OhCripes.com

Well, after having used our pellet stove for the last few years as our primary means of heating our home I finally got around to making something incredibly simple yet necessary. The pellet stove works great with the exception of one small oversight by the manufacturer. When the pellet drop down the chute from the auger which pulls them up from the bottom of the hopper they tend to ricochet off the top of the firepot(the container where the pellets burn inside of). I had been meaning to make a small U-shaped piece of metal to set on top of the firepot so that more of the pellet would end up where they belong instead of smoldering off to the sides or in front by the door. So today it was time to clean it for the week and I decided the time had come to make my pellet deflector.

It is really very simple but I took pictures anyway because text just didn’t seem as interesting.

I started with a scrap pice of flat 1/16 inch steel plate.

I had taken measurements around the perimeter of the firepot while cleaning. 4-1/2″ on each side and about 4″ across the front. So I needed a 13″ strip. For height I figured a little over a 1/2″ would do the trick. I just eyeballed that part.
I used an angle grinder with a steel cutting wheel to cut the strip that I had marked on the steel using pencil.

Here it is fully cut.

Since it is only 1/16″ steel I put it in a small vise and bent it at an angle 4-1/2″ from each end.

Fully bent and ready to put in the stove.

Finally I placed it on top of the firepot in the pellet stove and started it up.

It works exactly as I had hoped. now that I look at it it appears I forgot to clean the door window.

Bright and early this morning around quarter to 5. I headed on my way to work after allowing my car to warm up for about 20 minutes. After driving about 15 miles it died. I tried cranking it over a few times, nothing. After calling in to work to take a day of vacation and calling my wife to come pick me up I managed to get it started. After driving to the next exit to head back North on the highway for home it died again. I determined at this point that it was definately the diesel gelling due to the -0 degree temperatures. After getting it started, stalled, and started again I filled the tank up with some “Arctic” diesel and added another bottle of anti-gel. Which poured mightly slow; I have to say it had the consistancy of honey.
Notice a local bank temperature on my way home.

So hopefully I won’t have this problem the remainder of the week as it is supposed to warm up a few degrees. This brings me to this weeks favorite video. While I do appreciate the fantastic mileage that I get with my Jetta diesel along the the future potential to run it on waste veggie oil; when cold temperatures stop it dead I feel like doing this.

I’ve been moving things around a bit lately. New site layout / theme, widgets, domain change, etc. (Ohcripes is now my primary domain name) Note the shoutcast widget middle left, and the This Day In History widget courtesy of Wikipedia directly below that. Hopefully soon I will have a chance to get some current happenings posted.