my first attempt has failed

hi everyone

the past month or so i have had to accept something is wrong with my heap and the only way to deal with it was to empty the chamber, as you can guess its not a pleasant task to carry out , which is why i had not done it until today.

on inspection of the compost i can see it is very wet in places and compact. this will have not been ideal for the bacteria to make them selves at home and generate the heat. there are also parts that are dry.

i have had difficulty in turning the chamber so i have repositioned the handles on to the barrel this will be easier to rotate

i have left 1/3 of the existing compost inside the chamber and i shall attempt to restart.

changes i need to do are turn the chamber once a day if possible, good exercise considering the size.

i am hoping this will mix the wetter stuff into the dryer stuff

will update before end of week

the existing temp inside chamer is 18c .. the same as external temp today

now it is grass cutting season in full swing. i have added grass to the chamber on friday last week this morning the chamber temperature was showing as 47c

now this is a big smile on my face as the magical 40c has been breached i am not sure how long it will stay at these figures but those high thermal bacteria now have a chance of taking hold.. the more they multiply the higher the temperature maybe i can reach the magical 60c soon and then i will be confident on plumbing the system in 

restart of the composter

since my last update i have not paid much attention to my 

composter

today i have received 2 black bags of damp grass cuttings which were already warming up , this has put a big smile on my face i have added them to the chamber and am expecting temperature to rise in next 24 hours hopefully above 35c ( i can hope)

i was pleasantly surprised to see the existing contents of the chamber at 25c 

i shall allow the contents to settle in over the weekend and then give the chamber a good rotation to mix in the grass cuttings.

Air Temp 0c	Compost Temp 0c	time	date	day count	counter from filling	rotation
12	25	08:00	Fri, Apr 8, 2011	0	0	0

hi 

i have not been home much this past week so my daily log is behind and as expected the compost has cooled down to 17c

also the compost has reduced by 1/3 .

i have been to the farm and collected soiled straw and hay one bag full (approximately .25m volume)

i have also rotated the drum 

i will also be making the door to keep the heat in tomorrow 

Air Temp 0c	Compost Temp 0c	time	date	day count	counter from filling	rotation
8	8	12:00	Thu, Feb 3, 2011	0	0	0
11	16	07:00	Fri, Feb 4, 2011	1	1	0
9	22	08:00	Sat, Feb 5, 2011	2	2	0
11	27	13:00	Mon, Feb 7, 2011	4	4	0
4	24	07:00	Tue, Feb 8, 2011	5	5	0
8	25	16:00	Tue, Feb 8, 2011	5	0	1
7	24	08:00	Wed, Feb 9, 2011	6	1	0
10	28	11:00	Thu, Feb 10, 2011	7	2	0
9	30	08:00	Fri, Feb 11, 2011	8	3	0
7	19	13:00	Tue, Feb 15, 2011	12	7	1
10	17	10:00	Thu, Feb 24, 2011	17	0	1

Having returned home from a few days away i find the compost has cooled to 19c i have rotated the drum and hoping it will recover.

i am bit disappointed it has not maintained a higher temperature, but that is all part of the game to see how this will work 

several things to try out rotating drum will mix air in. but i am still convinced i need to add more green nitrogen rich material into the drum , this may not happen for a few weeks till grass cutting season

Air Temp 0c	Compost Temp 0c	time	date	day count	counter from filling	rotation
8	8	12:00	Thu, Feb 3, 2011	0	0	0
11	16	07:00	Fri, Feb 4, 2011	1	1	0
9	22	08:00	Sat, Feb 5, 2011	2	2	0
11	27	13:00	Mon, Feb 7, 2011	4	4	0
4	24	07:00	Tue, Feb 8, 2011	5	5	0
8	25	16:00	Tue, Feb 8, 2011	5	0	1
7	24	08:00	Wed, Feb 9, 2011	6	1	0
10	28	11:00	Thu, Feb 10, 2011	7	2	0
9	30	08:00	Fri, Feb 11, 2011	8	3	0
7	19	13:00	Tue, Feb 15, 2011	12	7	1

a slight increase in temp from yesterday  i am more convinced i do not have the compost ratio between green and brown in my chamber i have far too much brown (woody stuff) my understanding is that brown stuff heats up at lower temp but last longer and green stuff (grass) heats up to higher temp quickly but does not last long 

as no real source of green until the grass cutting season in a few weeks

as away the weekend i will update monday . i may be able to source some soiled hay at the farm which is not as good as fresh grass cuttings but should help raise temp 

Air Temp 0c	Compost Temp 0c	time	date	day count	counter from filling	rotation
8	8	12:00	Thu, Feb 3, 2011	0	0	0
11	16	07:00	Fri, Feb 4, 2011	1	1	0
9	22	08:00	Sat, Feb 5, 2011	2	2	0
11	27	13:00	Mon, Feb 7, 2011	4	4	0
4	24	07:00	Tue, Feb 8, 2011	5	5	0
8	25	16:00	Tue, Feb 8, 2011	5	0	1
7	24	08:00	Wed, Feb 9, 2011	6	1	0
10	28	11:00	Thu, Feb 10, 2011	7	2	0
9	30	08:00	Fri, Feb 11, 2011	8	3	0

the temperature has risen by 4c since yesterday, as it is raining today i will leave the chamber alone and give it a rotation  later if it dries up

Air Temp 0c	Compost Temp 0c	time	date	day count	counter from filling	rotation
8	8	12:00	Thu, Feb 3, 2011	0	0	0
11	16	07:00	Fri, Feb 4, 2011	1	1	0
9	22	08:00	Sat, Feb 5, 2011	2	2	0
11	27	13:00	Mon, Feb 7, 2011	4	4	0
4	24	07:00	Tue, Feb 8, 2011	5	5	0
8	25	16:00	Tue, Feb 8, 2011	5	0	1
7	24	08:00	Wed, Feb 9, 2011	6	1	0
10	28	11:00	Thu, Feb 10, 2011	7	2	0