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Topics - MyLeakyWoodDoctor

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1
Wood Doctor / Welding that Leaky Wood Doctor of mine!!
« on: August 10, 2009, 06:10:03 AM »
Hey Folks,

I haven't been on this site for a while now cause I received news that Wood Doctor decided to fix my boiler leaks after all.  I must say that perhaps there may have been some initial confusion on Wood Doctor's part as to what I was expecting them to do for me. When I finally made it clear that I was not prepared to pay out any additional cash for a replacement furnace, Wood Doctor ceased their efforts on this tact and sent me a welder.
So, all seems water tight again an good to go for another heating season.  Of course, I volunteered my time to strip down and put everything back together again, not wanting the welder they sent me to be distracted by anything that wasn't strictly welding and all in all I am quiet pleased with the result.  I must also state that Wood Doctor has graciously instructed me to call this welder directly should any further leaks develop!

Leaky  ;D    :post:

2
I'm pretty sure my corroded stainless steel Wood Doctor is really nothing more than a repackaged Global Hydronics furnace out of Manitoba somewhere!

So, if the shoe fits!

 :bag:

3
General Outdoor Furnace Discussion / Corrosion Problems!
« on: January 20, 2009, 10:15:26 AM »
Hey, I'll start this off by asking about black iron connected to stainless steel!

The sample diagrams that came with my stainless steel Wood Doctor show black iron piping at the back of the boiler.  Is this a good idea?  I have been told the black iron is sacrificial to stainless, meaning it will corrode before the stainless will that it is in contact with.  So, that's good . . . I can replace the black iron when it starts to get bad as long as it's not damaging my stainless!!

Or, is it?

Here's the thing . . . I've heard that stainless can become contaminated by other metals in contact with it and thereby loose it's resistance to corrosion!  So what about the corrosive debris  from the black iron coming back the return line and settling into the bottom of my boiler.  There it sits laying right on top of the stainless!

What's it doing?  :bash:

4
Plumbing / Corrosion Problems!
« on: January 06, 2009, 09:50:39 AM »
Oh Man!

Can anybody give a straight answer on this!

I have had two stainless steel Wood Doctors corrode threw in under 5 years!!!

-I'm putting the Wood Doctor boiler treatment in regularly monitoring to maintain good PH as advised!
-I got the entire unit grounded as advised!
-I even placed a standard Hot Water tank anode in my system before I was advised . . . I was a step ahead of the game here!  I shouldn't even need an anode, as black iron, I have been informed by a chemical engineer, is sacrificial to stainless steel and therefore should corrode away first!  My anode is really there to protect my black iron!

-Piping examples provided when I purchased the furnace show black iron piping so this can't be wrong!

-It looks to me that the welding method used to build my Wood Doctor in the first place may have altered the stainless Steel making it susceptible to corrosion along the weld lines!!

What's going on?


5
Plumbing / Keep your baseboard plumbing a closed system!
« on: January 06, 2009, 09:35:36 AM »
Hey,

I hashed my heating system out with a Kerr Controls heating specialist and decided to plumb my house just as if I was going to install a oil fired hot water heating system!

Only difference was, I put a very very small (5"x10"x4" roughly) copper flat plate heat exchanger right where that oil furnace should have been.  One side of my highly efficient heat exchanger is a closed system at 12 lbs pressure I believe and the other side of my heat exchanger is my open Wood Doctor system!

See attached Picture - 1" copper lines in and out

I have absolutely no problems heating the basement, where my Wood Doctor lines come in, as well as the 1st and 2nd floors of my house!

6
Plumbing / Watch that Circ Pump!
« on: January 06, 2009, 09:23:17 AM »
Hey,

I discussed my setup with a heating specialist at Kerr Controls who did some research which lead him to believe that a lot of people were installing wet rotor circ pumps on the backs of their outdoor wood furnaces and these were burning out quite readily due to the head pressure not being what the pumps were designed for.  The lower head pressure was causing the pumps to cavitate and burn out.  He suggested I use a dry rotor pump to avoid this problem and it has worked well for me!  Of course these pumps cost more!

7
Plumbing / Home-made Hot Water Tank Tube Heat Syphon
« on: January 05, 2009, 10:55:00 AM »
I have thrown together a straight tube heat syphon for my domestic hot water tank!

This syphon consists of a 4' 1.5" black iron pipe with a 3/4" copper pipe (tube) going straight up the center of it.  At each end of my black iron pipe I have a 1.5 " female threaded  black iron "T" reducing down at the top using a 1.5" male threaded to 1" female threaded black iron sleeve, then a copper 1" male threaded to 1" female soldered, then a copper 1" female to 3/4" female soldered onto my 3/4" copper tube.

Coming off at 90 degrees on each of these 1.5 " female threaded black iron "T" (top and bottom) I am reducing down using a 1.5" male threaded to 3/4" female threaded black iron sleeve and then a brass 3/4" threaded male to 3/4" compression fitting for the Kitec pipe from my Wood Doctor.

This setup heats my domestic hot water very quickly, but I found that the finishing touch was a mixing valve installed at the top to prevent cold water from the bottom of my tank from surging up threw the syphon and cooling the hot water leaving the top of my tanks every time I opened a hot-water tap!

I installed my mixing valve with the hot side capped and the cold side delivering hot water!  Now, when cold water rushes up my syphon, the valve shuts down allowing 100% hot water to be delivered when called for!

No advise was provided by the Wood Doctor Dealer on any of this!

********Hey Somebody tell me how to put a picture of my syphon here********

[attachment deleted by admin for space issues]

8
Heatmor / The Heatmor Warranty?
« on: January 04, 2009, 02:02:19 PM »
Would Heatmor request that an entire 2000 lbs furnace be retured to them for acessment?
Would Heatmor consider an entire 2000 lbs furnace a "part" that they could request be returned for repair?

9
Wood Doctor / Patching those holes in my Wood Doctor!
« on: January 04, 2009, 01:44:01 PM »
I have found that High Temperature Five Minute Epoxy Putty works well sealing the perforations in my stainless Steel Wood Doctor furnace.  The trick though is to apply the Putty using a reversed cabinet clamp so that you can get enough pressure to seal off the water leak and at the same time get good adhesion to the metal.

You can't just push this Putty on with your hand and expect it to hold!  The first ones I just pushed on leaked and pealed off again!

Cut a square of memory foam and place it over the Putty against the boiler and then push the memory foam almost flat against the side of the boiler until the Putty hardens.  After, just peal it off and you're ready to apply another patch.

My Wood Doctor boiler is littered with patches now and they seem like they might hold till spring now that I have applied them with pressure!  Hopefully this will get me threw, this, only my forth heating season! 

Who knew stainless steel could corrode threw like this!!

10
Wood Doctor / Wood Doctor Warranty!
« on: January 04, 2009, 01:27:05 PM »
Have you notices the phrase in your Wood Doctor warranty, "on site or at our factories"?  :-\

Returning "a part" to the factory when requested by Wood Doctor may not seem like a biggy, but what if Wood Doctor considers "the part" to be your entire furnace and what if "the factory" is in Manitoba? 

I am the not so proud owner of my second 2000 lbs stainless steel exterior wood furnace.  My original furnace developed perforations in it's belly causing it to loose all it's water in only it's second heating season.  I managed to make it to spring by holding vigilance over ten or so pine plugs hammered into the holes to stop the leaks! 

This first boiler was promptly replaced under warranty by Wood Doctor at virtually no cost to me. 

This replacement stainless steel boiler has now just barely made it threw it's third heating season this time developing perforations primarily along the belly weld lines! 

My original furnace has a 25 year warranty covering repairs at 100% for the first 5 years.  I am still within the first 5 years of my warranty and have had two of these boilers corrode out on me.

This time around though, Wood Doctor is exercising a phrase in it's warranty which they believe gives them the right to request that I ship my entire furnace half way across the country for assessment to repaired or replaced rather then they send someone local to fix it.  It is simply ludicrous to me that they believe they can interpret their warranty in this way, making  it,  in fact, no warranty at all!  Their interpretation is essentially that an entire 2000 lbs furnace is a "part" that they can request be returned to them for repair! 

I've stuck epoxy putty over all the holes in my Wood Doctor and put it back online for this heating season, but I have no idea how long it will be able to hold water!  I do not seem to have much choice at present!  :'(


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