Water Heater Trash Incinerator

[Savage11]

hi

I made a trash incinerator out of an old hot water tank. I fabricated the flue pipe as well. Out here in the country we burn our trash. I got tired of using 55 gallon drums. Next week I'll add another three sections of flue pipe. This was a trial run and it worked out well. It burns the trash a lot better than a drum.

[wolfpaak]

Do you have pics of the construction? or an explanation?

[Savage11]

Detailed instructions coming soon. Hopefully this evening, been busy.

[Savage11]

Construction details:
1.) The combustion chamber is a used water heater. The first step was to remove the metal skin. I did this via a grinder and a cutting wheel. Then I peeled the metal skin from the water heater which revealed foam insulation. Removing the foam insulation was very tedious. I used a metal scraper to scrap off the foam insulatin. Then I removed the electrical components.

2.) Now that I have a bare metal heater, we need to fab it into a combustion chamber. The first thing I did was cut a square 10"x10" hole on the bottom of the tank with a grinder/cutting wheel. Next I cut a 12"x12" 16ga perforated metal square that has 1/2" holes in it. I welded the perforated patch over the hole. This was done to aid in the draft. Next step I cut a door and welded on hinges. Finally I traced the flue pipe on top of the water heater tank. Then I traced a 4" hole inside the 6" flue pipe tracing. I cut the 4" hole out and made made straight cuts to the 6" hole that I bent upwards to secure the flue pipe.

3.) I fabricated the 6" flue pipe out of 22ga galvanized sheet metal. Each section measured 30". The big round center section is 10" diameter 12" long with a 6" perforated pipe tack welded via two flanges. The bottom flange is perferated metal as well. I figured this would aid in the drafting up the flue pipe.

The trash incinerator rests on blocks so air can draft through the bottom into the combustion chamber and up the flue. I am going to add three more sections of 6" flue pipe as well as level the incinerator plumb. This first burn was a test run. Oh, I added a volume damper to the flue pipe in order to throttle the hot air. I hope this makes it a bit more clear as far as construction is concerned. It is quite difficult writing this on my crappy I-phone. Any questions feel free to ask.

[DIYer]

Thanks Savage11! We've added your Trash Incinerator to our Farm and Garden category,
as well as to your builder page: Savage11's Homemade Tools. Your receipt:

Trash Incinerator by Savage11

tags: heater