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Messages - notnim

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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.

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Just to let you all know , it is possible to pull the wrapped pex-al-pex back thru the field tile. The folks at Outdoor Furnace Supply ( Brent Industries) made good on their 25 year warranty, They sent out brand new triple wrap pex-al-pex, also covered the shipping cost.  :thumbup:. So by using the 1 inch cable pullers ( chinese handcuffs) attached to a length of 5/16" cable I had previously pulled thru the buried field tile, I was able to pull the entire wrapped assembly through the field tile, I used cable pulling lube to make it slippery as we fed it thru. Used the winch on my Jeep on the other end of the cable and 15 minutes later, we had the entire 135 ft pulled thru. The insulation didn't have a scratch on it. What a relief I didn't have to dig everything back up :thumbup: :thumbup:

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Well, it took me a while to get back at it but was finally succesfull at pulling the pex-al-pex from the 4 in. tile. I used two (Chinese fingers) that electricians use to pull cables through conduit. They gripped the slick pex and I was able to pull the 120 ft out with the winch on my Jeep. I found no external damage to the pex, but upon closer inspection, the ID of the pex was all cracked, almost like fractured. I am thinking that after the pex is up to temp, that water is leaking through these cracks and finding its way through the laminations. I did find the origin of manufacture marked further in on the line, CHINA!!. Now I will be able to contact the supplier and see if there is anything to this limited lifetime warranty ;) ;).

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I really appreciate the feedback, Yes, I had the feeling it would be about impossible, but thought perhaps someone else had success with replacing their pipes, with this method. I hate the thought of digging everything back up again, especially since I had to locate and tunnel under a propane line, and a drain tile from the house the first time. I'm sure if I try to use a trencher I'm going to snag the old line, and then really have a mess. The next time I will plan on running the 4 in. inside of a larger drain tile, either 6 in. or 8 in. I don't know what brand this Pex is but I ordered it from Brent Industries in NY. It is supposed to have a limited lifetime warranty, and have e-mailed them for the specifics of the warranty, so far no reply after 2 weeks. I have read about some failures with the crosslinking process on this orange pex-AL-pex. Anyone else hear of this??
I also have a run of this pipe to my shop, keeping my fingers crossed it holds together!!

5
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 . :( :(

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Equipment / Re: Swisher log splitter
« on: December 14, 2011, 06:18:14 PM »
Well, I done a little experimenting today and took a 14 ga copper wire with two alligator clips, and removed the oil tank fill cap and dropped one end into the oil  reservoir and clipped the other end to the frame, I started it up and and could see arcing from the oil return line to the wire in the tank. I removed the clip from the frame and held it about an inch away and could make it arc across the gap. So I am pretty sure it is the friction from the oil moving through the line building up a charge. Since the tank is plastic it has nowhere to go until it builds up enough to arc. I drilled a small hole in the fill cap just large enough for the wire to pass thru and left one end of the wire suspended in the tank and permanently grounded the other end to the frame. Started it back up and it did not arc anymore. I still think a steel tank would eliminate this situation.

7
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??

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Home Made / Re: Heat Exchanger
« on: December 13, 2011, 06:56:21 AM »
 What is the best way to post pictures on this site? I tried by making them an attachment but the file size is too large.

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Home Made / Re: Heat Exchanger
« on: December 13, 2011, 06:06:08 AM »
You all have brought up some good points, I have 8- 3/4" baseboard units stacked vertically with about 1/2" between them. They are 40" long each, and they are connected at each end with a common header, also 3/4 in" tubing. The inlet is at the bottom and the return is at the top. I have a bleeder valve at the top return to bleed any trapped air. I am going to take some temp. readings at each section to see if in fact all the tubes are circulating water, It is very possible that some of them may be dead headed with my configuration. Thanks for the ideas on this issue and I am going to try my hand at posting some pics of my setup.

10
Home Made / Re: Heat Exchanger
« on: December 12, 2011, 11:59:44 AM »
I am using a 50 plate exchanger for the hot water boiler and a sidearm exchanger for the hot water tank, I found good deals on both of them on e-bay. I do have headers incorporated on the air/water exchanger that I built, and I wondered if the water may be moving to fast for the amount of tube that I have. I have thought about finding an old truck or tractor radiator which would have much smaller tubes and a lot more mass to absorb heat.

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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.

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Home Made / Re: Over pressurizing wood boiler
« on: December 16, 2010, 07:07:58 PM »
You have made some good points and they are well taken, I am the only one in the family who understands this system as I have built it. could probably save myself some trouble by converting it. I have put a lot of work into this project and I just want to get it to perform properly and safely. Would you have any suggestions as to how I could handle the expansion of the heated water ( such as adding an expansion tank vented to the atmosphere) and the placement of it? Also do you use a water conditioner / rust inhibitor in your system?






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Home Made / Re: Over pressurizing wood boiler
« on: December 16, 2010, 06:17:56 PM »
willieG, Thanks for your reply and input. The reason for a pressurized system is that I am trying to prevent corrosion problems. From what I have read this is an advantage of this type of system. Besides I tried to model it after the Burnham gas boiler I have used in my home the past 25 years. It has been trouble free all these years. It is set up in this manner. I am no vessel engineer myself but I do work In a coal fired power plant and am familiar with pressures and vessels. I did pressure test the boiler filled with water to 125 psi. while it was still in the shop. Actually I was wondering if I would be better off to convert it to a non-pressurized system.

14
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.

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