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1

Home Made / Homeowners Insurance Coverage for Homebuilt Wood Stove

« on: November 21, 2016, 01:08:23 PM »

I just received any inquiry from my Insurance agent ( American Family) about my outdoor wood burner. It is home built (2010) and of course there was no UL tag on it, also it is not on a pad. Mine sits on 6in concrete pilings 30 in deep, with gravel under and around the stove for a 12 ft square area. It sits 125 ft from my home and 100 ft from my shop, I am using it to heat both. I use heat exchangers with by pass valves, so it is not my primary source of heat in either building. So I would like to know how many of you out there are having this problem with their insurance carriers and how you have dealt with it. So far they have not told me to remove it but their final answer is pending. As most of you who have built their own stove, mine is over built, but that matters little.

2

General Outdoor Furnace Discussion / Pulling old 3 wrap Pex-AL-Pex thru 4 in tile??

« on: August 03, 2015, 09:06:56 AM »

Has anyone had any experience pulling- removing their old (leaking) water lines thru the 4 in black corrugated tile and then pulling new lines back thru?? My 5 yr old lines, 3 wrap Pex-AL-Pex (orange) has developed a pretty good leak in the return line, I have a 130 ft run from the stove to the house. No sharp bends, just a few gradual curves when I trenched it in. I have been able to only pull it about 6 inches and already is getting pretty snug. I am using a 3/4 T come-along dogged off to the hitch of my Jeep. I want to at least try and pull it out so I can see where the leak is and what is going on with it. I'm pretty disgusted at this point with only getting 5 yrs out of this line. Any one else have trouble with this type of Pex-AL-Pex .

3

Equipment / Swisher log splitter

« on: December 13, 2011, 07:13:32 AM »

I purchased a 34 ton Swisher log splitter this fall, and it performs great, however since the weather has turned colder I have a problem with, what I would call friction static at the oil return line on the oil tank. This unit does have a plastic tank, and it actually shoots an arc about 1 inch long inside the plastic return fitting which is molded into the tank. After running the splitter about an half hour and the oil is hot this arcing subsides. But until then it will occasionally give you a zap when touching the control lever on the valve. I tried a ground wire to a rod in the ground and this did not help. I called the manufacturer and they said they never heard of such a thing until I sent them a video clip of what was happening. They have referred me to a service center who is also scratching their head. I think the problem is the plastic tank, since oil makes a poor conductor, it is building a charge from the oil passing thru the rubber line into the plastic tank. It has 10 w oil in it. Anybody ever have this happen??

4

Home Made / Heat Exchanger

« on: December 12, 2011, 08:49:18 AM »

I am now in the second season of my homemade wood stove, and have gotten most of the bugs worked out of the stove itself. I am using it with a water to water heat exchanger for my hot water boiler for the house and another w/w heat exch. for the hot water heater. This part of the system is working good, but I am also using a home built water to air exchanger for my shop with a small blower behind it to move air across the shop floor. I used a series of 3/4" baseboard unit heaters with the aluminum fins stacked vertically to make a unit measuring 4' x 4'. I am not getting much heat from this and was just wondering what others are using for a "radiator unit". I am maintaining my water temp at the unit so I don't think that is the problem.

5

Home Made / Over pressurizing wood boiler

« on: December 16, 2010, 12:48:31 PM »

I have begun using my home built wood boiler this season. It is a round design with a 36 in dia. x 48 in long water jacket, and a 24 in dia x 44 in long firebox. With a water cooled door also. All steel components are 1/4 in thick. The flue exits the top rear on the firebox thru the water jacket and then extends vertically 6 ft. I am using a 120 cfm ID fan. I have had no problems with a good clean burn. I have lined the lower third of the firebox with fire brick. I have made it a pressurized system with auto fill valve set at 12 lbs. I am using a plate heat exchanger for my hydronic propane fired boiler in the house (1600 sq ft) and a sidearm exchanger for the hot water tank. Also I am trying to heat my shop with a radiator type unit with a small fan behind it. I am running 1 in insulated pex 135 ft to the house and 150 ft to shop in opposite directions. The problem I am having is trying to get the water temp above 155 degrees ( at the boiler) with out the pressure relief valve set at 30 lbs popping off. When this happens the auto fill valve makes up the water drop with addition cold water and of course lowers the temp to about 120 degrees. I am using a 2 gallon expansion tank located close to the plate heat exchanger at the house furnace. I have a feeling this is not large enough. I would like to run at 180 degrees if possible. I would appreciate any ideas on this problem.