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Author Topic: leaky shaver  (Read 11960 times)

rexdropssticks

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leaky shaver
« on: February 19, 2013, 05:23:12 AM »

hi everyone, i,m a newbieto the site. i bought a shaver 290 in oct. of 2009. this past dec it developed a leak.i put the proper amount of additive in it every year along with draining the stove and refilling it at the start of every season.shaver won't warranty the stove because i did'nt have the water tested.my arguement is that if you have to keep adding water to the stove every three weeks or so,what good are the test results. by the end of the heating season you've about replaced the total water content of the stove. this is the third owb i have had in 7 years. the previous 2 were free heat machines. the first one lasted two years before it leaked and they replaced that one. the 2nd one lasted 1 year before it leaked and they still honored the warranty and replaced it. they sent me another stove and i sold it a week after they dropped it off and bought the shaver because according to there web site ,its the best stove goin. and the dealer i bought it from told me "you'll never have trouble with this stove leaking. i ve been selling them for a long time and never had a call on a leak" well people in my opinion shaver stoves and there sales people are a bunch of crooks. and i'm done with owb ,could've bought alot of propane for over 11,000.00 in the past 7 years
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fryedaddy

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Re: leaky shaver
« Reply #1 on: February 19, 2013, 06:23:52 AM »

Have you always drained your stove when not in use?

I've always been told to keep the proper chemical in the stove.
If I decided to drain it I was told to fill it back up and make sure
the correct amount of chemicals were added.

Most of the brand I'm using last 20yrs+.
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whiteyford1

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Re: leaky shaver
« Reply #2 on: February 19, 2013, 06:44:21 AM »

Hi
Unfortunately the dealers are stuck in the middle. I feel for my local dealer that has around 200 units out. Of course the EPA is likely to mandate an ass filter for folks my age any day now and old smokey wood burners gotta go too.
The industry wide issues with premature failures relates back to changes forced on them. I'm working on providing a solution involving material selection and a heat treating process to enhance an existing material. MAybe I'll market the solution, sell the idea or start building gassers with a real warranty. Better yet a 10 year lease on my stove. If it can't be fixed in one day Ill
swap you a replacement, to keep.
Best of luck to ou
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Scott7m

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Re: leaky shaver
« Reply #3 on: February 19, 2013, 08:45:26 AM »

Adding water all the time is simply a sign of a poor design, I never add water, at the end of the season I try to top them off, they rarely hold more than 1-2 gallons
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gandgracing

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Re: leaky shaver
« Reply #4 on: February 20, 2013, 08:10:43 AM »

I've done been down this road.  The first shaver 160 I had lasted 2 years and rusted out a hole in the bottom.  Fought with them for some time and they gave me a new 250 to compensate for the trouble.  After begging a lot.  Then the 250 completely rusted the bottom of the water jacket out.  I could jab a screw driver thru it.  I fought and fought with them some more and they wouldn't help me out anymore.  And this was with water samples to back it up. They kept saying there was something in my water that was corrosive. I finally took it to a local welder and he replaced the bottom and the top which was also rusting out.  Cost me about $800.  You wouldn't believe how much slag from the welding that they just left in the tank.  Those guys are a joke and a rip off.  You might as well just get it fixed because before long they wont even answer you calls anymore. 
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rexdropssticks

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Re: leaky shaver
« Reply #5 on: February 21, 2013, 05:23:15 AM »

yes, i drain the damn thing every spring and refill in the fall. apparently that makes no differance.i add some more chemical at about the third time i add water. i'm tired of fighting with these people,thats all i did with the free heat machine people for months was argue. i ll just suck it up, take the thing apart in the spring and weld it up. and keep doing that until its completely usless. by the way ,i worked for a lumber mill for 13 years, and of those we had a taylor owb that he bought used to heat our shop. i tended that stove myself for at least 8 yrs. and i ve been working at the job i have now for 9 yrs. the man just bought a new owb beause the taylor started leaking. of all those years, i never put one drop of additive in that stove and i know for a fact neither did he, nor did the original owner. so thats 17 years on a taylor without any additive and a so called 1/2 inch thick shaver can't even make it 3 yrs ?
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Scott7m

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Re: leaky shaver
« Reply #6 on: February 21, 2013, 09:02:35 AM »

You were 2 for 2 on the worst companies in the industry, shaver is absolutely horrible.  Free heat machine, biomass direct, whtever he calls himself now is ll the same crook, he changed names every other year to avoid ever honoring a warranty. 

It's not a good idea to drain them in the spring and refill, it's best for it to be completely full of properly treated water all year long.  Why are you having to add water all the time during the heating season?

I hate you've had these troubles, a quick google search for "shaver problems" would have showed you and endless mountain of complaints though.  This is the kind of thing that burns my hind end tho, dealers out there peddling things they have no idea about, telling innocent folks how great they are, and the dealer probably doesn't know the difference anyway.  Anyone claiming a 1/2" firebox is better doesn't understand the principle of heat transfer at all and if there saying you need 1/2" for longevity, then it's total junk to begin with.  If you woulda got a good quality stove from the get go you'd still been heating and very happy, but, I'm sure at the time you thought you were doing just that.  Bad companies and lying dealers bother me
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gandgracing

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Re: leaky shaver
« Reply #7 on: February 21, 2013, 10:08:52 AM »

Yeah I agree, dont leave it empty during the off months.  I also hope you have the blower mod to shut off the air supply or you will be adding water a lot.  After I did it I never have to add any.  And a 1/2" is the firebox,  the water tank on the other hand is as thin as can be.  I could go on and on but you just need to search around on this Shaver thread.  You'll learn a lot.
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rexdropssticks

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Re: leaky shaver
« Reply #8 on: February 21, 2013, 01:21:50 PM »

i have to add water because of the overflow pipe that sticks out the side vents from the water jacket and that stupid access panel on top of the stove ,that is there for i'm not sure what reason ,vents steam from the stove.3 years ago i did research these stoves and the web. but at that time this site either was'nt up or i missed it. i could'nt really find any negative feedback about them. and the free heat machine people were from tennessee ,so i wanted a local dealer this time in case anything went wrong. well so much for that. he was as about much help as a pyromaniac at a house fire when i started having trouble. its made me so gun shy about these owb that i can't believe any dealer now. i ll weld on this one for a while or research and make my own damn stove. its sad that you can't trust sales people. i took a loan out for my first stove ,which i just paid off, and used profit sharing money to buy the shaver.like the song says"trust nobody ,don't be no fool, whatever happened to the golden rule?"
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gandgracing

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Re: leaky shaver
« Reply #9 on: February 21, 2013, 03:24:48 PM »

When I had the welding done on mine I had him do away with the top plate on the back and we ran the vent straight out the top so you can fill the water jacket completely up.
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Scott7m

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Re: leaky shaver
« Reply #10 on: February 21, 2013, 04:22:23 PM »

Here is one of the first to pop up about shaver...

http://www.topix.com/forum/city/salem-ar/TFR91LEVRGMC5FEBN


There are honest companies and dealers out there.  One thing I do love about heatmaster vs any other companies I deal with is how they do the warranty.  They provide you with shipping containers, bottles, 1 gallon of treatment, and every year they send you a letter reminding you to test your water, they do it for free.   So essentially there holding folks by the hand to make sure there testing the water to keep the warranty valid.  Most companies would never dream of reminding you of this, but simply hope to god that you did forget, that would just be one less they'd be responsible for.

If you have a water sample come back out of line, they call you and tell you what to do, and give you a reasonable amount of time to send them another sample
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neil

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Re: leaky shaver
« Reply #11 on: February 21, 2013, 09:03:42 PM »

It seems really you take your chances, water can destroy anything and a good test will help reveal any acid issues. but all company's selling this know this, they put a 30 yr warranty and a fast buck in their pocket, even this manufacture, bankrupt now and re calling himself the "NEW wooddoctor" His new idea, pressurized ??? hmmmmmm another time bomb http://outdoorwoodfurnaceinfo.com/forum/index.php?board=7.0

How does he operate when he is bankrupt ?
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Jason37756

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Re: leaky shaver
« Reply #12 on: July 26, 2013, 05:16:36 PM »

A picture is worth a lot...here are a few to ponder. After three seasons I now have a nice water feature.

[attachment deleted by admin for space issues]
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Jason37756

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Re: leaky shaver
« Reply #13 on: May 16, 2014, 09:32:16 PM »

The picture got removed to save space on this website, but here it is again. My weld is holding just fine.
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yoderheating

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Re: leaky shaver
« Reply #14 on: May 17, 2014, 07:04:07 PM »

 Boy Scott said it all, hit the nail right on the head. You couldn't have picked two more problematic companies to buy from.  :bash:
 Keeping treated water in these furnaces is key to making them last. If you are adding water less than once a year you are setting yourself up for disaster. I'm assuming you didn't tell your dealer it was needing water on a regular basis? If he knew about the problem and didn't advise you of the potential problems he is either stupid or a real jerk.
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