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376

Heatmor / heatmor 200ss 1996 model

« on: January 03, 2014, 01:13:38 AM »

I burned this heatmor for years. I don't know if its the wood I got oak 50% dried or what but if I do half fills with wood . load every 4 hours I go throw way less wood and water temp is higher more off cycles  . Has anyone else noticed this .  by the way this is at -20f also .  warmer outside temps I never noticed this . Ya we have had a cold snap for a week so I had a chance to try different things . 

Heat550

377

Heatmor / Re: heatmore effiency

« on: December 28, 2013, 01:00:00 AM »

Jason, I have tried messing with temps and diff's for years, I am sure different heating systems produce different results, for me the lower temps are just not very powerful in cold temps, my DHW heats in a snap at 170, my radiant infloor heat has the same effect, at lower temp settings the pumps run for a long time to keep the floor zones going. There are concerns about return temps below about 150 that can cause sweating ( condensate ) at the return point inside the boiler, some folks don't buy that, I feel it's good to avoid but also my system seems to work so much more consistent at the higher temps.

Mines set at 170 f  I tried this and it works for -20f   once water up to temp 150-170 f with ashes cleaned out . always keep re-stoking every 4 hours  but only put enough in for 4 hours and because of it drawing so hard it gets dam hot . and only add about 4-5  pieces at a time  ( 5 inch by 5 inch peice oak)  It does take less wood doing it this way . long as your there put next 4-5 pieces in . I believe what its doing is keep fire at same temp all the time . only problem doing it this way is catching it between cycles to add wood . another reason i think this works is How much the cold wood cools off the fire box when you do a fill it full . Your putting a piece of wood that's at -20f  you put in 15 pieces in for the first 45 mins its  like thawing ice blocks .  But like said earlier every system might be little different 

Heat550

378

Fire Wood / Re: oakfire wood splatered with road salt,

« on: December 09, 2013, 01:00:52 AM »

I waited it got good and cold tonight and hit all top pieces with a wire brush got most of it off . thanks for the reply's I just never came across this one . I borrowed a trailer and its just right height back wheels just sprayed right on the wood in to the trailer . and road was just salty enough and just enough snow it splattered everywhere . Next time it gets a tarp 

Heat550

379

Fire Wood / oakfire wood splatered with road salt,

« on: December 08, 2013, 04:27:18 PM »

Hauled some firewood today and road had 4 inches of snow with salt on road all in middle of road. so it splattered the wood
With road salt . I suposd I better not put in boiler it will rust the firebox .   has anyone else run across this problem.

heat550

380

Plumbing / Re: boiler not coming up to temp hellllppppppp

« on: December 08, 2013, 12:37:14 AM »

Thanks for the explanation.  I was going to check my temp drop at the stove, but its been so cold (low around 0 and highs upper teens) that either the furnace is running inside, or the boiler is running.  Even that cold, the stove burns 10-12 hours easily on a wood load, so I don't think its waterlogged.  I really don't have any way to check the low spot in the line either.  I am trying to remember if it drops much where it comes in the side wall of my basement.  But, I will keep an eye on this based on your experience.

I know what you mean about pulling pex al pex thru corrugated.  I wrapped mine with 6 wraps of the techfoil insulation and also put a 1/2 inch pex fill line in there (unused).  Was OK pulling the first 150 feet, but the last 75 feet was a bear!

Yes its fine if your getting that long of burn.When ours got water on pipes I'm taking 4 hour burn at 20f so you don't have anything to worry about . Yes were getting a big cold snap last 2 nights -20f  All I'm burning is wet ash wood My load of oak isn't here yet. . At -20 f I'm only getting about 5-6 hours per stove load My ash is only at 18 inch's so its a bugger to get enough in there . But I have quite a load on the stove heatmor 200css 5500 sq feet 2 houses shop, garage. and yes furnace and electric heat just kicks in when I wake up and back to the stove I go  . oooo the joy of below 0f .. Couple weeks I will have my load of oak . 30 inch pieces split small will give back to my 10-12 hour burns . I miss them  . Just getting back in the winter swing .

heat550

381

Plumbing / Re: boiler not coming up to temp hellllppppppp

« on: December 07, 2013, 03:57:04 AM »

Heat550, the specs for HDPE single wall corrugated pipe says its operating temp is up to 100-deg C or 212-deg F and it can take short term temps up to 120 C or 248F.  How long ago did you install that pipe and how long did you use it?  That is what my lines run thru and what you found kind of makes me nervous.  I also don't run my stove that hot, 155 F range so maybe that will help.  As long as the outer pipe stay solid and doesn't let any water get inside, the temp at the outer part of that pipe should be several degrees less than the boiler temp water inside the inner lines, do you agree?

1996 I bought this corrugated pipe came in 2 thicknesses lighter and heavy I got the heavy ( will check tomorrow if i still have a piece or theirs a chuck of it still going though my cement blocks I could measure thickness .  )  It was installed for only one season . and we have heavy clay here what happened the foam we used took on water . stove took alot of wood that spring we dug it up . In the low spot where more water collected  black pipe had hair line cracks inside all the ribs and when you lifted it broke part and these cracks were also in the whole run and was full of water This was brand new full price pipe  feeding  pex al pex thru it wasn't all that much fun . stove was run at 180f  we never boiled it either . But we had to replace grates because they sagged about 2 inches in one spot . To test next spring go to lowest spot and see if theirs any water if you can. and your right 155f makes it better . My understanding at the time was the rating on the pipe was not including saturated in water at 180f it was air temperature is were I was mislead .  You know all the new stuff might be a lot better as they improve it as they go at the time in 1996 the dealers were as green as the buyers they have all come a longways sense then . So only worry if it takes to much wood .

Heat550

382

Plumbing / Re: boiler not coming up to temp hellllppppppp

« on: December 06, 2013, 04:08:13 AM »

I used Insul-seal 4" PVC then pulled pex inside it.
  http://www.insulseal.com/index.html
This was 9 years ago I don't know if many people do that anymore but it was what my dealer sold me back then and it has worked OK, anybody else use this or seen it? My lines cross my driveway with my well piping about 7 foot down under my driveway so they are deep, the water table is low otherwise that depth would not work. Kind of nice that you can pull the pex lines out if you had to, they are 90'd into the floor of both my boiler and utility room, hope I don't have to mess with that tho. Pretty straight forward installation, no idea how prices compare to Logstor (or similar).
 Maybe something for you to look at but my guess is you're going to probably use some extra wood to get through to next year unless you can fix it now.

I just put in 55 feet of insulseal last year great product. I read online for hours and with a bit of co min scene It was the best for my application. One keey feature I liked water will never get to the pipes that's the key. I didn't care if it was more work . I'm looking at the long haul . Fast install don't mean its a good product . I seen something very interesting about black drain pipe with my first install . Heat it up to 180f for year it shrinks and cracks It was the heavy stuff also. Maybe the newer stuff is better I don't know . It was a lesson learned . had to rip that out then Went with the spray foam trick I have 6 inchs close cell all around pipes  with 3-4inch  round rock under it .
My idea was  if trench does get water in it for any reason  water can sit at bottom and drain away also put heavy plastic covering over the foam and pipes . I have 2 runs 125 feet and 100 feet done like this ( its 15 years old still no problems ). 3rd zone is insulseal 55 feet. Funny part about this zone 55 feet from stove it heats a 28x48 house easy we even put smaller fans on exchanger to make it quieter have 2 of them assist fans for duct work like 900cfm total Its in a closet center of house not tied in to the furnace. It does work great . 

Heat550

383

Heatmor / Re: heatmore effiency

« on: December 04, 2013, 05:01:13 AM »

Hi guys I have been wondering if there is a way to get better effiency out of the heatmore model 200. Is there any to add a catalytic combuster  to the 8 inch hole going up to the exchanger or a rectangle one at the beginning of it. I have previously had a central boiler that seemed to burn longer. though the heatmore firebox seems to be a little samller.
thanks jason

There could be acouple things going on . First i do believe Heatmor has less water in it compared to centeral boiler .  That would make it seem shorter burns . Also a thing that could be is wood moisture . I bought a moisture meter to test my wood and it tells the whole story . 25 % or less heatmor is a mega heater . more moisture them 25% your looking at a whole aray of issues . shorter burns . Not heating up as fast . water bubbling out of wood as it burns . myself  I'm always running behind in my wood cutting and end up burning green . Theres a trick that works with my heatmor. the wetter the wood split it smaller . and when you stack it in there use the idea to not stack it tight . once you get this fire keep adding fire wood with the loose stack in mind . with mine this how you get hottest and longest burns with wet wood . oo and keep ash pit clean . 

far has adding anything I was thinking a draft inducer with variable speed for warmer weather and make fire burn hotter. My heatmor don't like 25f and warmer .  Its sitting in the middle of a woods so not much for wind . 

heat550

384

General Outdoor Furnace Discussion / Re: Why am I burning so much wood?!?

« on: November 26, 2013, 01:51:21 PM »

My Hardy H2 has been burning a lot more wood than normal lately.  A load that used to last me 12-16 hours has only been lasting about 8.  I haven't changed anything in my system since I hooked it up 3 years ago. 

The only thing that I can think that has happened is that when I was one vacation a few weeks ago my brother was taking care of the stove and accidentally left the ash door open on the day that I got home.  The stove boiled over and lost quite a bit of water.  This caused the water level to drop below the pump and the pump continued to run without any water in the lines.  Surely if there was damage to the pump it wouldn't effect burn times, right?  Or I was thinking that maybe the aquastat got too hot and it caused damage to it and it isn't controlling the temp correctly now?

I have cheap homemade pipe that has done pretty good for me and I haven't had any problems with it.  I bought a infrared thermometer today and I'm going to see how much heat loss I have between the stove and the house. 



Does anyone have any suggestions on what to check other than those things?  My firerope is in good shape and seals up pretty good around the ash door and firebox door.  I just don't see what could have caused the sudden change in efficiency.  Any ideas would be appreciated!  Thanks!

This is some old school thinking what kinda lines do you have in the trench ?  water touching hot lines in trench can make your stove never heat up . I seen how this works when it happens . I melded and bent that thick cast iron grate in the bottom of my heatmor . happened when I first installed Mine in 1996. Its something to look in to . I'm in super heavy clay you make a hole you make a pond .
This might not be it . but wow its all stuck in my mind 

heat550

385

General Outdoor Furnace Discussion / Re: We need a outdoorstove app Temp and details

« on: November 26, 2013, 02:21:12 AM »

Around $150 or so depending on what options are with it.

What model do you have to get that graph 300x or 310x . Very awesome . I know mine with green wood would will never cycle like yours. next year I will have dry wood working on a wood processor.    I average 10 to 12 cord depending on how nasty the winter is .

heat550

386

General Outdoor Furnace Discussion / Re: We need a outdoorstove app Temp and details

« on: November 25, 2013, 06:47:19 PM »

Around $150 or so depending on what options are with it.

Ok thats pretty reasonable. Be nice to know exact temps on my 3 zones.
all on one page etc.

387

General Outdoor Furnace Discussion / Re: Unreal

« on: November 25, 2013, 04:31:19 PM »

Here is a 'Non' Fox based "BS" news organiztion.    http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2013/10/11/2768501/wood-boiler-lawsuit-epa/

They will have to pry the lighter from my cold dead hand. does this sound familiar.
 

388

General Outdoor Furnace Discussion / Re: We need a outdoorstove app Temp and details

« on: November 25, 2013, 04:04:01 PM »

This is mine http://my-thermometer.com
I don't use the email alerts because they are annoying.

Thats exactly what I was thinking  now how much does a setup like that cost. I already have cat 5 to owb .but I also have wifi coverage .thats totally awesome.

389

General Outdoor Furnace Discussion / Re: Unreal

« on: November 25, 2013, 01:58:57 PM »

Not good.

http://www.bizpacreview.com/2013/11/17/democrats-epa-crack-down-on-wood-burning-at-home-87325

Lets not get political in our wood forum but one point think what party's backers pollute the most one with the most money  . This article is fox related  .
this article is all bull %^*#

 

heat550

390

General Outdoor Furnace Discussion / Re: We need a outdoorstove app Temp and details

« on: November 25, 2013, 01:46:34 PM »

If not it would be a pretty simple app to write.  However you'd need some hardware to do the work for ya.  Maybe networked sensors to read all the temps in the different zones, maybe mesh style with simple thermistor/zigbee combos in each zone.  Then your base station at the stove with an ethernet or wifi connection so that it can be capable of connecting to the internet via your household internet connection.  Power-wise you could use some pretty low-power parts for all the zone nodes and run off of simple batteries for years.  I am sure a lot of this equipment already exists in a home automation aspect, you might be able to find off the shelve products to do it all for you. 

Not too ago long I designed a flow meter that was network capable, allows users to log into the unit from anywhere check flow rates, view/clear alarms, disable zones, change settings etc.  Worked out pretty nice since a lot of the meters are installed in remote locations and the old method of driving to the site to check and clear alarms was a big time waster.

Sounds like too much work for a stove though, i'll just stick to the old-fashioned method ; )

That's pretty cool stuff . Its hard to dump a bunch of money to get remote temp viewing . But I thought to much about it . Easy cheap fix ip cam and smoker temp gauge . You could get the temp anywhere in the world ip cam between 50-100. and thats with tilt and pan . Homedepot had ipcam for 64 bucks this last weekend . for temp gauge maybe 2 outdoor thermometers work better batteries last longer . I know i'm being cheap but were burning wood to save money right chat later

heat550