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Okay! Here are new videos from Prairie Dock Farm showing some details of the second generation gasifier.

Check these out, I think you will be impressed.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ceLu3h5SkXM&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b95lbfOSGVo&sdig=1

Gasification of biomass materials such as wood pellets, wood chips, and many other combustible woody materials is undergoing  a huge, worldwide investigation. This process presents a potential for reducing fossil fuel use and capturing carbon from our atmosphere.

Consider using this information to build one yourself.

For more information and to find other video links, go to the FEMA stratified gasifier post on this site. As soon as I learn to, I will just give you a link.

 walt 

Congratulations Barack Obama!

All my best wishes for President Obama and for his family.

I am personally thrilled that he is now our president. I anticipate many good things to come from this administration, most of all a real dedication to protecting the earth, our only home.

To that end, I will be posting more pages and blogs with an environmental message. I hope you all will take advantage of this website to have a dialog on how best to protect living things from extinction and promote a beautiful planet Earth. 

Do not feel restricted to automotive topics. The discussion should be wide open.

walt

Dead battery problems and a no start condition may result from your alternator not charging the battery. This is a very common car and truck concern. Most people will need a mechanic to sort this out, but there is one simple thing to try first.

Bonk the alternator with a hammer!

Why? (you ask!)

An alternator that has been around for some time, say one hundred thousand miles or more, can get sticking brushes. When the brushes stick in their holders, they may lose contact with the commutator rings. A sharp rap on the alternator case, (not hard enough to cause damage, but just enough to jar the parts), may get those brushes back in place.

If this intervention is successful, how can you tell? Well, if you have a voltmeter, have it reading system, (battery), voltage before you do the bonkin’. Engine running, but alternator not charging, voltage will probably be around 11.5v, maybe less if the battery is getting tired. When the alternator starts working this voltage should jump to 13+v to 14.7v, (depending on how depleted the battery is). You should also notice a distinct whining sound from the alternator as it works to charge the battery, possibly a drop in engine RPM and a brightening of the lights.

Interestingly, I just had this whole scenario play out on a 2001 Ford Escrort. I posted this article a few weeks ago, and on Tuesday, December 16th, 2008 I got a chance to review. The car came in with a not charging concern. I verified the condition, battery warning light on and system voltage, with the engine running was at about ten volts.  I then tapped the alternator and immediately the thing started charging. When I got the old unit out, I removed the regulator and brushes and one was worn down to where you could see the copper wire rubbed through the carbon. The contact ring on the armature had a corresponding groove cut into it. This examination proved that the procedure we are talking about is diagnostic and not a repair, though it might get you home.

Now for some more detail on the parts we are discussing. An alternator is a generator that produces alternating current, like household current. The alternating current is changed to DC (direct current) by passing it through a rectifier. Direct current is what the battery and the car’s electric system uses. The electricity is produced when wound wires are spun past a series of magnets. In order to get this electricity from the spinning rotor out to the car’s wires a method of contacting the spinning parts is used. This is done by the brushes I mentioned earlier. They are square carbon rods, about 3/16ths inch wide by an inch or so long. They sit, loosely, in square tubing holders that have springs in the end to push the brushes against the commutator. The brushes also have a wire each, that is connected to the rectifier and voltage regulator. Considering the environment they work in, these are amazingly reliable systems. Eventually, though, the brushes wear to the point that they can get sideways enough to stick in the holders. This is where the hammer comes in.  

Vehicle Air Bags

Recently National Public Radio ran a story about air bag fraud.

 http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=95844517

Air bag fraud is when you buy a vehicle believing that the air bag system is functional, but an unscrupulous person has covered up air bag problems in order to sell the vehicle without the expense of a proper repair.

Here are a few things I know about air bag systems used in cars and trucks.

• They are also known as Passive Restraints because they do not require the vehicle operator to take any action for them to work. Another passive restraint is the automatic shoulder belt which was used as a transition from seat belt only systems to air bags. Non-passive or active restraints are things like seat or shoulder belts that you have to buckle yourself.
• Air bag systems are primarily electronic devices that employ an electronic module to work. This module not only determines when to deploy the air bags in a crash, but constantly monitors the system for faults.
• If a fault is detected, the system is shut down and a warning light is turned on to tell the driver that there is a problem.
• Any time the warning light stays on or flashes after prove-out, the air bags will not work.
• The warning light will be turned on, briefly, (called prove-out), each time the ignition key is turned from off to on.

To prevent yourself from being caught in a air bag fraud scheme, or just in the honest mistake of an individual seller who is unaware of the vehicle problems, do these things:

1. When looking at a car you want to buy, make sure the air bag warning light proves out
2. After prove-out, watch to see if the warning light comes back on, either steady or flashing.
3. Read the car owner’s manual to understand the particular system.
4. Inspect all the air bag components you can find. These include the driver’s air bag located in the steering wheel, the passenger air bag located in the dashboard in front of the passenger, and, if equipped, the side air bags which may be located in the seat back of the front seat or in the body around the doors. Look for covers that are not attached well, are not the right color or appear tampered with in any way.
5. If the warning light does not behave properly, take the car to a dealer to be inspected, BEFORE YOU CLOSE THE DEAL!

If you have any other questions, please ask a question in the comment link at the bottom of this page.

Good luck, Walt

Hi readers,

Pasted below is an article about an old technology that is becoming very applicable to our present situation. With this gasifier system you can heat and power your home in a way that is low cost and very environmentally responsible. And a big plus is that you can be more self-sustaining and live with only a thin connection the grid, or non at all.

Hi Folks,

I fear my response may have a bit of lectuing and fingerpointing in it, but
also some potential, if small, solutions to the problem.

Let me know what you think,
Greg

think small!!!

A project committee of Sustain Jefferson (WI), recently built a FEMA
downdraft stratified gasifier. The gasifier stove creates hydrogen and
carbon monoxide, both combustible gases, out of bio-mass. The gasifier stove
has a number of positive features that are out-lined below. If you¹d like to
see the stove in operation, we have posted videos to YouTube. They can be
accessed at the weblinks below.

Please be forewarned; these video are similar to watching the Red Green show
on PBS and may not be appropriate for adult viewers. Some discretion is
necessary. Still, there is a lot of useful and practical information to be
gathered from watching the videos. Please watch for update videos about our
gasification project and related sustainability issues. Rating and
commenting on the videos, draws attention to the issue.

The FEMA Downdraft Stratified Gasifier Stove
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zBsG32n_8oc

Running an Internal Combustion Engine on a Gasifier Stove
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nzox3lW9zok

Attaching a Generator, Battery and Inverter
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nzox3lW9zok

Cleaning the Gasifier
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lCr8Xux8QD8

Sustain Jefferson is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to restoring
social and ecological systems thru The Natural Step (TNS) framework and
methodologies. TNS is a system thinking approach to managing complex systems
that uses four science and ethics based conditions to define ecological and
social sustainability. An ABCD Compass methodology is used to Accept
conditions, provide Baseline annalists, create a Compelling vision and
Direct action. Sustain Jefferson strives to enable people, skills and ideas
to come together in a fertile atmosphere that enables restorative ideas to
grow and thrive. The Gasifier Project is one of those ideas.

Bio-mass Gasification
Small-scale, distributed, biomass-gasification, co-gen energy systems could
be an agriculturally restorative and profitable enterprise, if done in a
Holistic, local and ethical manner. Heat/electricity/carbon dioxide/Bio-char
(charcoal) can be produced in this system from a perennial woody or
cellulosic rich, feedstock crop. Heat, power and electricity can be produced
for local, direct consumption, providing most of the farmstead energy needs.
Much of the carbon (over 50 %) from the feedstock flowing into the
gasification stove remains sequestered in the form of charcoal (agri-char)
that can be returned to the soil, thereby enabling a carbon-negative energy
system.

Bio-mass Gasification and the Environment
Woody and cellulosic plants capture solar energy and store it in a form that
is readily utilized in gasifier stoves. The crop, if a perennial and diverse
plant community, will grow and add organic matter and carbon to the soil in
the form of yearly leaf drop and sympathetic life processes. The bio-mass,
when harvested causes some root die-back adding more organic matter to the
soil. Other ecological services; such as pollination, niche building, soil
friability, fertility, bio-diversity, also occur in the diverse crop
planting, adding an important economic and ecological contribution to our
social condition. And finally, the bio-char by-product of this energy system
can be returned to the soil adding still more carbon that acts as an
ecological catalyst, contributing significantly to the ecological services
of the land. This represents a truly restorative kind of agriculture that
can be a small local part of the solution to our energy crisis.

Local Scale System
These biomass stove/energy systems can be built at nearly any scale from
back-yard/household, to farmstead, to neighborhood, to community scale. I
believe the community scale is as large as practical, if the system is going
to be sustainable in the long term, because of the external costs of
shipping, transport support of biomass to the gasification site. Small,
local, distributed, gasification energy systems are more aligned with
sustainable ideals and ethical values than large central energy systems.

Bio-mass Gasification and the Economy
These gasification energy systems can function within current economic
conditions and thrive because they are built on an agricultural methodology
that is restorative and ethical, yet complimentary to Classical Capitalism.
Feeding electricity back into the grid may be an option for the producer in
some communities. District heat is an option in others. Even power can be
utilized in some instances. The localness of the system increases economic
multiplier effect and builds social and economic capital in the community.
These systems work to internalize the cost of production and restore and
build social and ecological capital in the community.

Permanent plantings can reduce erosion and actually create soil creating the
ecological capital for agricultural to flourish. Permanent plantings require
greatly reduce input; no fertilizer (except Bio-char and site produced
organic matter), no pesticides (unless you want to), and long cycle harvest
methods. Most of the costs of industrial agriculture (many of them
externalized) can be eliminated. Bio-mass gasification, co-gen systems that
are local in nature are not subject energy price fluctuations and
availability, or to take over by corporate interests.

In short, Bio-mass Gasification, if done in a holistic, ethical manner, can
create social and ecological capital and foster a restorative Permacultural
energy system. It can provide profitable jobs for farmers and entrepreneurs,
especially as Peak Oil and other fossil fuels come mainstream. And it can
add to the energy security of the farm, the farmer and the community.

Sincerely,
Greg David

I have seen a couple questions from folks wondering if their car is dog tracking and if the frame on their car or truck is damaged, bent or not straight. There is very simple test nearly anyone can do at home to check if your vehicle is tracking straight. In the body shop they talk of a frame being “diamond”. In other words, if a car or truck with a frame is hit on one corner, in the direction of travel, the frame rail on that side can be pushed back compared to the other side, leaving a diamond shape to the frame.  A misshapen frame affects the relationship of axles and wheels.

Here is how you can check your car for tracking straight. Hose down a section of pavement with water and then drive through the water and beyond for a car length or two. Get out of the car and go back to see what the tracks look like. If your car is tracking true, the rear track should be centered on the front tracks. Usually, the rear track is slightly narrower than the front. I made a couple of simple drawings to illustrate this.

In the example of a damaged frame, the left side frame rail is pushed back which causes the solid rear axle, (as in a pickup or rear wheel drive car), to point toward the left instead of pointing in the same direction as the frame center-line. When driving a vehicle like this the driver must steer to the left to go straight down the road. A giveaway is that the steering wheel is off center.

 There are other conditions that can result in dog-tracking, which I will address in a later post.

I have gotten some recent questions about both heating and air conditioning in cars. One was: “how cold should my ac get?”

Lets consider this. Factory shop manuals will say that you should see a 20 degree difference between outside air, (ambient temperature), and the air coming out of your car’s vent ducts. So, if it is eighty degrees Fahrenheit outside, for them sixty degrees would meet the standard of a functioning A/C system. This would probably not satisfy most customers. I most often see, in the summer months here in the upper Midwest U.S., register temperatures at close to forty degrees, even when the outside temperature is eight-five-ish. Sometimes I see down to thirty-five degrees, and also up to fifty of fifty-five degrees in what seems to be a correctly functioning A/C system.   What can account for this wide range of temperatures? Refrigerant charge. In other words, how much chemical is in the system compared to what amount would be ideal.  For efficiency there needs to be some liquid refrigerant in the bottom of the evaporator. This is because heat transfer occurs at change of state of the refrigerant. Change of state means going from gas to liquid or from liquid to gas. If the refrigerant boils, (changes state), in the middle of the evaporator then it is able to collect the most amount of heat. Too much refrigerant will put the liquid level high in the evaporator, too little refrigerant may mean no liquid in the evaporator to boil and grab heat.

Another important thing is releasing the heat from the inside of the car to the outside air. A dirty condenser, (for definitions, please go to the glossary), that does not flow air well will not lose heat and thus waste all the effort of the compressor and the other components. Refrigerant levels are hard for an owner to determine. A plugged condenser is easy. A fairly cheap, simple thermometer is useful here. Measure the vent temperature at a low blower speed, with the A/C on and temperature set to the coldest position. Then, inspect and clean the condenser. You may have to remove a plastic or rubber seal and use a flashlight to see between the condenser and the vehicle radiator. After cleaning, rerun the test and see if the temperature is lower than the first reading. Remember, if there is water still present from the cleaning, this will improve condenser efficiency and give you a false reading. make sure the area is dry for an accurate test. Did you see some improvement? Last summer I saw several Ford Taurus cars with debris stuck between the radiator and condenser. A simple cleaning greatly improved the comfort in the car. And it was cheap!