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1

General Outdoor Furnace Discussion / Re: Cleaning plate exchanger

« on: March 08, 2016, 03:41:39 PM »

I will try the white vinegar.  Do you put a filter of some kind on the intake of the pump to prevent pulling the junk back into the exchanger?

2

General Outdoor Furnace Discussion / Cleaning plate exchanger

« on: March 07, 2016, 07:06:44 AM »

I have noticed that my plate exchanger is not nearly as efficient this year as it was last year.  I run a solution I purchase from the manufacturer in my OWB to prevent build up so I am sure that my problem is on the DW side.  I have unhooked that for the time being and would like to run a muratic acid solution through it with one of those drill pumps then flush it really good and hook it back up this fall.  I figure since its already unhooked on the DW side there is no sense in running water through it all summer.

Anyway, my question is on the strength of the muratic acid.  I am thinking maybe 1 gallon of acid to 4 gallons of water.  What have you all used in the past that seemed to clean up the calcium and lime build up well but wasn't too strong.

Thanks in advance.

Mike

3

Earth Outdoor Wood Furnaces / Re: Sticking blower door

« on: December 31, 2014, 09:05:52 AM »

I am sick of this sticking door.  I am going to change the set up to use a solenoid and door on the outside this summer. Has anyone retrofit an Earth door to do this.  You would think with so many people having issues they could fix this.

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Earth Outdoor Wood Furnaces / Re: Talked to a Salesman the other day, is this true?

« on: October 30, 2014, 03:36:53 PM »

I talked to the guy at Ridgeline and looked at the stoves.  I liked what I saw and the price was great.  My concern was the fact that they did not have an induction fan.  When my shop, house and hot water all pull heat at the same time I was afraid it wouldn't be able to go from smoldering to good and hot fast enough, especially during the times when it did not call for heat very often.

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Earth Outdoor Wood Furnaces / Re: Talked to a Salesman the other day, is this true?

« on: October 30, 2014, 08:32:39 AM »

I agree with JTS717 100% on that and that is why I said most of it is going into the water. Some will be lost out the door too.  They are not more efficient for sure, but I think the loss in efficiency is small because of the way the chimney goes 2/3 of the way into the firebox.  The salesman was wrong about them being more efficient but I do believe they will last longer.  Here in Southwest MO wood is cheap so that is what helped make up my mind to buy one and the dealer is 2 miles up the road. 

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Earth Outdoor Wood Furnaces / Sticking blower door

« on: October 30, 2014, 07:53:32 AM »

I know several people on here have had this issue and used a paper clip to create a small space between the trap door and the tube the air comes out of.  I was curious if after doing this you noticed and increase in wood consumption or if it let enough air in when the fan was not blowing to allow water temps to continue to rise.

Also, has anyone wired in an alarm of any kind when water temps get too low?  I thought about wiring in a PID with a high and low alarm and set the low at 140 and the high at 190 and put an audible alarm on it and maybe a flashing light to warn me if something is wrong.  I'm just not real sure how to wire it in.   I suppose a thermocouple in a sump off my second line and pull 110v off the power coming in.

Thanks,

Mike

7

Earth Outdoor Wood Furnaces / Re: Talked to a Salesman the other day, is this true?

« on: October 30, 2014, 07:48:28 AM »

I can agree that the thicker the metal the slower the heat transfer but since there are a certain amount of btu's in every piece of wood and the firebox is completely surrounded by the water and energy (btu's) has to go somewhere, most of it is going to end up in the water, even though it is going to take longer.  I agree they are probably less efficient than lets say a Hardy, but for several thousand dollars less I'm not too concerned about burning one or two ricks of wood more per year.  The dealer I purchased my Mountain Man 505 from was in SWMO at 4W Metal and I can's say enough good things about them.  Just my two cents.  I love my stove so far, only issue is the blower door sticking when its not cycling very often and burning wood that is not completely dry.  I am going to try the paperclip trick this evening.

8

Plumbing / Plate heat exchanger plumbing

« on: August 26, 2014, 10:16:41 AM »

My Earth Mountain Man 505 is in and I will be setting it in a few days.  The dealer says to plumb my heat exchanger in with the hot water tank by going to the pop off valve and the drain and it will create a natural flow of the water inside the tank and the hot water tank will never need to run.  This would be on the domestic side of course.  I have also seen many pictures of these where they basically provide "instant hot" water and you just turn the valve off past the plate exchanger so the hot water heater never even gets water when the stove is running.  What do you all suggest from your personal experiences?

9

Plumbing / Re: Two zone heat

« on: May 06, 2014, 08:51:03 PM »

I understand what you are saying slimjim.  I hadn't really thought about doing it that way.  Do you think the restriction from the heat exchanger will force enough flow to my baseboard heater?  The office heat is the most important part of this because I will spend 10 hours a day in there working.  Also when the baseboard valve is open do you think I will get enough flow to my heat exchanger?

I also had another question.  I plan to keep the shop at around 50 degrees all the time.  It will have a ceiling in it and blown in insulation. Do you think I am safe to run my water lines in the attic?  The pump on the system I am buying runs all the time but I am wondering how much heat loss I will have from the cold temperatures in the attic.  I could lay them close to the bottom of the trusses and blow the insulation in over them.

10

Plumbing / Re: Two zone heat

« on: May 06, 2014, 08:35:56 PM »

Thanks for the advice. The shop is separate from the house. I only ran one set of 1" lines to the shop so I need to do this in one loop.

11

Plumbing / Re: Two zone heat

« on: May 04, 2014, 11:30:02 PM »

I wanted to add a little to the detail.  Almost all of the baseboard heaters I can find are a 3/4" inch element and the water/air exchangers have 1" fittings.  Should I buy a 1" three way valve so I can have the higher capacity running to the water/air exchanger when the baseboard heat is not calling for heat?  My stove is about 30' from the shop and I ran 1" into the building but my understanding of water flow is that if I go down to 3/4" anywhere in the system that is all the flow I will ever get, even if I go back to 1" after it goes through the baseboard heater.

12

Plumbing / Two zone heat

« on: May 04, 2014, 10:00:53 PM »

Hello all, I have been busy planning out my OWB and the plumbing/electrical components for it.  I am heating a house and a shop and in the shop I have an office that I work out of every day.  I wanted to run my plan by you pros and get your opinions.

I need to be able to keep my 10' x 10' office at 70 deg. all the time and the rest of the 30 x 40 shop 50 deg. except when I am in there then I will kick up the thermostat.  I plan to use a 6' baseboard heater in the office and regular water to air exchanger with a blower fan behind it in the rest of the shop.  The lines coming off my stove are 1" but the only reasonable 3-way valve I can find is only 3/4" so I was wondering if you believe that will cause any issues. 

I intend to run the line in from the stove outlet to a 24 volt 3-way zone valve that will be normally open to allow the water to bypass to the water/air heat exchanger in the main shop that will be wired to a thermostat.  When the second thermostat in the office calls for heat it will close the normally open and allow hot water into the baseboard heat then out of the baseboard heater and on to the water/air exchanger in the shop.  I can buy a heat only thermostat that runs on batteries but since it will be supplying the power to the valve quite often I think I will buy a 120 volt transformer like this one.http://www.supplyhouse.com/Honeywell-AT72D1683-Foot-Mounted-Plate-Mounted-or-Clamp-Mounted-120-Vac-Transformer-w-9-in-Lead-Wires-40VA-1740000-p
I think this set up will work but wanted to get other opinions first.

Thank You,
Mike

13

Hardy / Re: Opinion on used Hardy H4

« on: March 13, 2014, 12:03:14 PM »

It was junk.  Ashes had been left in the box for who knows how long and the grates and the material that holds the grates were pretty much gone.  The electronics were junk and the pumps had been frozen with water in them.  Needless to say I passed.  Still weighing my options.  If I end up buying new I am leaning towards the Earth Mountain Man 505.  The dealer is literally a stones throw away from where I am building and super good to work with and I like the simplicity of their design.  I know the 1/2" firebox on them is not as effecient but I also know they have to last longer and wood is not really hard to come by round here.

14

Hardy / Re: Opinion on used Hardy H4

« on: March 10, 2014, 08:40:17 AM »

I'm just not quite sold on the idea of not having a thermostat controlled fan on the fire. I dont doubt it will work if you burn dry wood all the time but what if I run low and need to burn some green wood. I know the Hardy has been around a long time and will be around after the new EPA regs go into place.

15

Hardy / Opinion on used Hardy H4

« on: March 09, 2014, 08:58:40 PM »

So I have been looking for a good deal on a used owb for a while and came across a Hardy H4 today for $900. It has an external leak somewhere and a hole in the bottom of the ash pan and needs one pump. This seems like a heck of a deal but wanted to get opinions.  Has anyone shipped one to Hardy for a rebuild? Can you tell how old it is from the picture?