Making a simple potbelly stove with your own hands
The basic design of a do-it-yourself potbelly stove consists of 4 parts:
- A fuel tank of arbitrary shape with a hole in the center, the diameter of which is equal to the corresponding size of the connected pipe. This is where the combustion starts. The metal for the manufacture of this structural element must have a thickness of at least 3 mm.
- Combustion chamber or injector, which is a vertical cylindrical container with a number of holes, connected through the hole to the tank. As a result of air supply through the perforated walls of the injector, the fuel that has entered the chamber burns out completely.
- Heat exchanger in the form of a tank located above the combustion chamber. A heated gas mixture enters it. The design can be of any size and shape. Ideally, this is a tank with a hollow platform on which food can be heated.
- Pipes for removal of a smoke providing effective draft.
To make a potbelly stove yourself, you need to have good welder skills. Welded seams must ensure tightness.
Production of a tank for mining
An unusable gas cylinder or a thick-walled canister can serve as an alternative to a welded tank, but in any case, 3 basic requirements are mandatory:
- The structure must be at least partially collapsible so that it can be periodically cleaned.
- The hole for connecting the injector must be located in the center.
- The hatch for pouring mining should be equipped with an adjusting damper on a bolted connection. With its help, the intensity of combustion is regulated.
It is easiest to make a tank from pipes of large diameter. The bottom and legs are welded to one piece of pipe with a diameter of about 35 cm. In order to close the tank, they take a small piece of pipe of a slightly larger diameter, weld a lid to it, then make 2 holes in it - one control with a diameter of approximately 60 mm, and the other for the injector.
The height of the side of the 2nd part should be 1/3 of the height of the lower container. The total height of the tank, measured from its bottom to the central hole on the lid, is 10-15 cm.
Ignite the fuel in the tank using paper or cloth soaked in kerosene. They are set on fire and lowered into the container through the control hole. Mining will have to be constantly topped up to maintain a level of 2/3 of the height of the tank.
How to make an injector?
The optimal pipe diameter for making an injector is 10 cm, the minimum wall thickness is 0.8 cm. To calculate its height, take the length of the chimney pipe, divide it by 10. Subtract five percent from the result and get the required value. It should be between 36 - 38 cm. This is a condition for normal traction.
Holes made in the walls of the pipe in a checkerboard pattern or simply evenly distributed over the surface have a diameter of 0.9 - 0.95 cm. Indentations of 2 - 2.5 cm and 5.5 - 6 cm are made from the bottom and top of the pipe, respectively.
Basic heat exchanger
The minimum wall thickness of the heat exchange tank is 0.3 cm. It is made using the same technology as the fuel tank. It is better to make the top flat, and the hole for the chimney must be moved, then it will be possible, if necessary, to put a frying pan or kettle on the stove.
A partition is made inside the hollow vessel, creating a labyrinth for better heat transfer. Moreover, the thicker this part, the hotter the surface of the potbelly stove will be. In order to clean the heat exchanger from soot, a special hatch is made on the side and closed with a lid.
A channel is welded onto the hole intended for the chimney - a pipe with a height of 5 to 10 cm and a diameter of 10 cm.
What is the chimney made of?
In order for the combustion products exiting through the pipe to have the lowest possible temperature, that part of the pipe that is in the room must be made of steel. Due to this, the smoke gives up its temperature to the walls of the chimney, cools, increasing the residual heat transfer.
An ordinary tin pipe can serve as a continuation of the chimney from the outside, but it will have to be insulated to prevent the accumulation of soot during the cold period. Thermally insulated pipe is the best option, but more expensive. Joints of pipe sections do not need to be sealed.
The pipes themselves can be of different diameters, but the one with a smaller diameter is connected directly to the furnace. And how to independently make a chimney for a potbelly stove, read on.
Operation and working principle
A do-it-yourself potbelly stove is the most affordable, easy-to-assemble and inexpensive-to-operate option, which is practically no different from the classic and well-known variation. The stove, the oil for which will only be used, will thereby allow you to save a lot of money, and in order for such a heating unit to start its work, the oil must be poured into a special compartment shaped like a pipe. Here it will burn out, and be converted into gas, which will pass further into the combustion chamber, and mix with air masses.
The combustion chamber of the gas formed during the combustion process is located in the upper part of the pipe, which such a heater is necessarily equipped with, and the speed and quality of heating directly depend on the dimensions of the combustion chamber of your potbelly stove. If the chamber is very large, you will need many times more fuel, but the intensity and speed of heating in this case will be at the highest level.
A potbelly stove, with which the garage will be heated intensively, quickly and evenly, initially allows the oil to burn out at sufficiently low temperatures, which rise significantly at the time of repeated burnout, already being gases and mixing with air. The maximum temperature of the exhaust gases in the second chamber can reach about 750-85 degrees, due to which the garage is heated, and additional thermal energy comes from the mounted chimney, the surface of which also warms up well and gives off heat.
The waste oil furnace consists of three main structural components, which you can learn more about below:
- The lowest compartment of the construction of a potbelly stove running on waste oil consists of a round tank, into which oil is poured, the optimal dimensions of this element will be a diameter of 3.5-4.5 centimeters. Such dimensions are enough for the poured oil to burn intensively and evenly give off heat to heat the garage;
- The second structural element of the waste oil stove is a tank in which re-burning is carried out, but not oil, but the resulting gases mixed with oxygen. The dimensions of this element are selected individually and can be equal to the first compartment, in the upper part of the second tank it is necessary to leave a slot, the hole that will go into the chimney;
- The third structural element of the stove for mining is a pipe that connects to the second chamber and has a diameter of only 1.5-2 centimeters, and in order for the exhaust gases to be saturated with oxygen, it is necessary to drill many small holes in such a pipe.
A potbelly stove, the drawing of which is thought out on your own or found on a specialized resource, will serve you for many years and will not fail if, at the initial stage, you familiarize yourself with the basic requirements and rules for the operation of such a heating unit.Used oil must be poured into the tank for it to the mark of ½-1/3, but not completely, since during the heating process it will boil and squirt, which can lead to its contact with flammable surfaces and fire. Also, after the oil has been used up, before using it in a potbelly stove, it is necessary to let it settle well for at least a few hours.
It is better to initially make the top of such a design removable, so that, if necessary, it is possible to carry out simple cleaning of the inner surface of the heating unit from combustion and decomposition products deposited on the walls. In order to remove decay products from a narrow chimney, you can use a special ruff with a long handle, as well as tapping, which will allow the accumulated soot to fall off.
Also, in order to extend the life of the potbelly stove using used oil, it is necessary to paint it after assembly with a special heat-resistant paint, which in the future will not allow the body to rot, deform, form rust and corrosion.
Features of furnaces using waste oil, their advantages and disadvantages
The mining furnace is a compact, economical unit
Furnaces that use used engine oil as fuel practically do not differ from other bourgeois stoves in terms of simplicity of design and unpretentiousness in manufacturing materials. As for the method of fuel combustion, the processes that take place in this case are associated with the characteristics of the fuel used.
First of all, it should be noted that modern engine oil is a multicomponent substance with a high content of chemical compounds. In the process of use, the lubricating fluid is additionally saturated with decomposition products of automotive fuel, as a result of which it becomes extremely dangerous for the environment.
Simple burning of mining in an open flame is inefficient and unacceptable - it burns unimportantly, forming acrid smoke, in which, in addition to soot, there are also various carcinogenic compounds. A completely different situation occurs with volatile hydrocarbons, into which automobile oil heated to a high temperature decomposes.
Gaseous substances are highly flammable and release a large amount of heat energy when burned.
Working out can be taken from friends or bought at a car service
Depending on the method of supplying used oil to the combustion zone, potbelly stoves are divided into several types:
- with pyrolysis combustion;
- using pressurization and fuel spraying;
- with drip feed.
The potbelly stove should not be taken as an oven designed exclusively for installation in small technical and utility rooms. With the help of heating devices equipped with an air collector or a water jacket, it is possible to build full-fledged heating systems for residential buildings.
Scheme of a furnace with a drip supply of waste oil
A wide range of home-made liquid fuel stoves, which starts with simple mobile stoves and ends with stationary heat generators, determines their use both in the household and in production. Today, equipment operating on used lubricants is heated by:
- residential buildings;
- car repair shops and garages;
- workshops of small industries;
- workshops;
- warehouses;
- vegetable stores and greenhouses.
Of course, the ideal option is the installation of liquid heat generators in car repair shops. This will allow not only to heat the premises for free, but also to further save money on the disposal of drained oil. Nevertheless, such a potbelly stove will also be useful in a small private garage - the cost of mining is much cheaper than other types of fuel.
Like any other home-made heat generator, a working furnace has its own advantages and disadvantages. The advantages of these structures include:
- low cost of fuel. Mining can be drained from your own car, taken from friends, or literally bought for next to nothing at car service stations;
- high heat transfer, which contributes to the rapid heating of the room immediately after ignition;
- Efficiency up to 90%;
- autonomy;
- work for a long time when installing volumetric fuel tanks;
- undemanding to the materials of manufacture;
- possibility of equipping with a water circuit or an air heat exchanger;
- ease of operation;
- disposal of fuel without the danger of environmental pollution.
If we talk about the minuses of the units working on mining, then they are inherent in all stoves. Firstly, it is the low heat capacity of the structure. The temperature in the room will begin to drop immediately after the flame goes out. Secondly, you will need to install a long chimney, which means that you will need to clean it much more often. Thirdly, the hot walls of the diffuser and heat exchanger do not allow installing the device directly in the house - you will need a special extension. It should also be noted that the use of liquid fuel increases the requirements for operational safety - you will need to be extremely careful and attentive.
Potbelly stove plus water circuit
Any home does not interfere with the presence of an emergency source of heat. An ordinary, but slightly modernized, potbelly stove can play its role. There are two ways to improve the stove - put a water jacket on the burner pipe or wrap its body with a coil of copper tubes.
The coils of the coil are placed at a distance of about 5 cm from the perforated body of the potbelly stove and connected to a common heating system. A reflective screen is installed around the coil. For its manufacture using sheet aluminum, galvanized steel, tin.
The water jacket is a tank on the upper chamber of the potbelly stove. There should be 2 fittings in its body - one for supplying and the other for draining water. In general, the design resembles a samovar. The volume of the water jacket depends on the length of the heating system and the way the coolant circulates.
If a pump is installed in the system, the volume of the tank is small, and with natural circulation it has impressive dimensions. To control the water parameters, a pressure gauge and a thermometer are installed on the tank.
How to convert a wood stove to run on liquid fuel
Often there is no need to manufacture a new heater, because a simple wood-fired potbelly stove has already been installed in the room. In order to be able to burn mining in it from time to time, the unit should be slightly redone. In this case, do it like this:
- a thick-walled metal bowl is attached to the bottom of the fuel chamber - it will serve as an evaporator;
- a hole is made in the side wall through which a nozzle is inserted into the furnace;
- at a small distance from the potbelly stove, an oil container is attached. Its height from the level of the firebox must be at least 1 m;
- a hose is drawn from the nozzle to the mining tank, on which a ball valve is mounted. It will regulate the supply of fuel to the combustion chamber.
As a potbelly stove evaporator, you can use a brake disc from a car, if you pre-weld the existing holes.
Wood stove converted to run on used car oil
Starting to ignite, a rag soaked in kerosene is placed in the bowl. After that, the mining feed is opened and the bookmark is set on fire. The oil will flow by gravity to the nozzle and drip onto the surface of the metal disc, gradually heating it to operating temperature. As soon as the bowl warms up to 400-450 ° C, the mining drops will instantly turn into gas, burning out with the release of a large amount of heat.
The principle of operation of the potbelly stove
The work of the potbelly stove is based on the phenomenon of pyrolysis.Such a furnace, where oil is used as fuel, has 2 main compartments: a tank and a combustion chamber located at different levels. The first is intended for pouring mining and its combustion.
In another compartment, located above, the afterburning of the combustion products of mining, mixed with air, takes place. At the first stage, the temperature is relatively moderate, and at the second stage it is much higher - up to 800⁰.
In the manufacture of such a furnace, the main task is to make sure that air enters both compartments. It enters the first chamber through an opening designed to load liquid fuel. The hole is equipped with a special damper, through which the volume of air supply is regulated.
Air access to the second tank is provided by holes with a diameter of about 9 mm. The efficiency of a properly assembled potbelly stove reaches 90%. Visually, different potbelly stoves can differ from each other in both shape and size, but the principle of operation is the same.
The power of the potbelly stove is proportional to the volume of the lower tank. The larger it is, the less often you have to add mining. Sometimes this container is made very massive, containing about 30 liters of used oil.
Main design features
Oil-based products are, first of all, attractive because this type of fuel is incredibly affordable and cheap. It accumulates in large quantities in the garage of almost every car owner. Therefore, it is often possible to obtain fuel in the required volume for free.
Potbelly stove can be purchased or created independently. Most often, people who already have this wood-burning stove want to make their own improvement, as a result of which mining itself will act as a fuel, or the sharing of these types of fuel is allowed.
In an oil-fired stove, the intensity of combustion can be adjusted, for which a neck cover located at the bottom of the structure is used. If there is a need to quickly heat up a cold room, this cover must be fully opened. To maintain the optimum temperature in the room, the lid must be ajar a few millimeters.
A mining product needs a specialized chimney, which has a lot of requirements. This is due to the fact that its height should be approximately 4 meters, and the diameter cannot be less than 10 cm. It is desirable that the horizontal parts be completely absent in the pipe. To get good traction and prevent the formation of condensate on the chimney, you need to do its insulation on the street with your own hands.
Creating a potbelly stove from a gas cylinder
Another version of the design of the furnace for mining is a self-made potbelly stove based on a 50-liter gas cylinder. In addition to this main element, you need to prepare 2 steel pipes with a wall of about 4 mm and a diameter of 10 cm. One of them will remove burning gases, and the second will act as a heat exchanger.
To this should be added a 4 mm steel sheet for a canopy above the heat exchanger and a partition separating the evaporator and combustion chamber. For the evaporation chamber itself, you will need a brake disc from a car with such a diameter that it effortlessly enters the cylinder. A piece of 0.5-inch pipe is needed to transport oil to the combustion chamber.
In addition, you should have in stock an equilateral steel angle with a shelf of 50 mm and a length of more than 1 m, a 0.5 inch valve, sealing clamps - 2 pcs., Hose, any cylinder equipped with a needle valve.
The work on creating a potbelly stove is performed in a certain order. First, the balloon is turned upside down and a small hole is drilled in it. A measure such as wetting the drill and the drilling site with oil will protect against sparking.
Free the container from gas condensate
Drain it carefully away from housing, because.its unpleasant odor lasts for a long time
Then the billet is filled with water, after which it is drained again, thus removing the remaining gas. Since the mixture is explosive, there must be no source of open flame nearby.
Cut out in the cylinder body 2 rectangles of the same width, equal to 1/3 of the diameter of the workpiece. The height of the lower rectangle is 20 cm, the second, located 5 cm higher than the first, 40 cm. To separate the chambers, a circle is cut out of the sheet with a diameter equal to the inner diameter of the vessel.
In its middle, a hole is made for a pipe with a diameter of 10 cm. This part will separate the combustion chamber from the heat exchanger.
A burner is made from a pipe 20 long and 10 cm in diameter. Its lower part is perforated, making holes about 2 cm in diameter. They clean the inside of burrs, otherwise they will collect soot on themselves, which will significantly narrow the hole later.
They put a previously cut circle on the burner, placing it exactly in the middle, and weld it. The structure is placed inside the furnace and a weld is made around the circumference of the cylinder.
The bottom and cover are welded onto the brake disc. This will be the evaporator tray or bowl. To supply fuel, an opening is left in the lid through which air will enter the potbelly stove. The opening is made quite wide, otherwise the draft will decrease and the oil will not get into the bowl.
Weld a pipe to the top of the lid. A coupling is made from a pipe with a diameter of 10 cm, which will connect the bowl to the burner.
Assemble the fuel supply system, for which:
- make a receiving hole in the pallet;
- insert a 0.5-inch piece of water pipe into it at an angle of about 40⁰;
- weld the pipe to the furnace body;
- an emergency backup valve is screwed to the pipe, the role of which is played by an ordinary water tap.
A heat exchanger is made from a pipe with a cross section of 10 cm. It is cut horizontally into the body of the potbelly stove, and a reflector is mounted at the end. Air is arranged by installing a duct fan at the end of the heat exchanger. The air driven through the heat exchanger with its help has a high speed.
An air swirler is placed inside the heat exchanger, consisting of triangular teeth interconnected by welding. A chimney is made from a pipe with a cross section of 10 cm.
It is welded into a hole located in the upper part of the furnace body and led out through the wall to the roof of the building.
Next, they are engaged in the manufacture of a tank for oil. If there is a freon-free cylinder with a working needle valve, then it is quite suitable for this purpose. The vessel and the potbelly stove are connected by a hose connected to the valve. To fill in the used oil, a hole is made in the tank body.
To provide air access to the burner and the evaporator bowl, a groove is selected in the lower compartment door. Thrust plates are attached to the opening of the upper chamber door, which ensures reliable sealing of the combustion chamber. For the same purpose, the door is additionally equipped with a lock.
Now, even if the body of the potbelly stove is deformed as a result of strong heating, the tightness of the combustion chamber will not be violated.
It remains to weld the legs from the pieces of the corner to the body and place the furnace vertically. In addition to vertical stoves, horizontal stoves are also made from a cylinder. Their device is similar.
Conclusions and useful video on the topic
The author of this material talks about his experience in the manufacture of potbelly stoves, working on working out. Perhaps some of his statements are controversial, but in general there is a lot of useful information:
This author of the video shares his invention:
The potbelly stove has a simple design, but to make it yourself, you need drawings with exact dimensions. A design made by eye will not only not provide heat, but will also become a source of various troubles in the form of soot, splashed oil and numerous alterations.It makes sense to start manufacturing such a unit only when it is possible to provide it with fuel. Otherwise, its operation will be unprofitable economically.
Perhaps you already have experience in making a potbelly stove yourself? Please share your valuable tips with our readers. Leave comments in the block below. Here you can also ask a question of interest on the topic of the article, and we will try to promptly answer it.
The potbelly stove is a traditional wood-burning stove that was used to heat rooms 200 years ago. As a rule, in its standard form, it is a metal cylinder mounted on legs, and it contains a door, a pipe and a chimney.
With your own hands, such a design is created quite simply, and in modern versions of furnaces it can have a variety of sizes. It consists of a large number of different materials. You can watch a huge number of videos that are available on the Internet, they explain how to create certain versions of this product.
The main disadvantage of the potbelly stove is that heating is carried out only when the equipment is operating, so you need to constantly add firewood and make sure that the stove does not cool down.
