Other Inventions and Ideas
A Volkswagen motorcycle I built in 1969
Me with classmate Frances Howes (1970)
Bob McAdory got in my submarine when
it was at the Boat Show in 1979 - My old friend, John Green showing how to get out
My Hydraulic Patio- gets firewood into basement
My scissor lift prototype - uses Chevette axles and wheels
(Specs. 9HP Electric start, Honda motor, Infinite speeds 0-6 km/h, Lifts
650lbs, Deck raises to 17', Movable seat and assembly, all terrain)
A Simple Homemade Emergency Power System
This is about the cheapest, simplest 120V backup system that you could put together. Just hook up an inverter to a car battery. With the advancement in microchip technology the new (modified sine wave) breed of inverters is more sophisticated and cheaper than those of yesteryear. Canadian Tire often puts them on sale, Xantrex 1000W continuous, $75, and a 300W, $25. The smaller ones come with their own hook-up cables that merely plug into a cigarette lighter or clamp onto battery posts, but the bigger ones need special cables that are not included. You can buy battery cables but the good ones are expensive and the holes are too large for the inverter without using washers. I decided to make my own cables and came up with this idea. Not only was it cheaper, but you can choose any length and make any size hole at the ends and you end up with a very high quality custom copper cable. It connects the inverter to the side mount holes on the battery. You'll need (2) 3/8" bolts, 1/2" long and washers. A battery with side and top mount connections is more versatile, especially for this application where many connections, including jumper cables, may be made.
Pick up the length that you need of #2 Welding Cable sold in most electrical supply outlets for between $4.00 and $5.00 a metre and a length of 3/8" bendable copper tubing sold in most hardware stores or plumbing shops. (even cheaper if you have access to a good scrap yard) The I.D. of the copper tubing is 5/16" and the O.D. of the stripped Welding Cable is about 5/16" so this works out well. Cut your welding cable to the lengths you need and strip off about 3/4 of an inch of insulation at each end then follow the instructions below.
How to Make Your Own Battery or Welding Cable Ends
Cut the copper tubing into 2" pieces.
Drill into one end with a
5/16" drill Use a flaring tool or punch to flare that
end
Twist the flared end
onto the cable. Solder the end
on, 1-2 inches of solder Squeeze; the jaws were rounded at the ends
Tap smooth, both sides, use many light blows.
Drill out the desired holes.
Round off the ends.
Wire brush to a polished shine and "le
voilą", professional looking cables @ about $3.00 ea. All ready for the next
power failure.
This system will run for a short time on just
the battery, depending on how much power you're drawing of course. Not shown well in
the last photo are two clips on the top posts connected to a wire that runs to a 12V
switchable socket in the middle of the room. If possible use 12V lights, fluorescent
ones if you can get them. It is more efficient to use 12V appliances whenever
possible as there are some energy losses from the inverter in the conversion
process. Any conversion takes (uses, steals) energy.
If the power outage is for a longer time, then just hook up jumper cables from your
emergency battery to a running vehicle's battery. If you're really industrious you
can build a stand-alone small gasoline engine powered, car alternator generating system
from an old lawnmower. There are several good websites showing how to do this -
Google keywords - (build your own engine generator) BUT - I have discovered that the
average car idling uses about the same amount of fuel, if not less than a lawnmower engine
running at full speed. We had a power failure for five days (summer, 2006). I hooked
up cables from my 20 hp Ford diesel tractor and let it idle for the whole five days.
It burned about 1 gallon of fuel (I used furnace oil) per 24 hour day or about $3.50 a
day. Compare that to gasoline generators that can burn about 1 gallon per
hour. Of course they're putting out more watts but if you're not using them, you're
just wasting gas.
The tractor was not as efficient as it could
have been though. It only has a 35 amp alternator and at 900 rpm it was putting out
much less than that. At times I had to increase the speed to 1200 rpm which used
more fuel. Necessity (or poverty) being the mother of invention, led me to an
idea. A diesel engine idling puts out more power than a gas engine idling, more
power than needed just to run its own alternator. It could have enough power to run
a more powerful (100 amp.) alternator at full speed, but how to connect that up simply,
using cheap or free car parts. I think I have solved the problem. Notice
the two reconditioned car alternators on the desk of the radiator picture below, of which
only one will be used. When I get the time, I'll build the device and post my
findings here. ("You're a
crackpot until you succeed" Mark Twain)
Some Future Thoughts
Rough CAD plan for an Aerial Lift, allows working at
35', attaches like a backhoe
My Ford Compact shown, but will work on any tractor (bigger is better) with rear
hydraulic connections
As energy prices soar, I've had some ideas about developing:
- An inexpensive and practical wind generator
The affordable wind generators today (under $1000) are not practical as home energy
units and usually produce less than 500 watts in a good wind. They could provide
some lighting in a power blackout or give a savings of $10 to $20 a month if connected
properly but would take more than 10 years to pay for themselves if they required little
maintenance and didn't break down. The practical wind generators cost more than
$10,000 the better ones $20,000 to $30,000 (and up) so the payback time is still over ten
years - some over 20 years. I have an idea on a unit that could be built for under
$100 with similar car parts to the above mentioned tractor generator and should put out
over a 1000 watts in a good wind. (30 kmh)
- A steam heat and electric generator system powered by firewood
If you live in a rural area with access to "free" firewood then any
heating system using firewood saves money, although more labour intensive. Some find
the labour to be a good source of exercise and fitness. Some prefer the outside
furnace which keeps all the wood, smoke etc. outside and just pumps in warm water, using
larger logs that require less cutting, splitting and handling. By using a similar
system in a shed, the water would be heated by a boiler to power a small steam engine
(5-10hp) that would drive an electric generator to give round the clock electricity in
quantities equal to a $20,000+ windmill, even without any wind. There are extra
advantages as well. The exhaust from the steam engine (still hot steam) would be
piped through a tank of water, heating it to provide everything the outside furnaces
provide (home heat and hot water). The steam condenses to water and goes back into
the boiler to make more steam for the steam engine. If this unit was placed in a
garage, it would heat it also, even enabling the installation of a greenhouse
"bumpout" section for round the year vegetables or at least an extension of the
growing season. A properly designed firebox (as any airtight owner knows) could
provide a cooking surface, even an oven, grill or smoke cupboard (for smoking and curing
meats). Also, with the proper connection, a hose and wand would give the owner
access to steam cleaning.
- A steam driven vehicle using firewood as fuel
Perhaps a novelty with gas prices around a dollar a litre, but less so if (when?)
gas prices reach $2.00 a litre and continue to climb. It could become more expensive
to drive to the supermarket than the groceries themselves. (of course as fuel prices
go up, so does everything else; old truckers' slogan - "if you own
it, a truck brought it")
A steam car needs no muffler or transmission. It still has a tank, but you
don't put gas in it, you put in water. Imagine going shopping or visiting using
just an armload or two of firewood and a few litres of water.
It would still only be "practical" living out in the country with lots of time and free wood. City or urban dwellers would probably find an electric vehicle to be more practical. New advances in lithium ion battery technology coupled with new lightweight (carbon fibre etc.) materials are making them more efficient and popular, especially for about town commuting.
My Wood Stove Hot Water Heating System
ring and flue pipe ready to be welded to box - system
completed and installed on woodstove - one of three radiators upstairs
This system is actually quite simple but it works incredibly well, much better than I had expected. I am able to heat my house longer, more comfortably using less firewood. In the centre picture, you'll notice the centrifugal water pump to the left, just behind the wood drying racks. It only draws 85 watts but even at that, it only has to be on occasionally. A $20 timer turns it on for 5 minutes every hour. The water tends to circulate itself owing to the thermosiphon effect caused by the hot water rising and the cooler water falling. This only works if your airtight is in the basement and your rads upstairs. The pump is installed on the cool side, and pumps downward. There are three radiators in the house but the one shown has my "custom designed" air expansion tank mounted above it. It's actually an old propane tank with the guard and base cut off, the valve removed, painted black, turned upside down and screwed to the radiator. It acts as an air cushion for the expanding hot water as it heats up. A smaller tank could have been used but the larger the cushion the greater the safety margin and the easier to bleed. The radiator came from a demolished local restaurant, for free. I was given twelve (for the price of removing them) but half of them were cracked. A cracked radiator can be permanently repaired by grinding a "V" into the crack and pressing in some mastic epoxy putty, plumbers or marine grade. Regular epoxy is only water resistant, not water proof. The rads were lightly sandblasted then painted gloss black. I used Canadian Tire's Armour Coat rust paint, $25.95 a gallon (i.e. 4 litres). Since the rads only get warm (mine average 100-120F and have never gone over 140F) a high heat paint is not necessary and even undesirable as the surface must be cleaner and better prepared before painting.
More Detail
An airtight stove, although much more efficient than an open fireplace, still has some inefficiencies. Many still lose too much heat up the chimney although in all fire heating devices some heat must be lost. If you could take all of the heat out of the chimney gases, there would be no draft at all and either the fire would go out and/or smoke would leak into your home. Nothing is 100% efficient. If that was possible, we could build a perpetual motion machine. NOTE - if you're thinking of building your own tank don't try to extract any more heat (using multiple pipes, baffles etc.) than what I've done in the above left picture, unless you're using an oil or gas fired stove. (or you're a heating engineer and know the exact calculations) Wood is less combustible and has much more moisture and particulates (all woods don't burn the same) and therefore needs a stronger draft.
The other inefficiency is actually not internal to the stove, therefore not the stove’s fault. When you try to heat a large area from one heat source, especially a stove in the basement, you must rely on air currents or conduction through the air. Since air is somewhat of an insulator, this doesn't work well and the home is typically very hot around the stove and much cooler farther away. My house is long and narrow with the wood stove in a basement corner. On a cold winter day with a roaring fire, the air temperature around the stove could be 40C (over 100F) yet only 10C (50F) upstairs at the other end of the house. At that point my oil furnace (set at 10C) would come on. Since my cold air return is above the wood stove, I could just leave the fan motor on. This was designed by the previous owner but it still wasn't an ideal system. The fan motor (not a continuous duty 2 speed design) drew a noticeable amount of electricity and tended to overheat. Although better, the temperature was still too cool upstairs and too hot in the basement. When one area of your home is super hot, there tends to be a greater amount of heat loss through the adjacent walls. This heat, instead of escaping outside, should be transferred to a cooler area inside which is the theory behind my hot water system. When I first light my fire, I open up the damper and let it roar. This helps to keep the chimney clean of creosote etc. and then I damp it down a little, but even with a good fire burning for over an hour, it doesn't get uncomfortably hot near the stove, like it used too. The excess heat is going into the water tank which is then circulated to the cooler areas of the house. An added benefit is that if the fire dies down, the water remains warm for a while longer and continues to radiate heat into the basement and upstairs.
I have a tap (red, lower left) on the
tank which is connected by a hose to my home water supply which is used to initially fill
the tank. As the air is expelled using the
drain valves on the radiators, at first and then periodically, the tap is used to add
water. I keep my pressure between 5 and 10
psi. Since this is just a hot water tank and
not designed as a pressure tank (round with concave/convex ends) I don't go much above 10
psi. There is no need to. The pressure is only needed to periodically bleed
the air out.
The tank is made from 3/16 inch steel plate, arc welded at the seams. I made mine the same width as my airtight and as high as possible, up to the elbow. Not only does that make the unit look more congruous but it is most efficient. Any wider and you’re off the heating surface. Any narrower and you’d be losing some heating capacity.
The
thermometer is screwed into a pipe fitting and just "epoxyed" to the tank. Since
metal is a good conductor of heat, I figured this would work as well as the traditional
way of drilling a hole into the tank and tapping it or welding in a threaded
fitting. As it turned out, it works perfectly and was much easier to install and
impossible to leak. Of course the pressure gauge had to be installed into the
system, the traditional way.
(temperature can go through solid steel, but pressure cannot - unless it
ruptures....)
"After inventing
a perfectly working machine, I don't think what can be added, but what
can be removed."
David Huggett