One day a world famous scientist will be interviewed and he or she will say I was inspired to do science because of a guy called Rob on KZfaq

I just recently found this channel and the superior teaching talent of this man. The internet is living up to its original promise with this kind of content. Well done, Robert. 👍

Where has this guy been all my life? Love him! My homeschooled kids are going to love this. Now I’m off to see what else he has done!

It seemed to me that when Rob placed the chimney on the plant pot heater the amount of soot exiting into the room went up substantially.

Farmers used to clean used motor oil by placing it in a barrel in the top of a building and wicking it through a hemp rope to a barrel at the bottom of the building. It would take a long time, but clean oil was the product. I wonder if the carbon wick would clean oil at a faster rate with going uphill and using gravity to separate particles?

I bought a 1" to 1/2" copper reducer to use as the ferrel for the wick. The bottom leaves the felt less compressed for easier wicking and is a steadier base with less chance of being knocked over.

Our School systems need teachers like you. Awesome presentation, thanks . You have me thinking. Using a small catalytic tail pipe for more heat and a cleaner burn 🔥

This is a game changer for many reasons. There is 10 kw in 1 liter diesel. Good job Robert.

For us, this is a seriously life changing innovation. We have no electricity on our land when are working and use lanterns with very expensive lamp oil. I can't wait to try this! Amazing! Thank you!

Brilliant. This reminds me of an old survival stove I saw when I was a kid. Coffee can, with a toilet paper roll in it. Filled with alcohol, when lit, it only burned on the top, and the paper barely singed.

I absolutely love your films I love the way you take regular household stuff and use it in ways in which it wasn’t designed to be used for ! This is a superb way to keep the winter chill off Thanks !!!

You connect with your audience with ease! There are few channels (of any material) that I enjoy as much as this one.

Such a wonderful educator! I appreciate every bit of knoledge you share.

You nailed exactly what I wanted to accomplish a few weeks back. Thanks for sharing!

Totally inspired! 👌Thank you! 😁The laughter is disarming.

Rob, you are a true treasure!!! I’ve been prepping and the one thing I don’t have YET, is emergency heat. I plan on gather the items and have - just in case of an emergency. Thank you so much for this amazing information!!!!

I came, I saw and got inspired! loved it!

A chunk of cotton rope or cord supported in the oil also works fine and doesn’t itself burn up - it’s the basis of the “floating oil candles” that were very popular some time ago. All you really need is a ring around the “neck” of the cord (such as a grommet) which is used to both support the end of the cord above the oil, and also to contain the burning action at the end of the cord. We use these a lot while camping, as they’re self-extinguishing, nontoxic, and pretty.

Brilliant explanations with great confidence , lovely accent and sparkling intelligence ! Thank you Sir !

Great... I've not watched recent videos... time to catch up! Just watching this reminds me why I so enjoy your carry-on... your infectious enthusiasm ignites action!!👍😁💥👍

amazing discovery, especially just before what appears is going to be 'Operation Dark Winter'. Thank you

bloody brilliant. I had seen the plant pot heaters which I liked, but was reluctant to make it due to the frequency of replacing the tea lights. but this is a game changer. cheers

His enthusiasm is contagious do what you love to do!

I was literally looking for this everywhere! You're amazing!

Genius, I loved the video by “the outsider- candle convection heater” but the design flaw was the candles would naturally reduce in height and so would the performance. Definitely a game changer 😊

My 24 yo. mind exploded with the capabilities this could be used for! Defiantly a mentor to look up to!

This was SO interesting! I’ve just found you and have subscribed after watching this fascinating video. I love learning and the way you present things is very entertaining . Thank you for this!

Man, I've said it before but I am going to say it again. Robert, you are a legend for all you show and share, truly God Bless you many times over!

That's pretty cool and I'm thinking there's gonna be a lot of applications for the forever wick! Also if you add a second larger plant pot above that one it'll create a draft between the two giving a lot more airflow kinda like the air multiplying fans. That will increase the heated area. Used one like that on a sailboat for awhile wish I'd have known about the activated carbon fiber back then 🤠

Brilliant video! By-the-way, carbon felt can be bought in small quantities (12x12 inch) on Amazon.

Thank you wonderful good sir! I'm sending this video to my friend in Germany. Love your wit and playful intellect.

You are helping a lot of people with this video and I greatly greatly appreciate it.

I felt much enlightened after watching this simply brilliant solution. Now I'm sure there is going to be a shortage of cooking oil this winter😵‍💫

I think I'm starting to enjoy this series as much as the DIY battery stuff from way back. Thank you sir.

Very interesting. You taught me something today. Thank you for sharing this information. I'm over 60yro and still enjoy learning new things.

This is brilliant. I'm new to the channel and am already impressed. Well done.

Awesome 👏

I had tried using a cotton wick before and had no success. Then decided I would stick to lamp oil. This idea will definitely expand my resilience when camping in a safer manner. Brilliant work!

I love your channel and your personality. Your energy is motivating:) Thank you!

Love this tinkerer's enthusiasm and excitement!! He loves figuring these things out!

An idea, fire tornado. Rather than just a straight tubular chimney, split the pipe and offset the two parts a bit laterally parallel with the cut. The inlet air will generate a vortex, twisting the flame and may result in better air/fuel mixing.

I had a feeling I was going to see a carbon sponge as the wick, though the felt was similarly brilliant. I was goofing around with carbon filters one day that are designed to be a pre-filter medium on HEPA filters and noticed the same effect. I hadn't the foresight to make it into anything like this, but that's why we come to you, Robert! 👍 As a small bonus, at least in the US though I suspect you can get it anywhere or online, the carbon filter stuff is available in relatively small volume and quite cheap. Minus the parts I've cut off for my purposes, the one I have is a meter/yard long and 24 inches wide (~600mm if my armchair conversion math is close). I think it was 12 or $15 US and at a home improvement type store, though I've seen it online as well. I originally got it for both the pre-filter and experimenting with battery electrolyte-holding duty, but not I'm genuinely curious about what else it can do! Fire!!

I just found your channel and I'm enjoying it immensely! Also, your website is very cool. I needed you when I was 10. Better late than never!

So simple, yet truly brilliant! Love this so much 🙂

That was inspiring; I'm glancing sideways at my insoles as I type.

really great work! wish I knew about this back in my mountain cabin days

Superb video …. Encapsulating the spirit of KZfaq brilliantly ❤

WOW! That is one of the best things I've watched in absolutely ages! So incredibly useful!

I tried solder wick, it doesn't work on vegetable oil but works great on lamp oil. It will last forever.

I am into tent stoves and extremely small stoves for super insulated cabins/houses this has great potential.

Very informative, and quite interesting timing that this popped in my feed considering a hurricane is on its way towards me.

I very much enjoyed your video. Your enthusiasm shines

That's fricking brilliant! I mean, all your videos are so (surprisingly*) interesting! I just love it! * Surprisingly-because it takes a certain type of viewer, I guess 😄 I just love learning stuff!

The old brass torches with the little pump on on the side, that were filled with gasoline and used by people to braze and solder had a wick which was assisted by air pressure to the tip.

So enjoy your videos and enthusiasm! Thank you!

Your timeless videos are instant classics and will help inspire generations of creators and creations.

Funny thing is we've been using that material for light for a very long time in Coleman lanterns. We just have to put on the little bag and light it. It then burns and leaves a delicate little carbon bag that wicks the gas burning in a uniform controlled burn but one touch or heavy breeze and time for a new bag. I never thought of doing this though. Pretty darn safe to use inside.

⚠️ Warning important! ⚠️ You really should have said that the heat resistant carbon fibre felt is highly toxic if burnt.⚠️ I used to work in a factory where we manufactured this! All the heat resistant variants use a heat resistant binder that is extremely toxic when an open flame is applied! This only applies to the heat resistant variants! I really hope you mention this in a future video! Always good content and great ideas though Robert. ☺️

I like your enthusiasm ,thanks for sharing your finds , Ant from Wales UK .

I just love people like you. You understand the purpose of knowledge. Knowledge was meant to be shared!!! To unite mankind. I appreciate you man!

Amazing as usual. I wonder if I can use those activated carbon pellets as a wick? Guess there is only one way to find out!

Fiberglass is something else that also has long been used in that fashion. It'll wick a liquid, but not readily burn either. It also can take heat fairly well, so it is used to wick fuels used in gas heaters or lamps. And there are videos on KZfaq showing how to make simple greenhouse heaters putting the wick through a copper coil so that only the vapor emitted through a small pinhole at the bottom of the loop is what is burned, and those are fairly efficient.

That is bloody brilliant!! Your videos are very much appreciated and important. helps people educate themselves by watching the video. Well done.👍

I wish I'd found this channel YEARS ago... Thank you for sharing your love of learning & doing.

You, sir have a knack of taking stuff I already know and twisting it to a new angle! Please do not stop!

I freaking love it! I wonder if you could get even further capillary or thermal syphon action if you use a small internal diameter?

Fantastic demonstration. Thanks for sharing your experiments and joy for life.

❤ I just found your channel ...WOW ! I love it. Thank you

During Desert Storm, when stuck out on patrol in the middle of nowhere, we would use a cut up Coca~Cola can with a piece of cardboard for a wick as a "field expedient" camp stove to heat up meals. Just splash a couple ounces of diesel fuel into the can (making sure to saturate the cardboard) and light the cardboard. It was extremely sooty, but it would boil water in a metal canteen cup fairly quickly. A three man team could use this to heat up water and meals before you ever ran out of diesel in the can.

That's cool. I could see how that could be made into standardized wick products. Wicking kerosene heaters are popular as backup heating option where I live. Vegetable oil is used in liquid "candles". There was a decorative product sold here in the US as a liquid candle "kit". I've made them as emergency candles when the power has gone out. Take a small glass jar and put veg oil in it (half full or so). Get a piece of thin plastic (like from a coffee can lid) and cut it into a disk so that it will comfortably fit in the jar leaving plenty of room to the sides of the jar (only want to cover half or less of the surface area of the oil). Punch a hole in the middle of the disk. Then you cut a short strip (one and a half inches or so.) of cotton (perhaps carbon felt) from an old t-shirt or something, roll lengthwise and run it through the hole leaving half an inch or so on one side, which will be the top side. Then you put the disc and wick on the surface of the oil so it floats short wick side up. Key is to gently push it down so the oil covers the plastic disk, and it will. There you go! A liquid "candle... Light the wick once it becomes saturated. As the oil burns down the wick stays floating on top.

Just brought a shed load of carbon felt. Thankyou so much! Imagine a storm lantern wick never needing to be replaced!

Really happy to find this channel

I used to do all my cooking and boil kettle s etc with used chip frying oil using home braided flax wicks poking out holes in the bottom of an inverted spam can sitting in a saucepan of oil. It was a bit sooty, and the wicks did slowly burn up. Thanks for the excellent demonstrations of how to improve things.

I didn't know wicking vegetable oil was hard. I have been lighting Diyas all my life with Ghee and vegetable oil

Just found your channel and wow glad i did what an amazing place to learn about fire and wicking just what i was looking for. Thank you good sir much appreciated!

Genuis in simple things is *always* welcome. Thank you, Sir.

You are an absolute legend with what you do. So can you do a video on the best way to heat your home for cheap? As a guy who’s overwhelmed by the videos and ideas you throw out. I’m so lost. Maybe you are just proving what can be done but I’m thinking “can I save money on my next heating bill “ with cooking oil and a plant pot haha

I like the idea of this, especially with fuel prices on the rise this winter! One concern I have about these terracotta heaters: what concern is there with exhaust? I wouldnt think you'd need to worry as much about venting like a wood fire, as the oil is carbonizing far less, but as noted, w/o chimney it seems sooty. Any good ideas?

Brilliant! Especially with the cold winter fast approaching, and heating prices going through the roof!

And by the way. You are just a natural teacher. Thank you.

This looks amazing! I'm definitely going to get my hands on these materials and try it out! Question, can you do this in a closed environment? Is this not polutting the air within the house? I see a lot of black smoke coming out of the pipe at the end of the video, is this safe to do at home?

Haha, I actually mentioned/recommended carbon felt to a person commenting on one of your prior videos--like yesterday or the day before. If you combine the principles of using those vortex type stoves (two cans of a different size within each other, with offset holes on bottom and/or top), insulating the stove and using copper to conduct heat, using multiple carbon felt wicks, and using a chimney, you can create a burner that burns various different waxes quite efficiently and cleanly. This is exciting because wax contains a lot of energy within it, and in a very stable, light, easily transported form. The issue with burning a lot of wax at a time and hotly, is that it has a tendency to sputter out of the container, which can be dangerous.

I see one household in the UK who will not be affected by the NatGas shortage this winter... Great Job!

Your enthusiasm rocks 👍

I put used engine oil in a tin can and had a wick on the side burning. I put the can inside a wood stove and left it. About 30 minutes later I thought hmm, it's warm in here. The flame from the wick had spread across the surface of the oil and was burning putting out at least 2000w of heat probably more. I observed it and eventually it burned all the oil and didn't go out of control. The point is that if the wick falls over it may take a while but would probably set the oil on fire although not immediately. Interesting demo as always, thanks! 😄❤️👍😎

Very interesting, thanks! I have one question though - why do people put the flower pot on top of their tea lights (and in this instance forever wick), as far as I can see, all it does is create a heat sink that will make the heat output lag what it would be otherwise. I've tried it before and the flower pot doesn't seem to cause any significant draught that might improve combustion completeness - and in this video you can still clearly see smoke coming out of the top, unlike when the narrow tube was employed.

great knowledge of science and how you apply to practical applications topped with a sense of humour

than you for sharing Robert, great video and advice. will test for sure

I also wonder if you could just change the Wick in a standard greenhouse heater with carbon felt then run your greenhouse heater on veg oil.

Ah now that is interesting. I've been using carbon felt for years as a wick for meths stoves, but hadn't considered it for oil. I'd like to make an externally vented version for use in a camper van. It would be better than the conventional diesel van and truck heaters because it doesn't need an electric feed for a glow plug. Very, very interesting.

Thank you Mr. Smith. You are a hero.

WOW! This guy is incredible! I hope that he is teaching somewhere! The world needs science that's practically applied! Excellent video!!

May need to make the hole in the planter bigger. There was still smoke coming out the top even with the extended metal chimney. Personally, I made an alcohol candle using a tea light candle holder (about the same size as a shot glass) and the cut off bottom of an aluminum soda can that happens to fit perfectly over the glass. Drilled about a 1/4 inch (4-5 mm) hole in the middle of the can bottom, then used a piece of pink fiber glass insulation that I rolled into a thin strip and fed through the hole to use as the wick. I use 90% isopropyl (rubbing) alcohol as the fuel. Depending on the size of the flame it will burn 2-4 hours on average. Also, if you blow the flame out before all of the alcohol burns, the fiberglass will last pretty much forever. However, if you let the alcohol burn out completely, it will "melt" (burn) the fiberglass. If that happens, just pull a bit more through and you're good to go. It takes such a small amount to make the wick. I got a couple chunks of the fiberglass insulation out of a trash dumpster in a new home construction job site, that will probably last me a lifetime. 👍😁

It reminds me if the old oil lamps that my grandmother use to have when I was a boy, used on ships and the like. Run on whale oil. Even at that time, the wicking material seemed to last quite a long time. The lamps were quite bright, and put off a decent amount of heat as well. Glass around the flame, and a metal base with a whick and screw to advance it in the lamp. Weren't as necessary once we got more advanced lighting, and with whale oil being less available. Especially after LEDs. But they were handy for their time, and definitely worked in a pinch. Imagine what we could make now with similar tech and advanced materials.

I can see this helping a lot of European people this winter. And is great knowledge to have in the event of a disruption in heating services (SHTF)

Fantastic! Thanks Rob!

This video is gonna save so many lives! If you want to be prepared for anything this winter, get some friggin' carbon filter mesh! Better than freezing to death, and the stuff is too cheep not to have on hand.

Thank you for this! Is there a known issue with regards to Carbon Monoxide?

Cant belive all of this is free !!! Quality content everyday without sponsor ? It is truly amazing

I'd love to see you make one that is big enough to heat a room. Possibly three smaller ones with a larger pot to cover them. I'd be curious what it would take to do that with minimal upkeep in changing fuel.