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Topics - jreimer

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1
General Outdoor Furnace Discussion / It's staying cold!
« on: March 06, 2019, 12:14:16 PM »
Well February is in the books and it was the coldest in 40 years for us.  Good thing the wood supply is holding up.  When it says cold for this long, the risk of flooding here on the plains goes way up.  The snow melts too quickly and can't evaporate or get absorbed quickly enough.  My house was flooded 20 years ago because of this.  Hoping it warms up soon or I'm gonna need sandbags and a raft!

Anyone running out of wood because of the looooooong winter?

2
General Outdoor Furnace Discussion / Troubleshooting 101
« on: January 15, 2018, 12:48:04 PM »
I'm in IT Support, so one of our first questions to the end user is "Did you try rebooting?"  They don't like to hear it, but sadly enough that often fixes the majority of issues.

The equivalent in the world of outdoor wood furnaces could be:

1. Take a full firebox load of wood and bake it in your kitchen oven at 250F for 8 hours.
2. Run this load in your stove and report back any problems.

Knowing this 12 years ago could probably have saved me a lot of headaches, backaches and heartaches.

I don't mean this to sound like a snooty jerk at all.  What they TOLD us was dry wood, what we THINK is dry wood and what our moisture meter SAYS is dry wood, and what is ACTUALLY dry are sometimes very different.  Water is a sneaky, cruel ba$t@rd.  The only place it belongs is as a solid form in your favorite beverage.

Any other generic "Try this first" ideas?

3
The Wall Of Shame / Remember to turn it back on!
« on: January 15, 2018, 11:49:01 AM »
Happened last week.  I had pneumonia so I was sick as a dog and the temps were -35C overnight.  Went to fill the boiler for night.  Turned it off, filled the firebox full, closed the door and went back inside to bed. 

Woke up in the morning with a cool house and the water temp was down to 82F.  What the?  Get dressed and go out to the boiler shed.  Checked the switch and it was turned off.  Son of a #$%^&.  Aaarrgghhh.  I was so mad at myself.  Spent the next 1.5 hours nursing it back up past 120F so it would stop condensing in the tubes.  Went inside back to bed.

I seem to do this once a year and never when it's remotely convenient.  TURN IT BACK ON WHEN YOU'RE DONE LOADING IT YOU DUMMY!

4
General Outdoor Furnace Discussion / Wood usage comparisons
« on: January 15, 2018, 09:01:28 AM »
I would like to switch to weight when talking about daily wood usage.  I find it pretty useless to talk about 1/2 full, 1/3 full or completely full load when there are so many variables to log length, split sizes, stove sizes and wood types.  If we all talk lbs. of wood per load or per day, we can compare apples to apples when talking about wood usage, efficiency and heat loads. 

Right now I'm burning around 150 - 200 lbs. of wood every 24 hours split over 3 fills.

5
Portage & Main / Refractory fix?
« on: October 30, 2017, 11:36:21 AM »
I've been burning my Optimizer 250 for 5 years and I'm getting some degradation of the base refractory around the nozzle insert.  Has anyone done repairs to the stock refractory?  What would you use to repair this?


6
General Outdoor Furnace Discussion / OWB took a shot at me!
« on: February 09, 2017, 12:33:46 PM »
So I went to load the P&M 250 this morning and as I approached the boiler shed I could smell that it had just shut down.  I knew that I was in for a backdraft or fireball as I had loaded it with more big ash the night before than I usually did.  So I cracked the door and let it bleed off the gasses for a bit, then slowly opened the door.

I know what you're thinking... Whoosh and no more hair.  Nope. The rest of the gasses flowed out of the door and everything seemed fine (although very smoky in the shed!).

I began loading for the day and everything seemed fine.  Then as I was throwing a piece in, there was a loud CRACK like a gunshot.  Scared me and I jumped back.  Some gasses had been sucked into the reaction chamber, mixed with the fresh air and exploded with the sound of a gunshot.  I've had huffs and whooshes many times, but never a sharp snap/crack explosion.  Those fresh gasses are VERY explosive!

Life is full of surprises.

7
With the very low temperatures at this time of year, people see a lot of condensed water vapor coming from their chimney's and start to wonder if their wood has too high a moisture content.  While this may be true in some cases, it's important to know the chemistry of wood burning to understand your stove from what you see coming out of the chimney.

When you first load the stove with fresh wood, it is true that the water stored in the wood is being boiled off and contributes to the steam coming from the chimney.  However, due to the composition of the wood molecules, a good portion of the water vapor is generated from the actual chemical reaction of the wood burning.

Generally, wood is composed of the following:
H2O = 20%
C6-H10-O5 = 40% (This is the outer softer portion of the wood - floam)
C9-H10-O2 = 40% (This is the inner harder portion of the wood - core)

This is an over-simplification of the burning process of wood, but here goes...

So first in the burning sequence is the H2O gets evaporated.  That equals 20% of the wood.  This is the abundant steam you see coming from the chimney after a fresh load.
Next, the hydrogen atoms (the H10) get stripped (burned) from the molecules and combine with the oxygen (O2) in the air to form H2O, or the water vapor you see coming from the chimney.
Next, the carbon atoms (the C6 or C9) get stripped (burned) from the molecules and combine with the oxygen in the air to form CO2, or the carbon dioxide emissions.  This is invisible and is the heat waves you see coming from the chimney at the end of the burn when there are just coals left.
The ratio of hydrogen to carbon atoms in the molecules is higher for the softer outside portion of the wood, so this also contributes to more steam being generated towards the beginning of the burn cycle compared to the end.

Doing the chemical math analysis we see that 1 lb. of wood requires 1.36 lb. of oxygen to fully burn.  1 lb. of wood will create 0.66 lbs. of water and 1.70 lbs. of carbon dioxide.

So you can see that A LOT of water is being generated just by the normal process of burning the wood, and not just from the pre-moisture content in the wood.

Hopefully this can help clarify some misconceptions about the steam coming from your chimneys and help you become an expert at identifying the burning stage of your wood by watching the chimney from the comfort of your couch.

8
Plumbing / Pex-Al-Pex bubbling on inside?
« on: January 09, 2017, 03:29:46 PM »
Anyone else experience their pex-al-pex bubbling on the inside? 

Yesterday I needed to replace the leaking rad that heats my garage/shop that has 3/4" pex-al-pex underground supply line running to it.  When I cut off the old connectors I had to cut back the line several times before I found a round part to put the new connectors on.  The inside was bubbling and separating from the aluminum layer.  Water temps are 185 max.

9
Portage & Main / Best stacking method for minimal bridging?
« on: January 08, 2016, 02:42:58 PM »
Hi all,

This year I am burning spruce splits from large logs (up to 12 splits per log) so they are wide skinny pieces.  The fact that spruce doesn't coal, and the wide skinny split size is causing bridging issues and I lose gasification all the time.  This is causing bad glazed creosote buildup in the tubes.

Does anybody have any ideas how to stack to minimize the bridging and keep the pieces falling onto the nozzle during burn to maintain gasification?  The biggest issue may just be that spruce doesn't coal well and maybe there isn't a solution other than switching wood species.

10
To all those running Optimizer 250's, what does your upper band of metal holding the tops of the firebrick to the metal stove sides look like?  Mine is getting deteriorated and pulling away from the brick and metal sides.

What will happen with that band gone?  Will the firebrick fall out?  Will other damage occur to the firebox? 

11
Portage & Main / Keep those dampers and flappers clean and tight!
« on: December 11, 2014, 09:53:00 AM »
Hi guys,

I am on my third winter with an Optimizer 250 and have never had a problem with water in the air box.  A few weeks ago the air box started filling with water condensation to the point where it was running out of the box.  I had replaced my door gaskets this fall and so I knew the seals were tight.  I finally figured out that the main blower flapper tube had a very very small piece of gunk baked to the rim and the so the flapper didn't seal completely tight. 

So after scraping and sanding the tube rim to get it perfectly smooth I think the problem is resolved.  Fingers crossed!

12
Portage & Main / Technique for burning in warmer weather?
« on: March 26, 2014, 08:53:49 AM »
Hi all,

I've been experimenting with a technique for running my Optimizer 250 in warmer weather.  Temperatures here are still well below freezing at night, but can climb above freezing during the day. 

What I have been doing is loading the boiler full at night with all my pumps and heating circuits running normally, then shutting the boiler and all pumps off in the morning before going to work.  I have radiant floor heat inside a concrete slab in a part of my home so the house doesn't cool off too much during the day. 

Because I loaded the boiler full the night before, there is still a good amount of charcoal and charred wood in the firebox.  When this charcoal burns, it doesn't produce any water vapor as the hydrogen part of the wood molecules have already been burned, leaving the carbon part to be burned next.  This fact prevents it from leaking any water or condensation in the firebox during the day while it's shut off and the fire goes out.  Then after I get back from work around 6:00 I turn the pumps back on but not the stove.  The tank has stratified and I am pumping 180 degree water for a few hours.  Before bed I relight the charcoal with a quick blast from the propane torch.  The water temperature in the stove is now down to about 140.

I load it full of wood again for night and the stove then works fairly hard all night to bring the water, slab and house back up to temp.  I repeat this process the next morning.

So far this seems to be working well.  Am I missing anything that might be harmful to the stove?  It seems to be a much cleaner way to burn in the shoulder seasons.  I guess it's kind of like using storage, but not burning the wood batch completely.  The tricky part is to correctly gauge the amount of wood needed at night to only have really charred wood and charcoal left in the morning so the firebox isn't full of steam all day.

Comments?  Your feedback is always appreciated!

13
General Outdoor Furnace Discussion / OWB reflections...
« on: February 24, 2014, 11:14:17 AM »
Ok, after many years and several different OWB's, I'm going to say what is on my mind regarding water jacketed wood burning for everyone else to hear and reflect on over a cold one tonight, or before buying an OWB. 

It is what it is, and it is not clean and neat.  Never has been, never will be.  It is not clean like LP, Natural Gas or electricity.  Accept it.  Live with it.  Deal with it.

Some stoves are cleaner and better designed than others, but NONE of them meet the definition and expectation of clean and neat according to the average suburbanite of today.

And that is ok!  The only issue with some people on this forum and definitely with some dealers and manufacturers, is that they are not managing people's expectations correctly.  They ALL gather creosote, drip creosote water occasionally, require a dirty, stinky cleanout routine, smoke sometimes and fail when we depend on them the most.  Just like every other man made creation.

Who is happy when they buy a new car from a dealer and the dealer tells them they will get 40 mpg and then they only get 25 mpg? Nobody.  They will all be mad at their car and dealer.  An experienced driver and dealer knows the car will only get 25 mpg, but a buyer has it in their minds that they should be getting 40 mpg and thus is disappointed and angry.

This goes for maintenance on an OWB as well.  Firebrick, rope gaskets, nozzles, pumps, fan blowers etc. are all wear items!  We need to clearly call a spade a spade and know that they all wear out and need to be replaced just like the tires and oil on your car!

Again, that is ok!  Just be aware of this and manage your expectations!

Water jacketed fireboxes will ALWAYS be dirty and covered in creosote.  This is a fact we cannot escape or pretend it won't exist.  Because we don't understand the laws of physics and chemistry doesn't mean they don't apply to us.  Some weeks my firebox and tubes are cleaner than other weeks.  Why?  I don't exactly know.  I accept the fact that they are dirty and they need to be cleaned.  I sleep well at night, knowing that this is a fact of life, physics and chemistry and that I didn't get screwed by the dealer.

I am happy with my P&M Optimizer 250 and I know it has issues and wear items.  I am also happy with my Chevy, Ford, Dodge and Honda.  They all have their own issues and wear items.  But I have come to accept that.

If you don't believe me or like what I said, I'm ok with that too, safe in the knowledge that either you'll come around to your own understanding some day or forever be angry and frustrated with your stove...

And now if you will excuse me, I need to get in contact with my dealer because it's time to replace some wear items.

And I am ok with that.  Because I know the rest of you will be doing the same...

Feel free to comment below, as I know you will.  :)

14
Portage & Main / Ash plugging the nozzle?
« on: December 10, 2013, 07:43:19 AM »
I get ash baked to the inside tapered ends of my nozzle that really builds up.  I have to scrape it off down to the refractory every week or it doesn't gasify as well.  Anyone else have trouble with ash baking to their nozzle and plugging it up?

15
Portage & Main / Burning spruce in my gasifier?
« on: September 04, 2013, 07:31:16 AM »
Hi all,

It's getting to be wood cutting season again and I have been given access to a stand of Colorado spruce.  What are your thoughts on burning this in the Optimizer 250?  Does spruce coal well for good gasifier performance?  Will the tars and sap cause problems in the heat exchanger tubes?

Thanks!
James.

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