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1
Shaver Furnace / Re: Rusted Lid
« on: February 27, 2015, 09:53:13 PM »
My grates have done the same thing. The harsh environment they are subject to, I don't think they are warped too bad and does not seem to affect the burn capability. You are correct, their service stinks. You are better off getting advice on these OWBs from those of us that have learned through trial and error/success getting them to work. My biggest modification was building a new door. The one that came with it fit the frame so badly, I could not keep a gasket or seal for a whole season. After building my new door, I have had zero problems with this issue.
2
General Outdoor Furnace Discussion / Re: Wives
« on: February 08, 2015, 06:54:12 AM »
KK, I see why she beats you to the snowblower. Its because you have harley handlebars on it! 
3
General Outdoor Furnace Discussion / Re: Wives
« on: February 04, 2015, 10:47:46 PM »
Hey Sluggo, similar wives ::)and we have most of the same saws, I just wish I had a matching bobcat and grapple! 
4
General Outdoor Furnace Discussion / Re: Wives
« on: February 04, 2015, 09:55:03 PM »
My better half grew up in Denver and moved to the country where we are at now. In all fairness, both her mother and father grew up in small towns, both less than 1,000 people and most of her family were and are still there, so she "experienced" the country life since a child, although she grew up in the city. Funny though, since moving to the country she will run to town, sometimes 2-3 times a day and I could probably count on one hand the number of weekends she has never ran to town from Friday to Monday in the 15 years we have been married. Me on the other hand, if I don't have to go to town, I don't, week or weeks at a time if I can get away with it. My home town is also less than 1,000 people.
She tolerates my wood obsession but only tends the stove when I am gone. She would not have the first clue on running the splitter and almost the same on chainsaws. She could easily learn both, but has no interest. She does enjoy the products the firewood produces though, a warm house and full whirlpool tub anytime she wants to fill it up.
She would also probably tell you that cutting firewood keeps me occupied and out of the house in the winter!
She tolerates my wood obsession but only tends the stove when I am gone. She would not have the first clue on running the splitter and almost the same on chainsaws. She could easily learn both, but has no interest. She does enjoy the products the firewood produces though, a warm house and full whirlpool tub anytime she wants to fill it up.
She would also probably tell you that cutting firewood keeps me occupied and out of the house in the winter!
5
Plumbing / Re: Sizing a plate heat exchanger?
« on: February 04, 2015, 09:42:19 PM »
No, no direct tank connection is required. I have a 30 plate just to be sure and an electiric demand water heater. I shut off all of the circuits on the electric demand heater so it is nothing more than a pipe in the winter and I have never ran out of hot water.
Over the holidays we had 9 people staying in the house and the shower ran for probably 1.5 hours+ straight a couple mornings. if that did not run the plate exchanger at max, not sure what would.
You also need to add a tempering valve after the plate exchanger on the potable water side of to avoid scald potentials at your appliances (sinks, showers, etc). there are plenty of examples on here if you look around a little on various ways to set this up.
Over the holidays we had 9 people staying in the house and the shower ran for probably 1.5 hours+ straight a couple mornings. if that did not run the plate exchanger at max, not sure what would.
You also need to add a tempering valve after the plate exchanger on the potable water side of to avoid scald potentials at your appliances (sinks, showers, etc). there are plenty of examples on here if you look around a little on various ways to set this up.
6
General Outdoor Furnace Discussion / Re: Unexpected Wood Demand
« on: February 04, 2015, 04:57:46 PM »
a 50/50 mix of used oil and stale gasoline is our recipe for drip torch fuel around here. Works great for purposefully lighting the great plains on fire in the spring too!
One of my neighbors grew up in California
and think us local Kansans are nuts for lighting our country yards on fire in the spring. 
One of my neighbors grew up in California
and think us local Kansans are nuts for lighting our country yards on fire in the spring.
7
Equipment / Re: Makita 4-Stroke Chain Saws
« on: February 03, 2015, 10:43:53 PM »
I have to agree on the Stihl toolless tensioner, its a POS! I had a 210 with it and traded it off when I got the first chance to do so. No regrets!
8
Equipment / Re: In the market for a saw
« on: January 29, 2015, 11:17:22 PM »
if the bureaucrat regulators that dictate this say the green chain is good 
, yellow chain is bad 
(can't put it on a saw for the customer after all!) then a red chain must be pure evil Anyone have any we can buy 
, yellow chain is bad (can't put it on a saw for the customer after all!) then a red chain must be pure evil Anyone have any we can buy
9
General Discussion / Re: Better get things in order here in the Northeast
« on: January 29, 2015, 09:30:03 PM »
My intention is not to rub it in, but when the storm hit there, it was in the 70's here, record highs. we get back down in the single digits/teens by Monday so January is getting back to normal. But, the national media was talking up the storm before it hit as the storm of the millennium, talking like it apparently had never snowed in New England before. I know you folks have seen snow and can handle whatever is thrown at you, but the drama created by the national media outlets was pretty hilarious drama Glad you weathered the storm though and are getting back to normal! 
Glad you weathered the storm though and are getting back to normal!
10
Equipment / Re: In the market for a saw
« on: January 24, 2015, 08:44:00 PM »
I have 6 saws from little light limbing saws up to a 660 Stihl. If you are heating with wood, I would say keep at least one of them around for a spare. If your main one goes down, its always a good plan for a backup!
11
General Outdoor Furnace Discussion / Re: Low temp system ??????
« on: January 24, 2015, 08:25:32 PM »
Here is a post from another site about the solar/OWB combo. I was considering it too, but this post makes a lot of sense so I talked myself out of it! But, something for you to consider.
For those who are considering adding solar heating panels to their OWB furnace, I tried it and here is what I learned. Now, I don't want to rain on anyone's party, I'm just offering my experience and observations for your consideration.
After installing my first OWB, a Shaver 160 Pro, I thought it would be a great idea to add solar heating panels to provide heat for DHW during the summer and to reduce the amount of wood burned in the fall and spring. I had run the OWB for about 1 1/2 years at that point and had a baseline for how much wood I would expect to burn. After extensive internet research I settled on plans to build the solar panels at a cost of about $375 each plus the differential controller. Total system cost was around $1000 including the pex lines and insulation. The panels worked great! But after running them for about 2 years it was painfully obvious that pairing the panels with an OWB proved to be a big mistake. It seems that there are good reasons that no major OWB manufacturer offers solar panels as an option to their systems.
The mistake lies in the way an OWB operates and the inherent heat loss that is necessary for an OWB to be controllable. In order for the temperature of the OWB to be controlled it MUST be able to shed a little more heat than is generated by the smoldering coals in it while it is idling. If it did not lose enough heat you would soon begin to boil off the water and would have a ruined unit. Those smoldering coals produce a significant amount of heat that has to be lost to maintain the desired water temperature. In my system with no fire burning in it the solar panels collected enough BTU's during a good sunny day to heat the OWB to almost 150 degrees. That is just enough to provide DHW in the summer. In order to minimize heat loss I made a box out of 1 inch foam board and covered both the loading and the ash clean out doors since they acted like a giant heat sink to remove heat from the system. I also would put a foam insulation plug in the chimney to prevent convective heat loss out the top. Unfortunately, I found that the system would lose 30 degrees or more heat overnight and would be too cool for making DHW by morning shower time.
A second consideration is that the efficiency of BTU collection in the solar panels is greatly affected by the temperature of the water being supplied to the solar panels. During the winter when there is a fire burning in the OWB and it is up to operating temperature the water is already too hot for the solar panels to be of much use. Once the supply water gets to 180 degrees the amount of BTUs that are absorbed from the solar heat is very small. There has to be a fairly large delta T between the supply water and the solar panel temperature for there to be much heat transfer. I'm sure a much more expensive panel would have improved on this a bit, but all heat transfer systems have this attribute.
In summary, during the summer with no fire in the OWB the system could not retain the collected heat well enough to provide the required DHW and during the heating season the fire would keep the water too hot for the solar panels to be efficient enough to result in a noticeable reduction in wood usage.
If I were to try solar water heating again I would have it heat a separate extremely well insulated water tank and run the cold water supply to the DHW tank through that tank first and then during the heating season it would run through the OWB heat exchanger second to bring it fully up to temp.
I hope someone finds this information useful!
For those who are considering adding solar heating panels to their OWB furnace, I tried it and here is what I learned. Now, I don't want to rain on anyone's party, I'm just offering my experience and observations for your consideration.
After installing my first OWB, a Shaver 160 Pro, I thought it would be a great idea to add solar heating panels to provide heat for DHW during the summer and to reduce the amount of wood burned in the fall and spring. I had run the OWB for about 1 1/2 years at that point and had a baseline for how much wood I would expect to burn. After extensive internet research I settled on plans to build the solar panels at a cost of about $375 each plus the differential controller. Total system cost was around $1000 including the pex lines and insulation. The panels worked great! But after running them for about 2 years it was painfully obvious that pairing the panels with an OWB proved to be a big mistake. It seems that there are good reasons that no major OWB manufacturer offers solar panels as an option to their systems.
The mistake lies in the way an OWB operates and the inherent heat loss that is necessary for an OWB to be controllable. In order for the temperature of the OWB to be controlled it MUST be able to shed a little more heat than is generated by the smoldering coals in it while it is idling. If it did not lose enough heat you would soon begin to boil off the water and would have a ruined unit. Those smoldering coals produce a significant amount of heat that has to be lost to maintain the desired water temperature. In my system with no fire burning in it the solar panels collected enough BTU's during a good sunny day to heat the OWB to almost 150 degrees. That is just enough to provide DHW in the summer. In order to minimize heat loss I made a box out of 1 inch foam board and covered both the loading and the ash clean out doors since they acted like a giant heat sink to remove heat from the system. I also would put a foam insulation plug in the chimney to prevent convective heat loss out the top. Unfortunately, I found that the system would lose 30 degrees or more heat overnight and would be too cool for making DHW by morning shower time.
A second consideration is that the efficiency of BTU collection in the solar panels is greatly affected by the temperature of the water being supplied to the solar panels. During the winter when there is a fire burning in the OWB and it is up to operating temperature the water is already too hot for the solar panels to be of much use. Once the supply water gets to 180 degrees the amount of BTUs that are absorbed from the solar heat is very small. There has to be a fairly large delta T between the supply water and the solar panel temperature for there to be much heat transfer. I'm sure a much more expensive panel would have improved on this a bit, but all heat transfer systems have this attribute.
In summary, during the summer with no fire in the OWB the system could not retain the collected heat well enough to provide the required DHW and during the heating season the fire would keep the water too hot for the solar panels to be efficient enough to result in a noticeable reduction in wood usage.
If I were to try solar water heating again I would have it heat a separate extremely well insulated water tank and run the cold water supply to the DHW tank through that tank first and then during the heating season it would run through the OWB heat exchanger second to bring it fully up to temp.
I hope someone finds this information useful!
12
General Discussion / Re: Well I should be welding on my furnace, but instead I need to build a gate.
« on: January 20, 2015, 09:04:50 PM »
Google "Manual for Uniform Traffic Control Devices" or MUTCD. If you put "crashworthy" road closed signs/barricades far enough ahead of your gate, then mark the gate with solid red reflective diamonds that should satisfy any reputable county or state highway/road dept. That manual will show you how to close the road using the gate you built. The distance between the crashworthy barricade and the gate is based on either assumed or posted speed limit on the road and possibly how straight or curvy the approach road between them is.
13
General Outdoor Furnace Discussion / Re: Hydronic heater for garage
« on: January 12, 2015, 11:29:40 PM »
I don't have that particular unit heater, but I bought the bulk of my supplies for my original install from outdoorfurnacesupply. I have had no problems with anything I bought from them and he was very helpful answering questions and making suggestions before and during my build. If my history is any indicator, I think you will be satisfied.
14
General Outdoor Furnace Discussion / Re: Comments on how Good you smell from stoking your fire.
« on: January 12, 2015, 11:15:45 PM »
I have a mostly worn out Carhart coat that lives in the garage and is used mostly for loading the stove before I head to work. My theory it gets the majority of the smoke and I leave it at home before leaving for work, which is usually the last thing I do before leaving. There are quite a few wood stoves around here, so I think quite few are use to the slight smoky scent.
15
Shaver Furnace / Re: Door adjustment
« on: January 12, 2015, 08:33:40 PM »
One of the first mod's I did to my original door was replace the two hex bolts that were suppose to be hinges with a single rod that passed thru both arms of the door and both supports attached to the stove. Having one pivot point took all of the vertical wobble out of the door and seemed to help the door seal material hold up better. The only way I know to adjust is get a long cresent wrench out (I used a 24-inch'r) and bend the tabs and latch assembly attached to the stove up or down as necessary. There is no way I know of to adjust the door horizontal unless you make some major modifications. 
This year, I built a whole new door, beefed up the hinge pins, made the door so it could be adjusted to center/fit the frame, and upgraded the seal around the perimeter to 1-inch silicone covered rope. New door works like a charm, really glad I made the change. I have had zero problems since the new door was installed.
This year, I built a whole new door, beefed up the hinge pins, made the door so it could be adjusted to center/fit the frame, and upgraded the seal around the perimeter to 1-inch silicone covered rope. New door works like a charm, really glad I made the change. I have had zero problems since the new door was installed.