anyone build their own boiler

bustersdad

hi all ,im designing my own outdoor solid fuel boiler,anyone else build their own,cant seem to find any info other than american forums.
he sits back and waits for UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES BUILD YOUR OWN BOMB ,ONLY QUALIFIED BOMB MAKERS SHOULD DO THIS,you know what i mean ha ha ha ,any way anyone out there build one


Mod note: Under no circumstances build your own bomb, only qualified bomb makers should do this.

Do not speak of gas boilers in this thread as it will be closed.

More importantly take note of a little know fact. It has been illegal for a number of years for boiler manufacturers to sell boiler only.( I am sure someone will disprove this)

But for the moment i will leave this open but delete it all together if its deemed dangerous where its heading. Even if i am in doubt. Delete first.

studdlymurphy

Im thinking of building one out of two gas cylinders a large green one with a smaller red one inside of it acting as the firebox lined with firebricks with the larger green one acting as the water vessel for boiling. Im planning on adding a few over pressure release valves as a safety precaution as one may fail. Im planning on using this in a workshop for starters and then to take it from there.
Were you planning a larger outdoor boiler?

bustersdad

yes im planning to build one with a large firebox and large water jacket ,big enough to do one fill a day hopefully .theres some good sites on the net with good advice ,mainly yanky sites ,just wondered if there where many in ireland building one.

maradonas

Yeah Stephen Grant in Birr Co. Offally is fair handy at the diy boilers!
actually probably the best

deandean

A farmer pal of mine had one, it was about the size of a 1000L steel oil tank. He used to soak straw bsles with waste oil, you could fit a full bale in. It was made in ireland, dunno where. He charged it once a day iirc.
There is a lot of welding involved in making a boiler along with having the right materials, it is a pressure vessel.

JohnnieK

You will also need to come up with a solution to overcome thermal stress in the fire box.

bustersdad

steven grant ,yeh hes a bit like bill gates whos into computers in his spare time,

aujopimur

BOOM

bustersdad

so how do all you stepford wives like your shiny oil,gas ,boilers.whats for dinner soilent green,1984.rock on

Iderown

Certainly did not build boiler - that would be well beyond me.

What I did do was to replace the wood pellet burner (and its associated electronics) with an oil burner. The wood peller burner was seriously unreliable. Done near two years ago. No BOOM. House lovely and warm, missus happy, me happy.

DGOBS

Just wondering about this, as it is an industry I used to work in.

Why would you want to build some piece of inefficient crap and try and heat something with it, regardless of safety, reliability, efficiency, emissions, etc, etc.

It kind strikes me like going to visit a cave, they are nice, interesting, and we used to live in them, but I don't think I'd like to live there.

I am sure Stevie will like your BG analogy though! (no I doidn't work for Grant)

shedweller

Because lads like making yokes! It's what we do.

fasttalkerchat

I dont see the big problem with it. I wouldn't try a gas on but Kerosene is safe in small quantities. With solid fuel its fairly safe as long as you supervise it.

shedweller

OP, make sure you research your materials and weld it well. Pressure test it thoroughly too. Fair play for trying this. At the rate things are going we'll know nothing only how to pick up the phone when something goes wrong. Look at the way car headlight bulbs are going for example!

DGOBS

I can understand anyone trying to design or build something they may think they can improve on, but this is just folly!

Can you build a boiler, fill it with water, light a fire under it and get hot water, well, of course you can, but I still can't fathom the 'why!' bit

Markcheese

fasttalkerchat wrote: »

I dont see the big problem with it. I wouldn't try a gas on but Kerosene is safe in small quantities. With solid fuel its fairly safe as long as you supervise it.

For christ sake don't supervise too closely. Maybe from behind a concrete wall, or small bunker;)

bustersdad

first, i have access to as much free turf and wood as i want,FREE,
oil is 7-800 a fill ,no brainer.
second ,i like to research and build or do something im interested in,
i left school with nothing and my dream was to build my own house,i now have a six bed house ,with underfloor heating ,which i plumbed ,wired ,roofed ,tiled ,built by myself,because i wanted to .
now because of the price of oil i will build a solid fuel boiler,which if people care to do a little research are efficient.

DGOBS

Efficient my eye, so a 'bodged' boiler will achieve the same efficiency as appliances that are deigned via cad, and engineered and tested to take into account things like thermal loads, stresses, internal water flow, baffling, stress, etc, etc.

And on that point, what your suggesting will be against building regulations, as the boiler will not be efficiency rated ,and even if it was it would most likely not achieve the standard required, and the cost of having this carried out would mitigate any cost benefit from building it yourself in the first place!

You say research, who tested them to rate the efficiency, SEDBUK? HARP? what was the test criteria?

I understand your access to 'free fuel' , but I think you should also have a moral obligation to utilize it as efficiently as possible, rather than throw all that wasted heat, Co2 etc away into the atmosphere.

On the safety front, perhaps you should google a few pics of houses where boilers and water heaters have exploded and see the house you worked so hard to build maybe reduced to rubble.