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[coolidge]

Expanding wire brush arrived today, 2 days after ordering it, brushes fromP&M not here yet, going on three weeks. Anyway this thing will eat any deposits in those tubes, the faster it spins the better it works, definately use a electric drill, three batteries with the cordless and i only had three tubes done. I would go up to 1 5/8 brush if were to order one, they do come with replacement brushes $50 bucks i think he said, head unit with brushes are $115.00. It might be worth its weight in gold though.

[karlk]

Hi I have had my 250 running non stop for almost 2 years. Looks like this is a good site for tips and tricks.

[Bill G]

Hi Karl,

      Mis-placed your ph # back around last April.  My wife and I visited with you to look at your 250.  We did get one and installed it.  Been burning it since mid Sept, minus 2 wks in Oct when out of town.

     We are 20 min N, across the river, that should jog your memory?

     Any ways, definately thrilled with no more propane bill.  But, if I had to do it over, I think a ML36 conventional job would have been more to my liking.  Not too fond of the cleaning regiment needed to keep it burning clean.  Nozzle in floor quite cracked/spaulded, creosote in airbox (even with my well seasoned PA hardwoods).  I did drill small hole in bottom left corner of airbox, as you did, for drainage.

     Been awhile, please pm me your phone # and so we can compare notes on these things.

Bill

[karlk]

Hi Bill I  glad to hear you got your boiler. Try shutting off the air to the nozzle by turning adjuster at air box all the way in. This will stop any condensation forming in the air box. I know it doesnt sound right but it works and it will still gassify. There will be some spauling at first around the nozzle but then it seem to stop. I am very  careful around it and I only take out the ash 2-3 times a year in the fire box. To clean the tubes I use the  handle that came with the boiler for the larger tubes and made a rod out of 1/4 in steel bar for the upper tube brush, its stiffer and works good. I also use compressed air and a long air gun to help clean the tubes.I clean it every 2 weeks ,its not fun but I got it down to less than 1/2 an hour

[Bill G]

Karl,

      Good to hear from you again!  I'll give you a call soon here, in the evenings, to compare notes. 

Bill

[coolidge]

Anyone have any problems with " puffing"     I had this issue last night.    Wood is VERY dry    Had heat this morning so i dont know what i did if anything.

[skyking]

The only time mine has done the huffing or puffing thing (back through the air manifold) was when the holes were plugged in air tube at the top of the firebox.   Only happened once and then I figured out what was causing it and kept those holes clear and it never happened again.

[martyinmi]

Mine used to do the puffing thing, but only when my wood was too dry(under 15%), or when the air intake disc was at it's factory setting. We all took our inlet restrictors(discs) off, turned them around so the welded nut is out, spun them back in all the way, then backed them back out 3 1/2 full turns. We've not noticed any puffing since we made that modification. If we run into some wet wood, we simply back the disc out another half turn. It seems to really cut down on wood consumption also.

[coolidge]

Thanks guys,   Air tube was free and clear, i am going to chalk it up to too dry of wood, i loaded with some year old stuff last night and it ran fine.

[dwneast77]

Based on some experiences I've had recently, you might try restricting your primary air flow down a bit if you burn more DRY wood.  I had the same thing happening.

[coolidge]

OK    I had the extra 330 gallons of storage seperated from the system, now it is just the 240 gallons the 250 holds.  Just today at 64 degrees the boiler used half a firebox load of wood (hardwood) JUST TOO HEAT HOTWATER   No other heat on in the house, a couple showers this morning.  I do have temp gauges at house side of underground lines and there is no heat loss, 75 foot run. Air settings are 5 out on top   1.5 bottom,  gasing fine       Pulling what little hair i have left out, i would think with the outdoor temps half a firebox should last a couple days.

[martyinmi]

coolidge,

   Go to the Forestry Forum and search "Calculations for BTU Loss in OWF Water Line". It will paint a clear picture of where your heat is going. Try an experiment. Put a similar load in your boiler that you had today, but shut your circulating pump off for the same time frame you had it going today. You'll see that you wont go through any wood to speak of. In fact, your boiler may only cycle once or twice all day long. The Earth is stealing an awful lot of BTU's from us by means of our underground insulated pipe.

   I am going to put something in my system that turns my pump on only when there is a demand from my furnace or the water heater. I believe I'll use 10-20% less wood based on some of the wood usage testing I've done, as well as factoring in the BTU losses Dean has come up with in his study. I need to quit procrastinating and just get it done.

[coolidge]

I was thinking it was the lines and i actually dug a small portion of them up this summer, i didnt skimp when i sprayed the lines with a minimum R 35 closed cell foam. I do like the idea of shutting the pump of when not calling for heat. I will check out the article later tonight.

      Thanks

[coolidge]

I havent tried shutting the circulator of yet, but i did try another experiment with roughly the same load. I filled the firebox(half full) with some pine and some softwood slabs i had. There is quite a difference, the softwood load will last a day and a half. So maybe my moisture meter is a piece of sh** and my hardwood is not dry enough, been cut split stacked for a year and a half.
Softwood it is then.