DIY Solo Stove Smokeless Fire Pit 

Thanks!

Cool idea! Maybe will try it sometime.

It’s stainless steel..it won’t rust..lol

Thanks!

Cool idea, I’ll give that a try.

Post a vid of the hot water heater smokeless fire pit

@@89five3five here is an 18” one from a 70 gal water heater. A 50 gal water heater gets about a 15” burner and 100 gal gets about 24”. The 15-18 burn the best. I cut a 12-13” tall section out of the middle of the tank and then cut about 1.5” out of the sidewall to reduce it’s diameter for the inner casing. The outer casing I make from the top 12-13” of the tank with it’s nice rounded edge after I cut most of the top out. Around the outside top edge of the inner chamber I weld 1/4 nuts as spacers. I weld spacers to the bottom inside of the outer chamber to keep a constant airgap. This leaves about 1/8 gap all around the top edge of the inner chamber for secondary airflow when the outer chamber is slid down over it(no holes to drill). I cut a third ring section out of the tank, the width of the inner chamber, cut that vertically then unbend it in a press to get it back into a flat rectangle plate. I use this plate to make the discs for the bottoms of the inner chamber and ash pan. The domed bottom of the tank I weld a handle onto to make a cover for the finished pit... hard with a saws-all, easy with a plasma:) ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-f0qIK-OFm3w.html

@@rronmar , I'm trying to do something like this with an oil drum. It has 58,5 cms diameter. Could you please tell me how much holes do I have to do for primary air? And what measures do they have? Thanks in advance!

@@r0ckefeller Sure. Area = pi X radius squared, 58.5CM diameter(23”) =29.25CM radius. So 29.25 X 29.25 = 855.6 X 3.1416 = 2687.8 Square CM. So you want between 26.8 and 53.6 sq/cm of primary vent area. A 12.5mm drill bit(1/2”) makes a hole with an are of 1.27 sq/cm so you need 21-42 holes this size to = 26.8-53.6 Sq/cm of vent area. I find the larger pits need less so I might start with 25 or so holes and see how that works. What you are looking for is for it to occasionally pull little pockets of flame/smoke downward toward the coals. Unfortunately the problem you will really run into is that oil drums are thin. The heat that these generate to burn cleanly will quickly cook the carbon out of the thin drum steel wall and they will rot out quickly. You either need stainless steel or thicker steel to last longer. I make mine out of scrap domestic water heaters I get for free(4MM wall thickness). They are typically 50-80 gallon(189-302 liters) in size and produce pits 38-45CM across which I find to be a nice size which is easy to keep full of fuel. Hope this helps, good luck…

Thanks!

Has been holding up pretty well. The pot lid that I cut to hold the inner pot did warp a little bit because the heat softened the aluminum but it hasn’t affected functionality. I mostly use it to burn yard trimmings and junk mail.

Sounds like you should have 1 cm on both sides which is good. Not sure if you can tell in the video but I flipped the lid upside down which provided a bit of extra space from the bottom. If you have the patience you’ll be able to drill the stainless steel. I would go with larger holes so you don’t have to do so many.

@@thunderbird310 thanks, I did mark up 1/2 inch with the intention of using 5mm drill bit. I'll change track and go with 1 inch and maybe 10mm bit. I did attempt to punch a hole as you did, but that didn't work, so I plan on using a 1.5 mm cobalt bit with a rotary tool to make a small hole first. I don't have drilling oil, hoping water will do the trick.

Sorry to bother you again, I'm cutting the lid (stainless steel) using a Tacklife rotary tool (cheap, Amazon) and I'm getting about 3.5cm per disc. I saw you used a similar approach, any cutting discs you recommend?

@@kronic0961 stainless steel is a lot harder than aluminum which is the material my outer pot was made of. I just used the metal cutoff wheels for my Dremel, nothing special. I did go through a few but I imagine stainless steel is going to eat them up much faster. You could try a grinder with metal cutoff wheel if you are good with a grinder or maybe try removing the majority of the material with a grinder and then clean up with rotary. Even if it’s not a perfect seal the secondary combustion will work just fine. You can also add a 3-4 stainless steel bolts to the bottom of the inner pot to keep it properly spaced if the lid can’t hold the weight.

@@stephensmirke2146 thanks!

Yeah i did this during the lockdown so had some extra time on my hands. Wouldn’t probably do it again without a drill press.

I only used the glass table to find the circumference of the pot. I just needed a clean smooth surface to lay the tape down and mark up. Did the rest of the work in the garage.

Definitely use steel for inner pot. Would probably recommend steel for both pots if possible. Harbour freight has some inexpensive stainless pots with lids.

If you are getting smoke then there is not enough hot air reigniting the smoke gasses. Make sure you have space in between the inner and outer pots on all sides except the top. The main source of air should be the bottom of the inner pot and as air travels from the bottom to the top it gets warmer and then re renters the fire. This is just a copy of the solo stove. They have a really good video explaining the science.

@@thunderbird310 Thanks so much for the reply! I figured out the problem. I had too much firewood extending beyond the top. I found that keep the fuel below the top gave better results ... almost entirely smokeless!

Haha, good eye. I love that board. Found it at a garage sale years ago.

It’s not just the efficiency at which a flame burns carbon that determines the color. Orange flames occur at temps of 1100-2200 degrees Fahrenheit which is the temp at which wood burns.

@@stephensmirke2146 My understanding is that the orange/yellow colour means that there are a lot of unburned carbon particles that are being illuminated as they leave the fire. If these were being burned in the main body of the fire they would not be free to cause illumination in the yellow/orange colour range. The burning fire would be blue (complete burning of the carbon particles) - but the stove has to be designed to get to higher temperatures than 2300 degrees - tricky but possible. Carbon particles are not healthy to breath and indicate incomplete burning, just like smoke does. I will do a bit more research on this to make sure I have it right.

I don’t use this everyday, but it has held up well when I do have occasional campfires. The only thing I have noticed is the aluminum lid that I cut will warp a little bit after long fire sessions. It can be easily bent back with pliers once cool.

I used some oil to keep the bits cool when drilling. If you aren’t too concerned about making just like the solo stove I would just use the grinder to cut openings for air

No definitely not

The inner pot has a lip of 1mm or so and it hangs off the outer pot lid. Would have been a good idea to add some spacers on the bottom though.

Just get a metal holder for flower pots....so many different sizes and always at goodwill

Cool. Let me know how the ceramic coat works. I would be hesitant to use aluminum for the inner pot.

I think aluminum outer would be good as aluminum conducts heat better and steel kinda retains it It would be more radiant heatwise Or you can make homemade aluminum fins to fit on outside

With the kids running around that table has seen better days. :)

The inner pot is smaller and has a lip around the top that is held in place by the larger pot lid.

@@thunderbird310 I don’t understand this explanation. Can you post a pic of the inside, assembled, before you put the ring on top? And does the ring slide around when stoking or is it held in place somehow?

@@requiredname5250 let me try to clarify what’s going on. The inner pot lid is not used. The inner pot has a slight lip around the edge where the steel is rolled over. This is what is preventing the inner pot from falling in. The outer pot lid is cut to the circumference of the inner pot. My pot lid was tapered down about a 1/2” so I flipped it upside down which ended up raising it the same amount giving room for circulation on the bottom. The lid is just held on by gravity so you have to be careful not to move it too much but it can’t really fall in since it doesn’t have that much room to move in any direction.

The inner pot is supported by the lid of the outer pot to allow a clearance between all three sides including the bottom. The outer pot lid is flipped so that it gives extra room at the bottom.

Stainless steel inner pot is 12 qt and outer aluminum pot is 20 qt. That being said, you can use a combination of any pots that have a similar ratio of size.

Stephen Smirke is it possible inner for 16quart? Just i wonder 12qt and 20 might too much gap? Or loose?

Henry Kim , these were just the two pots that I found that worked for me. As long as there is room for air to circulate between the two pots then the secondary combustion should work.

Thanks for the heads up. Not sure what you mean by the strainer, but I have noticed the lid portion can get a little warped after long fires. The inner pot is stainless steel and contains most of the heat, so the outer aluminum pot hasn’t had any issues so far.

Alex thanks Alex, I was thinking about making a stand similar to the ones they sell for the Solo Stove. If I make one I’ll post a video. I did leave the handles on the outer pot, but had to cut the ones off the inner pot so it could fit.

The aluminum lid got wavy after a long hot fire. Easy to bend back into shape. I would use stainless steel for both the pots if available

RJLH77 the aluminum gets hot to the touch but it hasn’t deformed as a result. These pots are built to be on hot gas burners so it seems to be able to handle the fire. The inner pot contains the majority of the heat.

Around 2:48 in the video I remove the rivets.

What color should the flame be?

Tommy: Chicken wings! Let's think about this for a sec, Ted, why would somebody put a guarantee on a box? Hmmm, very interesting. Ted Nelson: Go on, I'm listening. Tommy: Here's the way I see it, Ted. Guy puts a fancy guarantee on a box 'cause he wants you to fell all warm and toasty inside. Ted Nelson: Yeah, makes a man feel good. Tommy: 'Course it does. Why shouldn't it? Ya figure you put that little box under your pillow at night, the Guarantee Fairy might come by and leave a quarter, am I right, Ted? Ted Nelson: What's your point? Tommy: The point is, how do you know the fairy isn't a crazy glue sniffer? "Building model airplanes" says the little fairy, well, we're not buying it. He sneaks into your house once, that's all it takes. The next thing you know, there's money missing off the dresser and your daughter's knocked up, I seen it a hundred times. Ted Nelson: But why do they put a guarantee on the box? Tommy: Because they know all they sold ya was a guaranteed piece of shit. That's all it is, isn't it? Hey, if you want me to take a dump in a box and mark it guaranteed, I will. I got spare time. But for now, for your customer's sake, for your daughter's sake, ya might wanna think about buying a quality product from me. Ted Nelson: Okay, I'll buy from you. Tommy: Well, that's... What?

@@thunderbird310 that's funny

The handles that were cut were from the inner pot

😀😀😀😀😀

Fresh air enters from the outside holes and comes through the holes at the bottom of the inner pot. The fresh air also warms as it travels up through the two walls and enters through the holes at the top of the inner pot reigniting any unburned gasses.

Yeah, I just put a few drops of cutting oil to keep the drill bits from overheating.

@@thunderbird310 what kind of bit you use?

@@chuckgarcia6377 it was a Milwaukee Titanium bit

@@stephensmirke2146 thx

There are two pots. The handles were removed from the inner pot.

@@stephensmirke2146 I guess the two pots was left off the video

@@scottkriegerjr.6205 if you pay attention, you will notice that the outer pot was drilled near the bottom of the pot. The inner stainless pot was too difficult to drill through the side so a grinder was used to cut the air holes near the top of the pot. Also, the lid of the outer pot was cut into a ring to accommodate the inner pots circumference at the rim.

Handles were removed from the inner stainless steel pot. The outside pot the handles were not removed.

Oh I see I didn’t see you put the other pot inside the other one that’s why I got a little confused but I’m gonna do one just like that because that looks like fun😀👍thank you👍

@@ernestogonzalez4684 exactly, couldn't tell used 2 separate pots at all...

It’s pretty self explanatory but the smaller pot with the handles cut off goes inside of the larger pot. It slides into the inverted pot lid that was cut with the Dremel which holds the inner pot about 1/2” above the outer pot.

Did you notice that the design uses two pots? The inner stainless pot had the handles cut off, not the outer pot.

I used iMovie to edit it. I like crappy music too

Haha thanks man. Not sure if you know but the original design is a commercially available product called the solo stove bonfire. They are around $250 so I made this for about $30 in materials.

How many hour of labor?

Made this during the COVID quarantine so I had some extra time on my hands

Glad you were able to find the volume button on your own.

There are two pots. Inner pot is stainless and handles were removed.

@@stephensmirke2146 oh I see, nice. That fire is breathing🐲

What didn’t I show?

Thanks for your harsh criticism. I’m sure you produce quality videos in your limited spare time.

All these senseless comments are pointless! What about doing your own research? Or just scroll on?

TBH, none of that stuff really matters. You can stack wood in a pile in your yard and it will burn. As long as you have oxygen, heat, and fuel, you can make fire. It's not that complicated

@@JensGraikowskior maybe do a better job EXPLAINING what you’re doing in a TUTORIAL video.

What did you have in mind?

The outer pot was $10 and the inner pot was $5 from a thrift store. Including making the video the whole process took roughly 4 hours. The solo stove is $300 which I also own and they both produce a smokeless fire. The nice thing about mine is you can remove the inner pot to empty the ashes. You must have a lot going on in your life. You would benefit from self reflection and more positivity in your life.

This is the first video I have ever made. Thanks for your contribution