[q]Situation: antique 8-in thick brick home constructed of sun dried bricks with plastered internal walls and no vapor barrier. How to protect against the combination of weather and internal moisture? The proper technique, as I understand it, is to paint the external walls,. presumably with latex paint, to prevent leaching of external brick surfaces from […]
Category: Do It Yourself
Real Stirling Engines
I wish you well with your search for the Merc industrial diesel. I have often thought that those refrigeration systems were just waiting to be re-assigned. A friend in Switzerland has a 3 cubic metre (795 US gallon) hot water storage tank, heavily insulated and built into a special room. It had several draw off […]
Alternative Vehicles Technology?
For some weeks I have been musing about the idea of a lightweight trike as a possible configuration for a future economy vehicle. The trike appeals because the rolling resistance of the tires is immediately reduced by 25%, and there could be advantages in using motorcycle rear ends (chain or belt drive) to a single […]
Lack of Stirling Engines
Stirling engines have been around since 1816, but achieved widespread commercial success between about 1880 and 1920. At that time they were commonly known as hot air engines and available in 4″, 6″ 8″ and 10″ bores, with power outputs generally less that 1hp. Manufacturers including Rider, Ericsson and Robinson were prevailent about a century […]
I Have Termites in My Beds!
[q]I have a question and was hoping that someone might have some insight. I mulched my flower garden beds with hardwood chips. I now have termites in my beds! What should I do to get rid of them and any suggestions on other mulch material? I live in Atlanta, GA so pine needles are plentiful, […]
Re-Inventing the Wheels
[q]Some years ago, I read an article by Amory Lovins of the Rocky Mountain Institute on Hypercars. It intrigued me at the time, as I was actively building EVs back then, but now I think there is perhaps even more added value in his words. Here is a link to the bulk of the text, […]
Wilt or Transpiration
[q]I’ve seen several people talking about when and how to water recently. I didn’t save the posts, but one or two comments about plants wilting in the heat of the day or during a hot wind stuck in my mind. I don’t remember the whole post, so forgive the pontificating if you already know this, […]
Vegetable Oil Heating – Vertical Babington?
[q]It may be down to the ability to vapourise the oil efficiently, and someone may chose to correct me but I don’t believe WVO vapourises as well as “28 second” central heating oil. I tried running a primus stove on olive oil once, and it was definitely a vapourisation problem which defeated me that time. […]
Tesla Turbine Meets Flash Steam
[q]Recent postings have sparked my interest in the Tesla Turbine as a robust, easily constructed method of getting pure rotary motion from a hot gas stream, whether the exhaust of an IC engine, or a gas burner fed from a wood- gasifier. A high speed brushless dc generator would allow electrical power to be extracted […]
Solid Fuel Wood-Gas Canisters
[q]Fuel handling for a modern wood gas car is going to be the major issue for public acceptability. Ideally the fuel should require little or no human handling and the ash and clinker should be disposed of in a user friendly manner. Here is one idea which could help to implement such a scheme. Imagine […]