Drying dome with Humidifier -does it make sense?

[ramedam]

Hi folks, I am new and this is my first post. This is my first build. Lots of good info from you guys helped to progress me to final stages o my dome build. Iam at start of drying my dome.
Been reading lots of good advice related to curing the dome with fire at various temps. However, as you mostly concur, controlling the temp especially at the initial stages of cure is critical to reducing cracks but not easy and prone to potential heat spikes specially if you are absent minded like me.

I have an idea that I am exploring using an electric dehumidifier. When a room is damp or flooded, one approach is to use a dehumidifier for a few days, so this is the basis of my plan. I am thinking do we need heat or will the humidifier help with the objective of driving out the moisture gently and more controllably at the initial stages of drying.

I have started today and placed the dehumidifier at the entrance of the dome and sealed round the entrance to the dehumidifier inlet with plastic sheet. A quick job really.

As you guys are the experts, would appreciate your opinion on whether this is a viable approach or silly. Let me know if it rings any alarm bells so can rescue in good time. I have attached a pic.

[UtahBeehiver]

Are we talking dehumidifier or humidifier? I suspect dehumidifier, so I will be interested on the outcome. When you are ready, your first few cures can be BBQ briquettes which are easier to control the temperature without having a flame.

[ramedam]

sorry yes forgot the 'de'! it will be running all night, will let you know how much water it will collect, although i suspect some may be the humidity from the air flowing inward from the chimney, so hard to be precise.

[ramedam]

by the way the briquettes idea is genious! I hate cooking with them but in this instance sounds ideal.

[agrasyuk]

. I'm sure the device will remove some moisture from the structure (at great energy usage), but what is the purpose? Gradual fires will remove it as well. I don't think there's anything to gain as far as drying time.
sorry, doesn't make sense to me.

[Gulf]

I'm a little skeptical also. But, do report back on how well it works. As a forum, we don't learn if we don't try new methods. Like Russell, I'm a fan of the charcoal /"heat beads" (as Karangi Dude and others down under call them) for the lower temps of the drying stage .

[david s]

When the oven is new/wet, it is common for the fire to go out or the heat beads failing to catch. A little kindling in conjunction with the brickettes/heatbeads helps.
A dehumidifier may help to remove moisture from inside the oven but won't do much to remove moisture in the outer layers. Fire from inside will push water away from the heat source to the outer layers.

[Gulf]

Start them in a charcoal chimney outside of the oven. Using paper or starter cubes,( no liquid starter please) they will light and burn just fine .

[ramedam]

Guys I totally agree heat will be needed. Not intending to replace the fire treatment, just at the beginning. I know its unconventional, but for the sake of the excrement I am going to continue. I can report this morning 1.5 liter of water was extracted during last night. The machine turned itself off when the it got full, so don't know how fast it got to that poin. The power consumption is 220W, so in the grand scale of things its minimal to me. Thanks for all your feed backs, much appreciated - will report more.

[ramedam]

well, so far so good. I have extracted more than a gallon of water in 24 hours using the dehumidifier method, that’s 4 1.5 litres every 5 hours. I am quite surprised as how much water is coming out with no sign of diminishing. For me it’s a viable method and would say easier to manage as just leave it there to do its stuff. Next is to heat it up with briquettes but will still go very easy at first.

[UtahBeehiver]

Your dewatering process is a smaller version of what I would do when I was drying 100 of miles of natural gas pipelines after I tested them with water. I would move very dry inert gas (nitrogen with a -40 dew point) thru the pipeline where the the nitrogen gas would absorb the water vapor in the pipeline.

Since you are using atmospheric air, which depending on the humidity that day, some of the water will be from the air that is coming through the chimney vent as it passes through the dehumidifier. Some from the dome itself.

[ramedam]

Utah, That makes it sound even cooler! Now I know why you were interested Yes I did think of the water will be coming from the flue itself, so I minimised the opening. After 3 days its still drawing 1.5 liters approx every 5 hours. I think for me anyway its a viable option. This weekend its fire time!

[agrasyuk]

Sounds like you at the least get a good feeling out of this. Have you started firing yet?
my observation on matter: did a week of gradually ramping up the fires and then letting the oven cool down. Things looked dry enough so i started doing hour long burns. burning for that long I was amazed how much more moisture got pushed out. Lots of water (I'd say bucket is a lot) came out of "drain hole" on hearth bottom and I see moisture stains on the base all the way to foundation. Although some of it must have come from rains we had here.
my point is that it seems that a lot of moisture is trapped deep into the material, wondering how much of that you drew out with the dehumidifier.

[ramedam]

In three days I got 3 approx gallons. Then I started the firing. I am on day 3 now.