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[jcc273]

Hello All,

I recently purchased a home that has a Hardy outdoor wood furnace.  Unfortunately the prior owner passed away before i purchased the home.  I took off the back and went to work seeing if everything was functional.  Electronically everything seems functional.  the small copper fill line had burst im guessing from freezing during the winter while the house was unoccupied.  I replaced this line then turned on the water to fill the furnace.  it filled fine with no leaks, but it did not stop filling and oveflowed out the top and all over.  I though that maybe the electronic solenoid that shuts off the water when full was shot, so i turned off the valve right before the solenoid and it still continued to overflow!

The cold water line splits once it gets to the heater, one line goes through the solenoid and fills the tank, the other i am pretty sure is the domestic line that runs through the system then back to my hot water tank.  I am guessing this domestic line is the source of overflow since turning off the fill line has no effect.  If i read the manual correctly i believe the domestic line SHOULD be closed to the water within the tank and should simply run through the tank to heat up the water.  Does this sound correct?  If so i guess that would probably mean the domestic line within the tank has burst open : /.

Can anyone verify my conclusions above?  or provide me with any other possibilities?  If I am correct then does anyone know how i would go about fixing the domestic line?  is the tank within the furnace open on top that i could access and fix the line if i pulled the outer casing and insulation off?  Or will i have to torch off the top fix the line and reweld the top back on?

I would greatly appreciate any suggestions or information anyone can provide!

Thanks,
Jarrod

[Bull]

Jarrod, I got a used H2 also and had the same issue. I took the outer skin off and unbolted the top (about 30 screws or so) and found that the coil inside (60 feet of 3/4 inch copper) had been frozen and burst. I soldered mine and it works fine now and was not that big of a job. You can cap the outlets and get a 20 plate water to water heat exchanger for your hot water and not use the inside coil if that is easier.

Welcome to the site
Bill   

[jcc273]

Bill,

Alright awesome.  i had my buddies help me take the hull off last night.  I'll probably take the screws out and take a look today, then after the holiday this week see if i can't get the coil fixed.  I have the pump motor removed right now, i cleaned it up and it seems to work well.  Thank you very much for the information Bill!  I'll let you know how the fix goes : ).  The magnet float also seems to be missing and the reed switch might need replaced, so i'll have to order those.  I was able to get the name and location of a nearby dealer from Hardy that should be able to get me those parts im thinking, if not i found the BOM online and im sure i can find them or equivalent parts online somewhere : ).  I'm looking forward to cheap heat and hot water this winter : )

Thanks,
Jarrod

[Bull]

Your welcome Jarrod, these things are not to complicated and you don't have to use Hardy brand parts. I have heard that Granger carries anything you need but you can get about anything online that you may need.

[jcc273]

Just figured I would post an update since its been awhile.  i did take the top off after removing the hull and found that the copper coil was definitely the issue.  It had froze and blown out in about 20 different places and I mic'ed the 3/4" copper in several places and found that its new average size had been expanded to 1".

I pulled the whole coil out and intend to replace the whole thing.  The local hardware store gave me a quote of ~$200 for a full 60' roll of flexible 3/4" copper.  So i scrapped the old coil [got about $64 bucks out of it : )], but then i had some vehicle issues and had to buy a new truck, so i put off purchasing the new coil.  i am about to order the new coil now and then i should be able to get it put in.

As for the other issues, i took the pump apart and the upper electronics were fried.  Water got in and shorted out the ACL and ACN lines and boom!  Anyways i removed the box and i am going to order a new 8-pin connector with matching pitch off of digikey for a few bucks and rewire the power.  I also think i am going to look into finding a new capacitor, and replace that while I'm at it in case it was damaged.  Hopefully the pump was not damaged during the short, because that looks like another $200 if so.

As for the magnetic reed float switch i found the replacement part from Grainger for $12.

So as soon as the parts come in I should be ready to finally get it all put back together!  Then i will cross my fingers and hope that the pump still works and that there are no issues with the plumbing running through the house.. : /.  I'm cutting it close as the snow will be flying very soon here, but i should hopefully have her up and running soon : ).

-Jarrod

[AirForcePOL]

Good luck with all of your repairs.  Also, I'm not sure what pump you have on yours but a capicitor for a Taco 009 runs around $10.  I replaced mine last year.

[jcc273]

Alright i am pretty much there i think.  I got the copper coil and got it put into the tank and soldered in place.  I then cleaned the tank and used a hose connection to flush the lines in the house.  Got the new level switch in as well.  I then got the system filled up and the outer hull back on (replaced some insulation during that process). 

I did rewire the power supply in the old pump but it was a no go.  it turned on and ran for a very noisily for a very short period of time before seizing up.  I just ended up buying a new pump.  The old one was a Grundfos pump but was so beat up and was missing its label that i couldn't tell the model or any of the specs.  I went with the Grundfos 15-58 3 Speed pump for my replacement, although i had to really talk myself out of going with the fancier 15-55 ALPA.  Anyways got the new pump put in.

My blower was also bad.  i took that apart and the motor was filled with creosote and was all sorts of locked up as well as the fan blades, so i just bought a new blower too. 

I got everything in and working on Saturday.  It works great so far!  I did have a few leaks to fix, one on a connector, the vacuum relief valve, and another on a shut-off valve.

SO MY ONLY REMAINING PROBLEM IS THIS:
When the system heated up the T&P Pressure relief valve on the Domestic water coil opened up and stuck open.  It was making a huge hot smelly swamp in my yard.  I figured bad valve, so i bought a new one last night installed it.  Everything was great!  Not only did the leak stop but the water in the system stayed hotter since cold water wasn't continually running through the coil and cooling it down.  Maybe this caused the water to get too hot?  because the furnace sounded like a tea kettle, and the water inside definitely sounded like it was boiling.

Anyways i go out this afternoon and notice it isn't steaming like it was and the swamp is growing again.  i look and the brand new valve is also stuck open and running water all over the ground.  i used my finger and pushed the valve back shut, but i have a feeling the water inside will once again heat up and cause the valve to open and it will once again stick open.

Any idea what the problem is here?  It is a 210deg relief valve, so it makes sense that it would open since it did sound like the water was boiling inside, but once the temp drops back down shouldn't it have closed back up?  do you really think the temp is staying hovered around 210 all the time?  I would really like to figure out this issue for two reasons:  1 so i don't lose efficiency by continually pumping cold water into the boiler when not necessary and 2 so i don't have a huge swamp in my yard.

Any Ideas?

[jcc273]

I did some more looking and it appears that the flapper on the blower is getting stuck when it opens and was not closed all the way.  did not notice this before.  So it is probably very likely that stove is overheating and staying around the 210.  i will get this flapper fixed tonight and see if there is a difference.  I guess that T&P valve was doing its job after all haha.

Hopefully this is the problem.  I will post when i find out : )

[dwneast77]

Sounds like you are going to know this thing inside and out by the time you get it all figured out.  You're making good progress.  I think you may be on to something with the fan flapper sticking open.  The only other thing I can think of to monitor is the aquastat.  Calibration may be off as a result of freezing.  If the blower is still on and you are hearing the water boil and seeing steam, that would be a good sign to me that the aquastat is not accurate.  I have one on one of my boilers that I am watching for the same reason.  Some of the other boiler manufacturers out there are using the Johnson A419 Digital aquastat.  I plan to get one myself for that boiler.  That way I can see the actual water temp.  I priced it out last year at around $65 I think.

[jcc273]

hahaha yeah i know at this point i think i could just rebuild the entire thing from the ground up if i had too.  I went out last Thursday and covered the hole that the damper is supposed to cover and the temperature dropped and the T&P Valve closed up.  I am assuming this is in fact the problem. 

When i replaced the blower i did not buy one with the damper already attached, because i was not paying the extra $80 they wanted for a stupid metal door.  I simply ripped the door and stopper of the old one and reattached it to the new one; however, i did not realize the amount of force that is applied by the solenoid and i simply used an adhesive to reattach the door because i can't weld (something i should learn i suppose as i often need things welded).  What happened was the solenoid spun the door because the adhesive wasn't strong enough.  I took the blower into my Dad's shop and he welded the door and stopper on correctly for me. 

I will put the blower back on tonight and hopefully be good to go!  I also fixed my last remaining pinhole leak over the weekend so as long as the damper works correctly now i should be all set : ).  If i am still having problems then i will look into checking the aquastat as you have suggested.  thanks for suggesting a replacement model as well!  Almost there, then i can turn off these damn electric baseboards : ).

[jcc273]

The damper was the issue.  i put the blower back in and no more overheating issues now that the damper was on and closing correctly.

I did have an overheating issue this morning though, it seems the solenoid itself got stuck in the UP position holding the damper door open.  I tapped the solenoid arm and it fell back shut.  Has anyone else had an issue with their damper solenoid sticking open?  if so any suggestions to correct this?  if not i suppose i will just keep an eye on it, and if it keeps happening i suppose just replace the whole part.

Anyways i think i am finally completely up and running!

Thanks everyone for all the help and advice!  : )

-Jarrod

[dwneast77]

I've heard it's ok to spray the solenoid with WD-40.  I've not tried it, however.  It was recommended by a CB dealer so it should be safe.  Anyone else done this??

[AirForcePOL]

I sprayed mine with WD-40 last year when it was making a bad humming noise. Give it a shot

[jcc273]

Thanks for the tips!  I waited to see if it would happen again and it didn't until last night.  i woke up this morning to an almost empty firebox and a swamp.  I hosed it down with some WD-40 this morning, so now i will wait and see how that works : ).

I also received a message from WillieG saying that he has in the past added weight to the flapper (1 or 2 3/4 nuts), so if the WD-40 doesn't work i'll try that out.

Everything else has been working great!!!  Once again thank you everyone for all the help and advice : )