue through the wall that will cause stall to the flow. Yes hot air rises but perhaps best viewed as.. if you let a small helium balloon go up the flue would it make it outside, and what forces are required to push it outside. Normally one would try to maintain no less than 45 degrees with flue angles to assist with emission flow. Albeit any fire is a good warm on a cold night. Sometimes it just works |
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| Gizmo Admin Group Joined: 05/06/2004 Location: AustraliaPosts: 5012 |
The light weight flap at the bottom of the outdoors section might be worth a go. I did try removing the bottom cap altogether but it made things worse, as there would be pressure on that side of the house. In summer I'll change the top cap to a H style, apparently they work well in windy locations. I did intend to exit at 45 degrees, but to clear the outside eve, the flue would need to exit the wall about 1 meter lower than it does, which would have looked bad, the flange would have been a lot harder to make, and wasted more heat. The smoke coming back in isn't that big a problem, only happens when the fire is low and its extra windy, but I would still like to sort it out. Mark I did intend to use outside air after reading an article about it in Renew magazine a few years back. One of the stove legs was going to be 2 inch pipe and go though the floor to use cool outside air. But I also wanted to keep this stove portable, and wasn't too keen on cutting a big hole in the floor. Glenn The best time to plant a tree was twenty years ago, the second best time is right now. JAQ |
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| M Del Senior Member Joined: 09/04/2012 Location: AustraliaPosts: 155 |
Hi Glenn, I noticed the window beside the heater, but from the picture it looks like a pivoted two piece that opens on hinges from each side and splits down the middle. Is that correct? If so another 2" hole in the wall suitably sealed would do the trick. If it is a slider of any sort a suitable insert would do the job. Run a plastic corro tube to the window/wall fitting and then you could run pipe down to a box under the house that way. Keeps the unit portable and less nuisance than a hole in the floor. Mark |
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| Phil23 Guru Joined: 27/03/2016 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1664 |
How about a Flue damper Glenn. My old Pot Belly had one & it burned overnight like a dream. The other thing it had was a Bi-metallic coil controlled air damper. Totally simple, very effective. 
Mind you, that could also be done with an MM + Servo and an IR temp sensor.....
Cheers Phil |
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| domwild Guru Joined: 16/12/2005 Location: AustraliaPosts: 873 |
Great work Glenn as usual! Give it a name please, I would call it R2D2! Coldest September in Perth since records began and we are heating day and night. Taxation as a means of achieving prosperity is like a man standing inside a bucket trying to lift himself up. Winston Churchill |
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| Georgen Guru Joined: 13/09/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 462 |
Media looks to be shy, or I missed the unpredicted and unexpected news. George |
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