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Pics of my Kiln in Progress

Started by Glenn1, January 31, 2015, 06:30:57 PM

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Glenn1

Thanks WDH.  I always appreciate your input.

Glenn
Vacutherm IDry, Nyle 53 Kiln, New Holland Skid Steer, Kaufman Gooseneck Trailer, Whitney 32A Planer

Glenn1

WDH, I don't want to overheat the controller so I am wondering what wattage bulb you are using.  Is it an incandescent or a halogen?

Glenn
Vacutherm IDry, Nyle 53 Kiln, New Holland Skid Steer, Kaufman Gooseneck Trailer, Whitney 32A Planer

WDH

Woodmizer LT40HDD35, John Deere 2155, Kubota M5-111, Kubota L2501, Nyle L53 Dehumidification Kiln, and a passion for all things with leafs, twigs, and bark.  hamsleyhardwood.com

jim blodgett

You could use a temperature controlled outlet for that light.  We use them in well pump houses for small space heaters.  About the size of a pack of cigarettes.  You plug it into any outlet, then plug your heater, or in your case light, into it.  Set the temperature for 40 degrees or so and the light comes on when temps drop below and off when they go above whatever you set it for.  They sell them at our lumber yard, or certainly any home improvement store.

Glenn1

Thanks Jim,  I went ahead and ordered one from  Amazon.  The temperature of the air needs to be 80 degrees or more for the compressor to work.  This should do the job with the light bulb.
Vacutherm IDry, Nyle 53 Kiln, New Holland Skid Steer, Kaufman Gooseneck Trailer, Whitney 32A Planer

WDH

I believe that the 80 degree temp is the dry bulb (air temp) that you must reach inside the kiln chamber for the compressor to operate.  The kiln controller is located outside the chamber, and the manual says that the controller needs to be kept above freezing as the kiln operates.
Woodmizer LT40HDD35, John Deere 2155, Kubota M5-111, Kubota L2501, Nyle L53 Dehumidification Kiln, and a passion for all things with leafs, twigs, and bark.  hamsleyhardwood.com

Glenn1

WDH,  Thanks for the clarification.....my mistake.    ;D
Vacutherm IDry, Nyle 53 Kiln, New Holland Skid Steer, Kaufman Gooseneck Trailer, Whitney 32A Planer

YellowHammer

I bolted a fold down door, weatherproof truck toolbox to the outside of my kiln, and it houses the controller, scales for weighing samples, moisture meter, pens, an EMC chart,  etc, and a light socket and bare incandescent bulb.  The bulb keeps everything nice and warm, and doubles as a, well, as a light  ;D so I can see when I check my kilns at night, which is most of the time in the winter. I leave the light bulb on 24/7 during the winter months.

Even though the compressor will operate down to 70F air temp in the chamber, the controller won't initially close the compressor relay until it measures at least 80F in the chamber.  Below that temperature, the controller will only engage the heat strips and wait until 80F is attained, at which point the strips are turned off and compressor is automatically started.  I use 2kW of halogen interior chamber lights to significantly shorten the preheat cycle by many hours, as the unit only has a single 1 kW heater pack. 

Also, in order test the compressor function in temps below 80F, place the temperature probe in front of a halogen light to warm it up, or hold it in your hands, to trick the controller to turn the compressor on.  This is not a recommended practice as it will cause pressure issues in the compressor if run too long, but sooner or later you, or your HVAC guy, will need to use this trick to debug or field test the equipment.
YH


YellowHammerisms:

Take steps to save steps.

If it won't roll, its not a log; it's still a tree.  Sawmills cut logs, not trees.

Kiln drying wood: When the cookies are burned, they're burned, and you can't fix them.

Sawing is fun for the first couple million boards.

Be smarter than the sawdust

dean herring

Failure is not an option  3D Lumber

dean herring

WDH, could you put on some pics of your l53 kiln, got at least another week of recovery before going back to work. Trying to get kiln plans figured out. Thank you .
Failure is not an option  3D Lumber

Glenn1

Hi Dean,

I wish I was finished.  Still need to run 125 feet of cable from the house to the kiln and then wire up the units.  From there, I should be able to run my first load of air dried walnut.  I also need to fabricate my steel kiln cart since I have an end loader.


Vacutherm IDry, Nyle 53 Kiln, New Holland Skid Steer, Kaufman Gooseneck Trailer, Whitney 32A Planer

dean herring

Hi Glenn looks good, thanks for the pics, be glad when I can go back to work. Then I also get back to work on my mill/ kiln site. I wish I was as far along as you. Between working till dark snow rain and surgery I am really behind.  But God willing I can get back on it soon. Dean
Failure is not an option  3D Lumber

Glenn1

Dean,

What type of surgery sidelined you?
Vacutherm IDry, Nyle 53 Kiln, New Holland Skid Steer, Kaufman Gooseneck Trailer, Whitney 32A Planer

WDH

Dean,

Here are a few pics.  My kiln is a front load kiln.  I make 320 BF pallets and pre-dry-air-dry the lumber, although I have dried 7 or 8 loads from green.  Better to let nature do some of the heavy work before going into the kiln.  I can stack 3 pallets high, so that is a maximum load of 960 BF.  For all species of wood that is air dried to 30% or less, I can dry 960 BF.  I can also dry 960 BF of green oak.  However, for fast drying species like pine and yellow poplar, you can only dry about 400 BF if the wood is green.  About 600 BF for green medium drying wood like walnut and cherry.  So air drying beforehand allows you to maximize the kiln's capacity. 

Floor is 2x9 joists on a concrete carport.  There is a treated plywood bottom under the joists, and the floor is sitting on treated 2x4 sleepers that are laying flat on the concrete to create a 1.5" air space between the bottom of the kiln chamber floor and the concrete.  The concrete has been sealed to minimize moisture from the concrete.  The joist bays are filled with 9" fiberglass insulation (R-30) with no vapor barrier.  Then, there is a layer of 2" rigid foam, then a poly vapor barrier, then treated plywood for floor.



 



 

Walls are a full 2x6 with 9" of fiberglass, then topped with 2" of rigid foam, then a layer of 1/2" foil backed foam board, then poly vapor barrier, then 1/2" treated plywood.  Wall and ceiling are R-45.



 



 



 

Doors are 12' wide, 6' to the side.  A trailer cam-door lock latches the door and pushes it tight against the seals. 



 

The kiln Controller is located in a box on the backside of the kiln.  The light bulb is for heat when the temps are below freezing so that the kiln controller does not freeze. 



 

The inside of the kiln is painted with aluminum roofing paint, and all the joints are sealed with foam and high temp silicon.  The dehumidification unit sits on a table in the back.  The top of the unit sits above a shelf that runs across the back of the chamber.  That is where the two fans are located, and blow out at 45 degrees.  I put two additional fans in the corners to supplement air flow.  Since, then, I have added two more, one on each side between the corner fans and the unit fans.  Total of 5100 CFM's of air flow.

Here is the finished chamber.  The door seals are a kit from Nyle. 



 

Here is the first load of green pine.  The baffles are 1" rigid foam panels.  Much much lighter than the plywood that is called for in the Nyle plans.



 

Thanks to Yellowhammer for letting me pick his brain and use his experience to build the chamber.  I think that three things are very important.

1).  Make the chamber big enough to hold up to 1000 BF of lumber with a foot on either side of the load (for a front load kiln), with 2 feet between the back of the load and the Unit, and 2 feet between the door and the front of the load.  My side space is limited because of the width of the carport that the chamber is built under.  I wish there was more room on each side of the load.  I can dry up to 10.5' long lumber. 
2).  Make it easy to load with equipment.  You do not want to be hand stacking and unstacking the boards in the chamber.
3).  Don't skimp on insulation.

Woodmizer LT40HDD35, John Deere 2155, Kubota M5-111, Kubota L2501, Nyle L53 Dehumidification Kiln, and a passion for all things with leafs, twigs, and bark.  hamsleyhardwood.com

Glenn1

Those are excellent photos and a very helpful tutorial...
Vacutherm IDry, Nyle 53 Kiln, New Holland Skid Steer, Kaufman Gooseneck Trailer, Whitney 32A Planer

dean herring

How are you doing Glenn, hernia surgery, I go back to doc thur. Hope he let's me go back to work.

Hi WDH the pics are great . That is  a good looking kiln . Thanks also for the explanations . I am setting by the studying them right now, the walls are closing in on me. Be glad when I can get back to work.
Thanks for your concern Glenn and your info / pics WDH
Dean
Failure is not an option  3D Lumber

xlogger

Glenn, would you care if I would stop by sometimes and take a look? What side of WS are you on? Ricky
Timberking 2000, Turbo slabber Mill, 584 Case, Bobcat 773, solar kiln, Nyle L-53 DH kiln

Glenn1

You are more than welcome to come and visit.  PM has been sent.
Vacutherm IDry, Nyle 53 Kiln, New Holland Skid Steer, Kaufman Gooseneck Trailer, Whitney 32A Planer

PineNut

When using light bulbs for heat, I would recommend using two bulbs wired in series. The life span for one bulb is measure in weeks for continuous operation while the life span for two bulbs in series will be measured in years. Both bulbs should be the same size (watts). They will not be as near as bright but when you want heat, that doesn't make any difference. 

Glenn1

Here are a couple of my completed kiln pictures: 




Vacutherm IDry, Nyle 53 Kiln, New Holland Skid Steer, Kaufman Gooseneck Trailer, Whitney 32A Planer

WDH

Woodmizer LT40HDD35, John Deere 2155, Kubota M5-111, Kubota L2501, Nyle L53 Dehumidification Kiln, and a passion for all things with leafs, twigs, and bark.  hamsleyhardwood.com

dean herring

Looks good Glenn, good idea on the lights. Was it not getting hot enough without the lights.
What are triangle boxes on the shelf. It looks like you decided not to put the roof coating on the walls.
Failure is not an option  3D Lumber

Glenn1

I've learned alot from WDH and Yellow Hammer.  I added the halogens to speed it the heating process and to raise the heat during the sterilization cycle.

There are currently 3 triangle boxes housing fans with one more to come.  The two fans that they supply really don't give enough air circulation so I have individual toggles on them to add   as needed. 

I got lazy and did not put the roof coating on the plywood.  I'll see how it goes without it.
Vacutherm IDry, Nyle 53 Kiln, New Holland Skid Steer, Kaufman Gooseneck Trailer, Whitney 32A Planer

WDH

The extra fans really help, thanks to Yellowhammer.
Woodmizer LT40HDD35, John Deere 2155, Kubota M5-111, Kubota L2501, Nyle L53 Dehumidification Kiln, and a passion for all things with leafs, twigs, and bark.  hamsleyhardwood.com

Glenn1

Vacutherm IDry, Nyle 53 Kiln, New Holland Skid Steer, Kaufman Gooseneck Trailer, Whitney 32A Planer

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