iDRY Vacuum Kilns

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Nyle L500 vs iDry Plus

Started by Bboman23, January 21, 2021, 10:09:25 PM

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Bboman23

I have a Nyle 200 system and it just doesn't do what I need it to do.  After getting it, I was informed it isn't really a good option for wet pine, which is mostly what I dry.

If you were wanting a system to dry as much pine as fast as possible, which unit would you purchase?

I read a lot of good things about the iDry, but I am not sure if it is the best option.  In order to get a large load in there, I wouldn't have room for weights on the load and my lumber as to dry straight.

Thanks in advance for any recommendations!  

Southside

What sort of volume are you trying to do?  I dry a lot of green pine in mine, and have the fans on stacks waiting to go in whenever time allows.  
Franklin buncher and skidder
JD Processor
Woodmizer LT Super 70 and LT35 sawmill, KD250 kiln, BMS 250 sharpener and setter
Riehl Edger
Woodmaster 725 and 4000 planner and moulder
Enough cows to ensure there is no spare time.
White Oak Meadows

YellowHammer

If you want to dry pine a fast as possible, a direct or indirect fire kiln would be the best solution.  

No compressor, simply dry hot air in, moist hot air out.  A burner heats the air, or indirectly heats the air.  Very simple, very fast.  The hot air is produced by propane burners.  You could also use steam as a heater.  
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

Bboman23

Quote from: YellowHammer on January 21, 2021, 10:55:11 PM
If you want to dry pine a fast as possible, a direct or indirect fire kiln would be the best solution.  

No compressor, simply dry hot air in, moist hot air out.  A burner heats the air, or indirectly heats the air.  Very simple, very fast.  The hot air is produced by propane burners.  You could also use steam as a heater.  
Now you're onto something. I can make this happen. 
Help me out if you don't mind. 
Put lumber in the kiln. Turn on propane heater (I have a 215,000 BTU heater).  I'm guessing I should have the fans on as well. 
Where will the water go?  Just down on the floor?

customsawyer

If you're pumping hot air in you'll need a vent to take the hot moist air out. The vent is where your moisture will go.
Two LT70s, Nyle L200 kiln, 4 head Pinheiro planer, 30" double surface Cantek planer, Lucas dedicated slabber, Slabmizer, and enough rolling stock and chainsaws to keep it all running.
www.thecustomsawyer.com

Bboman23

Quote from: customsawyer on January 22, 2021, 06:51:25 AM
If you're pumping hot air in you'll need a vent to take the hot moist air out. The vent is where your moisture will go.
On the L200, there is a 220 vent that I can turn on. It pumps a lot of air out. 
So heat it up (HOT)
Have all 9 of my fans circulating air. 
Have the vent pulling the air/moisture out?
My last cycle I tried something new. I wanted the kiln hotter, so I used a 215k btu bazooka heater.  It flipped the switch on the compressor so that turned off without me knowing. In literally 30 hours, the boards went from sawmill green to 8%.  It was amazing. 
I want to duplicate that.  Boards were at 160 degrees for 30 hours (whole start to finish cycle was done at 160).  They all dried perfectly straight and no mold/mildew. 
If I can make this work, looks like I bought a L200 for nothing. 😂

Southside

Franklin buncher and skidder
JD Processor
Woodmizer LT Super 70 and LT35 sawmill, KD250 kiln, BMS 250 sharpener and setter
Riehl Edger
Woodmaster 725 and 4000 planner and moulder
Enough cows to ensure there is no spare time.
White Oak Meadows

Bboman23

Quote from: Southside on January 22, 2021, 07:42:10 AM
Is that the core MC?
Yes.  The boards I'm drying are all pine and all 4/4

YellowHammer

Yes, powered or nonpowered vents are needed to get the hot moist air out and to control the temperature.  It's a vey basic and simple system.

Fired or indirect fired kilns are very fast, and there is no compressor to overload.  There is no compressor at all.  So although a 4,000 bdft DH kiln can only green dry 1,500 or so green pine, a fired kiln can dry full loads.  Since pine is extremely forgiving in terms of daily allowable moisture release, it can be dried hot and fast.  Commercial cycle kilns go up to 180F.

A kiln of this sort is basically the same cycle as a commercial steam kiln, except they introduce lots of heat with steam radiators which is much less a fire hazard, not combustion heat from a salamander.  

A slamander heater can be a fire hazard, watch out.  It also produces water as a combustion byproduct so actually adds moisture to the kiln air, but that doesn't matter much if all the air is being continually exhausted.

Normally, this is where an indirect fired heat exchanger comes in, there is nothing flammable introduced into the kiln chamber.    

The better fired kilns have vents that are Venturi style which are always open but controls the airflow and pressure drop via orifice size and fans.  That helps regulate the amount of fuel burned.  Electrically controlled vents can fail in the close position, which would be very bad.  If you are going to use electrically controlled power vents, install some smaller, full open vents to make sure the kiln doesn't overheat and burn down.  Maybe an attic ventilator, designed to take the heat.  I don't think the Nyle exhaust vent is rated for continuous duty high temperature operation.  

Some people use an outdoor wood boiler to add heat to DH kiln using a radiator, and never turn on the compressor.

Direct fire can be very troublesome for hardwood because it is very difficult to control.  

Not so for pine.  Stack it, cook it, dry it, repeat.    

https://www.nyle.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Indirect-Burner-Sell-Sheet.pdf
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

farmfromkansas

Wonder if you could get enough heat from a wood fired furnace to dry your wood?  
Most everything I enjoy doing turns out to be work

Bboman23

Well I tested it out one more time. Closed the doors of the kiln with about 1,500 board feet of pine at 11:30 on Friday.  At 1:00 today (about 25 hours later), the moisture went from 48% to 8%!!!

This is definitely the solution to keep my pine inventory stocked up. 

Now I have to make it a more permanent setup. I have one small vent that I made stay open.  Then I have the Nyle vent that comes on when the temp gets over 160. 

The heater is heating from one end, so the boards closest to the heater gets dry faster. 

I would love a couple small vents that will stay on constantly at a low spin speed.  Then I need a permanent natural gas or propane heater with some sort of duct work to distribute the heat evenly in the kiln. 

Anyone have a recommendation for either the vent or heat source?

My kiln is a 40' chamber, but I don't care if the heater has to be on the outside. 

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