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[yoderheating]

 We got a shaver in on a trade last week and for the first time I was able to go over one in depth. To be honest I had no idea how poorly they are designed. I now realize there is no way you can control water temps with a shaver, both the draft and the door is designed in a way that would be almost impossible to completely seal. The only option I see is to extend the overflow pipe and then just keep adding water every day or two. Or reinstall the fan and have a completely new door built at a local welding shop.

[doow14]

I did ranco mod 2 years ago,thanks to you guys on this forum for all the ideas.It seems to me that the heat is regulated preety good.I have the box mounted in my shop,even wired a small red light that is on when blower is on.I kept the temp at 150 with a diff of 2 and it stays right close.I spend good deal of time in my shop in the winter so I have a pretty close eye on it.I'm hoping the reason for all the water loss was the inspection plate not being sealed,thats taken care of now.Last fall I made a air intake out of a dryer vent to go on the side of the blower it worked pretty good for a while but then started to get stuck closed sometimes,thats probly pretty hard on the motor any how I took it of half way thru the season and just used the slide thing open about 1/2 inch that's where the installer recommended.How important is it to have that mod,hopfully one that's more reliable than the one I made.Thanks again Dwight

[Scott7m]

Dwight, here is the catch.  If your steaming off and having to add water and your temp is around 150 on the display, that's possible, but at some place I'm the water jacket it's likely boiling, I've seen stoves "usually home built" that would show 160 on the star and be boiling hard in a back corner or front corner where they had little to no circulation going on inside the boiler, so that's something to consider

[RSI]

That is a good point you bring up. What size are the fittings on the Shavers? Do they have a second set? If they do, I would put a Taco 007 to circulate the water in the boiler and see if it cuts down on the steaming. If you can keep the pipes large enough there would be a lot of flow and hopefully get it at least moving a bit where it is boiling.

The pump could be wired to the blower if you have a good air shutoff mod. Otherwise leaving it running might be better.

[doow14]

ok I'm with you guys on the circulation thing had no idea the temp could very that much,if I have my temp set at 150 that would be like 63 deg difference from one part of the tank to another to be boiling do mean boilin as in boilin WOW I believe you but that's not easy to believe that's extream.when I get the stove fired up I'll put some kind of temp thing down thru  the over flo pipe that would be the opposite corner of the ranco sensor and see how much diff there is that could be interesting.how are other stoves setup to get proper circulation? my stove only came with 2 in 2 out ports both are being used shop/house.so not sure how I could hook up another pump for circulation it would be a major mod that would need done in the summer.as always thanks for the input.Dwight

[RSI]

To get proper circulation in the entire boiler takes a lot of effort in the design stages of the boiler. The reason for the temperature difference would be if the water isn't moving in some areas. If you are running two pumps already then probably not worth trying a recirc loop like that.

Do your pumps take water out of the top or bottom of the boiler? If they are on the top, it will help to swap them. When you return to the bottom you get poor mixing inside the boiler. It is also better for the pumps.

Also, do you have your pumps running 24/7? If not, I would at least set it up to run when the blower is running if not all the time.

[doow14]

wish I had good internet service when I went into this deal I could have made a more informed decision on a stove by looking at this website,thanks again

[Scott7m]

wish I had good internet service when I went into this deal I could have made a more informed decision on a stove by looking at this website,thanks again

It can be good info, this site is pretty good...

[yoderheating]

RSI is correct, mixing water in a furnace is very important. Also you may check and be sure the Ranco is getting an accurate reading. I've seen some guys who just tape the probe on the water jacket. It really needs to be sealed in a good dry well to work well.

[Steinacher Sales]

doow14! Do you have an auto damper on your blower? If so is the flapper sealing off good when closed? What temp. do you run your furnace water?

[Steinacher Sales]

Doow14. Do you have an auto damper? What temp. are you maintaining in your furnace?

[beeman]

mabe put a 1/4 inch pipe on the end of a hose and stick it in the drain hole

[doow14]

I don't have an auto damper haven't figured out how to make one that's reliable I run stove temp about 150.

[Steinacher Sales]

doow, You can get a Auto Damper from Alternative Heating & Supplies or call and order one from Weld Rite. From Weld Rite its a 11 or12 gauge plate with the solenoid, works well!

Greg Steinaher

[brian45786]

my 290 was steaming off really bad as well , it 2 things to fix it, replaced the original aquastat with a Ranco and installed a return line to the front of the stove.  sealed up the square in the back with good high temp silicone, and then put a 1/2in 90 with a 4 inch nipple on the overflow pipe. the 4 inch nipple has just a slight incline (not straight up) so any steam hits it and condenses back to water and runs back in the stove. since i have done this i rebuilt the door seal as well.
a few pictures here --- woops sorry photo link taken down because this site loaded my server full of viruses