Outdoor Wood Furnace Info
Outdoor Furnaces - Manufacturers WITH EPA-Certified Models => Heatmor => Topic started by: roxann on January 25, 2014, 06:17:41 PM
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HELP
I got my heatmor about two months ago all I have had is issues and still not resloved... It over heats at least three times a week. my house is cold and the dealer dont respond to any of my calls I need some help please very flustered
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Going to have to be more specific. Lots of guys on here willing to help. Start with your setup. What kind of heating methods are in the house? What are your loads? Pumps? Then what are the specific issues you have? Over heating can be caused by several reasons. Need a few more symptoms.
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my unit is a heatmor 200ss 111 it's the only heating source I have for now. My home is an old farm house that I just moved in as of July. I have hot water baseboard radiator. I am not sure what you mean by loads??? My symptoms are my unit over heats at least three times a week also I have huge ash build up in stove so much i have to shovel them out...
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and on really cold days my house is 56. I have gone threw tons of wood about 6 cords in two months I also had to change out a blower now being told i have a bad thermostate cause when my temp goes up and I loose my water the blower stays on
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Your aquastat on the stove is sticking most likely. The aquastat tells the fan to turn on when the water temp reaches a certain point and tells it when to turn off when it reaches a certain point. When the stove overheats try tapping the aquastat lightly with a hammer. Ussually this will get it to release and the aquastat will break the connection to the fan and it will shut off. As far as the unit only heating the house to 56 we can tackle those problems but we need to first fix the overheating issue. After you fix that please let us know what the temperature of the incoming pipe from the owb to the water to water heat exchanger and what the outgoing temp back to the owb is. Also what is the temp of the incoming and outgoing lines on the house side of the water to water hx. If you have any questions about this just ask and we will help.
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Loads are your square footage of your house, heating domestic hot water, garage, basement, good/fair/poor insulation, things like that. What part of the county are you in?
A bad aquastat can def cause what you describe. Is your unit under warranty? How old is it?
I'm not familiar with baseboard, but I think the guys who are will ask you how many linear feet of baseboard you have. What pump are you running?
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my unit is only two month I am really don't know that much about the stove.. I would say the house is insulated fair is the aquastat the flapper?
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yes its under warranty i live in maine i have a basement 1st floor of 1050 sq feet second floor same footage and thrid floor also has same footage
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i have 90 feet of baseboard on first floor a little more on second
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Roxann, where are you in Maine? I am just west of Biddeford Maine and I know the distributor for Heatmor here, did you buy the stove from Bruce or one of his dealers?
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from bruce I met him at the fair
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Roxann, Richard should hopefully be able to maybe help you out with getting in contact with your dealer. It is a REAL shame that your unit is 2 months old and you have been abandoned by him like this. The flapper is open and shut by a solenoid which is controlled by the aquastat. If the unit is two months old please get in contact with that dealer, everything is under warranty. Hopefully he will be honest enough to come out and help you with your issues. If not we are always here to help.
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And he is not helping you? What town are you in?
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Roxann I sent you a PM with my cell#, call in the morning if you wish.
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buckfield no help its a shame is right I don't even want this unit anymore thats how fed up I am
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Richard will get you back on track with your dealer hopefully.
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yes its under warranty i live in maine i have a basement 1st floor of 1050 sq feet second floor same footage and thrid floor also has same footage
3150 square feet (at worst case cenerio of 50 btu per square foot ) would be 157,500 btu per hour
190 feet of baseboard is capable of delivering 650 btu per foot at 180 degrees ( i like to use 600 as we never keep the delivery at 180) so at 600 your baseboard footage should be able to deliver 600 x 190 = 114,000 btu which would not keep up on the coldest nights of the year....also that many btu would require in the area of (lets say 6000 btu in a pound of wood and your stove is 70 percent efficent (you are getting about 4,400 btu per pound)
114,000 divided by 4,400 = about 26 pounds of wood per hour (that is more than 1 cord of wood per 4 days )
compare this to what y ur stove is rated at and wood consuption you are using now.
if you had a boiler heating yoru water before what was its btu per hour rating????
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I tried posting this last night but the site was being stupid and I was at work and had to actually go work. Not sure if you've figured it out yet, but here's what I was typing for you...
One of the first things to check is to make sure the fiber seal is in place between the ask auger tube block off plate and the tube and that the thumb screws are tight. Next, make sure the door that when the outer door closes, it completely closes the little block off door that leads to the airbox. Mine was warped when I first got it and it needed a little persuasion to get back straight so it sealed up completely with the outer door closed. Also, remove the blower from the ash tube and make sure that the door for the blower swings freely and will close when the blower is off. If that sticks open, which it's easy to do if it's at all rusty, your unit will pull a natural draft and keep heating even if the blower is off. If you have an extended chimney installed, the extra height can also force a greater draft strong enough to pull the blower door open and allow air into the firebox.
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That's a good call Judd's the ash auger tube block off plate is where you would remove ashes, it is just below the rear door. I don't understand why you are shoveling ashes? If that plate is missing, warped, or loose it would cause your overheating and it doesn't sound like you are using the auger for ash removal. That ash tube runs through the bottom of the boiler to the front and that is where the draft fan blows into, the other thing to check is that flap over the fan, if you have ash build up in the tube it may be blocking the flapper from closing. This would be a good read if you don't have a manual:
http://www.heatmor.com/Uploads/Response_Guts_071312.pdf (http://www.heatmor.com/Uploads/Response_Guts_071312.pdf)
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over heated again this morning stove never shut down.... I called dealer yesterday no return call once again it's bullcrap I have to pay out of pocket to get my furnace fixed since its two months old wasted 1500 in antifreeze 620 in service call that i paid wish this was like a car id let it get repoed
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Is your entire system filled with antifreeze?
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I use the auger once a week I get a fair amount... and every time I put wood in I rake the ash but ash has the same volume of ashes
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When you say it is not shutting down I assume you mean the draft fan? The only thing that can make the draft fan keep running is a faulty aquastat (that Ranco controller in the front door), maybe try setting the temps down to say 160 for a while and see what temps it actually goes up to before it shuts off. What temp are you running it at now? That controller may have a second stage to program, you may want to check that. Did Slim give you any ideas?
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aquastat already has been replaced the temp right now is 119 and my house is 57
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no it has water along with the anitfreeze
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If the aquastat is reading 119 right now is the draft fan running?
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yes
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When you went out and the unit was overheating was the fan running? How did you get the fan to stop running? So the aquastat was replaced because of the overheating issue? Was the sensor wire to the aquastat also replaced?
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yes the fan was running.. I was wrong the fan was replaced and not the aquastat.. i do have a new aquastat to install
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the draft fan is running stove is at 129
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Roxann, who installed a new fan because they thought that was causing the issue? I have no clue how anyone could think that the fan could be at fault for not shutting off? The fan works like a light does in your house with a light switch. When the aquastat sees the water temp to the top set point it shuts the fan off like a light switch does. No way for the fan to still run if the switch is turned off. The aquastat is an easy install if you already have one in place. Please switch this out asap so that you don't have any more overheating issues. Also the aquastat sensor which runs into a dry well in the boiler could be the culprit, not the aquastat itself. Did it come with a new sensor wire too?
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So what your saying is that when you went out this morning it was overheating? How did it get down to 129? I am confused.
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Roxann I'm really busy today but iff you need to call me, Good post Honda
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my stove is over heated again is calling for water its only 63 in my house and temp on stove is 218 should I add water when its so hot
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Are you able to switch out the aquastat replacement that you said you have? It really is an easy switch out. This needs to be done as soon as possible. Boiling water is very bad for the pump, I am surprised that you haven't burned it up yet. Why is the house only 63 degrees, you have plenty hot enough water.
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no I haven't I am still waiting for heatmor to phone me back day two i'll call them again tomorrow
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In the meantime, you might want to consider shutting it down and draining the water to prevent freezing. You don't want to run your unit into the ground chasing down an annoying, but easily repaired issue.
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Does the blower ever shut off? If the aquastat is just a regular Ranco, make sure it didn't get switched to cooling mode. When you push the set button it should show H1. If it is C1 then change it.
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Contact Heatmor directly @ www.heatmor.com/ (http://www.heatmor.com/). They won't like the fact that the dealer is not helping. There are all kinds of boilers for sale out there and bad publicity is not good for business.
By the way, adding water at any temp will not harm anything.
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I think you have two problems, first you don't have enough baseboard in the home to handle these cold nights. Second you either have a bad Ranco or its on C1. I'm surprised Heatmore doesn't have an shut off built in to cut off the fan when it overheats. Our units shut the fan off at 195 just to avoid this potential problem.
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ive been talking to heatmor they refer me to my dealer or chris just passing the buck.... this is my only heating source for now I just moved in july I thought i would start with the furnace that would heat the house i didnt think i would have such issues with stove.. I talked to mike from heatmor this am he is going to send out the dealer again who isnt licensed and is no help so looks like i will have to pay out of pocket again to get it fixed right.. I was told I have over kill on baseboard all I know is this whole thing sucks
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I'll call you as soon as I get signal
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sounds good THANKS!!!!!!!!!!!!
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My 2 yr old heatmore does have two aquastats one shuts the fan down for overheating.Sounds to me like there is definetly a wiring/aquastat problem.But two bad stats?The high temp stat should be shutting the draft fan down
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Her installer, to no fault of his own has very little knowledge of boilers and piping to say the least of controls, her problem is no support from the dealer and manufacturer, I'm going to try and stop there tonight and check it out if Bruce does not step up to the plate today, please let me know Roxann one way or another.
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I am happy to report Bruce did come by this morning and replaced the aquastat & did a smoke test. He said my unit looks great I also think I was smothering the firebox.. The temp is up where it should be now and my house is WARM 70' YAHOO :thumbup: I pray it stays that way!! I want to thank everyone who helped me with my problem and listening to ranting I'm one warm happy girl right now :)
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so nice to a problem solved and a happy owner..cudos to the rep :thumbup:
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Fabulous! Good job everyone! Happy burning!
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How were you smothering the fire?
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when the fire was burnt out I would fill it instead of add a few pieces then add to it as the fire got going...
my house was 68 this morning down stairs lot better then the 50's my bedroom was boiling last night I had to turn a fan on I'm so thrilled to have heat... best of all no overheating ;D
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Glad you got it fixed up, it's great when a plan comes together! As you get more familiar with your boiler it will work fine for you.
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Sounds like you've got it figured out Roxann, I'm very happy for you, Bruce isn't such a bad guy after all is he, Sounds like you still have some control issues, you are welcome to have your guy give me a call if you wish.
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sadly my furnace overheated again last night ugh.... on a good note I'm still warm
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Did you call Bruce to let him know, I spoke with him yesterday on another subject and he said that he would try to watch the forum, Bruce are you out there, if so welcome to the forum.
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Yes, I called him went straight to voice mail.. I left a message
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I just did the same, I'm sure he has a cell phone and that corporate knows the number, why don't you try calling them again.
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Did you have any luck?
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No, nothing yet, is everything OK
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yes i'm good still toasty
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overheated again last night WTH..... temp was 192 and fan was running..
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And still nothing from Bruce? Have you left a message? I'm sure he's busy but constant overheating can't be good for the stove or your system, my suggestion would be to call corporate again, can you get your installer to call me?
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yeah I called Bruce ten min ago went straight to voice mail again I left message... I'll call mike on monday I don't get it The house is still toasty though lol
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Keep an eye on it and if you need to, control it manually!
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how do I control it manually???
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i gave him your number slim
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There must be a service switch that can be turned off for the blower.
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How do you know what the temp was? What temp did the Ranco say?
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can you go through the settings on the Ranco controller and verify that it is set right and post the settings here?
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Do you have a Ranco Digital aquastat or a mechanical dial aquastat? If it is a Ranco watch this video and skip to 10:45 How to wire a Ranco ETC-111000-000 Digital Temperature Controller (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6AZlvEBEjAA#) He talks about how to do the settings. I am not sure if you were given the manual for your stove but the link to it is http://www.heatmor.com/Uploads/CSS_OM_guts_071012.pdf (http://www.heatmor.com/Uploads/CSS_OM_guts_071012.pdf) After reading through it the manual states that there is also a fan switch on the door. When you open the door the fan comes on to blow off excessive smoke. If the switch is not adjusted properly then the fan will obviously continue to blow since it over ides the regular thermostat. Although the High limit aquastat should shut the fan down if it goes over a certain point. I believe at this point someone has wired something wrong, whether it be from the factory or the installer. Apparently you are going to need to have someone that is actually capable of properly diagnosing a stove, tracing wires etc. If Slim is willing to do a service call to you I would suggest paying him to come out. I know he would be fully capable of doing that.
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Roxann, I just spoke with your installer, he is going to try to get a mechanical aqua stat and install it on the supply line from the boiler to control the temp,Nice guy! Still no word from Bruce?
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Slim, Do you think that it is the Ranco not reading correctly? If it was that I would believe that the High Limit aquastat would cut the fan. If the fan is not being cut I can only think that something is wired wrong.
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I doubt it is reading wrong. If it was, it would still go on and off at the temp it is set at.
It is either wired wrong, set wrong or that switch on the door you mentioned is not working right.
If it was wired wrong from the factory they may have just moved the wires to the same terminals as the original.
If it is currently overheating try adjusting the temperature way up on the controller and see if the fan goes off. If it doesn't then turn it way down and see if that makes it go off. You should be able to hear a click inside the controller when it tries to turn on and off.
Has the high limit setting been checked? I would turn it down too and see if you can make that one shut the blower off.
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he is here now working on it and no word from bruce yet.. temp is at 176 now I have no idea whats wrong but I hope what ever is going on doesn't ruin the unit....
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I don't have a Ranco
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Why do we need to add another piece to the puzzle instead of fixing the problem? These stoves are so simple it shouldnt be hard to figure out if a wire is crossed or something like that is messed up.
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:post:
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my installer just left he checked all the wiring and he said it was fine.... this unit is far from simple
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slim is willing to come out. I feel I shouldn't have to pay out of pocket when this is a two month old unit. What happen to the warranty???? Iv'e already paid out and them some!!
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my installer just left he checked all the wiring and he said it was fine.... this unit is far from simple
Yea they truly are very simple creatures! Whenever the problem is found its gonna be something so simple....
I can't hardly fathom a dealer or someone showing uo and not being able to diagnose this???
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I agree Scott, this is crazy. Roxann, we understand that it may seem like this unit is complicated but in reality, mechanically speaking, it is an extremely simple machine. Whoever has been doing the service work on it is making it out to be something that is extremely complicated but that is far from the truth. I wish I was close enough, I would like to just drive over there and fix it. The fan is not shutting off because it is still receiving power which is supplied by the aquastats. Hence the aquastats, especially the high limit aquastat, is not cutting the power. Why? I don't know without looking at it, using the multi meter and tracing wires.
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I have to agree, when the problem is found it will be something simple, may not seem like it right now but there are very few things that can be making it overheat.
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Yea,this is about as simple as it could be
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I wonder if, when it was installed, someone wired around the high limit aquastat out of ignorance or an attempt to make the unit work with a non-functioning high limit aquastat.
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The installer tells me that there is no high limit on the stove and the dealer was just out there to change out the aqua-stat, I've never seen this unit up close as Bruce is pretty secretive at the shows, I guess now I know why. Roxann do you have the owners manual and is there a wiring schematic in it, if so can you scan and E-Mail it to me.
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i'll look but the book don't show much one a good note no over heating last night
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Bruce just phoned he said he will fix it and make it right
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Great, I just spoke with him, he's on the right track.
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Good that it looks like you are getting it fixed...hopefully. My Heatmor has the two Honeywell aquastats. One on left is for fan and on the right is for high limit. I have my high limit set to turn my furnace fan on in the house to dissipate heat in the event of an overheat it turns on 120 volts to a wire(came from factory like this). I used 12/3 wire underground and used the red wire to turn on the fan on - wired it back to the furnace with a transformer to lower voltage. It went on twice my first year - once leaving the ash plug off and once not having the outer door shut tight. Why is the house so warm? Oh S*T must be overheating again.
Sure sounds like you have a bad aquastat for your burn fan. Is the high limit wire hooked up to anything like mine is with a fan or alarm? If it is not there is no way to cool it down or alert you to a problem until you walk out to look.
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my house is cooling off and now the temp is lower hasn't gotten any hotter then 154 today and now dropped to 140 the water light came on with out even over heating.. Rick just came over tested the wire all of them were hot and fan stayed on...
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I posted the manual for you in an earlier post. Here it is again http://www.heatmor.com/Uploads/CSS_OM_guts_071012.pdf (http://www.heatmor.com/Uploads/CSS_OM_guts_071012.pdf)
It shows that you should have two aquastats, any reason why yours did not come with the high limit?
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that manual don't have my unit on it.. I have no idea on the high limit... The house is cold again :bash:
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Is this the right manual? http://www.heatmor.com/Uploads/42457_Heatmor_Response_Guts_053112.pdf (http://www.heatmor.com/Uploads/42457_Heatmor_Response_Guts_053112.pdf)
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Do you have the gassification model? The manual for the gassification says that it has a high limit aquastat as well. I am confused as to what model you have that doesn't come with the high limit? It looks like all of their stoves do??? Can you find out why this is?
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my model is ssr11 I saw it on your link you sent me but my manual is way different....
my house is 59 temp on unit is 132 :'( :'( :'( :'( :'( :'( :'( :'( :'( :'( :'( :'( :'( :'( :'( :'( :'( :'( :'( :'( :'( :'( :'( :'( :'( :'( :'( :'( :'( :'( :'( :'(
I will ask my installer if he can take a look at this link and try to see if I have one.. He was here most of the day yesterday he said I didn;t have one...
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Did Bruce show up? He told me yesterday that he would be over and that yes it has a high limit on the back of the stove, we agreed that it is either wired wrong or both the high limit and aqua-stat are defective and that it needs to be repaired as it's not good for the stove to constantly overheat!!!!!!!
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no Bruce didn't come over yesterday he said he was going to call mike from heatmor and get back to me... I don't understand why my house was toasty for a few days and unit was up to 180ish and now I'm lucky to get the temp to climb to 154 unreal
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I'm assuming that you are using the loading practices that Bruce discussed with you? Is the blower functioning, is it burning the wood up as you would expect or just sitting there and smoldering. I can't do a thing for you today and will be leaving for the weekend on a job in northern Vt. on Friday morning, if you need me to come up there the only day I have is thursday and it will require some juggling so please let me know ASAP.
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yes I am loading it right.... blower still hasn't shut off wood is burning no smoldering.. temp went to to 123 I added wood and temp went down 10*
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Wow, the more this evolves the more problems or potential problems we see.
Hopefully someone can get this straightened out soon
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You may need to turn heat from stove off for a while and see if it can catch up
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I would expect a temp drop right away after a fresh load of wood, it should in theory start to rise now, lots of cold wood will drop the temp briefly, No further word from Bruce or corporate? your feelings about thursday?
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bruce just called me back not sure what his plan is... I have to call him back in one hour.. my wood is stored in my basement the wood I used this morning to get the fire going was dry kindling (lots of it) with a few big pieces on top the stove is at 160 now but the wood is now smothering and not smoke coming out..fan is running .. I'd love for you to come out I'll call heatmor to see what they will do
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scott posted that I should shut heat off where do I do that/
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is that number 41 on the manual
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I think #39 in manual would be the high-limit controller (aquastat) with wires that come out of it... if so I tested them yesterday when unit called for water I had power on all lines.. Could this be junk on unit and cause the issues?
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Here is your manual http://www.heatmor.com/Uploads/Response_Guts_071312.pdf (http://www.heatmor.com/Uploads/Response_Guts_071312.pdf)
We have all been confused by your post about what you have for a model since heatmor makes a 200ss which is what your avatar says that you have when in reality it is actually a 200SSR 11. Since this is a gassification furnace we can understand why you have been having some trouble with getting it to come up to temp etc. These machines have a much bigger learning curve then a conventional furnace. You can't just throw the wood in and think that it will come up to temp. The loading practices are EXTREMELY important. If I had to guess you are probably getting bridging issues in the firebox.
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can you unplug or shut off the circulators briefly until the water temp comes back up when the temp drops really low, no need to do that right now, your temp is coming up ok, add wood like Bruce told you and let her run, watch that it does not overheat, Bruce told me yesterday that the unit has a switch on the front of the boiler to shut off the blower, use it if it gets above about 185 degrees. Thanks Honda, her dealer has been out to explain loading practices, I sure wish that all of us did a better job of educating the public on proper loading and operations of these units, I guess thats why they say buy from a quality dealer that understands his product and will answer the phone after the sale.
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my problem was the unit I looked at isnt the same unit that was delivered
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Or maybe you should have continued your journey down energy row to my booth, sorry I couldn't help it on that one, let me know what you would like to do with thursday please.
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I.m waiting on mike to call me back to see if he will pay..... I can't and refuse to pay out of pocket anymore i'm almost at 1000.00 out of pocket its bs... I want heatmor to stand behind there product and fix this damn unit. This doesn't include the antifreeze coolant I lost that was costly along with 500 utility bill and propane for my little unit to stay warm cause my unit is a lemon..
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OK and how is the temp doing now, why don't you have mike call me directly.
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its 159 just spoke to mike hes sent out three new parts to bruce he said bruce will take care of it ugh... i'm going to give bruce one more try when those parts come in if that doesn't do the trick I will pay out of pocket again and I will be calling all of those numbers you gave me to call slim
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Be sure to call the office phone and leave a message if nobody answers as Bruce says he does not carry his cell phone, best of luck and keep us posted.
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on no I wont call bruces office phone ever I will Not deal with his wife I use his cell and leave messages
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She's such a sweetheart isn't she, they have caller ID and she never picks up when I call, I truly feel very sorry for Bruce, can you imagine having to live in the same house as Terry.
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I don't know her but a few times going to house to get a blower then back because she forgot to give me a part I asked her to meet me half way she wasn't having when I had to go back she blamed my installer I also feel I should't of been going after parts and hiring my installer to put part on when dealer should of her house is over hour away not what I wanted to do on my day off
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What a mess
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Sort of makes you wonder doesn't it
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mess is right
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What a cf.
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It is a mess, you became a junior member just from this one thread, you have definitely learned a bunch about this boiler. It concerns me that you say the unit delivered was not the unit you ordered, if your receipt shows a discrepancy that would be an additional issue.
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So you ordered one stove and recieved another???????
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I met Bruce at the fair,. the unit on site was the one I thought I was going to get. Bruce showed me how it operated and answered my questions. I then took the literature and shared with Frank. Bruce then came to the house went over details with Frank and I. Still was thinking it was the same stove. It was freezing out so I wasn't around for the whole purchase as they stayed outside. I assumed it was the same unit he showed me. when the unit came and I saw the auger I said to Bruce what the hell is that.. He said that's to clean out your ashes.. I then was like huh I thought this had a pan that came out this isn't the same unit you showed me at the fair... he said no its better then the one I showed you.. I don't know if Frank and Bruce changed the unit when I wasn't around but all this time I thought it was the one from the fair.
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I do really like the ash auger...
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Hmm, not sure if maybe they just produced the same model with an ash box instead or an ash auger?
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I thought all the Heatmor's had augers. Did they have one with a pan?
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How are you doing Roxann
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I'm in the 60's I got some more propane to help keep warm.. No over heating last night thanks for asking :D
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Keep your chin up, any word when Bruce will be back to install the new parts?
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no but he did come over yesterday to check on stove I thought that was awesome
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It's a start!
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Not a word today from Roxanne. Could this be good news?
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Very interesting thread. I feel for you Roxann. I have experienced (hopefully) just about every manner of problem I think is possible on the older Aquatherm I have. Have figured out most things on my own and really feel like I have a pretty good understanding of it now, save for the wiring and setup issue it's been plagued with since day one. However, I can't believe the trouble you are having with a brand new unit. Does it bother any one else that Bruce stopped over to check the stove but not to change out the parts that pretty much everyone agrees has to be the problem, or is it that he doesn't have them yet?
And does it bother anyone that Bruce, the dealer, the installer, the company themselves - nobody seems qualified to correctly diagnose and fix the problem? And that is if she can even get ahold of them or get them to call her back! I could be wrong but this sounds like some of the worst customer/product service I've ever heard of. Hopefully they get things figured out for you soon. It doesn't seem right to me.
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I'll give her a call this morning to see how she's doing. The problem is that I don't think she has anything for a back up system and is now heating with space heaters.
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Morning... no over heating but cold in house its 59 the temp is 174 .... still waiting on Bruce and those parts
Propster I agree worst customer service EVER
I have gotten more feedback and help from this site then the own company pretty said.. I hope soon the house becomes warm again
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right slim the outdoor wood furnace is my only heating source for now.. I do have the clothes dryer :o lol one propane heater and 1 electric heater I am hoping Bruce will be here soon to put in new parts I plan on calling him to follow up today
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Good to hear you are OK, do you have a time frame of when the parts are coming in and when he will do the repairs? I just tried calling you but your phone must be off and can't accept voicemail.
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no word I thought they would be here by now just called bruce went to voice mail left a message
my phone just died its back on no voicemail set up love it that way ;)
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OK, just checking in, be careful with the propane heater.
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no word from Bruce yesterday guess those parts didn't come in or he don't work on Fridays...
stoves at 136 temp in house 60 my daughter is eating ice-cream for breakfast :o
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Your low stove temp issue are because for your loading techniques with the boiler. Once it's is up to temp it is away for it to maintain temp as long as wood is loaded correctly and it is quality wood.
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I feel I know how to load a stove but maybe not........Is there a class or something??? It's way warmer when the temps up its been one issue of mine with this stove along with all the ash build up.
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What do you mean by 'its way warmer when the temps up'? You mean warmer in the house? If that is what you mean it is absolutely true. Here is a chart for BTU's per foot of baseboard at different temperatures. http://www.builditsolar.com/References/HydronicHeating/SlantFinBaseboardOutput327.pdf (http://www.builditsolar.com/References/HydronicHeating/SlantFinBaseboardOutput327.pdf) As you can see if you are giving the baseboard only 130 degrees from the owb you are only getting 260 btus per foot. If you give it 180 like you should be the BTU per foot nearly doubles to 580 btu per foot. So as you can see this is the reason why your house won't warm up sometimes. You need to have the stove up to 180 degrees where it should be to allow the baseboard to put out the number of btus your home requires.
As far as classes go Slim(Richard) is someone that is very experienced with gassification furnaces and I am sure could give you some great pointers or a lesson. I know you don't want to spend any more money but it may be VERY worth it to have Richard come out for a couple of hours and just look over your system to make sure that everything is right and efficient as well as give you a little lesson on how to load the stove. You should have zero problems keeping the stove at 180 all of the time.
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I have spoken with the installer and other than a possible ghost flow issue in the second floor, I believe she is OK there, the issue is with the stove, my biggest concern is that it consistently over heats and boils off the water, she had anti-freeze in it but who knows how much is left, she said yesterday that she will contact the supply house and get some test strips to test it. As far as me teaching her how to run it, I certainly would be OK with trying but it is not my brand and I know very little about it, perhaps it would be better if you guys with the same brand helped out on this part, I can handle the controls but those of you who have that model may know its quirks better than I. Bruce Roxann says you are now watching the thread, Please chime in.
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Thats good that it sounds like the in house plumbing is correct. The only way I can think of the stove not being able to bring itself up to temp and stay there consistently until the next time it needs to be loaded is a bridging issue in the firebox, wood with a high moisture content or improper small and big wood mix. I don't run a gasser though, this is only from reading through others comments on what they need to do to keep their unit running like it should.
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Really mix of big and small wood would make the temp low?? I do that. Bridging wood is that crossing the wood cause I make sure it flat and stacked flat
I find when I'm not getting enough heat the stoves ashes need to be cleaned... I did that today and the temp got to 171 house is toasty. I thought this stove would be fill it and forget it :-\
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Hey Roxann, I gotta bridge wanna buy it, Sales Sales Sales
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No thanks I already have one haha
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I'm glad you can still laugh, we'll get it working right if we keep trying, any answers from corporate?
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What a joke, all could have been avoided with just a qualified installer, unless this is the most defective OWB and Bruce is hiding information and using the "parts haven't come in yet" excuse. Till they figure it out. Its a tactic to relieve his portion of blame, for the time being. I don't wait more than 48 hours for parts on a no heat call in the worst of situations. I'll rob parts from another unit if I have too. And on a new install.......wow, you HAVE to take those calls whether you like them or not.
Slim? Is there more to the story? Is Roxann an unreasonable customer?
If This happened here, somebody would be contacting the attorney general consumer protection division. Issues like this get resolved pretty quick, when it's about someone's heat.
An OWB that requires sensitive loading instructions, wasn't this covered at the install? I wonder if this whole thread will be a learning experience for future Bruce/heatmore customers? Atleast it sounds like some are learning........... on Roxanns job/expense that is...
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I think we will see more and more posts like this as furnace companies rush to get phase II furnaces out into the market. One thing I am realizing is the importance of dealer training and in turn customer training. A word of caution to people out shopping for gassers, buy from a dealer who has a very good grasp of how the furnace works. Preferably buy from a dealer who has actually run the type of furnace they are selling. I know I have burned 5 different models including a Heatmaster gasser over the last 5 years. I know Scott also likes to burn a new model when one comes out. I can not stress enough how much a knowledgeable dealer means on these high tech furnaces.
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I sure hope Roxann wasn't told that this would be a 'fill it and forget it' type of stove. It is far from that! Roxann, how often are you cleaning out the ashes and heat exchangers? Is there a weekly cleanout procedure for the cleaning of the exchangers like all of the other companies have?
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these high tech furnaces.
Where, what...???? I don't see any high tech OWB anything anywhere.... Since when do OWB's have lambda and Outdoor reset controls.....
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these high tech furnaces.
Where, what...???? I don't see any high tech OWB anything anywhere.... Since when do OWB's have lambda and Outdoor reset controls.....
Sure be a smart ass if you want, hahaha real funny. Bottom line however is that most of the phase II furnaces are not anything like what people think of when they think of an outdoor furnace. My point stands, both dealers and customers will need much more training compared to the way it was done in the past.
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I spoke to Bruce Sat he called back.. He got the parts in but doesn't feel they should be installed since I haven't had any more over heating. He did change the flapper I believe.. He also said and believes that it's the operator...
I don't think I am unreasonable but I did phone Bruce one time at midnight because my stove overheated and I was smelling the pex so I panicked that's when I found this forum .....the stove is currently 171 blower is off no fire in box and my house is 73
Bruce also wanted me to let you all know that I live in an open field and all the stuff in the basement isn't insulated like the pex stuff he says that's a lot of heat loss... I do live in a very old farm house the basement isn't finished all of this was known when he sold the unit in fact the house is more updated now then when he first came over.
Is it normal to smell after putting in wood good god it's nasty I even wear goggles because of the smoke
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I clean the ashes once a week... heat exchanges??? (flue scrapping??) Iv'e done but not weekly should i be
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I'd like to have a list of things I need to do to keep it maintained and how often
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these high tech furnaces.
Where, what...???? I don't see any high tech OWB anything anywhere.... Since when do OWB's have lambda and Outdoor reset controls.....
There are threads where a silly remark like yours is acceptable, however, this is not one of them.
A lady is having issues with heating her home and keeping her family warm. Put your self in her shoes for a minute.
You seem like a decently intelligent person, and being from my state, I expect more from you.
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Sprinter, No she is not unreasonable, she is also not in the right mindset with her stove and system, she will need to be educated and I sincerely hope that someone with the same model stove will step in and help her out, I am sure that one day soon I will have the opportunity to stop by and check out the install, I have spoken with the installer and other than some minor ghost flow I don't think that there is a major issue there. I agree with both posts (yoder and Sprinter) and am still looking for that darn like button' have a great night guys and gals
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Really mix of big and small wood would make the temp low?? I do that. Bridging wood is that crossing the wood cause I make sure it flat and stacked flat
I find when I'm not getting enough heat the stoves ashes need to be cleaned... I did that today and the temp got to 171 house is toasty. I thought this stove would be fill it and forget it :-\
If you clean out the ash and the stove begins to function properly this may be your clue!
I don't own a heatmor so not exactly sure of the design but I have a homemade gasser and from time to time I notice it has a hard time with recovery and as of late with a bit of snow on the wood now and then my ash will get hard around the slot and also in the secondary. This was discussed on a p & m post also a liitle while ago about a hard ring of ash around the slot.
Are you stirring around the coals in your firebox every time you load especially around the slot?
Is the slot getting plugged with hard ash thus not letting the stove breath? with nowhere for the intake to exhaust it will not burn. Seems your issues lie somewhere in this area if you clean out the ash and it performs properly.
The overheating must be a control issue or it wouldn't be able to happen.
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I reallllllllly wish this Bruce guy would chime in here! I would like to hear his explanation on how the stove could possibly overheat "by operator error". You may lose a couple degrees if the pex lines aren't insulated in the basement but it is not something I would be overly worried about. I would spend the $1 per 6 feet on pipe insulation though and slap it on the pex in the basement. Anybody could handle that project. Roxann it seems like no one on this forum owns the same model as you do so we don't have much help for you in that department. I would ask you dealer and the manufacturer for some phone numbers of owners of your stove. I would call them and ask if they can tell you everything they have learned about operating it.
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I never did see exactly what model it was, but it appears it's a gasser and I have no experience with those at all.
As far as the uninsulated lines in your basement of an old farmhouse, that shouldn't make a difference at all if the pump is flowing at any decent speed like it should be. My lines did well in my basement in a 1875 farm house with a stone foundation and unfinished basement as well. I didn't insulate them at all and it kept my basement warm without any noticeable performance issue on the system.
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From what I have been told it is an updraft gasser, as stated before it's a big secret
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Hey Roxann 'good news, I just got off the phone with Mike, I think he will be calling you this morning but not before he has a conversation with Bruce about your high limit control and rather Bruce did in fact change it, for the rest of you folks with a Heatmor, I believe he will be watching the forum and trying to answer any questions you may have, if and when he comes online let's give him a good welcome aboard, He seems like a very knowledgable and likable guy! Roxann he tells me that you more than likely have restriction in the heat exchanger and or the grates, Keep them clean for an improved burn!
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these high tech furnaces.
Where, what...???? I don't see any high tech OWB anything anywhere.... Since when do OWB's have lambda and Outdoor reset controls.....
Why not post on an indoor boiler forum or over on hearth, it would be a much better fit.
Im not trying to be smart or rude but just know how this place has been for years. Great group of folks here. Very unlike most forums where its a pissing match. We dont wAnna piss on the fire here
Do you like any outdoor boilers?
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Hey guys after speaking with Mike @ Heatmor yesterday I realized that this is not a really high tech stove, simple controls, updraft and over the fire air, not rocket science just very poor job of educating the customer, there is no reason that we should be slamming one another over this problem, instead let,s work together to solve Roxann's issue. If I have a problem with a Heatmaster in my area I would like to refer the homeowner to Scott or Yoder and an indoor with all those fancy controls, or GPM,s then I would like to ask Sprinter, we all have our expertise, I have a hard time signing into my E-Mail accounts say nothing about sending a picture but I'll get my hands dirty all day long and love it, let's all try to get along for the consumers benefit. Scott perhaps I could talk you into giving me a call and you could help me with posting some photo's, I'm usually up and at the desk by 6 am till 8 or 9, I sure could use some help there!
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Roxann, have you heard from Bruce or Mike? Mike are you on here?
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Well I'm hoping that no news is good news.
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Update, Roxann just called, no word from heatmor, Bruce or Mike, stove still not going above 130 degrees house is at 50 degrees, Roxann is running errands, enjoying the heat away from home, Mike is out of the office for the remainder of the week, do you think one of you guys who run a heatmor could give her some advice.
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I would love to help, but I don't have any first hand experience with a gassifer as my older Heatmor likely is not anything like Roxann's. I have never had a problem keeping enough heat in mine with any wood wet or dry.
As had already been said I would make sure the ash tubes are clean.
I would also take a good look at the wood. Is it split small enough for a gassifier? Is it dry enough for a gassifier? I assume it is critical to have good wood for her unit to run properly and give off enough heat. I assume there is not a blazing hot fire when it is not keeping up?
In my PE spectrum EPA wood stove in my house it will burn like blazes with good secondary flames with dry wood below 20% moisture. I had to modify it to shut the damper completely or it overheats on the factory low setting. If I put in wood 25% it will fire, but slower with the air control turned up higher and not produce as much heat. Over 30% I may as well give up as it steams and basically just struggles to get a flame and blackens the glass.
I got my moisture meter from Harbor Freight for about $15. Lowes, Home Depot and Menards may also have them. Basically you resplit a piece of wood and stick the probes in the grain of the fresh split and it tells you the moisture content. Needs to be above freezing. I have played around with mine and it is useful when in doubt. I do have variations in my piles depending on front/back top or bottom.
In short, it sounds like either ash cleaning or wood quality is the problem based on what I hear. I would lean toward the wood since wet wood will add to the ash problem. Unfortunately most sellers selling seasoned or dry wood is closer to 30% moisture. Good wood stove burners get ahead on their wood for the next year. Outdoor furnace users tend to burn whatever, but I think the gassifiers are going to change that.
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Thanks lindnova, good advice, she,s going to call me when she gets back home.
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the fire isn't blazing any flame until the stove door is open.. stoves at 151 temp in house 71 with propane helping. I'll get one of those moisture meters! cleaning out the ash does help didn't think it was going to be an every other day thing. Def isn't a once week thing. I'm using seasoned wood it's split
By talking to slimjim I 100% sure I have an issue with airflow.. Iv'e been doing what slimjim and Bruce tell me to do with raking the ashes keeping the grate so I can see it but honestly still having issues. mostly over the night hours when I wake up my house is in the 50's ???
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DON"T GIVE UP!!! call if you need me, remember this forum is your dear friend.
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Slim I wish Roxann would just bite the bullet and pay you to come look at her system and procedures.
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She can't and should not have to, I'm going to attempt to talk my wife into a sunday drive and perhaps we can drop in for free! Hope she has a cold one for me.
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What do you mean by 'she cant'? I absolutely agree that she shouldn't have to at all. She has been let down by everyone in the heatmor chain from top to bottom. But sometimes in life you have to bite the bullet and head down a different path. Doesn't make it right, but nothing ventured nothing gained.
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She has enough crap on her plate already with a new to her home that has it's issues and my lovely wife and I need some quality time anyways, just have to talk the boss into spending the day with me.
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I wish I could give her help with the Heatmor, but her gassifier unit is probably worlds different than my old 200css. I can cut down a tree today and be burning it immediately and it will still heat my home. I don't have to worry about moisture content or cleaning ash tubes. I rattle my shaker grates to let the ask fall through, empty the ash tube every couple of weeks when it fills up, and fill it with wood.
I used to think about buying a gassifier but this thread is really steering me away from them more and more. I don't want to deal with ensuring my wood is perfectly ideal for a gassifier. I'd be SOL if I ran out of wood in the middle of the winter and wouldn't be able to cut down a few trees out back to heat the house. I'd rather burn more wood than have to be so anal about it and clean the unit so often.
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My HS1 is a Heatmor knockoff and I tried to help at the beginning of this mess but Roxann's boiler is kind of a unique model. I have had so little problems with my conventional, the gasifiers are a different animal, I'm not too sure I would go that route if I had to replace mine today, in many ways I feel the same as Judd's recent comments. I feel sorry for her problems with both the stove and the dealers but without being close enough to look at it it's nearly impossible to help, it's not a Sunday drive for me!
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If it were, I'm sure you would be up for it, I,m just amazed that nobody on here has the same stove?
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Heatmor most have sold only 1 so far, lol. I searched around the net a little and youtube but can't find anyone with one.
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Hey to Roxann and everyone else too.
This thread has really stretched out. If you choose to disregard gasification boilers just because of this thread, you are doing yourself a dis-service.
They need to operate differently than a woodstove or OWB. The fuel (wood) needs to be within certain specifications to run efficiently. And, they will be extremely efficient compared to other heaters. If a person has only seen automatic transmissions in a car but purchases a manual transmission car, there will be an interesting learning experience, Yes?
Here in Northern Michigan, we are having a rather cool winter. I just hit the 3 cord mark this week using a gasification wood boiler. Some neighbors have burned twice that in their OWB with the same demand as I. My indoor temps are warmer now than ever before.
I do not know why this person purchased this model, nor do I know why the dealer sold that unit to the customer. What transpired between them is their business. If the dealer was out of bounds, they should be spanked. If the customer is not following recommended procedures, they should be spanked.
With all that said, I feel bad that things are not going well and hope things change fast. For your information Roxann; gasifiers need wood that is 20% and lower in moisture content, splits as small as 3"-4" with a few large mixed in. It takes some time to find the sweet spot in operating a new device. An experienced wood boiler operator should be able to get to the bottom of your difficulties rather quickly if allowed to go through your unit with you for a day. I would guess the dealer should be up for this. If we were close, I would be glad to assist, 800 miles is just too far a commute.
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Homerglide, Thank you for your interest, I am a couple of hours away myself and although I was probably the first dealer in the northeast with a gasser I really don't know much about this one, I have only seen it from a distance at the fair that the dealer and I do together as competitors, Roxann reached out for help here and a few of us are trying to help her learn about her unit, I think we would all agree that what the dealer and corporate are putting her through is a real shame and I firmly believe that all it's going to take is a bit of training, she has relayed to me the sales pitch given to her at the show and I certainly have lost a lot of respect for that dealer because not only is he not taking her calls and trying to help, he won't even as much as feed me information on what he has done about the overheating, that boiler was originally filled with antifreeze for protection and who knows how much is left in it now because of multiple overheats where she has had to add water to bring up the level, I,m going to try and do a road trip this weekend and try to educate her on the ways of gassers, it sure would be nice to have an owner of that model to bounce some questions off of, each gasser is a bit different and as I understand it this one is not downdraft
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I picked up a new scraper per slimjim that seems to help keep grates open the stove temp is 171 and 70 in house all on its own, no over heating so awesome
I just came on quickly to give an update... I see lot of new post but I am so beat I am hitting the hay i'll read tomorrow thanks everyone
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that's encouraging!
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these high tech furnaces.
Where, what...???? I don't see any high tech OWB anything anywhere.... Since when do OWB's have lambda and Outdoor reset controls.....
Why not post on an indoor boiler forum or over on hearth, it would be a much better fit.
Im not trying to be smart or rude but just know how this place has been for years. Great group of folks here. Very unlike most forums where its a pissing match. We dont wAnna piss on the fire here
Do you like any outdoor boilers?
It has nothing to do with fit, it's all about education. Most problems and questions asked here can be easily answered or fixed with some simple hydronic /boiler knowledge and basics. I have saved a many OWB's from early retirement, even tho I might not like the OWB. It's not about me or what I like, but saving a customers large investment. I may be wrong, but I don't think I have started one pissing match. Some are just way to sensitive about their boilers or way of doing things. I don't always have the patients to explain things in a diplomatic or sensitive way. We are men , not boys .....I hope. (Phrase,saying, don't take it the wrong way)
Hearth seems to be a great place for info, but many of them already know it all. Get it?
Yes, there are several OWB's that I really like. My favorites are the ones that require the least maintenance repair, load it and forget it, easy to get parts and will still work great after atleast 100 cord.
The worst OWB I see is the one with a poor installation. This doesn't mean an install other than what I recommend, but when a customer doesn't get a working system or what he was told he was buying.
Yoder.......hey yoder, relax. If you need any length of training to learn how to feed your boiler wood, there is a problem. Or your just getting the usual from the OWB salesman excuse manual? You have to take what I say with a grain of salt. Nothing I say should bother you. You might disagree, but don't sweat the small stuff. My sincere apologies if I upset you.
Wow, Homerglide great post. Nuff said.
I can tell you this, if Ms. Roxanne was within an hour of my daily travels, this whole thread would not have gotten past page three, guaranteed. Would've been just another one of my daily repairs or help.
I hope Roxann gets this all figured out, ABSOLUTELY NO CUSTOMER should have to go thru this. The worst part is much or most of it could've been easily remedied with just good communication.
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Heck I'm not upset, just saying you are wrong. I know how easy some of this seems to those of use who have done it all of our life. However I have been in enough situations where a homeowner couldn't seem to learn to operate a conventional outdoor furnace. The new gassers are only going to be harder to operate.
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Wondering if this is what Roxann has?
http://www.heatmor.com/Uploads/400_4S_brochure_080212.pdf (http://www.heatmor.com/Uploads/400_4S_brochure_080212.pdf)
Looks cute, like the part about burning larger pieces and not needing to split as much.
Not tickled about what sounds like a movable baffle for the secondary air to direct to the "sweet" spot in the firebox. Don't really care for proprietary software or controller.
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things are good house is warm 72 temp is 171 no over heating
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mlappin kind of like my unit but isn't mine
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Glad to hear it Roxann, I'm still planning to make the journey tomorrow, please let me know if it is not necessary, you've got my #
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im looking forward to it :D
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See you tomorrow then, I'll plan on leaving right after the storm ends!
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ok if anything changes just call or text I don't come online that much
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OK
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I'd like to THANK slim & his wife for coming out today!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It sure was messy sorry you got so dirty. I really enjoyed the visit :D
I feel so much better that every thing for the most part looks good.
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Can't wait to hear what the diagnosis was!
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Gotta say I'm curious too! :o
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Roxann's boiler was plugged almost solid on both of the horizontal runs of heat exchanger, the aquastat is set on high side @ 185 degrees F and on the low at 200 degrees F not sure if maybe Heatmor does something a bit different than other manufacturers but that sure does seem a bit bass ackwards to me, while reading the manual regarding the aqua-stat I came accross the part where it says that changing the aqua stat settings may void the warranty I went no further and asked her to E-Mail both Bruce and Mike at corporate and put them on notice of the faulty aqua-stat settings, my concern here is that if it consistantly overheats and loses the anti freeze and eventually water that in refilling it after it boils over that she may crack the stainless, not to mention the loss of very expensive anti freeze, it appears that they are using a new style overheat sensor much like a snap disc exept in what appears to be in a wet well, this does not appear to have been changed. Roxann thank you for the kind words and it was a true pleasure to visit with you today, keep up the great work on the house, you guys should talk her into posting some photos of the inside of her home, I'm impressed.
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You are a good man Slim with a good wife.
What was blocking the exhaust "heat exchanger" tubes? In a properly operating gasser, the tubes should only see fly ash which does not even adhere to the surface and can easily be brushed away. Roxann, in my case it works well to clean the tubes after about 900 pounds of 18% moisture red oak. That is 1 to 2 weeks depending on weather. The gassers take a bit more regular attention but after you get in the groove it is suprisingly simple and does not take a great deal of time.
You will hear people talk about getting ahead on your firewood, and it is for good reason. Gassers work best with low moisture content wood (In fact, any wood fueled heater works better with low moisture fuel). I received a grapple load of 8 foot red oak 3 weeks ago. At the end of tomorrow it will all be bucked and I will commence splitting on Tuesday. This firewood will see its first use in February of 2016. I will not need to take another delivery until January of 2018 which will go into service 2020. It only takes two years of extra processing to get into a regular rotation. The further ahead you get and process your fuel, the larger you can allow the splits.
All in all, the gasser takes a bit more work but uses a lot less fuel.
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Slim, what type of aquastat was it that was set like this? Also no change out of the high limit even though it was overheating again and again? How often was roxann told to clean the horizontal exchangers? These are the reasons why I really wouldn't care much AT ALL if I had a dealer close by or not. These are such SIMPLE issues and the dealer and installer ' couldn't find the problem'????? REALLY?!?! Roxann I hope this was an eye opening experience for you having such a knowledgeable and compassionate dealer come to your house and help you out of the goodness of his heart. And BTW I love old homes, mine is 219 years old, I would love to see pictures!
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Slim your wife impressed me one smart girl ;)
I now know this unit needs cleaning more then I expected ugh... no over heating and most of all my house isn't cold in the morning. Slim checked my wood i'm good there.
three pans of black junk no ash
Very awesome slim & his wife came out so grateful thanks again
Not sure how to add photos
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before
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some what after
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before
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after I still have allot of work but its coming together
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Oh, one more thing that I noticed while there and Roxann explained for me, the cabinet down bottom and in front that houses the blower had 3 half inch holes drilled into this brand new boiler, they were obviously not done at the factory as placement of the holes were haphazardly done and the burrs still present, I asked why that was there and she said Bruce did it to allow more air in for the blower, sure enough after looking at it I realized they sealed that box off that the blower is in not allowing fresh air to be supplied to the blower from day one and I think this almost certainly is the root cause of the problem. Personally I would like to see more air available to it but as it is still under warranty I chose not to drill any more, Mike if you are on here could you let us know how much air it requires as it still is taking a long time for the temp to recover. For those concerned about dry wood, this is a stove that in my opinion absolutely would require dry wood, it is certainly not a gasser and the design of it reminds me of a Taylor, only a bit better looking, with a very small firebox, Bruce I sure wish you had taken better care of the customer in training for proper use / cleaning, it took 2 men 1 hour and 15 minutes to ram out the tubes on the boiler with the tool provided, I will today build a slide hammer type handle for the scraper tool provided because the end of the handle is now compromised from all the hammering that we had to do to ram out the passes. I would welcome an explanation from either Bruce or Mike at corporate, my E-Mail is posted if you would like to keep it offline!
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i just finished installing an air handler in my little house on another property (all home made) i had and 8 inch round hole cut in the side of the box that houses the blower and found i was not getting enough air out of the vents (or so i thought) i took the lid off the blower box and the outpu t at the registers increased dramatically! i cut another hole in the lid of the blwoer box and installed another filter over it and now i get plenty of heat to the farthest vent
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Homer, this is not what we would consider a gasser, it is a firebrick lined box with grates in the bottom and air comes in through those as well as above the fire, Honda, the Aqua stat appears to be a knock off of the love control that so many manufacturers are using, I certainly would have reset it but their warranty says any changes could void the warranty, the stuff in the tubes was creosote that I believe was created by the lack of combustion air. Roxann I forgot to measure the handle on your scraper and the size of the bolt in the end, could you get those for me and did the stove perform well last night?
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For those concerned about dry wood, this is a stove that in my opinion absolutely would require dry wood, it is certainly not a gasser and the design of it reminds me of a Taylor, only a bit better looking, with a very small firebox, Bruce I sure wish you had taken better care of the customer in training for proper use / cleaning, it took 2 men 1 hour and 15 minutes to ram out the tubes on the boiler with the tool provided, I will today build a slide hammer type handle for the scraper tool provided because the end of the handle is now compromised from all the hammering that we had to do to ram out the passes.
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"The design reminds me of a Taylor". Oh boy, we ran one of those beasts when I was a kid. I see many fun creosote scraping days in the future for our friend Roxann.
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I don't think it will be that bad if she does it once a week or so but it is very time consuming and it's a good thing she asked for help before it got much worse, she was told to clean the tubes a couple of times a season.
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Do lemon laws apply to OWB's? ;)
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I really don't think it's a lemon but I do feel that it was not properly sold and the homeowner was taken advantage of, like a politician I sometimes wonder how some people can sleep at night, she is now on the right path and today I will be contacting Heatmor to ask for written permission to make the adjustments that I have suggested, I do appreciate those of you here on the forum putting up with our long winded posts and helping keep this thread alive as I believe it will force the hand of the manufacturer to take care of the customer, I do not look at it as bashing corporate, only trying to get some answers and we all know they have been given ample opportunity to solve the problems and as many manufacturers do, they blame the issues on user errors.
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Slim you have gone the extra mile on this one, just this thread says a lot about your drive to satisfy the customer (in this case not even your customer), if someone in your area doesn't at least give you a shot at selling them their next boiler they are losing out IMHO.
Still not sure about that rope you always push LOL.
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I've got to learn to take the cigar out of my mouth before reading your replies, thanks a lot for the kind words again and I know most of you guys would do the same if she were in your area.
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Good news Roxann, I just spoke with Mike @ Heatmor, he will be sending me the aqua-stat and new honeywell high limit today and has asked me to bill him for my services' I will be back to change those out when I get them, ETA wednesday. In the meantime he asked me to get you to remove the fan cover and also remove about 6 inches of the weatherstripping on the bottom of the door to allow more air to the fan' this we think will allow faster recovery of the water temp, please be careful of overheating and let me know if the temp recovers faster.
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I am SO glad that slim has finally been able to infiltrate the heatmor company and is now working on getting roxann to have a boiler that works like it should, very awesome stuff! I am interested to hear that this unit is not a gasser but is advertised as one as well as it was able to pass the particulate limits of the phase 2 requirements without actually gassing. It must require very dry wood to be able to pass this test.
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I think our B-L series would also pass and would be willing to bet that Heatmaster would as well but with the new rules coming in and the EXTREME costs to certify, it is very difficult to justify, look at the run that Heatmaster and P+M are giving CB without certification, I know there are a lot of B-L's leaving the factory bound for LIBERTY minded states and provinces!
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Roxann, No news is good news? Love the pictures. My house looked like yours did in the 20's. We don't know how long it had been abandoned for when the picture was taken and an article written in the Daughters of the American Revolution magazine.
http://books.google.com/books?id=cH4mAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA150&lpg=PA150&dq=daughters+of+the+american+revolution+henry+parkinson&source=bl&ots=uzqQXykwAI&sig=g1dx7F1DXwhZ2dvfI_KMypBQIdQ&hl=en&sa=X&ei=1noDU_S-CvKwsQTA74DwCA&ved=0CCQQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=daughters%20of%20the%20american%20revolution%20henry%20parkinson&f=false (http://books.google.com/books?id=cH4mAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA150&lpg=PA150&dq=daughters+of+the+american+revolution+henry+parkinson&source=bl&ots=uzqQXykwAI&sig=g1dx7F1DXwhZ2dvfI_KMypBQIdQ&hl=en&sa=X&ei=1noDU_S-CvKwsQTA74DwCA&ved=0CCQQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=daughters%20of%20the%20american%20revolution%20henry%20parkinson&f=false)
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neat link thanks for sharing ;D not sure how old this house is . not so good news house is cold don't understand :bash: my opinion
last week was cold and windy house was warm. sooooo warm had ceiling fan on. looked at stove @ 2.00 am stove temp was 171-- 64 in house blower wasn't blowing turned the blower off and opended the door then outside light came on and blower came on is that supposed to do that??? no fire in box.. black smokey wood i poked it went to bed house @6.30 am was 59 temp on unit 173 blower running..cleaned ashes house is at 70 with propane help stoves at 164
slim I didn't make that cut I didn't see where to cut..
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Roxann, when you open the front door, see the foam weatherstripping around the door, remove about 6 inches of it to allow air in when the door is closed, the light coming back on and blower starting is because the boiler overheated again and it went off on overheat, typically it then takes 30 degree drop in temp to reset the over limit switch in the back, this will change when we change to the old style overlimit.
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<looked at stove @ 2.00 am stove temp was 171-- 64 in house blower wasn't blowing turned the blower off and opended the door then outside light came on and blower came on is that supposed to do that???>
I am a little confused, but it sounds like the outside furnace was at 171 without the blower on. That should be normal. Then you flipped the switch (I can't remember if it is up or down) which should turn on the light and either turn off or not allow the combustion fan to turn on, but the light came on AND the fan also? The fan should not ever be on when the light is on.
The blower would not go on in overheat mode either, especially if the fire was in smother mode with black wood. Just to be sure, we are talking about the service light (to see at night while loading) on the outside right?
What happened when you flipped the switch off? Did the light go off? What did the fan do? Sounds like some wires are crossed!
I don't think it really matters what it is in the house, (other than you freezing) but what is important is the temp and fan on the outside unit. That is where your problem is.
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when I flipped the switch off the blower and light came on
temp on unit is 184 blower is on house is 72
I got wood 1.7 cords jan 30th just about burnt threw it all
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It is pretty obvious that somebody blew it in wiring the unit, we will check all wiring when the new aqua-stat and over limit switch arrives. My original thought was that the over limit had tripped and Mike at Heatmor says he thinks the differential is set at 20 degrees and not adjustable, the way that I found the love control was temp set at 185 and for some reason the low at 200 and you need a password to change it, he has given that to me now.
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It is pretty obvious that somebody blew it in wiring the unit, we will check all wiring when the new aqua-stat and over limit switch arrives. My original thought was that the over limit had tripped and Mike at Heatmor says he thinks the differential is set at 20 degrees and not adjustable, the way that I found the love control was temp set at 185 and for some reason the low at 200 and you need a password to change it, he has given that to me now.
What a mess
Glad ur helping slim
If I bought an own and my home was 59-64 I'd be ready to kill
Why is the home staying so cold?
My wife would knock me out if ours was ever under 73
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Ha! We keep ours at 60, as the thermostat is downstairs and we spend most our time upstairs where it is a bit warmer anyway. Any warmer than that I think we'd melt! I imagine as my wife and I get older still we'll eventually appreciate a little more warmth, but when I go visit my folks (both near 80) I can't hardly sit its so hot at 72 or whatever they keep it at. :)
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Ha! We keep ours at 60, as the thermostat is downstairs and we spend most our time upstairs where it is a bit warmer anyway. Any warmer than that I think we'd melt! I imagine as my wife and I get older still we'll eventually appreciate a little more warmth, but when I go visit my folks (both near 80) I can't hardly sit its so hot at 72 or whatever they keep it at. :)
Everyone has their preferences. We keep ours at 67. Most people say that is too low for using wood heat. The point here is that with an outdoor furnace we should be able to keep our house whatever temp we want. Unfortunately Roxann can't do that.
Depending on how this turns out will determine the way I think about Heatmor. I have an 2006 CS200 unit that works fine; very happy with it. No problems and should last quite a few more years. Will I replace it with another Heatmor? I don't know right now. I would like to as they are made in my state, but the nearest dealer is 150 miles away right now and it appears their newer tech products are having bugs. The old tried and true smokedragon works just fine as long as your not downwind of it with a big load with not enough load on it - actually it burns pretty clean if I use good wood and don't overload it in warmer weather. I've also seen some pretty nasty belching smoke out of it. I would like to have a more efficient one or gassifier someday.
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Great news Roxann, Mike at Heatmor kept his word, I now have a new replacement LOVE control and Honeywell over-limit Aqua-stat along with the dry well, I hope everything has been going well, I am prepared to come up and rewire and install those replacements tomorrow, say around noon, does that work for you?
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My step father passed away last night so tomorrow isn't going to work for me. Can we set up something on Monday or Tuesday?
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Sorry about your loss, Please call me as I lost your # next week will be fine.
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my daughter has my phone ill send you a message with my #
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slim I wont be online today just give me a call when you head this way I will need to leave at 2 just to pick my daughter up from school
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Update:
Heatmor finally said yes to Slim.. They sent him new parts slim came over yesterday things looked good I feel relieved that all is good and looks like I have some antifreeze left in unit ... Thank you heatmor and slim!!!
no over heating unit is at 175 but 63 in my house I guess I have to live with a cold house I don't get it......
I used a mixed of dry and green yesterday during day did well last night all dry wood knowing it was going to be cold house went to 63 what am I doing wrong
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Roxann have you cleaned the heat exchanger yet, I'm going to make up that slide hammer for your scraper today, any chance you or one of your friends can stop down and pick it up.
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I cleaned this morning and did the ashes
yes I'll come pick up
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How bad were the tubes this morning and do you know where I'm at
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Slim, were you able to measure the temps on the lines in the system? Maybe a couple of strap on temp thermometers so Roxann can let us know what the temps are when she is having problems in the house. Roxann, your house looked like it had been abound ones before your bought it, what is the deal with the heat system in the house, new? Old?
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No I didn't put any temp gauges on and the boiler was still coming back up to temp when I left, what I found was 1 temp probe wire had pulled out of it's terminal and Heatmor thought they may have an issue with the over limit switch and it was changed along with the Aqua-stat just in case, I followed the wiring schematic and all seemed right, she does have the bubble wrapped tile for piping but it is a short run in what appears to be dry sand, she could more than likely use a bit more radiation in the house, only 2 zones and could use more
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In my opinion the house is not putting a load on that furnace. A friend has a 20 year old heatmor that heats a house the size of a barn with forced air....always green wood too. This thread is doing a dis-service to an excellent brand.
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slim the flues looked good
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honda everything is new
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Well we really need to know what the temps are through the system as they enter the home, enter the hx and return back to the boiler to ensure that the supply side of the system is feeding the correct temps. If the temps are good then there is a problem on the house side of the system. Could be that whoever installed the heating system in the house did not do a correct Manual J calculation which is what determines the required amount of BTUs needed to heat the home. This is a forced hot water baseboard system correct? I know I mentioned this before but if the temps from the boiler outside aren't transferring into the home and giving you 170+ degrees then your baseboard radiators will put out very few BTUs and wont be able to keep up with the heat load even though there is the correct number of feet of baseboard within in the home.
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The problem that we addressed so far has been the boiler itself, we may need to install temp guages but at this point there is the problem of shutting it down long enough to do any improvements, it is so far doing it's job, there seems to be decent return temps
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What improvements are you looking to do that you will need to shut it down for? If the supply and return temps are good, what about on the house side? Sounds like there is not enough feet of baseboard in the house possibly.
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Exactly, there are currently only 2 zones that are running pretty much constant.
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Who installed the in house system Roxann? I would have them back and question how they figured the BTU load and have them explain why their installation can not keep up. I can only assume they are going to point straight to your owb and tell you that is the problem but won't 'Know why'. So you need to get that all squared away first and make sure that the stove is delivering the BTU's to the house.
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For what she has in the installation, her friend and neighbor did a nice job with the short time that he had to do it, some minor additions will help immensely.
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So it sounds like a friend installed the baseboard? I think it would be worth the money to have a guy that is reputable come in and do the calculations for the home and each rooms required baseboard. Then the friend can finish up where it needs the additional btus.
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So it sounds like a friend installed the baseboard? I think it would be worth the money to have a guy that is reputable come in and do the calculations for the home and each rooms required baseboard. Then the friend can finish up where it needs the additional btus.
3/4 slant fin baseboards will deliver @ 1 GPM at 170 degree water about 510 btu per linear foot of basebaord. depending on your btu estimate for each room by square footage and insulation value and location (unless you have had a heat loss calculation done on your house) you should be able to estimate how many feet of baseboard you will require.
the more footage of baseboard on a 'loop" will require more gpm to ensure the hot water delivery temp reamins high enough to produce the btu output required
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Here is Menards calculations on figuring how much baseboard you need per room.
http://www.menards.com/main/store/20090519001/items/media/Plumbing/BeaconMorris/Prod_Tech_Spec/Baseboardemitters.pdf (http://www.menards.com/main/store/20090519001/items/media/Plumbing/BeaconMorris/Prod_Tech_Spec/Baseboardemitters.pdf)
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I am soooo fed up with this damn furnace I hate it hate it hate it >:(
temp on unit is 181 blower off and house is 60 cold and miserable
I do as asked clean this clean that fix this fixed that dry wood seasoned wood green wood fill box front to back or side to side crap don't matter blah blah blah
It's bullcrap one day its warm as hell next is cold I am so done it's to stressful dirty and smelly
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Roxann, I believe the issues with the boiler have been rectified. I now believe that the issues are with your indoor system. What are the temperature differences outside when you say that one day the house is able to warm to 70 degrees and another it can only reach 60? Last night was COLD and so was the night before. Slim said that a friend installed the baseboard correct? Any idea if he just decided to run baseboard here, there and where ever and for however many feet or did he actually do what is required and calculate the manual j for the heat load requirements? The indoor baseboard needs to be assessed by someone that is knowledgeable in the trade and will be able to take temp measurements and diagnose where the issue is. If you put in an indoor oil or gas boiler with your current baseboard set up it would also only be able to keep your house at 60 on these cold days.
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Slim is there a chance the HX is plugged (and needs back flushing) and the heat in the boiler is not transferring to the indoor system?
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No there is some but minimal heat loss in the underground piping and a lack of enough radiation in the home
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Have you been able to convey the fact of not enough baseboard in the house to roxann?
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Yes but it is probably not a good time to do it with the cold snap on.
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Just ran across this thread, and felt compelled to share my experiences. I purchased a SSRII this fall also and had a similar issue. My dealer was also not available, but due to a life threating accident that placed him in the hospital for much of the beginning of the winter.
I too had tons of creosote buildup in the first few days, poor temperature control, and an unbelievable appetite for wood. (~4 full loads per day). It was a very cold week when I started the furnace (first day was January 3), so I didn't know if I was really burning too much wood, but I knew something was very wrong.
What I found in mine furnace was that the controller was set to the factory default settings for the controller, not the settings that Heatmor selects we configuring the furnace. The nameplate on my furnace says it was built in 2011, so I wouldn't be surprised if the controller settings reverted back to original, depending on the memory storage type, after being turned off for 2 years. The induction blower was running between 159 and 185 degrees. I got the blow-off from Heatmor down to the distributor despite my situation. The distributor had me call the rep for another area, which had no experience with the SSRII, but did his best, and got me what I needed.
Took a few days, but Mike @ Heatmor sent the password and settings page down the chain to me, which corrected my problems. To be fair, as an controls/electric engineer, I was able to identify the problem with the controls despite having no experience with the furnace, which I wouldn't expect from most people. Heatmor really needs to do better support in a situation like this, as they have assumed liability for it when they don't provide better data in the manuals other than "leave the controller alone".
I also have entirely new install (all DIY), not just furnace which leaves _many_ variables open. I'm currently running a large forced air heater in the basement to heat an old farmhouse, until I get the radiant floor finished before next season. But now that the kerosene heater is retired and the bill for the electric heat has dropped ;D, I know that the furnace was the right choice.
I was very disappointed with the fact that Heatmor and the distributor seemed like they didn't want to deal directly with customers at all, especially new ones that are need support on a furnace under warranty. Time will tell for me if the furnace quality will make the support issues worth enduring.
Roxann, I feel your frustration. But once you get the bugs worked out, you'll find that the furnace works much predictably, and much less :bash:
Kip
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You know its cold in your house when your cat is sleeping on the baseboard lol
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We found the problem! The cat is insulating the baseboard and not allowing the heat out into the house. ;D
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I woke her up trying to take this photo....
Slim thanks for calling last night.. You gave me some good pointers
Thank you for all your help and pointing me in the right direction I really appreciate your help and kindness
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You are very welcome, have Rick call me for better heat control if you like, I will be here all day if you can get down to pick up that slide hammer, bring your old one with you so we can make any necessary adjustments here, call first.
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Kikp
we share about the same story...
Slim has adjusted my low and high limit they were set backwards
I also am going to put radiant floor in the basement this year. I am hoping it's going to be a big help!!!
Slim is going to talk to my installer about adding more zones and baseboard
it's mild out today and my home is warm I got up at 4 am the unit temp was 164 red hot coals and 67 in house
today is flue cleaning yahoo
I hope the wood flow slows down I am using about 2 cords a month is thisa normal use??????
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It all depends on your btu load requirements Roxann. Wood has so many btus per cord. For comparison I too burn 1 cord every two weeks or 2 cords per month on average.
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I'd be happy with two cords a month given the winter we've had. Unfortunately though for two cords a month you're house should be toasty. Ours is set at 72 all winter.
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I'm glad that others are burning as much as me.... I wish my house was toasty all the time though
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slim I will be leaving my house at 7.30 should be to you around 9 sound ok
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Roxann,
To be honest, I have no idea how much I have used this winter. Definitely more than I was prepared for, but I knew that, just didn't have the time to get ready for the winter. I've been burning a lot of green wood (ran out of the dry stuff), so next winter should be much better.
I had a green load delivered (tri-axle boom truck) and haven't even used half. Best guess of what I've used so far would be 3-4 cords.
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Can't imagine 2 cords per month.
If the heat isn't being wasted iit will take even more wood once the btu issue inside the home is fixed. It just seems like the boiler now is always up to temp but never the home which shows the boiler isn't getting much of a work out.
Probably need more radiant inside the home to make it work well.
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Wow, lots of wood for that size house. Any idea on what kinda degree days you area has?
Has anyone checked supply and return zone temps to see what's actually each zone is doing
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the temp on stove this morning was 181 house was 59 brrrrrrrr no over heating and fan is shutting off seams like the unit is working now got to get heat in the house
I am working on more radiant
I also thought that was allot of wood to burn
the weather is below 0, 20's teens mostly over night is my issue on the first floor keeping it warm
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Congrats on the success. Sounds like you are on your way to getting the entire system up to speed. Next year should bring rewards for your experiences and educations of this winter.
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just went out to check unit its asking for water hummm 171 blower not running why would that be if its not over heating?
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New issue
my water light is on unit is 176
the blower and the water light keeps coming on and off every 20 seconds I filled unit with water but didnt take much till the water over flowed
wth is going on I swear I have a lemon!!!! :bash:
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I took a video will it let me share on here?
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Roxann, could you call Mike in the morning.
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Yup... slim what are you thoughts on why it's doing this???
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Low water cutoff is sensing low water?
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but it's not low on water
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Thats why I would like to speak with Mike, they may also be having trouble with it, we maybe able to jump it out
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so I talked to mike today at heatmor he said to call Bruce to have him adjust the water probe..... temp is 164 on unit it was 177 but the fan keeps going on and off cause of the water light.... 69 in house
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slim any word from mike?? I haven't heard nothing via email or phone and my unit is still showing low water and the fan is still going off and on temp is 148 house is 65
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Roxann , I just spoke with him, He will be calling Bruce to get him down there to check it out, for now he says that you can take the one wire that goes to the low water cutoff in the back of the stove and short it out by taking it to a bolt or screw, shut off the power first, remove the wire and attach it to a screw, this will bypass the low water cutoff until Bruce can get there, keep an eye on the water level if you do this.
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Well atleast now the temp numbers seems to be matching up. 580 btus per foot at 180 degrees which the stove is normally. Only 380btus per foot at 150 degrees. Only 65% of the output btu, that is the reason for the 65 degrees in the house.
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Started cleaning the flues and the damn tool broke ugh...
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Of course it did :bash: Would you have expected anything else from this whole expierence? :(
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Where did it break at Roxann, Did Bruce or Mike contact you today?
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the font part broke right off.. no one called or emailed.. I called mike today and left a voice message once again no call back.. I just finished my email to the vp of heatmor... We'll see what the outcome is..
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I think Mike is one of the VP's he told me this morning that he would speak with Bruce, not sure if he got through, have your better half drop it off at my garage and pick it up tomorrow evening, I'll attempt to explain to him how to jump out the low water cutoff, I would only suggest this because Mike suggested it as a temporary measure, the sending unit must be adjusted and I'm not qualified to do it.
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Am I missing something, or is this just horrendous customer service? How much could it cost to fix? Slim seems to be doing their job...very nice of him, but odd Heatmor doesn't make this work without prodding.
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Wonder if Heatmore is aware of how this looks for them, or do they care. Slim has been great, but he can only do so much for their image
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The jury is still out, the dealer certainly is not helping the situation, corporate always takes my calls, I don't know? I have to ask you once again MD20/20, are you an eye doctor or did you drink a lot of that rotgut grape wine they sold us when I was a kid, I think it was something like .78 per pint, man that stuff was nasty, no wonder they called it MAD DOG 20/20, when you woke up the next morning you were mad because you had such a headache you couldn't see.
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Certainly have a good point. Long time sense I had any MD Last time was At Camp Pendleton Ca. long time ago
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If I were Roxanne I would post this on ten forums, anything to do with wood and boilers.
Steam will take out a cheap LWCO. Who know with this super duper high quality unit. It might have been too good of maintenance.theelectronics just couldn't handle all the attention. I didn't like this story right from the part where Roxy didn't receive the same unit she thought she purchased. It's amazing what dealers think they can pull off with customers.
By the way post up on craigslist about the super poor support, I guarantee you'll get more traction. Unless he plans on going bankrupt
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He can't drop it off in the am but will after work around 5ish he has your address and number....
Once again slim thanks for everything I don't know where things would be if it wasn't for you!!!!!!!!! :thumbup:
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OK, let's not get all mushy now, there are others here that do the same thing, I'll be here in the shop tonight have him stop by.
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still no word from heatmor or Bruce......
Slim Mike wont be over today to pick up that piece his car broke down
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I'll try calling Mike again if you want me to, no hurry on the slide hammer, did you get much snow?
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not really more ice then anything....But enough that he got stuck in the driveway.. What about you?
Sure, I'd like to know why Heatmor don't return emails or calls unreal!
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Just went and tended to the stove and noticed the water pop off valve was pushed to the side ....wonder if it over heated last night...
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More than likely it did not as it now has a new over limit Aqua-stat installed, I'll attempt to call Mike again today.
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phew good.... that would be great thank you
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Mike will not be in until noon today, he should call me back around then.
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Bruce called :D hes coming over shortly.
Its been a few days since the water light been on that's a +
Have a good weekend everyone
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Sooooo, is it fixed Roxann? what did he find?
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Thanks for calling tonight slim...
I haven't heard from heatmor via email or phone
I wrote to Keith Astrup VP of Operations kastrup@heatmor.com no respond
I emailed Mike Galusha Services mgalusha@heatmor.com no respond
Bruce called said he was coming over to fix water temp issue haven't heard from him either
the house is 70 unit is 184 no water light on blower fan is off cleaned ash
flue needs cleaning this Sunday not sure how it's going to get done since the scraper is broke.. Pisses me off that every thing breaks on this unit along with accessories JUNK
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Roxann, I'm truly sorry to hear that you are still having issues, bring your scraper down to my place and we can copy it with a bit thicker steel and make it work with the slide hammer that I put together for you, as far as Bruce coming to fix the low water light, are you sure he did not come while you were away or busy with something around the house and did not see him, I'll give Mike a call again today if you wish, I am amazed that somebody here with a Heatmor 200ss does not chime in to help you through the learning curve of your stove, your burn times are a bit of a concern to me, I'm thinking that either you need to tighten up the house a lot more or you need a bigger stove, what do you think, can you find anyplace else in the house that you can tighten it up more?
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Roxann, try reaching out to the guys on the Heatmor thread, Hello fellow Heatmor owners, it appears they have had them for a couple of years and may be able to help with the learning curve.
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slim I don't think I missed Bruce.. Iv'e had no car for 8 day so iv'e been home...
I think the stove isn't big enough and I do have more insulation to add on the third floor... I am waiting till I get the radiant heat in basement before I add more baseboard to the first floor. I do have windows I put in and was told I didn't do it right.. I have plastic on windows. The cat torn one open I felt lots of cold air..
This spring I plan on doing the front of the house with some kind of siding hopefully not vinyl.. I know I should see a huge change next winter.
Iv'e been hearing two cords a month is normal. Just wish I had warmth in home... That is something I haven't been to good at unless it day like today and yesterday..
I will be in your area today to drop off the scraper.
again slim thanks for the check in :) I would like to see Heatmor check in with there customers like you do!!!!!
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I'll be here all day, let me know if you can't find me.
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slim I wont be over as I walked out the door forgetting the damn scrapper grrrr
I just tended to stove 174 fan off and the water light is on so that confirms Bruce hasn't been here yet....
no word from no one but you slim go figure
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I just got off the phone with Mike, he says that he thought Bruce had been there already and he will straighten it out tomorrow, he will call you and Bruce.
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okay thanks once again!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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so I went and tended to stove before bed and water light is on blower is off temp on unit is 164 and 66 in house
I added water to unit hoping light would go off but no chance of that
I think I will be posting on yelp.com
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I don't know if it is possible but at some point I would seriously consider selling the Heatmore furnace as a used one and buying a furnace from someone like Slim who could walk you through everything. This is such an example of why people should buy from a good dealer.
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Roxann, would you do me a favor and not do that just yet, please give Mike a chance to speak with Bruce one more time, I will call him again this morning and remind him.
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Roxann, any word yesterday?
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NOPE
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Roxann, I can't imagine the lack of integrity on the part of these people. I think at this point the BBB in Maine is someone that you should contact.
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I also was going to say call the BBB, i think heatmor has had more than enough time to make things right/correct. Without this site the BBB should have been called when the house was cold and stove wasn't working correct, or maybe when you got a different stove than you though you were getting. :-\
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169 water light on house is 67
yes I agree bbb
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Slim- You've gone way beyond what most would do, but at some point you're going to have to give us a "non-politically correct" assessment of this situation! Recognizing there are frequently customer specific issues, this company seems to be more than tone deaf...no? Again, kudos for trying to help this person!!
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Well its saturday morning and no call returned to me how about you Roxann, I guess that I would have to concur, either the BBB or the attorney generals office as they seem to want to bury there heads in the sand, Roxann I'm going to be home today if you guys wish you could take the ride down and get the scraper repaired and I can describe to you how to disable the low water cutoff, I'll be leaving here on monday to do that job in Fla so if you want it you should get it done this weekend.
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morning slim no word on my end....
I am working a double today wont be able to make today... Monday I am going to NY so I'll be going by but you will be gone..
My friend took the scraper to weld for me so at least I can still keep cleaning the flues.
I guess let me know when you get back
Thank you slim enjoy the sunshine :)
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The important part is to disable the low water cutoff or get it adjusted, how about sunday?
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Sunday I am free... I'm going to need to sleep some afternoon works
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morning / afternoon slim I am just getting up slow moving this morning.. I'm going to have a coffee wake up... If I come your way today you will need to have the scraper correct because my friend has it still
water light still on 168 temp 68 in house
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Yes,
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slim my friend wasn't home so I didn't get the scraper.... Have a safe trip
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OK , Mary lou has it here in the office
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unit 118 house 66
more before and after photos
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so this morning was 49 in the house. Bruce came over today to fix part but he broke it. Waiting for new part to come in.. I didn't talk to him much as it was cold outside. MY friend was here Bruce talked to him and told him I should be charged for him coming out but wasn't because of all the problems Iv'e had really..... I not happy he told him things as he don't live here. Wish if he has issues to speak to me... tonight house is at 71 177 temp on unit much better since the water light was by passed
I opened a complaint on bbb heatmor was all over it and said they
Heatmor has been extremely responsive to the needs of Roxann The dealer who sold the unit, Bruce Markham, is planning to meet with the owner of the unit to go over the issues and explain the proper operation with Roxann
Love that they respond to bbb but not to me
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I'd hate to see what un-responsive would be.
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I said it early on and I'll say it again. Between the dealer, whoever Mike is, and the company itself, this is probably one of the worst cases of customer care I've seen in awhile. Wrong stove, wrong parts, improper install, lack of training, p-poor response, neglect ... the list goes on. And then for him to make a comment like that. Sure makes a person considering a new stove want to run right out and buy a Heatmor doesn't it?
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Which is just sad, because I've had no issues with my non-gasser unit and I know several people with the non-gassers that absolutely love them. It sounds like a combination of Roxann getting a turd unit, improper training, and maybe a messed up install on the house side as well. No one is happy on either side of the problem and it's just making things miserable for all.
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Roxann, I am sure that you have forwarded your email chain to the BBB. It will be pretty obvious quickly that they have been unresponsive and not responded to any concerns or complaints in anyone definition of a 'reasonable' amount of time. It will be hard for Heatmor to refute your complaint if they can't back it up with emails or phone logs. Hopefully you have already come up with a remedy that you would like Heatmor to provide for your troubles.
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Which is just sad, because I've had no issues with my non-gasser unit and I know several people with the non-gassers that absolutely love them. It sounds like a combination of Roxann getting a turd unit, improper training, and maybe a messed up install on the house side as well. No one is happy on either side of the problem and it's just making things miserable for all.
Agree. In my area the same thing - I know quite a few people that love the non gasser ones. This thread really sours Heatmor for me. I hope there is a resolution to come on this. I still can't believe no one who has the newer unit is on this site.
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In all truthfullness, if I were looking for a gasser I'd probably buy an indoor unit and put it in an outbuilding big enough to hold all of my firewood and lots of water storage. I like my non-gasser so I can burn less than ideal wood and not have to clean it out hardly ever.
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Obviously building or owning a gasser is quite a bit different, I also like my non gasser but the idea of burning less wood is appealing. It's too bad Heatmor has taken a hit on this thread, I don't think they deserve to get a bad rep over this one model but obviously they have issues with it and don't care to follow this forum and respond here.
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A company or an individuals true colors always shine when there is an issue or problem. When they have a product that just plain works they don't have to do anything. When they sell a product that has issues they apparently don't care.
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A company or an individuals true colors always shine when there is an issue or problem. When they have a product that just plain works they don't have to do anything. When they sell a product that has issues they apparently don't care.
Yup, kinda like fair weather friends.
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A plaque that always sat on my grandmothers sink window, True friends are like diamonds, precious but rare, false friends are like autumn leaves, found everywhere
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I've always said it's easy to sell a product but the real work is servicing the product.
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I have updates to share some good news some bad...
BBB closed my case
03/26/2014 Received Subsequent Response from Business
The Heatmor unit referenced in this complaint was purchased on 10-26-13. . The unit was purchased from Best-Way Wood Heat in Readfield, ME. Representatives from Best-Way Wood Heat have been to the residence served by the unit 6-8 times, with the most recent visit being 3-25-14. According to Best-Way Wood Heat, the unit is working as it was intended. Any service issues should be directed to the dealer, Best-Way Wood Heat.
UNREAL
Bruce came over today fixed the water light issue and he gave me a new scraper that goes on my drill to clean flues.
Bruce cleaned flues today witch to my surprise didn't look to bad. unit is running to temp house is very toasty 74 :D aslo the weather is mild today I love days like this I have't even used much wood today
I thank you Bruce for coming over today you did a great job
I am sooooooo happy things are looking up
as for heatmor WOW I am disgusted you treat your customers the way you do you aught to be ashamed of yourself's >:(
while I'm at it Id like to thank Richard aka Slim for stepping in and making a difference :thumbup: You are the one that made this happen!!!!!!! thank you thank you thank you
Lastly I greatly greatly appreciate all of your feedback from this tread
I pray this lemon stays on the right path
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Roxann, it was a true pleasure doing what was within my powers to help in your situation, please don't be so angry with corporate as they cannot see what we see up close and Mike was very receptive to me as a direct competitor attempting to help, I once was told by a Vice President of another competitors unit to mind my own business at a workshop with Maine DEP, the whole idea of the workshop was to solve mistakes with proper placement and operation of conventional boilers in Maine, as you can see attitudes like that got us nowhere except our state government ramming rules down our throats that made no sense, my hat is off to corporate for allowing me to work on your unit when the issues with your dealer could not be resolved. I do consider Heatmor to be a responsible competitor in the industry and think that things could have been handled better by your dealer, the dealer is the eyes and ears of corporate, They stated company reps visiting you 6-8 times, did that include the 2 times that I visited or was Bruce there 6-8 times himself?
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Slim I disappointed with the corporate as they don't respond to me but with you at times and I feel that messed up as I am the customer... I am very thankful you stepped in and helped!!!!! reps visiting is false but what ever....
unit is keeping house very toasty and is running good I have only been filling the stove one time a day.. The outside light stopped working though I change the light bulb as it was blown but the light didn't come on just another thing go on this unit :o
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It could have and should have been handled better, I wish it had! hopefully soon you can get the radiant in the basement and that will help some. Hot as heck down here but the project is proceeding nicely, met some nice folks while here.
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things are good here... no issues with the light either temp on stove 186 fan running 72 in house
I added wood last night at ten and haven't had to put any in yet :thumbup:
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Any idea when you will be working on the radiant slab and added heat upstairs.
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She is using a Glycol mix, do the numbers mentioned allow for the reduced heat tranference.
The unit is not a gasifier, mentioned some time back.
2 cords a month suggest 30 k btu average net. Also using a high temperature emmiter when heating with wood is not ideal.
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The boiler I don't understand what you are saying....
No roads are still posted.. I'm guessing 2-3 months slim
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Water is a good transfer of heat, Glycol less so. All other things being equal you can transfer less heat with a mix.
Your baseboard radiators are designed to use 180f as their normal standard. In floor uses much lower temperatures.
You were having prob!ems with the Boiler maintaining high temps, if you do not need such high temps you have more wriggle room.
Wood, I assumed 25,000,000 BTUs a cord, 50 % efficiency probably high and that is about 30,0000 BTUs an hour. I did not think 2 cords a month was that bad.
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I am hoping things will be different next winter if the unit runs well... It seems to have issues all the time the outside light still don't work it's like one thing after another with this unit
I would think being a new unit nothing should fault just my luck I get the lemon :o
Other then the light not working the unit is doing good keeping up to temp fan shutting off
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I would think being a new unit nothing should fault just my luck I get the lemon :o
Sounds like my luck, we always seem to get the one thing that "nobody has had that problem before".
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I would think being a new unit nothing should fault just my luck I get the lemon :o
Sounds like my luck, we always seem to get the one thing that "nobody has had that problem before".
You too???
It seems that any time I purchase something new, something fails right away, and when I call and ask questions about the part's price, availability, and ease of installation(or lack thereof), they usually say "geez, we've never sold or installed one of those before"! :bash:
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I thought I was keeping up with this thread pretty well, but I'm confused, is roxanns stove a gassifier or not? Can anyone summarize this whole thread into a paragraph? Was it a mechanical failure, many mechanical failures, faulty stove, something wrong in the house, operator error, etc?
I'm 99% sure I'm getting a heatmor 200 non gasser this spring. The county I live in probably has 15 heatmor users, I don't think any are a gasser, and they all seem happy with their stove. A co worker has had it since '91 or so and just now had a problem with a leek at the door. Thanks.
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Roxanne's boiler is part of the Response line I believe not sure if that's a gassifier or not, I think maybe but not sure. Hows that for an answer.
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Hrcx Roxann's stove is a copulation of lots of different things, there were some electrical issues for sure but they were easy, it all started with lack of training and understanding, I personally think that the stove is sized to small for her application, and she will be adding some more radiation this summer, it simply was poorly handled and got a bit crazy as Roxann had no backup heat, my suggestion to her is to add something for backup along with more radiation, I will shout out a kudos to Mike @ Heatmor for not only working with me( his direct competition ) but also for paying the bill promptly, thank you Mike, I hope we never need to work together again but if we do I will certainly be happy to try to help
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Seems a pretty standard OWB with a few tweaks.
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It is.
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I do not want to beat a dead horse but it seems that the local dealers wife has called our office to complain about my involvement with this thread, I ask you guys and gals, did I do anything wrong? Good morning Terry, I'm truly happy that you are following the thread, perhaps you should post your thoughts! I just spoke with Mike at your corporate office and he says that he appreciated my involvement and will be looking into the situation, perhaps you would like to call me instead of our office, you know the number, have a nice day!
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Slim you did nothing wrong! You HELPED someone who needed help, let's say for a second you were not a P&M rep then who would they call. I think the way it should have been handled was to not call your office but call you and say thank you for helping out where you didn't need to help out, we really appreciate it!
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I do not want to beat a dead horse but it seems that the local dealers wife has called our office to complain about my involvement with this thread, I ask you guys and gals, did I do anything wrong? Good morning Terry, I'm truly happy that you are following the thread, perhaps you should post your thoughts! I just spoke with Mike at your corporate office and he says that he appreciated my involvement and will be looking into the situation, perhaps you would like to call me instead of our office, you know the number, have a nice day!
:post:
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I just spent the past two evenings reading this post from start to finish keeping an unbiased open mind, and all I can say is WOW did this dealer really drop the ball. How is it possible for anyone in business to let a customers problem go on this long without taking care of it. I think if it wasn't for Slim and a few of you others on here this situation would certainly have been a lot worse. As for the dealers wife calling the Home office on you Slim. I hope Brian and the rest of his management team see this situation for what it really is and continue to support what you are doing for the betterment of the industry as a whole. I agree with Slim's stance on this situation I, like him do not promote my business by bashing other competitors. But rather by showing customers what I can do, or offer, that the other competitors cant do or chose not to. I honestly believe this situation is a prime example of this philosophy. As for Heatmor I think they are a good company with a good product, I think its a case of one bad apple ruining the whole cart full. I think the dealer on the other hand left a little on the table as far as following through with his end of his dealer agreement.
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Thanks for the votes of confidence guys, I do appreciate it!
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It's I always find it both funny and irritating when someone gets upset that someone did their job after failure to do it themselves, I don't need to say things could have been different for Roxann if she had proper dealer support. That's all I will say and I hope Roxann's owb has a great next season!
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Roxann, any thoughts on these last couple of pages? Are you still running the boiler? My supply house can help with the layout of your radiant slab in the basement as well as adding heat in the main house if you wish, PM me if you want their number, Greg is their GURU and he would be happy to help.
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Good morning all...
Yes I'm still running the lemon... nights are in the 30's.. only filling one time last over 24 hours witch is awesome! However I am still having slight issues the outside light works when it wants.. Iv'e noticed the fan blower makes a weird noise and puffs smoke out literally a puff puff puff. I took the blower off to see if there was something stuck in the flapper nothing was... IDK what that was all about it only happened once other then that house is warm temp is good. I am worried about winter and how the unit is going to operate.!! The roads are still posted iv'e been doing a lot of outside cleaning getting ready for the basement work.. I just hope by adding radiant heat it helps and not add problems.
Slim in my eyes you did nothing wrong!!!! BUT HELP I am veeeerrrrrrrryyyyyyyyy thankful I found this site and for everyone's input and help. Honestly slim you are the one that got things happening with HEatmor... I am happy to of found this site in my desperate times. I needed help that I wasn't getting from heatmor or dealer. I am not out to bash either I think Bruce is a nice guy! I'm sure his wife hinders his business I know she did in my case..
my opinion I think the dealer should be checking in with there customers here and there like you do slim to make sure things are good..
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Good morning Terry, suggestion, next time you wish to make a call perhaps instead of speaking with your competitions customer service, perhaps your calls could be made far more constructive if done in this order, 1 return the call to your customer and try to solve the problem, 2 contact mike if you can't figure it out on your own, he seems to know his stuff and I'm sure he will be happy to help, 3 you could try calling me but I'm sure that's not going to happen, 4 if you really need to complain about me then try calling Brian at our office and not Kris.
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:thumbup: :post:
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Good for you Slimjim it seems to me that you handle the situation the right way. The heatmore owner needed help and came hear for it. You did the right thing and did exactly that. If she would have got that help like she should have in a timely manner you would have never been involved. You did what was right.
Take care.
Sean
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I do believe I did follow terry suggestions many times and failed that's when I found this site... who the heck is Brian???
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slim don't sweat what Terri says you cant win with people like that for whats it worth thanks again
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Brian is the owner and CEO of portage and maine ,,,slims boss...if u call and ask for him he will take your call...
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Brian is the owner and CEO of portage and maine ,,,slims boss...if u call and ask for him he will take your call...
WHAT A CEO that actually talks to "them " ??
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I know, a bit of a different concept isn't it.
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This was one of the deciding factors in my choosing the boiler I chose...
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And there I thought it wuss because you liked my truck!
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No I think it was the service during and after the sale
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But he has not needed ANY service after the sale, he can do it all by himself, heck the only time I talk to him it seems is on here! Good morning Lyndon! are you ready for Essex Jct?
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Randy and Big Wood, we should be careful of not stealing the thread as Terry is already upset and thinks that we have no business even reading it to say nothing of trying to solve her customers problem
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Ok sorry slim I'm gonna go stick my head back in the sand ???
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I was being facetious (hope I spelled that correctly) personally I could care less what Terry thinks.
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;D
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Did I spell that correctly?
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I'm not a great at spelling but I do believe so bud :thumbup:
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WTF my unit is not working Its 66 in house I went out this morning temp was 92 all the wood is still in never burnt the blower motor was hot to touch why why why why does this thing always break down seriously its a damn lemon :bash: :bash: :bash: :bash: :bash: :bash: :bash: :bash: :bash: :bash: :bash: :bash:
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I called heator mikes not in today spoke to darrell quickly he told me to call Bruce phoned Bruce left a phone message any reason why this would be 3 fan motors that crap the bed????
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sorry roxann, i just saw your post, have you heard from bruce, i know the phone is working because terry keeps calling our office and making threats of a lawsuit.
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Not that its any of my business because that would never be my dealer but I'm thinking if Terry might want to start making time for customers instead of wasting time on calling and complaining you helped her customer. Its funny how much stuff you can find on the internet just by googling heatmor issues which anyone who ressearches before they buy will find this post and find out real fast that terry and that dealer is not someone that you'd want to support by buying a boiler from. It's a lot easier to maintain a good name vs. clearing one up I'd say she might want to start clearing hers up before heatmor gets on this thread and sees what that dealer is all about. Sorry about my rant but it irritates me when someone has a protected radius when there could be someone willing to actually help people and not just cash in on profits of the initial sale >:D
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Bruce called right back and came right over put on a new fan blower he said it quit because it needed oil
It was a good visit learned some new things
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AWESOME, thanks for the update! Would you care to elaborate on the things you learned? It could help someone else.
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needed oiling before the first heating season was over?
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HI TERRY, TO THE TOP
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HI TERRY, TO THE TOP
Huh?
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AHUH!
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Slim I thought if the house was at temp set in the house then the blower fan would be off like it was but Bruce said that fan should be running till the unit was up to temp
also talked about radiant heat vs baseboard.... Bruce was very pleasant but I still have a hard time believing its lack of insulation that causes my house to be chilly
Bruce asked me to call his business phone and not cell. He gave me his brochure that's when I saw Terri was partner with him.. All this time I thought she was butting in oops
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Slim I thought if the house was at temp set in the house then the blower fan would be off like it was but Bruce said that fan should be running till the unit was up to temp
also talked about radiant heat vs baseboard.... Bruce was very pleasant but I still have a hard time believing its lack of insulation that causes my house to be chilly
Bruce asked me to call his business phone and not cell. He gave me his brochure that's when I saw Terri was partner with him.. All this time I thought she was butting in oops
Well, last addition on the farm house I'm living in was 1908. Insulation makes a world of difference, when I was growing up in this house we had a wood furnace in the basement then another standalone in the office on the first floor, upstairs was still cold. If it got cold enough and windy enough out even the oil furnace would run as well.
Since then we've blown insulation in all the walls and attics, that helped a bunch but still could be chilly. Since I have the house now and we've been trying to remodel a room a year we'll strip the lathe and plaster off and look for any voids in the insulation. We have 1x12 poplar boards nailed on the interior walls under the lathe and plaster so the insulation we blew in stays in place, we refill any voids then drywall over it. When we redid the south wall and foundation we insulated the foundation on the south side and dug up the west foundation and insulated it as well. So far we've added new windows on the south and west sides of the house.
Our bedroom is on the first floor, south west corner, since redoing the insulation, adding new windows, a layer of fan fold insulation on the outside, a layer of house wrap then new siding our bedroom has been just fine all winter and doesn't even have a heat duct going to it. No heat duct or other source of heat, but with the ceiling fan it keeps enough air moving the room stays warm. We did have some of that -40 crap this winter here. Our bedroom used to be my bedroom growing up, back then I could place a glass of water on the floor when going to bed and have it froze in the morning. Insulation makes a world of difference. Good windows and house wrap cuts all the little un-noticeable drafts off. Since doing all this we've even lowered the thermostat a degree.
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this is the problem with selling boilers on square footage alone, i realize that is a new to you roxann home and no history of heating was available but a good look around would have helped to determine the proper sizing of the boiler by the dealer, personally i would think a good back up boiler (oil or gas fired) would be in order as well as insulation and added radiation, buying the boiler without discussing all of this stuff is where your issues started.
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mlappin: I as well took all the plaster and lathe off and put in new 2x6 walls , new insulation R23 some rooms r-30 along with 2in insulation board all ceiling are insulated with pine boards between the beams . All walls are drywalled, new windows,some of the outside has been wrapped. I have a ceiling fan don't use. With this all said my basement is not finished and home needs some kinda of outside siding. I am thankful bedroom is not that cold to freeze water oh gosh brrr.
Bruce said that the boiler is big enough to heat the house. He says keep insulating ....
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I was surprised this house didn't have thicker walls actually. When I enclose the porch I added to the south side of the house it will be 2x6.
How much do you have in your attics? When I get the last of the peg and post removed I'm planning on blowing in another 8-12" in the attics.
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I don't have any yet my plans are to take out of the basement ceiling when the radiant heat goes in...
I guess I don't understand still how the blower works I thought if the house was at temp and the unit is 184 then the blower fan should be off??? its running
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no the blower shuts off at setpoint on the aquastat and drops to the differential setpoint before coming back on.
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I don't have any yet my plans are to take out of the basement ceiling when the radiant heat goes in...
I guess I don't understand still how the blower works I thought if the house was at temp and the unit is 184 then the blower fan should be off??? its running
I mean how much insulation is above the ceiling on your top floor?
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If the water temp in the boiler reaches it's setpoint (whatever the aqua-stat is set at, i think yours is at 185) it should shut the blower off at that setpoint, the differential is the difference between the setpoint and when you want the blower to come back on, I think yours is at 10 degrees, therefor the blower should come back on at a water temp of 175 degrees and run until it shuts off again at 185 degrees.
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is " the blower " connected to water temp , not house temp ?
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Yes it is, while I was there I saw no TT wire or blower power wire going to the house and the only stoves I have ever seen that run there blower off a call for heat in the house would be Hardy!
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Yes it is, while I was there I saw no TT wire or blower power wire going to the house and the only stoves I have ever seen that run there blower off a call for heat in the house would be Hardy!
they run the pump off of the thermostat in the home, they use a Honeywell aquastat for the stove blower
Unless u seen one rigged some other way
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Yes it is, while I was there I saw no TT wire or blower power wire going to the house and the only stoves I have ever seen that run there blower off a call for heat in the house would be Hardy!
I have no idea how this one is wired but I seem to remember the Heatmor manual showing running wires from the over limit aquastat to the blower in the house.
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I would have to look again but I do not recall any aquastats controlling the circs and do not recall anything in the manual about it either
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http://www.heatmor.com/Uploads/42457_Heatmor_Response_Guts_053112.pdf (http://www.heatmor.com/Uploads/42457_Heatmor_Response_Guts_053112.pdf)
page 13
6) The red wire from the high-limit aquastat on the back of the HEATMOR™ should be wired to the
indoor temperature control to override the thermostat. This will dissipate excess heat in the event of a
possible malfunction with the HEATMOR™.(the red wire is capped off in the electrical junction
box when the heatMOr™ is new.)
page 60
High Water Temperature Safety Shutoff Control
Principles
The correct name is an “aquastat.” It is referred to as an aquastat because it
measures the temperature of water (aqua means water). It is sometimes referred to as a thermostat, but
thermo means air. It does not measure the temperature of air. The High Water Temperature Safety Shutoff
Control turns off all electrical power to the combustion air blower and the front light if an excessive water
temperature be reached. To provide added safety and notification, when a high water temperature is reached,
this aquastat will send electrical power to the “red wire”. The red wire leading from the HEATMOR™ back to
the power source can be installed so the electrical power will sound an alarm or will override the comfortable
heat settings within the heated building. By starting heating appliances in the building, heat will be drawn
off the HEATMOR™, dumped into the building, creating an elevated temperature
environment in the building, and hence a notification of an unusually high water
temperature within the HEATMOR™. By removing this excess heat from the
HEATMOR™, a “boil” will normally be avoided.
page 70
.
The high limit aquastat has probably overridden the operating aquastat. If this has happened, it
should also trigger your distribution system or high water temperature warning.
5.
Q. Why is it getting so warm in my house and I cannot reduce the temperature with the thermostat?
a
.
At this point the high limit aquastat has been tripped on. To detect the precise reason, please contact
your local dealer.
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I believe this has been the issue from the start!
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Must be the same Terri from heatmor Maine that was in a Facebook rant, also with threats to an unhappy customer with a bad install. Older couple at that. How childish, I wouldn't let the small things bother you slim, those kind are irrelevant . Kinda sounds like predators taking advantage of uninformed consumers.
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There are not many like Terri out there, I'm pretty sure it's the same one, my biggest regret is that more than likely Bruce will not be allowed to speak to me any more, he really is a decent guy to chat with at the shows, Thanks for the support Sprinter!
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HI all!! It's been a bit since I been on..
I can't believe were almost in June and I am still burning.... I put wood in every two days though....
This morning I went to check it out temp was 89 with water light on ugh...
I added water it took allot not sure what that was all about but the light went off...
It took me an hour to clean I got so dirty my hair was nasty I really don't like this part of the stove.... WOW my arms get a great work out I found using the drill helps som
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I just shut mine down Monday. There can be more problems in warmer weather with overheating. It still sounds like your aquastat has issues or you have a leak. Either it is boiling off or leaking. I had a small leak at a threaded fitting - no water dripping, just some white mineral buildup, but was loosing 2-5 gallons a week. A lot more water than you think can leak from a very small leak.
It was cold last week and got warm on the weekend. I was gone fishing and my wife loaded it up maybe a little higher than I would have. The small flap that opens when the outer door is open had some creosote on it and wasn't shutting all the way. She called saying why was the furnace fan going - hot in here! No harm done, the overheat aquastat worked and easy fix, but still I don't like having very much wood in in warmer weather just in case.
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Great advice, if I recall correctly she does not have anything in place for overheat and should probably look into doing that before it gets cold this year, how does that unit handle overheating, could it crack the stainless if run low on water?
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Roxann, did you get the upgrades to your install completed yet, if not you better get moving on it as it's getting cold!
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lindnova or slim, do you know what items would be needed to take advantage of the red wire to dissipate excess heat? An alarm would be fine if your home everyday, but what if it overheats when at work. I've got baseboard, so it would need to tie into a zone valve and the circulator pump that only comes on when a zone is calling for heat.
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Without checking the owners manual, I don't know off hand but if it is line voltage / 110 then it can directly power a circ and blower, if it is low voltage 24 volt then a relay would need to be used, Do you know which it is.
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According to the manual it says the red is 115v 60hz high limit indicator.
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Then that wire can power a circ and blower directly, check the amp draw allowed on the wire in the owners manual and do not exceed it with the blower motor, that will be the biggest draw.
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Yes it is 110v. I used mine to switch a relay to 24v and wired that up to turn the fan on in the forced air furnace which was simpler for me than wiring direct. It could be done a few ways.
It is worth setting up though. The first time you forget the ash plug, leave the door ajar, or have another air leak you will be glad you did.
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SOOOOOO, a new development happened Friday at the Fryburg Fair and I feel pretty darn sure it came from the same folks who left Roxann hanging last winter, this is how I get paid for attempting to solve an issue for one of my competitors problem units, This was dropped into my chip tank at the fair to jam up my boiler, the only vendor here that is a direct competitor as well as the only vendor who has ever threatened me is the same vendor who sold Roxann her unit. What do you guys think, is this a good way to treat somebody who tries to help when there is an issue? Thankfully no permanent damage was done but it did rob us of running our chip boiler for the busiest day of the biggest fair in the northeast. THANKS TERRY!!!!
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What is it slim and yep that looks like sabotage!
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It appears to be about 5/8 to 3/4 inch square stock, about 5 inches long, much longer and it would not have fed into the auger and an inch shorter it would have fed right through without a hiccup, They may think they done good but now I have a story to tell about how rugged the chip boiler is and I have their sabotage material to prove it, I still moved 6 units from the show and haven't even started doing site visits or phone calls yet!
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looks like a bunch of birdcrap weld on it
shakes head
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No I think it started out as square stock and the rounded sides are from my auger chewing it up for about 30 hours!
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Slimjim, A couple of questions; 1) Do you know if Roxann has fired up her OWB yet? I'm curious to know how she's making out compared to last season. No one should have to go though what she went though. 2) If you can prove they did do that to your chip boiler and not some envirowacko, don't you have grounds to have her/them charged with vandalism? Roger
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I do not think she has, I have not heard from her all summer, I know she was working on tightening up the house. I don't call in the law for things like vandalism Roger, first the law does nothing and second, I already confronted them at the show, they know they didn't break anything and I now have a great conversation piece for my shows, actions like that always return to those who initiate it anyway, perhaps not by me but maybe someone like a Roxanne
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Hi everyone It's been a while since I've been on...
Things are good here way different then last year so hasn't the weather..
Unit hasn't over heated actually so far so good
Radiant heat has been installed just turned on today I am a little nervous thinking it will take heat away from other zones..
cut and split wood in June the wood has made a difference
I had only one episode of 65 in the house but that was because of ash build up once I shoved out the ash the unit performed I still have the outside light issue not working when unit is at temp light will not come on.
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roxann - Glad to hear things are off on the right foot for you this year. I hope it continues and you have a very uneventful but warm winter this year. Roger
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What is the outside light issue? The light should come on when the light switch is turned to the down position unless the high limit saftey switch has been activated by too high of water temp (200 degrees is the factory setting), then the light won't come on when switch is down.
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Morning everyone
63 in the house this morning temp was 155 on unit ... no wood in stove. Guess I should of gotten up ugh...
The light doesn't come on when the temp is over 185.
I am going to adding another 16 feet of baseboard in the dining room and 5 more feet in the living room. I am hoping that will help some.
Thanks Roger!!!
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How many hours between loadings when you ran out this morning? What type of wood? How much wood?
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I am going to adding another 16 feet of baseboard in the dining room and 5 more feet in the living room. I am hoping that will help some.
Thanks Roger!!!
I added some baseboard over the summer at my place too. Make it easy on yourself with air vents for bleeding the new lines. Best of luck to you for this heating season.
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Does your model have two aquastats in the back of the boiler? Is one set at 180 and the other 200? If the light isn't coming on when the switch is down and the temp is high it must be reaching the high limit switch which it shouldn't do. Have you had the fan out of your boiler to see if the flapper door on it could be sticking open allowing a draft to keep the fire burning when it shouldn't be?
The light does come on when the water temps are lower and the switch is turned to the down position?
Does the fan come on as soon as the outter door is opened?
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I started the season out with 10 cords of dry wood. Cut and split in June dried in an open field now stored in heated basement. I have used 5 cords so far.
Once again I am having issues fun fun on a good note able to pin point problem . .. now waiting for part to come in.. not so much a unit issue some but mostly cold water return on the wall of art of copper ...
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The fan problem is still an issue..
sometimes comes on when temp is high 189 190 are a few times the light came on when door is open and switch is down
mostly when the temp is 185 and higher the light will not come on when the door is open and or the switch is down
I am not sure I am not sure about the aquastats I see one in the back maybe slim could answer that question
the other morning the temp was 126 asking for water filled with water temp raised rapidly the water went flying out like a whale but everything was running good. & house was warm. I noticed the roof of the unit the paint is bobbling up ....
I look often at the flapper its been clear the stove has been clean so different from last year I guess wood matters
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Good to hear that things are a lot better. When did you start your heating season this year? Yes wood is probably the biggest contributing factor to peoples problems.
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September
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When in September? I started October 30th and have been through around 4.
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I'm up to 19 cords now....
things have been going very well up to now ,,, the unit has been calling for water four time just in this month not sure why>> I'm going to call Bruce and pick his brain.
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19 cord, full cord or face cord and did you get all the tightening up done on the house we spoke of? that sure seems like a lot of wood for that little stove! I still have that slide hammer I made up for you to clean the heat exchanger if you need it.
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19 full cords yes I did a lot of tightening up. I had an audit done still lots to do ugh the guy said that the unit should heat this whole house
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That's a lot of wood for your place, what is it maybe 2500 square feet, where the heck is all the heat going?
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That's crazy I'm heating 2500sq ft and my hot water and I might hit 6 full cord this winter in MN.
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Roxanne, I think it should certainly heat the entire place and it should do it for a lot less than 19 cord, have you gotten in touch with your dealer yet? He should be able to shed some light on your usage as well as figure out why you are using so much water!
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I started the season out with 10 cords of dry wood. Cut and split in June dried in an open field now stored in heated basement. I have used 5 cords so far.
Once again I am having issues fun fun on a good note able to pin point problem . .. now waiting for part to come in.. not so much a unit issue some but mostly cold water return on the wall of art of copper ...
Where I am you can bet away with cutting in the summer and burning in the winter. Especially if it is dead standing, but that is unusual. Perhaps part of the problem.
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19 full cords yes I did a lot of tightening up. I had an audit done still lots to do ugh the guy said that the unit should heat this whole house
I have a 200ss like yours heating 5500spft burned 15 cord this year oak half dry about 35%moisture average . Had it for 19 years now . Anyway I read a lot of your posts . One thing I can only come up with is water seeping in trench for starters . I will take more time and read more of your posts to catchup :) my house is 1976 and 1991 double wide ya both in good condition for there age .
But not parade of homes energy star that's for sure.. :) one more question trench dirt are you in sand light soil or heavy clay . Just a note if its heavy clay your just making a long pool :) ya I'm in heavy clay here been down that road it makes for erratic wood consumption .. Im only guessing why it take that much wood .
heat550
p.s. Oak in my standard wood so if your burning soft wood you'll burn alot also. wet wood record here is 1 cord wet ash lasted 5 days :) and that was on 10f to 5f days ya its crazy. still have mental scaring why I even thought to haul ash home. Moisture meter habor freight 15 bucks will shed alot of light on wood moisture .
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19 full cords yes I did a lot of tightening up. I had an audit done still lots to do ugh the guy said that the unit should heat this whole house
Another note dead trees standing are like big sponges. Looks are deserving. test with moisture meter . ya its depressing but it will get a person up to speed cutting for next year :) ya I don't practice what I preach . but moisture meter a truth teller . live and learn is the name of the game . :bash:
Heat550
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You are so right Heat, standing dead trees are nothing more than a sponge, as I understand it, the 2020 EPA rules will require all dealers to supply and train the stove owner on the proper use of the meter!
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roxane, i hope you have better luck this year! keep us updated!!!!!
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Another note dead trees standing are like big sponges. Looks are deserving. test with moisture meter . ya its depressing but it will get a person up to speed cutting for next year :) ya I don't practice what I preach . but moisture meter a truth teller . live and learn is the name of the game . :bash:
Heat550
Depends on the tree.
Red elm will stand so long it will crack clear thru to the heartwood and be drier than a popcorn fart when cut.
I’ve cut a lot of standing dead ash that the ash borer got and they were 25% or under in the dead of winter.
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Hi all,
Big changes for me and this big old house...
The basement now has radiant heat
I also had an Home Energy Audit done yikes
I had tons of work done wow I can already feel a difference and have cut back on wood burning bring on the winter. I have heat set for 70 and its 80 in the house very excited to see what the winter brings if I will be in the 50's ever again.
The unit has been started so far so good its been running around 186- 189 outside light still don't work cleaning the unit is a very messy job it right out sucks!!
I'd like to thank this site for all the post and help been a huge help for me
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Roxanne,
made sure you stir the coals/ashes around at every loading....this will push all the fine ash through the grates and only leave the bigger coals on top. Make yourself a nice even bed spread out over the grates...and then load your wood. Also, clean the ashes out once per week with the auger (i do mine on Saturday or Sunday). find something you can put uner the auger tube to collect them (i use a 4 inch deep metal pan). If you stay on top of it, maintenance is a breeze. This unit is very easy to clean compared to other stoves i have had in the past.....just be glad you arent shoveling ashes out of the firebox like you have to do on many other stoves!!! now thats a pain!
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Good advice Dylan, I haven't heard from Roxanne at all since spring, I think she is doing better with the unit now. You bring up a good point I have always wondered about though, what is it about putting the auger together, retrieving a pan and placing it under the auger, turning the auger to remove the ash into the pan, picking up the pan and dumping the ash, then removing and storing the auger and pan that is easier than sliding an ash pan out and dumping it or simply shoveling the ash out the front door into a wheelbarrow and dumping it?
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i have my heatmor on a 12 inch pad, so its a bit more off the ground....so it is esier for me to catch the ash.....I HATE CLEANING OUT fireboxes with a shovel....i did that for years with a central and a timberwolf....that deep bed of ashes just acts as insulation, and man...the amount of smoke in my face and crap all over...NEVER AGAIN!!!! when i auger my heatmor out once a week, i usually fill up one 12" x 12" x 4" pan with fine ssand-like ash....real easy and simple. I dont get a wheel barrel full of ash and coal every week like i did with the timberwolf and central
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as to why they dont use an ash pan...im not sure....the 400 model has a firebox that is almost 5 ft long....and the grates extend the length of the firebox floor....is they were too make an ash pan...man, that would be a beast!!!!! lol
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i think any system with grates and either an ash pan or auger system is far superior to having to shovel ash from the firebox....thats just my opinion....now my buddy have a 2009 WD model 800 that doesnt have a grate system and he is able to get better fine ash b/c of the forced draft....he takes a few shovels full out every weekend and throws them in his garden. the two natural convection units i had in prior years just didnt get fine ash like that
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I still have my old WD 14,000 and it is pretty simple to drive the Cat bucket up to it, shovel a wheel barrow of ash out into the bucket and dump it on the compost pile 3-4 times a season
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lots over average home owners arent fortunate enough to have any kind of loader with a bucket on it!!!lol I use to use the old wheel barrel and i had to do mine ever week or two or there would be a 12 inch bed of ash/coal and my recovery times and wood usage went up
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Ditto here, skid steer or the loader with the yard bucket on it, keep the coals and ash stirred up often and they’d burn down so fine it would almost act like water and spread out to cover the bottom of the bucket, usually only had to clean it a few times thru the winter. An aluminum grain shovel worked best.
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I have an update...
The circulator crapped out.... A big white glob came out. I will take a photo to share... Anyone know what that could be and what caused it...
Phoned my dealer to order a new circulator left message unfortunately I missed his call back voice mail call the office number .. I did so who answers the phone 1. guess
still haven't been able to reach him... I was able to have the circulator cleaned and put back on.
I can't believe & feel silly I am even writing this but any advise on how I can cool my house down its 87 way to hot... I am sleeping with three windows and still hot I turned the pumps on low
d5knapp I also clean my ashes out once a week. I clean the flues once a month I hate it bang my hands up get really dirty
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Why is your house 87 degrees? This makes no sense, your thermostat on the wall only runs your circulator in the house if your house is below the set point that you set, set 70 degrees on the thermostat, house drops below 70 it turns on the circulator for that zone, house rises above 70 circulator turns off. Sounds like your circulators in the house are running all the time?
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I don't know whats going on.. I have the heat set at 58 up stairs and its 89 and downstairs set at 74 its 86 right now the temp on the unit is 184
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Well you need to go down to your basement and look at the circulators that run to your zones and figure out why your thermostats are telling them to run when the thermostat is already satisfied.
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Could the circulators been hooked to the cooling side of the thermostat as in the thermostat is set to cool?
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I may be wrong but I think I remember there being an over temp aqua stat on the unit that turns on the house circs to dissipate the heat, perhaps that aqua stat is sticking?
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I Just looked up the wiring schematic on your boiler Roxanne and the red wire from the over limit switch runs in to your house and I presume turns on the power to your heat zones, more than likely the switch is sticking or your boiler is overheating, could you try turning the over limit aqua stat up by 5 degrees or so to see if your circs shut down? the over limit aqua stat should be labeled and on the right side of the 2
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slim you are correct. there is a red wire coming from the high limit switch that is meant to be ran either to you pumps inside to dump or to an alarm to sound in an overheat situation.
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I turned the heat down in the basement hoping it would help but it didn't.... I attached some photos of what I look like after cleaning the unit.. and I white glob is what came out of the circulator. The circulator pumps in the house aren't running nothing is calling for heat.
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Turning the basement heat down will not help if the boiler is running too hot as the red wire will be wired directly to a circ to dump heat in an overheat situation, try turning the boiler temp down and if that does not work then the overheat aqua stat may need to be replaced.
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how is the insulation in your house??? must be pretty good!!!!! ;D Second, How much wood are you going through to keep the temps that high??? third, turn the temp on your boiler down....i have a 400 model...and i also have radiant heat in my house....when the temps outside are mild i run 180 with a 7 degree diff, when it gets below 30 i go 185 with a 7 degree diff....seems to be working great. Fourth, is your radiant heat in your basement on its own zone i assume??????? I sure hope so!!! are you thermostats in your house working correctly????? 89° in the house is ridiculous....sounds to me like a thermostat issue....something is constantly calling for heat
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Do you think it could be this white stuff that came out of the circulator that maybe is also clogging the pumps to stay open the red water pipes are all hot when nothing is calling for heat??
ANy idea what the heck this white stuff is???
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Whatever that is, it does not have anything to do with overheating the house, it almost looks like an old pair of latex gloves, how the heck did that get in there?
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I have no clue what it is or how it got there all I know it made my unit crash stop working before unit stopped the circulator made a very loud noise.
damn its soooooo hot in this house I honestly can't believe I am saying that after being so cold..
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Give me a call and I'll explain how to set / test the over limit control, I'm up now if you need.
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Took the pumps off the check valves are full of the white stuff all three of them wonder what that stuff was I hope it doesn't keep clogging
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I never did get a call from you or your plumber, did I miss it or are you all set?
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no I didn't call I had a wedding to shoot.. I finally have a day off today trying to get this fixed so i can sleep so dang hot.... not to happy that all of the check valves are junk just when I started to like the unit lol very puzzled of what that white stuff could be still thinking I got a lemon for a unit would be my luck .. why two years later the white stuff shows up the outside light still comes on and off when it wants ugh
I should of went with oil ???
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I have no idea what the white stuff is, perhaps flushing the boiler and checking the over limit switch will help, are the check valves now junk or simply need to be flushed in order to work?
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just because your check valves are junk and u have white gunk coming from your lines does not mean u got a lemon of a boiler....im pretty confident to say that your junky check vlaves and that white gunk has NOTHING to do with your boiler........it sounds to me that your house systems is set up completely ass backwards. the loop from the boiler to the house it simple....its one line in and one line out with one pump pushing water towards your house......
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somewhere along the line that gunk got introduced to the system, somehow, someway.....go with what slim said...flush the system and get a plumber to check everything over before you hook back up. these systems are so simple to diagnose.....it has to be something stupid
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This thread has been going for almost 2 years. I love this site and I'm all about helping people so......has anyone actually met Roxann? Personally talked with her or him (maybe I missed this somewhere)? Does someone live near Roxann that can check the system and put this to rest? Whew.........
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Slim has stopped in there on several occasions.
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Yes, her first season was not a lot of fun for her.
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I ordered new ones and back up... spent all day with the unit draining the living room is still over heating no more of the white stuff came out..
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Could you post a picture of the check valves in the circs, I'm thinking the boiler may have overheated enough to melt the check valves and that is what you are seeing, I would be willing to bet that overheating is your issue now.
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yeah I am pretty sure I have a lemon!!!
slim I don't have any photos
now the unit water light is on when I add water it pours out on the top so clearly it needs 0
house is still 82 i don't get it
the outside light still comes on when it wants this unit has a mind of its own on a good note my wood burning has gone way down the winter hasn't hit either,
so far ive paid out about 500 with issues this season still going
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I sent photos to bruce he thinks someone tampered with the unit .... I have cameras all around my home the takes photos along 24 hour taping I saw nothing
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I've seen the install, it may be ghost flowing but I would bet it's tripping the over limit and dumping heat into the house, can you turn down the water temp on the boiler a bit?
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i bet its the high limit as well....is it the newer style PLC that i have on my new 400???? it is not a well style like the older units....it is actually taking the reading of the water temp....if flow in the boiler is not good it may be reacting to a "hot spot" at the top and tripping.....makes perfect sense why ur house is so warm if it keeps dumping heat....i would go with Slims suggestion and turn the High limit down to 170 and see if that makes a difference!!!! Keep us updated! Happy Holidays!