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[work1828]

Hey all, i am new to the site but have been reading alot of your posts.....seems to be MANY knowledgeable people on here.....well here goes with the first post.......i have had a Portage and Main ML30 for last 4 years and in March of 2012 developed a leak in the heat exchanger that could not be welded....Portage was very difficult and would not honor my warranty soooooo...i am looking at a new stove.....have all the existing pipe in ground and plate heat exchange in basement and a pad in the backyard.......have been following the Heatmaster and CB posts trying to get a feel for these units.....i live in Eastern Canada (PEI)....there are no OWB dealers in my province and the closet dealer would be a CB dealer in NS (Couple of hours away)......i like the Heatmaster unit and all that they offer with the forced draft and ash pan to name a few......but i am concerned with the stainless steel firebox as i know nothing about them and have only just learned of the Heatmaster line in the last few weeks.....i am a little nervous now that i have had issues with one company and dont want to be caught with my proverbial pants down again.....dont have a preference on standard or gassifier unit am open, just want a good unit......looking forward to the help......thanks in advance.....

[TM88]

I was in the same boat you are in with not having a dealer close by. My nearest Heatmaster dealer was 120 miles away but had a CB 60 miles.
I'm a newbie with owb but I can tell you don't let the not having a HM dealer close by affect your decision, between all the help from the people on here and Heatmaster themselves has been great on getting me up and running. Did all the hookup my self, Been running now for about  3 weeks heating my dhw and finally got a little work out this weekend with temps dipping down into the low 30'. And love it..Witch ever way you go though don't think you can go wrong I just couldn't see eye to eye with the CB dealer and have had my eye on HM for about 3 years now.

[lasor1]

I had been looking into the owb's for a few years and I narrowed my choices down to cb5036 or heatmasterss mf 5000 I had 2 dealers fairly close to me the central boiler was actually closer but the dealer just had his stoves setup at another business you had to take a business card and call him to talk about boilers so I did no answer left message to get quote. And I drove to my heatmaster dealer which was about and 1 hr away he had  lots of stoves in stock got a price. And I pondered on it a few days waited on what kind of deal I could get on cb5036. I went back to dealer bought the mf 5000from him he didn't have the color I wanted but it wasn't a problem he ordered it for me he had exchangers pipe fittings all parts I needed for install and on top of that he delivered my furnace for free. Anyway a week after I ordered my furnace about 2 weeks to late I finally got a call from central boiler dealer. I don't know what was up with that but I have heard a few other people running into this kind of service from central boiler dealers. I think they make a great product but I chose heatmaster over central because of customer service the forced air and the grate system is very nice with ash pan! Any way I got mine fired up yesterday and I have a very comfy home. I don't think you will go wrong with either one just get it from a good dealer!

[work1828]

Hey Laser1.....nice to hear that you are doing well with your decision.......did you have any reservations with the thinner stainless steel?? as opposed to the thicker firebox on other units....??.....just want to make sure i get some longevity out of the next one that i purchase......it is definitely a learning curve on running these beasts but i really enjoy it, just not the lack of support from some of the companies......thanks for your feedback.

[work1828]

oops....Lasor1.....sorry for the mis-spelling.....

[Scott7m]

The thinner stainless is plenty thick enough, it's not like it's going to get to hot seeing how it's surrounded by water.  Hardy furnaces are only 1/16" thick and many of those last over 20 years, heatmaster is a little over 1/8" .  They have the best warranty and really stand behind there products, that's why I enjoy selling them because I can do so with full confidence in the product

[work1828]

Nice to hear Scott......i appreciate all the info, i guess it boils down to a dealer that will be there if i ever get into trouble......like i said earlier, havent had a great experience with the last one.....liked the stove, just not the support.......my only problem, dealers are hard to find in my area......but where there is a will there is a way......

[work1828]

hmmmm.....the more i read the more i wonder........is it fair to be comparing the Heatmaster to the CB5036?....as the heatmaster has the forced air draft and the ash pan and the 5036 does not.....i realize that size wise they are similar, but if i am looking for forced air and ash pan......shouldnt i be comparing apples to apples??......sorry, just thinking out loud......

[Scott7m]

It is a common comparison here at my shop.  Just because of similar capacities, but once customers see shaker grates, ash pans, stainless steel, and forced draft, well I usually win lol 

[lasor1]

I don't think the thinner stainless will be a problem. In fact I worked for a company that contracted  to install commercial heat air and mechanical . And I remember building a parts cooler tank out of thinner same grade stainless and it has chilled water pumped through it and it had a machine that dunked exhaust manifolds straight out of molds in it to cool them off and it is under hot cold 24/7 for the past 12 years and I don't think they have had to anything to the tank for leaks or cracks so it hold up well under my opinion. All welds were tig welded I am not sure if heatmaster uses tig welding or not but they do look to be built nicely