Joe, Thanks for the thoughts. No problem with the ice experiment this morning. It's 15 degrees out side ! Yes, the main water trap of course is the expansion tank but as the system warms up the moisture marches right along in it's gaseous state. I am trying to trap it everywhere I can. Time will tell if it has merit.

Steve, Thanks for the nod of approval. As you can see some of your ideas have been borrowed, infringed upon and so with implied consent you have my blessings to use the "we'll borrow" any time you like. I am looking forward to a long run for the proof test. Time to wash another batch of stone, dry it and have it at the ready for a quick change . Sure makes it pretty easy and it saves the Flash filters from the most abusive particulate.

NH Hbbyloggr You are welcome, my fellow woodgas bugbite victim :) . I'll be around to pick up the "we'll Borrow" next week, and I will bring a fresh can of woodgas bug food with me, just in case of another fang attack ;) . Here's hoping those long run tests go well, as I am sure we are both itching to find out just how long the pea stones can work between washing sessions. Keep stoning those filters, my good friend.

Ron, Interesting option for sure although I lost my marbles a long time ago....ever since I stumbled into this wood gas stuff. Seriously though, the marbles are of a consistent size and would allow the gas to travel more easily I think. The mass and temperature differential certainly helps to condense the water vapor. So far these stone filters have proved to work well for me. Thanks for your input. Bill

Hey Mark, I'll get my wood gas fix even if it breaks down and I have to go to your place for it . I'm thinking this is going to be worth the effort, certainly for collecting soot. I might have a go at it tomorrow and report back. Thanks for watching.

Flash, That will probably be another step added to the system. I will be interested to see how much of the contaminate will get past these stone filters. They are easy to change compared to the main ones. If it keeps them cleaner longer that's a big gain right there. I'll be interested to see Joe's set up , once he gets it fired up. I think Pete is using a heat gun for his oncoming air. Will it eventually come to a point where we spend as much energy on managing the contaminates as what we get out of it ? ( I'm well past that part of the curve already !! Haha )

I wouldn't waste the energy running a heat gun to dry or to preheat the air because that would cost a lot of the power produced since a heat gun can consume anywhere between 1200 watts up to 1800 watts or even more watts depending on the type of heat gun it is. I like the setup I have now and it works for my needs as long as I stick to using seasoned dead branches or very dry wood. In the future I plan on using your hopper lid idea on my setup because that was a good idea you had.

Flash, the hopper lid inner ring was carefully matched to the size of the hopper opening, diameter wise. It was just shy of a press fit ..until I tried to close it with the pivot angle messing up the fit. I had to relieve the contact angle a bit with the grinder . But it's still a close fit and does prevent the snot from migrating out of the hopper. Good to hear from you !

Thanks for that tidbit of info Bill. I'll remember that.

why does everyone make an issue of the condensation from wood to air? ues it, It's the 'fuel ues it pulls it through a colom of burning charcoal & you have hydrogen gas that Deep blue flame you see is Monoxide gas week needs a bit of hydrogen to liven it up. We call Hydro-carbons son. pea gravel is okay for filtering but nothing More. Les England.

Luk, I appreciate your sharing of knowledge regarding the moisture in the wood gas. Have you noticed any rust deposits on the valve stems of the engine? Or is there no adverse affect to the water vapor after passing through the heated ring before the engine. My other question: What supplies the heat to the ring? Exhaust from the engine? Thanks for your input. It's an interesting idea which ought to be explored at my end.

Bill, No big side-effects.No rust. The ring heater also called band heaters are electric here is a link where you see such a thing visual. www.fastheatuk.com/micaband.html

Luk, To be honest, I'm scratching my head trying to figure out where else in your system you are filtering out the moisture and soot. That band heater sure is appealing but I'm from the school that leans towards multiple filtering stages to remove the contaminants and most of the water. Is your opened top burn the key to more complete combustion and gasification? Or, are you filtering it somewhere else in the system? There are a couple of different camps out there in the wood gas world and I'm interested in all of them. You have certainly proven the value of your system and I take my hat off to you for your accomplishments. I appreciate your feed back. Bill

Bill, moisture is one thing. Soot is another. I told you how I deal with moisture. For soot, of course filtering is a must. My main filter, inmediatly after a cyclone is a hot filter and filled with ceramic wool that can withstand very high temperatures. then a heat exchanger because it has a spiral in it that recirculate cooling water i recuperate as much as heat as possible. in there also a lot of water is condensed out but not all. Then a final bag filter and thats it. The excess moisture that is still in the gas is then prevented to condensate by heating it up with this band heater and does not harm the engine. Works fine.

Hey Xoie, I really appreciate your comment. Was just watching your VW wood gas rat rod video over at Drive on wood the other day. Excellent show, man ! Lately I've been working on an Arduino controlled air/fuel mixing carburetor for the Honda / alternator. I'm getting close to a test run, maybe this weekend. Funny you bring up the subject of filters. That's the next phase for me as I thinks they tend to suffocate the flow of wood gas to the engine. I want to try a series of cyclones . The good times never end, do they? Thanks a lot for your input.

yes i belive too many filters reduces power out put in my opinion simply b/c the motor has to suck on the gasifier i has been tinkering with the idea of using a supercharger to suck the gas out of the gasifier and them the super would present the gas to the motor and my neibor friend is working of a rasbery pie thing for my AFR (same as arduino) i think the sectet is to not get all swept up in making it b/c we all like the mad scientist looking machins but it is counter productive... KISS lol =)

@@xoxoXoieoxox There are different expectations between a stationary gasifier and one used for a mobile application like you guys run in the trucks cars and rat rods. I use mine as a stationary set up and need a means to keep the wood flowing to the reactor ( barrel vibrator) and a means to shake the grate to remove spent fuel. That has been accomplished since this video was shot in 2016. The next step is to stabilize the engine AFR so that I don't have to race around tuning the mix manually. It's all part of the big picture so I can sit back and just watch the thing purrr along on it's own. Interesting idea you have with the blower. Are you going to use something like a Detroit blower off one of the 2-strokers? I had these engines in a lot of the logging equipment when I was logging for a living. 3-53's 4-53's, 671, 318 Detroit and a 8v-92 sitting in an old GMC square nose log truck down back in the bushes. Thinking about building a rat rod out of that, a perfect candidate, but need $$$$ ! A blower from a 3-53 ought to work for you. Is it for the VW ? Is your Rasberry Pie working off the output from an O2 sensor ? Where abouts are you from? The local firewood market is slowing up for us for the time being so I'll have more shop time to work the magic and woo the voodoo man.

HEY!! i have a 3-53 and i need the gear set on the front mine got striped but the blower it self is still good do you have a set ill buy off you i worked out that if i over drive it 1:1.4 it should be right a 0 atmosphere and i can start from there also i just notice ebay turbos are under 100$ might go that rout first...yes the pie will work off of a 02 sensor but i have a feeling that the correct AFR is not what the provided gauge thinks is good b/c booze running cars run 6:1 so you need a special setup for AFR read out...im in the mountains of san bernardino CA Lake arrow head aria im slowed down buy weather right now but we supposed to get a week with out rain im gona try to do some things =)

@@xoxoXoieoxox Too late, I sold all the logging equipment ( Detroit stuff) 20 years ago. All i have left is a Multitek firewood processor w/ tumbler , and a Freightliner log truck w/ a 425 Cat a couple delivery trucks and a 4x4 New Holland tractor. It's been rain rain rain here all Fall. I can't get to the back of the lot until the ground freezes. Get yourself an " AEM Performance Electronics ' O2 sensor and gauge setup. Also has a signal wire 0 - 5 vdc output which goes to the Arduino. The AEM Part # 30-4110 . It works real good . The company is in Hawthorne, Ca. web site: www.AEMelectronics.com This gasifier seems to run pretty well at AFR 15.2 - 15.8 range.

There is a cyclone after the Pea Stone filter arrangement.