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16

General Outdoor Furnace Discussion / Re: cast iron rads issue

« on: December 27, 2013, 04:29:01 PM »

Hello everyone,little problem, second year in my home, i have a heatmaster 5ooo, i have cast iron rads on my main floor, there is one rad that makes a large bang every time the heat cuts in and when it shuts off, everyone i speak with has a different opinion on what it is, and  no there is def no air in the system, the rad is seven feet long,pretty big one,no other rad makes any noise other then this one and each one is on its own loop, every plumber and heat guy has a solution, any good suggestions, the noise actually startles me in the middle of the night when the heat cuts in... thank everyone...

if it's that big it maybe from expansion from the heat? the bigger it is the more it will expand? I don't know if you ran a mixing valve on it if it would help meaning the hot water be reduced down so it does not hit it all at once? that's a tuff one maybe someone elese has better ideas?

kelly

17

General Outdoor Furnace Discussion / Re: Fired my furnace for the first time tonight.

« on: December 25, 2013, 05:32:21 PM »

So far so good, except for the pesky water leaks on the lines and fittings.
It's 15 outside so this will be a pretty good test tonight. I should get my shop online over the weekend then it's full speed ahead.
 

looks good.....best way to go in my book wood heat...

kelly

18

General Outdoor Furnace Discussion / Re: NEWBIE here with a Johnson Burnner

« on: December 24, 2013, 11:50:46 AM »

Holeshot, Not sure how deep your lines are burred but they may be below the frost line. You can be able to get things thawed out since only the first couple feet of the lines may be frozen from where they leave the burner to where they go down into the ground. You could try disconnecting them at the burner and at the house and blowing through them with compressed air.

Honda racer is right....maybe you can luck out....when my outdoor one was bad I filled my lines with rv antifreeze (cheep) until I got my indoor model....you may be able to heat lines and thaw....if that's the case you can get here fired up....to save 500 a month in propane....cheeper to buy a pump and valve with little time you may be able to run it....try a heat gun, propane tourch don't hold in one place....or a salamander...

kelly

19

General Outdoor Furnace Discussion / Re: Ice Storm

« on: December 22, 2013, 09:08:01 AM »

We woke up to a foot plus of snow overnight, and its all yours now north and east of here (Kansas).  Now the work starts, hopefully the light and fluffy variety that the tractor does not have to work so hard to move around.  The biggest single storm event I can remember for a few years around here!

I am on the stlawerance river in northern ny we are expected to get 1-2 inches of ice today....so far its staying below us for the last day and half, all we really got so far is heavy sleet and snow mix.......I have the generator ready just incase...finally bought one....lol ..I can fire it up and plug it in.....I can atleast run boiler, pumps  and fan...so my house will stay worm and not freeze.....I have a wood stove in the house as well....but gen will keep my water flowing from boiler to house.....
so far no loss of power....
Kelly

20

General Outdoor Furnace Discussion / Re: going the distance??

« on: December 20, 2013, 05:09:05 PM »

Hi all,  I was just curious,  What is the distance between your OWB.  and your building or dwelling you are heating?  I have a Woodmaster 4400 heavy duty and it is about 90-100 feet from my house and about 20 feet from my barn.  Thanks all.

my boiler is 125 feet from house and as of right now 16 feet from shop in the little insulated building until I add on my shop.....

kelly

21

General Outdoor Furnace Discussion / Re: New member, lots of questions

« on: December 18, 2013, 07:01:46 PM »

I bought a big, old, beautiful farmhouse this summer. It has Johnson Wood Burner that is outside that can be used to assist the boiler. I did some research  before I bought the house and figured I would do more later, once I needed to know more. Well, life happens, and now it is -23 degrees (wind chill) here in Illinois and I really would like to utilize my burner to help offset the cost of propane. I just bought a pick-up for hauling wood and stuff, which I guess is a good start. I'm a girl, so I'm not real up on the whole chain saw, and wood burner thing. My boyfriend checked over the burner and said it looks like it is in good condition, and ordered a manual for the burner. I did not get to discuss the burner with the former owners, although the neighbors said the owners used it every year. I guess I need some help from y'all if you are willing to share some tips and instructions! I have been scouring the county for 'wood' and posting up on fb and other areas. Obviously I don't need split and seasoned wood, but chunks. Right? I'm actually going to read the manual tonight and hope that it gives me a clue. I'm also going to check some of the threads that I see here on this forum, for information and ideas. In the mean time, please feel free to enlighten me with your knowledge. Thanks! 

forever 24,
welcome to the site.....like mentioned have the lines checked make shure not frozen also check to see if you need to turn on any valves to circulate (not a speller) lol water from boiler to house heater? once you get everything all ready no leakes water not frozen pump working along with blower.....start a fire in it with small wood or kindleing.....as it gets hotter add larger dried wood..... like mentioned open door slowly and wait 30 sec....wait a min....why am I telling you this get your bf out there and be a man like me and do it.....lol good luck and welcome both of you.... I hope your bf joins as well....my wife don't mind putting wood in our boiler either

kelly

22

General Outdoor Furnace Discussion / Re: natural draft question

« on: December 17, 2013, 08:33:33 PM »

Thanks for the pic. The way my grate is set up it does the same thing as yours pulls the air down below the coals I have taken the louvered door and added some height on the flue it seemed to help alot. I mat just cut the louvers off and just leave the top piece to cover the solenoid.

I think I see your problem now, cut the bottom off the square box you have the dampner in and leave louvers on front, put in a metal screen where the bottom plate was, the dampner is pulling air from the bottom and it needs a lot of air....with the screen on the bottom it can now get enough air suck right in the dampner door, the design of the screen will just keep stuff out?
kelly

23

General Outdoor Furnace Discussion / Re: natural draft question

« on: December 17, 2013, 06:36:25 PM »

been thinking hard about what you said hondaracer. what if i were to put a blower on the front cover of the damper encloser and wire it to turn on the same time the damper opens? would a 75 cfm unit be big enough? the blower would pressureize the box with the damper and blow into the fire box, would it work the way i am thinking?

joe,
if you set it up right the natraul draft will work fine... mine does. may take a little longer to catch up if it falls behind but they work well.
here is a pic of the inside of my thermo-control door the dampner pulls in down to bottom and blowing threw the hot coals... maybe this pic will help?
kelly 
pic is dark its the square on the door to about 2 inch from bottom,it's  3/4 the width of the door wide that's were the air gets pull down on to coals......sorry bad pic

[attachment deleted by admin for space issues]

24

General Outdoor Furnace Discussion / Re: natural draft question

« on: December 17, 2013, 04:46:20 AM »

I just fired up my home made burner for the first time 10 days ago. my set points are open at 170 close at 180. I have noticed when the damper door opens the temp will contiue to drop to around 150's then go up pretty slowly. I have never had the fire die, just wondering what i can do to improve the stove. the damper is 4x6 rectangle tube cut at 30 degrees with a 1" pull actuator i have a 6" id flue but it is just above the peak of the burner now. Would adding 6or 8ft of 8" pipe help fix my problem?

Thank you joe

joe,
it may help. does your cold air enter the fire box on the bottom of the door blowing the cold air on the hot coals at the bottom? and what do you have for flue exit? mine has to go all the way to the bottom of the stove(fire box) to exit once you shut the flapper? plus it has secondary burn. it has stainless air tubes to feed that.
kelly 

25

General Outdoor Furnace Discussion / Re: What's this , low temps and fire struggling to stay going

« on: December 16, 2013, 05:27:36 PM »

good thing its warm last 2 days , My temps on my boiler are staying about 90 -115 degrees last 2 days and wont get higher  , I thought maybe it was real wet punky wood but I cleared it out and put new in , I punched out the flue while it was so low and it didn't seem obstructed , I can open the door and flames spring up and get going good, I come back an hour later and open and no flame , just smoldering , the blower appear to be fine , its open and I can feel the air coming out through the tube underneath , its just seems its not getting enough air but i hear and see the fan running a usual and feel the air along the tube , it throws up a plume of smoke out the chimney, does seem like its not as strong as usual  , do the blowers fail or slow down ?  I took the fan  off 2 weeks ago and looked down the tube and it was clear

any thoughts

does your blower have a hing type door if it does maybe be something blocking it and not allowing all the air into firebox...? but like you said maybe the motor got hot and is now very week? I don't know if this info help or not? let us know what you find.
kelly

26

General Outdoor Furnace Discussion / Re: forced air anyone?

« on: December 16, 2013, 11:21:25 AM »

Hello!,

My name is William Loftin, I am about to build my first home. I have worked as a carpenter for about 10 years and I have the basic construction part down pretty well. The land I bought is out in the country in east Texas with a lot of wood on the land. I have been looking at building my own forced air outdoor wood heater. I have seen a few pics online for relatively small setups but nothing that would work for an aprox 1200 sq ft home. I see a lot of posts on here for water based boiler systems, but to be quite honest I don’t think I have the plumbing skills to pull off a water based system and also the cost of the radiators in the house seems to be quite a lot. I can weld pretty well and am fairly good with wiring and ductwork, so I think if I had some good plans I would be able to make a functional forced air system.

Problem is I have found a lot of free plans for water systems but only factory built furnaces for forced air. Since finding this forum I was hoping some of you may have looked into a forced air system or could point me in the right direction. Really appreciate any help yall can provide. I am doing a pier and beam single story so ductwork will be under the house.

Thanks
William Loftin

welcome William,
if you wanted to go with an indoor forced hot air stove. thermo-control makes one that you could even install domestic hot water lines in it to heat your hot water as well. they have a 20 year nonprorated warranty as well. here is the web site www.nationalstoveworks.com  if you want the owners cell number I have it and you can call him direct.....if you want the number send a pm.

kelly

27

General Outdoor Furnace Discussion / Re: Major Issue Help!

« on: December 15, 2013, 10:52:12 AM »

Hey guys - found a small leak last night around 10pm, right off the back of the stove water was running down the return line from a bad compression fitting.  Got it fixed up with a sharkbite and monitored all night - seems to be holding water no problem - funny how a small drip can turn into a monster.

glad it was an easy fix....it is amazing how much water leaks out of a little drip....
kelly

28

General Outdoor Furnace Discussion / Re: Major Issue Help!

« on: December 14, 2013, 04:11:06 PM »

Woke up this morning to no heat - went out and check the woodmaster and it was at 310! no water in anything - what could have caused me to loose all of my water? I haven't changed any setting or anything - it was really cold last night - im wondering if it boiled off all of the water if it ran away at some point? Any ideas??

check your silnoide as stated before make shure its working also check door gasket,ash pan gaskets also check around boiler for frozen water may have an external leak in water jacket or on top by chimney between jacket and tin, look for any moisture that not normal.....let us know what you find...and good luck

kelly

29

General Outdoor Furnace Discussion / Re: It's cold out there

« on: December 12, 2013, 07:32:47 PM »

we were -3f this morning in northern ny may see -15f Friday night.... my thermo-control will be working in these colder temps....

kelly

30

General Outdoor Furnace Discussion / Re: new member with question

« on: December 12, 2013, 04:44:25 AM »

Hi all,  I am a new member(posted below).  I have a question about shutting down stove in winter.  My wife and I leave for a few days to visit family over xmas and I have my neighbor feed my stove while we are gone( he has a owb also).  I am just concerned that if he cannot feed my stove for some reason can I let the fire burn out until we get home?  I have a forced air gas furnace as a back up and was wondering if I let it go out will it be alright? Will the taco pumps circulating the water keep the water from freezing?  My stove also runs too a hanging heater in my barn(separate pump and lines).  Will the water running into the house and back keep the water warm enough to keep it from freezing.  has anybody else had to shut their stove down for a short period during cold weather?  Thanks all in advance.

Is it just water in your system or did you add glycol to the system?
kelly