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Messages - Jon_E

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16
For Sale / Re: Silicone Permeated Door Gasket Material
« on: January 16, 2018, 07:44:58 AM »
How frequently should a door gasket be changed?

17
HeatMaster / Re: One year anniversary
« on: January 06, 2018, 02:15:00 PM »
I replaced a CL5648 (Classic).  The hookups were on the side of the old one, so there was some minor difficulty in getting the PEX and electric hooked up to the back of the G200. 

Never did really like the old CB.  I think my favorite part of the G200, aside from the reduced wood usage, is the smoke bypass.  I would not have wanted the GS- model.

18
HeatMaster / Re: Blew a fuse - don't know why
« on: January 06, 2018, 02:11:04 PM »
Got some 2A slow-blow fuses in the mail today (impossible to find locally).  I will put one in and see what happens.  I think the motor temporarily overheated and blew the fuse, because it's been fine ever since.

19
HeatMaster / One year anniversary
« on: January 05, 2018, 10:31:40 AM »
Yesterday was my one-year anniversary of the installation of my G200.  I will publicly say that slimjim (Richard) has been a great help to me in the past year, helping me with a few problems, talking on the phone for advise, etc.  Also the rest of you guys who are members here for offering advice and assistance with the few issues I've had.  This is a great forum and I would probably not have gotten the G200 without the advice and help from all of you.

So I have probably burned about 35-40% less wood with the G200 than I ever did with the old Central Boiler.  I actually enjoy using it - monitoring, feeding, cleaning, etc.  It's a simple unit and highly efficient.  I have plans for the spring where I am going to build a new wood shed and put the front of the unit under a roof so that I can feed it without having to stand out in the snow and rain.  In the next couple of weeks when it warms up a touch, I am going to hook up the radiant tubing in my garage and give this critter more work to do.  I used to hate dealing with my old OWB to the point I was ready to give up and put in a propane boiler in the house.  Now I enjoy it again and look forward to cutting firewood.  And the more I learn, the more I hope I can help others with my experiences.

Time to send in my annual water sample.  Thanks again to everyone here on the forum.

20
HeatMaster / Re: Gassing so hard it's vibrating - Christmas 2017
« on: January 05, 2018, 10:20:13 AM »
Mine is running beautifully with the cold temps.  Mostly locust, white oak and ash in the last few loads.  Got a good 6"+ depth of big coals in the bottom of the firebox.  Loading at 0700 and 1700 every day.

21
HeatMaster / Re: chimney cap on g200 to cut down on fly ash on roof?
« on: January 05, 2018, 10:16:48 AM »
I don't worry about it.  A good rainstorm or some wind will clean it right off.

22
Electronics / Re: Single zone - line voltage or 24v?
« on: December 31, 2017, 04:25:09 PM »
Nice!  Thanks all you guys for the helpful feedback, I have one on order and will be getting it in a few days.  I am working on my zone plumbing manifold and hope to have it completed and ready to install in a week or two.  It's too cold out there even to install heat!  Waiting for some daytime temps in the 20's or better so I can actually function outside. 

24
Electronics / Single zone - line voltage or 24v?
« on: December 29, 2017, 01:50:47 PM »
OK this is probably a really dumb question but I am learning so bear with me.  I have a single heating zone in my garage.  One Grundfos circulator pump.   Really simple, but I cannot find a good answer to this - do I need a single zone controller and a low-voltage thermostat (like I have in my house) or can I use a line-voltage thermostat and skip the controller?  If so, what should I be looking for?  Every line-voltage thermostat I can find says that it's for electric heat.  I just want to leave the thing set at 55° and have the pump kick on if the temperature in the garage gets below that setpoint.   

25
HeatMaster / Re: Blew a fuse - don't know why
« on: December 29, 2017, 01:40:05 PM »
Ok I'll get the amp clamp.  I don't have one.

The motor fuse is 2A.  The control circuit fuse is 2.5A slow-blow.

26
HeatMaster / Blew a fuse - don't know why
« on: December 29, 2017, 11:19:56 AM »
OK, got a strange one for me.  I'm no electrician, so if this sounds serious, I got a friend I can call.

A couple days ago at the beginning of this cold snap, I got outside to feed the OWB and noticed it had a red light blinking.  Probably out of wood, I thought.  I pulled the smoke bypass lever and nothing happened - the draft fan usually kicks on.  So I opened the firebox door anyway and there was a full load of wood.   Water temp was down to 106°.  I pushed the cold start button and again, nothing.   After a quick read of the manual, and a phone call, and another quick read of the manual ('cus I am stoopid sometimes  :P) I found out that there is a 2A fuse that controls the fan motor.  Didn't have any 2A fuses but I had a 5A fuse, so I put that in until I could get to the store.  The 5A fuse worked fine.  I did check the fan for operation, made sure it wasn't stuck or anything, and it spun freely with no resistance. 

So here's the strange part.  Got back with the 2A fuses, put one in, buttoned it all back up, and ..... nothing.  Took it all back apart and the new fuse was blown.  I put the 5A fuse back in and everything's fine again, it's working like normal.  I checked the fuse I took out to make sure it was 2A and yes it was. 

Questions for the forum - first, what could have caused the fuse to blow?  I did have the smoke bypass open the night before while I was feeding it, and the firebox was HOT, roaring blaze hot.  I think that the flames were nipping at the fan & motor.  It allegedly has a overheat shutoff, but I am wondering if I ruined something by letting too much heat get to the fan area and that is causing or contributing to the problem.

Second - why is it working fine with a 5A fuse but it now blows the 2A fuse?  Wondering if I had a bad fuse?  They're cheap enough I can try a few of them and see if one works, but I had a similar problem on my old Central Boiler and it turned out to be a bad solenoid on the door damper.  But it was doing the same thing, blowing fuses.  A larger fuse would work but a correct fuse would not.

27
Plumbing / Re: Plate size for in floor heat
« on: December 29, 2017, 09:09:35 AM »
There is no such thing as "too big" on a plate exchanger. That 40 or 50 plate would do ya more favors than the little 14 plate even for a price, but can't beat free! I certainly wouldn't waste my time with the little guy if that was an option, but I would be interested to hear how it goes if you decide to use the little one.

Am I seeing correctly that you're using the same exchanger to serve you domestic water as well as your radiant floors in the house??? Good luck with that Legionaire's disease

I was wrong on the plate exchanger size - it's a 16-plate, not a 10.  Still small, but I think it will do OK.  Not looking for a huge amount of heat.  Website says it will do 110k BTU.   I'm going to plumb it in with unions anyway, just in case.  You guys are making me have second thoughts. 

In my house, the loop from the OWF comes into the HX and heads back out.  There is a 'main' loop which has several zones, one for DHW which goes to an indirect tank and the rest are radiant heating loops.  There is no contact between the DHW and the water in either the main loop or the circulation loop from the boiler.  So, no worries about legionella or anything else.  I have a special concern for legionella because it is part of my job to have a program in place for testing and preventing it in our workplace water system. 

I am following this thread with interest as my plumbing layout and conditions for my garage is almost identical to Jason's.  I don't think I will have the same issues as I have a dedicated pump and loop from the OWF which will only feed this garage.  If I run out of hot water then it means the whole boiler is either shut down or failing to keep up.

28
Plumbing / Re: Plate size for in floor heat
« on: December 22, 2017, 09:08:30 AM »
I'm willing to take the risk at this point, since the plate ex was really cheap (lightly used).  Very limited budget and I can always up-size the plate if I need to.   A friend of mine has offered me a much larger plate exchanger (also free) but I am not sure what exact size it is - if memory serves it is something like a 40- or 50- plate exchanger.  Meant for a large coal boiler but never used.  I was thinking that is way too big, so I was going to trial the small one and see how well it worked.  I am not after a lot of heat - just bringing a slab up to temperature and then holding it there. 

Just for comparison, my main house circulation loop is fed by a Taco TFP5X12-30 (self-explanatory, there) and that handles (11) 300' 1/2" PEX loops and all of our domestic hot water with no issues at all.  Great recovery time. 

29
Plumbing / Re: Plate size for in floor heat
« on: December 21, 2017, 08:09:55 AM »
Reading this thread with some interest as I am going to be hooking up my own garage to my boiler next week.  I have the garage on a dedicated loop from the boiler, 160' away (320' round trip).  The garage will be a closed zone loop so I am using a very small HX (10-plate, 3x8) to get the heat into the zone loop, and then using a 105° to 115° mixing valve to get the zone temperature down to a reasonable level.  I do not want or need my garage to be over 65° during the heating season.  I am heating 800 sf of well-insulated slab, with 3 loops @ 300' each of 1/2" pex at 12" o.c.

30
HeatMaster / Re: Adding Make up water
« on: December 19, 2017, 10:17:27 AM »
I've added nothing at all to mine in a full year now.  1st anniversary is 4 Jan.  I would guess I might need a gallon or three, but that's it.

Not like the 100 gallons a week I was adding to my old boiler.   :bash:

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