Making an insulated rocket stove hot water system

[@tobychenderson]

You're the neatest welder I've ever seen on KZbin.

[@Kashed]

Yes nice welds. 6061 is the best welder I have ever seen. He is like a robot. Unbelievable welds.

[@joshlego4775]

He's laywire pulsing stainless dude its not hard. X D at all.

[@r.b.ratieta6111]

The Rescuers Down Under reference "I didn't make it all the way through third grade for nothing" is pure gold, especially from an Australian.

[@IAMSatisfied]

I always appreciate your work, both with metal and video documentation. We need more folks like you in the world. 😃

[@LittleAussieRockets]

Wow, thank you!

[@evievanalphen2654]

​@@LittleAussieRockets❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤qqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqq❤❤❤❤

[@dominicperez7841]

If you would of used a copper coil 3/4 and used propane would of been a simple build /but you can also use wood fire

[@colinsmith6340]

The only thing i could think of to get more thermal transfer is to put some fins on the inside of the vertical pipe. You only have a flat surface there so a lot of the heat is leaving the stove without impacting the water temperature at all. So basically a heatsink in reverse. Stainless is a terrible thermal conductor, so anything added to increase surface area of fire exhaust to stainless to the water would increase its thermal efficiency. You basically want the exhaust to come out as cool as possible, treating the water as "liquid cooling the exhaust".

[@ObservationofLimits]

Dude was edgefinding with that tiny tip on round corners. I think you went above his skill level there.

[@codealkina2765]

That's very cool.. An improved version for better application

[@MARS-GREENH0USE]

Dude you do realize he started the wood on fire somewhere else, then stuffed them in this unit.

[@colinsmith6340]

@@MARS-GREENH0USE so? I am talking about the fire giving heat to the water.

[@Dante4F8]

Or fill it with steel wool.

[@Reaper4367]

The combination of your skills, humor, editing and 'enthusiasm makes for entertaining and informative viewing. Great stuff. Cheers for sharing.

[@xyic0re714]

appreciate all the work you put into filming this and sharing it with YT, living vicariously.

[@CPaulCounts]

You've always been fun to watch but you've stepped up the entertainment value and it works.

[@jbyeats]

I assume you are a professional welder - but given that - your work is superb . It is very satisfying & calming to watch . First class in every way .

[@johngalt969]

Finally someone who uses cut off discs down to the nub like the rest of us do! None of this throwing it away after a quarter inch has gone nonsense!

[@cyotedude]

Great build. I really enjoyed your process, your skill and the design. I appreciate that you went back and completed the ash diverter. Good for you your wife has such integrity to encourage the remedy. When I was younger I had this skill set, I should revive it.

[@michaeltichael]

If I lived in Australia, I'd love to buy a unit. Well built and a pleasure to watch. All the best from Indonesia.

[@lenlemaic7849]

Its a pleasure to watch a professional metalworker doing his craft. Thank you for posting this educational clip.

[@johndunn9819]

You Sir, are a scholar and a gentleman. And a fine designer and craftsman. 👍

[@TheZombieSaints]

Jeez those tig beads are bloody perfect mate! Great stove, I really enjoy watching these. Keep it up 👍👍

[@86jaredeames86]

Awesome project! Those welds are a thing of beauty!

[@davidjones8680]

42 years ago I wrapped as much 3/8" microbore copper pipe as possible tightly around the circular 6" steel chimney pipe coming out of the top of our home made woodburning stove/cooker. In all I covered the whole 30 inches of the chimney pipe before it turned and went through the wall. I plumbed the copper pipe into the indirect side of our copper hot water tank in the bathroom which was directly above the kitchen. After successful initial trials I then insulated the copper pipe, but had to remove it soon after because it was then producing too much hot water and it was venting into the expansion tank. It has since given us all the hot water we have ever needed, and for no extra cost.

[@Firefly-dy5zc]

Excellent work! I also really like that you show your mistakes and then you show how you fixed them. You have a new subscriber!

[@jaminthevanuk296]

As an enginee4 and designer I'm miles behind you what a talent and artist .thank you son.. Mike Scotland

[@matthewb8229]

I realize this vid is a year old, but still. I'm watching, and think, "There is NO WAY I could build this." Then you burn a milling bit, then snap one, I think, "Now THAT I could do." And the music while you were bending the base plate...found myself bobbing my head along with it, and laughing to myself about it. What an entertaining video!

[@volvojeck7825]

Ein wahrer Meister seines Faches. Meine tiefste Verehrung!! Auch die Videodokumentation ist vorbildlich. Es gibt viel zu lernen von diesem Mann.

[@LittleAussieRockets]

Thank you 👍

[@johnbrewer2206]

That is some expert level bead work; really tight pattern. You sir are a prolific welder!

[@dangerx7697]

Some of the best welding I've ever seen..... looks like it was done robotically it's so neat and precise

[@JonahX-ui9tf]

Excellent build, I was a toolmaker 30 years ago in aircraft manufacturing and your skills are as good. To increase heat transfer more surface area within the box section, fins for example, however, the down side to that is the drag on the water flow, which means the need to pump the water through it on a slow flow rate, it’s a balance as the slower flow, will increase the heat and that will increase the pressure, so a low flow pump could help with more even heat distribution into the water.

[@frankiepezzolla]

Beautiful, just beautiful.. you are amazingly talented my friend.

[@splashpit]

For the first four years of my working life I made wood fired boilers for domestic and commercial use , it’s interesting that we are gravitating back to this old tek . My first home had a briquette HWS

[@mb106429]

New tec is designed to create economic churn (servicing costs and sparebparts sales....) and a paper trail And be a bit complicated so the owner doesn't understand it, so they voulantarily throw it away and buy a new one when they're 'advised' to

[@barthanes1]

I've made another observation of your setup. It would be more efficient to use convection currents to your advantage. Plumb the top of the heat exchanger to the bottom of the tank, and plumb the top of the tank to the bottom of the heat exchanger. This lets the hot water rise through the tank setting up convection currents, and heating the whole tank of water more evenly. As you have it in the video it is just heating the water in the tank from the top down.

[@stevenstart8728]

It's the heater that creates the convection. Heat rises in the heat exchanger and rises to the top of the hot water unit as it cools in the unit it sinks to the bottom and repeats. Your method would require an electric pump. The way he has it plumbed is as old as hot water itself.

[@no-expert]

That’s something I asked my grandpa when he was working on his hot water tank. So I get where the intuition comes from :D His answer was that you WANT your water to be layered. Hot on top and cold in the bottom. That way you can extract hot water after a short time. Otherwise it would require the whole tank wich is constantly stirred by convection to heat up to your desired temperature which takes a lot more energy and time. Also the heat loss through the insulation of the tank is less when hot water is only at the top, because the hot water is touching less surface area until the whole tank is heated up. So the idea here is to heat the tank from top to bottom for better household usability rather than perfect mixing. Hope that makes sense :)

[@trif55]

The guy is an extremely skilled draftsman and fabricator but the science is lacking. I came here to say the same thing about his 60C being just the water at the top. Also the lack of all around heat exchanger/surface area. @@no-expert it really depends what you want to do, if you want some hot water quickly, this setup will do that as your grandpa, but it won't heat the whole tank, at which point, why have such a big tank? Generally large tanks have 2 immersion heaters, the main one is in the bottom and ensures the whole tank reaches temperature, there's then a top "boost" heater for if you've run out or nearly run out of hot water, it'll quickly give you enough hot water for a shower etc. I'm going to assume the intention of this video was to show how quickly it could heat a whole tank and from there calculate it's power output, but he didn't do any of that sadly

[@stevenstart8728]

@@trif55 science is there plain as day. Hot water rises in the heat exchanger and continues to the top of the tank. As it cools in the tank it sinks lower and lower and gets to go through the heat exchanger again. The bottom of the tank may only be 1 or 2 c lower than the top and the circulation will continue. The top of the heat exchanger has to be below the top of the tank. The science is heat rises cold sinks. It’s not hard to figure out. Every old farm house with a wood stove used this method of hot water for ever. The hot water unit is in the ceiling above the wood stove. The stove has a small water jacket in the fire wall. This is a very common method of hot water in the Aussie outback at shearer’s quarters and wool sheds where power supply is limited or non existent. We call these heaters a “donkey”. This method gives you an unlimited supply of hot water for a large family without the utilities cost. Haven’t you ever noticed that the cold mains water enters your water tank at the bottom and the hot water comes out the top and then to the tap.

[@trif55]

@@stevenstart8728 yea I see what you mean, I know how hot water stratifies in an internally heated hot tank, that's cold inlet at the bottom and hot out the top obviously, but the "heating element" is always at the bottom, and I was basing my thoughts on how a liquid heating element, as in gas central heating system, with a storage tank, has the heat source at the bottom and I think the hot inlet for that is at the very bottom, but of course that's a pumped supply as well) I see now as long as the two bodies communicate freely and the stove/heater is the lowest point the cold water will flow down the lower pipe it and the hot exhausts into the top of the tank, basically flowing the opposite way to how I invisioned, which is why I thought the pipes would need to cross, so the hot water from the stove flows into the bottom of the tank, like central heating

[@SergeBourbonnais]

I really apreciate to see you working in your shop I ´m building my own machineries and I know what it is I like to see you working Great talent person Thank you for your vedeo😊😊😊 You are a very accurate and fast worker

[@CavortingCow]

I love the music in this video. It has such a retro feel. And your welds are quite pretty.

[@apiatatapine8011]

fantastic video work, imagery, explanations and visual shots of the work. Great to watch on it's own. Awesome including the alterations, errors and solutions...

[@gungho6798]

A master of your trade mate. Nice workmanship. I own a machine shop and I relish good engineering and workmanship. Well done.

[@ArtisanCustoms]

VERY NICELY DONE SIR! as a fabricatior i can say this is premo. I have cheaply played around with my own versions of fire powered water heaters but this is straight to the business. ill have to model my next one off of this for sure. Well done

[@glumpy10]

This is surprisingly powerful! To take 80L of water from 30 to 70C in 1.2 Hours is an energy input of 2.7Kw. Total energy input is about 3.7 KWH. TBH looking at it I would have never thought it would do that. Figures don't lie however and I'd say that's a fantastic result. I think some sort of baffles in the riser of the burn chamber to pusht the hot gasses out to the sides would help transfer with more heat and efficiency but putting the pipes across to break up the boundary layer gasses was a great idea. VERY well done. Good and useful amount of heating power here .

[@justkelly6992]

I always love watching a craftsman ply their trades. Excellent job. I have a rocket stove..........Well not really. When I want hot water I put a 2.5 Gallon pail of water on top of the woodstove, in about 15 minutes I have water that is near boiling and I just take it off and use it. Same when camping, put it next to the fire and let it sit. I think rocket stoves are cool and I will eventually make one.

[@edmundochaparro-barriguete1215]

What an amazing gift you've gotten. Congratulations

[@kavehhakimi6485]

Real pleasure to watch you working, your wife is right, keep going on, UR the best!

[@heshworksbetter2777]

So glad I found this channel, even if it were for only the way you edit your vids, totally worth it!

[@Deltakitty32780]

I think I’m in love at first I was thinking it was over engineering but now I can see it’s a work of art it’s beautifully designed

[@TRAVISGOLDIE]

This is definitely the best video for content and production values you’ve done so far, LOVE IT

[@LittleAussieRockets]

Glad you enjoy it!

[@johnbrewer2206]

That was a great video, from start to finish great work on the video itself and great work on the rocker stove

[@jamess1787]

Ive had my EMU a couple years. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 10/10 Highly recommend. Its a fantastic edition to the back yard. Lets me turn my apple-tree branches/twigs into summer night fires the family, roast a couple marsh mellows; or just enjoy the heat. Little mess, lots of heat, and just an enjoyable time. Worth every dollar. Dont need to cook on it, can use it on a balcony or backyard. Amazing.

[@moirarussell1950]

Why didn’t this ever come up on my search before!! Thankyou for sharing and wow are you good! Subscribed now. Would’ve been years ago if I’d found this.

[@LittleAussieRockets]

Wow thank you 👍♥️

[@waynethomas3638]

I always keep the leftover discs for small space cutting and fine grinding! Also I approve of the music choice and volume!😀

[@LittleAussieRockets]

Thanks that's great feedback 👍

[@aliasaila8818]

When cutting or milling stainless always use water for cooling only! The stove came out very fine. Good work man!

[@LittleAussieRockets]

I will get that a go

[@RobRobertson1000]

Reminds me of grandpa's old chip heater - so efficient!

[@stuffbywoody5497]

That's a really nice build. I like that one. Better than I thought it would be. Makes me want to start playing around again.

[@robertedwards1240]

Such beautiful welds. And the free-hand drill bit sharpening is especially nice.

[@spiritburners]

only real engineers can do that, takes a5 year apprenticeship to learn, he's a great engineer.

[@jamesdim]

I'm always looking forward to your videos. This is a great design which I'm sure you'll improve even more! Your progress is amazing. Your first designs looked more diy but you're now better than factory!

[@ryanmcbride1717]

You got some real sheet metal skills! You can see your attention to detail.

[@markpearson9762]

fantastic workmanship, really well done

[@itsamindgame9198]

I always enjoy it when you put a little TOT in your videos. Just a little, but the flavour is still yours. And "not happy, Jan" is such a nice touch. I am definitely interested in one of these. As a bonus, I am local! 🙂 We have a bush block out at Leyburn that needs a hot water system of some sort, and I was thinking of a donkey, but this would be much better.

[@LittleAussieRockets]

I do want to develop this one to be more production friendly. I still have some modifications I would like to try to improve it even more. Thanks for watching and for your compliments. I'm a huge fan of ToT, But I could never be nor should I even try to carbon copy his work. It just wouldn't be cricket.

[@itsamindgame9198]

I think TOT is a bit rare for an American in not taking himself to seriously. Probably something we can identify with down here. I am a bit in awe of your technical skills (I can kind-of bodge-weld with a mig, but it isn't pretty). I can see that in what you do - that you know your skill but you aren't boasting about it but simply using it to make your best while not being precious about having to look personally perfect. If you ever need prototypes break-tested, I am happy to volunteer. 😁

[@AndrewDanne]

You sure do have some skills. Nice metal work and touch control and bead flow.

[@LittleAussieRockets]

Thank you very much 👍

[@699hazard]

Great build! If you wanted it to heat the water faster you could put a thermostat valve on the outlet so the tank holds the water till it gets to your desired temp then let's the hot water out repeating the process

[@Tecnitalia55.]

Your video is nice. But without a doubt I believe that the system that uses COMPRESSED AIR as fuel is better. YES YES exactly like that. You read very well. Remember that the flame always heats faster than any other form they would have you believe. Then click on the round image next to the message where Tecnitalia55 is written. And you will enter my page where you can see many of my creations, including the stove that BURN COMPRESSED AIR. Leave a message are welcome. And if you liked it, let me know about my page. Sorry but it's in Italian. Thank you.

[@WilliamCheung-h2c]

Nice wieldings seams, PS I know nothing about metal work but watching you work is fun, thank you.

[@Brian-lb3zo]

I wish I had a shop like you, but I do have white pepper. That will work! Thanks for the tip!

[@007lukeskywalker]

Your welding is 100%. good project and thanks for sharing

[@alwoolhouse6255]

Truly beautiful workmanship, you sir are a craftsman.

[@popcornshiner3937]

I am impressed by this new hot water system and can see a lot of possibilities , the results are very good, looking forward to updates.

[@gibs7831]

Excellent fabrication skills! Love the humor! Keep up the good work!😊

[@NoneOfyourbusiness-ob2yz]

Really nice build, pleasure to watch you. I love these type of projects.

[@l0I0I0I0]

Nice! In another vid they used a fish bubbler to prevent stratification of water temps in the water tank. Of course it needs to be high temp design. GJ mate!

[@joeland7967]

Your a real craftsman. Amazing work !

[@williameldridge9382]

I'm not a welder, but I've seen a lot of welds in my day. A lot of what I've done in my life has relied on quality welds. Those welds are CLEAN. Unless you're somehow doing some video editing/AI magic, they are VERY impressive.

[@noimagination99]

The most beautiful hand TIG welds I've seen on the interwebs! Very nice, and great project too!

[@stevebrown1461]

Clever! This needs to be on the market for small/tiny homes.

[@nicholasheary7364]

I enjoy watching you build your stoves and you definitely stepped it up. I’d like one of you hot water rocket heaters.

[@rl4889]

250 dollars plus 50 shipping, and every use you have to build a fire. Also it has to be in a location to allow the fire safely. When you can just buy an on demand water heater for 160 bucks. And put it under the sink or by the shower

[@ZGoddessLola]

Glad to see you posting again 😊❤

[@mikeconnery4652]

Excellent work and an awesome production.

[@LittleAussieRockets]

Glad you enjoyed it.

[@Boogie0312]

Nice craftsmanship. I don't think I could rebuild this project but I liked watching you to approach all the individual steps. Your welding lines look awesome.

[@higherstandardspc]

You are a Master of the craft, awesome video, on another level.

[@TheSnuggla]

That looks great, can't wait to see them in your shop

[@bogdangeorgefolea7802]

magnificent welding man! you really know your metal craft

[@leigao6120]

Amazing welding skills and excellent craftsmanship.

[@LittleAussieRockets]

Thanks mate, I've been blessed to have worked in industries that allowed me to develop these skills.

[@rronmar]

Beautiful workmanship! Thermosiphon is cool, but it does not like horizontal runs or drooping lines. If the heat collector was configured so its line exited the top of the sidearm box and went up thru the chimney at as steep an angle as possible, this would insure no air pockets(more water in contact with metal) and with no drooping in the line up to the top of the tank, it will flow much faster. What faster flow gets you is cooler water in the heat collector sidearm, which = greater delta and overall faster heat transfer to the water. Heat transfer is mainly about temp difference and surface area. The pipe being cool at the bottom means the tank has not completely heated and still has cool fluid at the bottom. Since the tank heats top down, Are you measuring water temp at the bottom of the tank also? Gauging average water tank rise(difference between top and bottom tank temp) in an hour can get you average BTU/hr collected, compared with weight and type fuel used in an hour can get you BTU burnt to gauge overall heater efficiency… if I were doing this to heat a water tank, I think I would build it right alongside the tank and plumb it to angled fittings no less than 45 deg up into the top port of the tank. This would allow for a heatex that is longer. You could also add vertical fins welded to the inner wall of the heatex/chimney wall for additional surface area. And you could add some small spot welds to creat turbulence/breakup laminar flow(improve transfer efficiency)…

[@cybercamp2900]

I clearly see your designs improving Along with your shop expanding I hope your beautiful family is well As your hand/machine skills are honed 🙏🏻👍🏻

[@signsbystu]

I was listening to the songs and following along and I knew the songs, I have listened to this music for hours, I was like I know this from somewhere instantly, RIMWORLD! lol thats awesome. Also the build was cool.

[@eliasandersson413]

Nice build! Looks really good!

[@spiritburners]

👋👋👋You make great rocket stoves but you're really a bloody good engineer under that Aussie skin !! Praise from a Pom !!!👋👋👋

[@IRONREBELLION]

I would love love love! a break down video that goes over all of the versions you have made so far and why you changed the designs for each, what went wrong with each and how you ended up at this final design. kinda just an overview of the evolution from your trial and error. I would like to take your findings and take it in my own direction.

[@DT-jz3wn]

Awesome video! Since you're using convection and no pump.... But if you did use a pump, flow direction can help depending on heating or cooling. Ideally you would want to draw from the bottom as the outlet and inlet at the top. Sometimes convection can reverse this but the idea with flow from the bottom will produce a hotter temperature. The top inlet begins to heat the water and as the temp rises you get closer to the hottest thermal source.

[@cannibalcarl8512]

Very nice,You are a top notch mechanic

[@kalleklp7291]

Nice build! Also, nice TIG welding...it's so good to see a guy that can actually TIG weld stainless. :) Seems the heat convection works quite well as you can touch the bottom pipe but not the top one. About 1 hour to heat 80 liters of water is fine...and without using one watt of electricity for any pump.

[@HitokiriRaiden]

My grandfather built something pretty similar in the late 40s after he returned from ww2 for the old homestead he was building, and it worked so well that he never really changed it out till the early 90s mainly because my grandmother wanted something a bit easier, but still kept it as a back up when the power would go off. Its definitely a handy little set up for sure.

[@Tony-op6xf]

First time visiting your channel and I must say you are one talented Craftsman/ engineer. Subbed!!

[@nickdoyle4136]

nice hand grinding skills ,this guy could build anything

[@linuxman0]

This is a very nice build and you can put a grate on top for a fry pan and cook food.

[@zsoltbarko8599]

Nagyon szép munka! Pont valami ilyesmin gondolkodtam. És itt van! Tudom kombinálni... Köszönöm! További sok sikert! 👍

[@cliverudman7264]

Great job and video! removable attachment to accommodate a pot for cooking on top would be a great addition. And then if you wanted to get ridiculous, an automated wood pellet feeder for prolonged heating.😁😁 As a grate, i just welded 8mm SS round bar 15mm apart for ash to fall through, worked a treat.

[@chemicalvamp]

3:14 welds looking damn good. And as we all know, the inside corners are the most important. Tough to sand/grind. You have a void/bubble on the outside edge, but even if you drop another bead over that, you can easily reach it. So yeah.. Noice

[@user-yq7rf1lb7s]

You are a true craftsman, I am interested in purchasing one of these units and live in Australia..

[@LittleAussieRockets]

I will be working on a production friendly version early next year at this stage though it might happen sooner. It all depends on our workload. 👍

[@peterweller8583]

What can I say quality work, nice shop.

[@KeikoMushi]

Nice fabrication work. It also demonstrates that each bit of workshop contends with wear and tear over time. As such, you'll always need spares of perishables such as drill bits and sanding pads. Stuff can also break on occasional, such as a certain air compressor component that hubby and I got from Bunnings years ago.

[@dougsinclair3596]

Absolutely fantastic welding! I'm impressed!!!

[@LittleAussieRockets]

Thank you very much!

[@everythingtv1910]

a beautiful effort and a smart idea. I applaud you for it . But it requires some modifications such as adding a thermostat, a temperature indicator, and distributing heat via a fan. any innovation needs development to be more effective. thank you for making the video available for viewing and I wish you continued success

[@ianmoore525]

Many years ago I modified a 30 gallon hws to be heated by my semi combustion stove, when it was cranking the water in the tank would boil fairly violently. I was told that I had the heated water inlet too high. Looks like yours is noticeably higher than mine was. Good job

[@LittleAussieRockets]

Good to know. Thank you

[@ianmoore525]

@@LittleAussieRockets I didn’t actually make the mods to lower the inlet pipe. So that is unproven advice. I’d already had the 3/4” pipes brazed into the tank.

[@MichaelMcClelland1]

That sheet metal cutter is amazing. I also like the way you overlap things for easy assembly. I would have spent way too much time on perfect fits to minimize material use, but your way is easier to adjust your final part, stronger, and only uses a minuscule amount more material.

[@LittleAussieRockets]

Thanks 👍 I used to build toolboxes for a living and these are the same production techniques we used in that line.

[@stuartwilliams1790]

You do nice work, if you investigate types of steam engine boilers you will find what is known as Hedgehoged boilers, where you have the teow pipes passing through the chimney if you weld 10mmish solid bar through the water jacket and into the boiler you'll be able to harvest more heat from the flue gasses and flames

[@reginalynn9856]

Fantastic build. 👍 Your subscribers offer great suggestions, bravo everyone.👏

[@ThejaBreLoL]

You, Sir, are a prime craftsman!

[@victoryfirst2878]

So nice to see you on again fella. Keep up the great work too !!!!! I hope I can get my rocket stove working to my liking. Still have some way to go fella. Peace vf

[@LittleAussieRockets]

Much appreciated

[@victoryfirst2878]

@@LittleAussieRockets I am wondering if you could make me a stove for winter ?? Thanks fella and peace too. vf

[@noonehere1793]

Those are some beautiful welds!👍👍