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[martyinmi]

I get a email every time a burn cycle starts:

http://ridgekid.dyndns.org:8080/index.html

You shaver owners live in the stone age or what? Actually just installed it a few weeks ago.  Thought you guys were following the thread in central boiler forum.

I just checked your boiler status. Looks like the dragon is makin' smoke and you are taking a shower!

[Ridgekid]

Thanks RSI. Think I have it fixed now.

[Ridgekid]

Wife taking her bath. Funny.

I was going to tell the shaver guys us CB owners got that temp monitoring kit with our purchase, but I thought I would be pushing it. 

[lugnut]

Or here http://rsi.dyndns-home.com:8000/last.htm 

Those shore are some purty pixures.   

[lugnut]

Your link is not working Ridge

After you click his link remove everything before ridge

WOW!!!  that's happening in like...real time!!

[lugnut]

HI Jerry,

Can you post another picture (of your blower configuration.)  I have the 75CFM w/solonoid and have not had any issues with mine, (maybe just lucky on my end).  I have read all the threads going back to 2008 on all the forums I could find prior to buying.  Many guys made their own damper/blower modifications from everything from coffee cans to dryer vents, this was prior to them adding a solonoid as an option from Shaver.

 

Ed

I can try or I can maybe copy/paste.

[lugnut]

HI Jerry,

Can you post another picture (of your blower configuration.)  I have the 75CFM w/solonoid and have not had any issues with mine, (maybe just lucky on my end).  I have read all the threads going back to 2008 on all the forums I could find prior to buying.  Many guys made their own damper/blower modifications from everything from coffee cans to dryer vents, this was prior to them adding a solonoid as an option from Shaver.

 

Ed

Ed, I attempted to re-post the photo, but darn it...this site just confuses the heck out of me.  If you go to the subject matter: Shaver Auto Damper on this forum site and go to page 3, you can view my damper.  Or "positive closure."

[lugnut]

HI Jerry,

Can you post another picture (of your blower configuration.)  I have the 75CFM w/solenoid and have not had any issues with mine, (maybe just lucky on my end).  I have read all the threads going back to 2008 on all the forums I could find prior to buying.  Many guys made their own damper/blower modifications from everything from coffee cans to dryer vents, this was prior to them adding a solonoid as an option from Shaver.

 

Ed

Ed, maybe because you have yours mounted vertical and not horizontal?

[lugnut]

For natural draft you will need to have a taller insulated chimney. I haven't been following your posts so I don't know what all problems you are having, but if it helps at all there was a thread about 50 pages long over on arboristsite.com named "shaver improvement thread". Seems like a lot of guys had trouble regulating the water temp and blower/damper issues. Most seemed happy after some home made mods, good luck!

Mr. Woodperson....I'm "only" up to page 28 on that site and I HAVE earned a bunch.  Here's the situation, when I got this 250 Shaver, the invoice read that I had a 75 cfm with auto damper.  Well I had the 50 cfm with manual damper.  As I got to thinking this afternoon, the 50 cfm blower had the "manual slide" plate.  Shaver's thought son this was so that if one wanted to tinker with burn times, one could do so with this type of damper.  So me gets to thinking...folks be sayin' that we shouldn't be messing with the damper as far as how far it is open and we don't want it closed...if this is the case, why was there a "slide damper" on the 50 cfm?  Why was it not just WOT? 

Seems to me....that I could "preserve" wood if the damper OR Positive closure were adjustable down to 1/4- 3/8" open.  If this is NOT supposed to be right....what's up then wit da 50 cfm wit da slide damper?

Why doesn't Shaver cover this better than they do, which is NAUGHT?!!   

Lugnut

I guess I still don't understand what you are having trouble with. Are you getting too much draft or not enough? If it helps at all my fan is rated at 150cfm. It has a adjustable restricter plate on the discharge side of the fan. I have it closed about 2/3 of the way down. All I did was watch the smoke from my chimney and went with a compromise of a few minutes of smoke at start up then mostly a clean burn during the rest of the cycle. If I give it more air it comes up to temp a little faster but seems to send more heat heat out the stack. If I restrict it more it smokes almost the entire time and takes a long time to get the water up to temp. I have no cresolt issues and no trouble with 12-16 hour burn times.

Well I feel that I'm getting too much of a draft and that because of this, I'm going through wood at a rather quick pace.  Seems that I'm loading it up sometimes three times a day....I pile the wood into the box, BUT NOT up to the tip of the firebox.  And NOT all the way to the rear either.  Just seems that the blower should not be running as often as it does.

Maybe I'm making too huge of an issue out of this, but...then why does Shaver tell you with the "original damper" to "play with it' and find the sweet spot( this last part is my words, NOT theirs.)  Either open that puppy up all the way or close it down to where it is only open 1/3 to 1/4 of the way.

The thing about playing with this and making sure that it is just right, is all the putzin' with it and the chance of burning out the darn solenoid.....again.     Yeah, I know there is NO written rule on how anything is done here, but there's just something I'm missing.  The home made "positive closures" prolly work very well if the motor is mounted horizontal and not vertical.

Speaking of wood...it's 0802 and time to go out and check the firebox.

Lugnut

[woodman]

OK try this, adjust your water temp as low as you can go and still keep your house comfortable. Set your temperature differental as wide as you can on the shaver. I have mine set at a 30 degree diff. The next time your blower kicks on wait about 5 minutes then adjust your damper right to the edge of little smoke/clean burn. If you are burning seasoned wood, and you have your water as low as you feel comfortable going, and you see little smoke, this is as effecient as your owb will get without chaniging design or adding insulation. Good luck!

[lugnut]

OK try this, adjust your water temp as low as you can go and still keep your house comfortable. Set your temperature differential as wide as you can on the shaver. I have mine set at a 30 degree diff. The next time your blower kicks on wait about 5 minutes then adjust your damper right to the edge of little smoke/clean burn. If you are burning seasoned wood, and you have your water as low as you feel comfortable going, and you see little smoke, this is as efficient as your owb will get without changing design or adding insulation. Good luck!

Well herein lies another problem...yeah I know: "what another issue what isn't wrong?"  well we wont go into that..  LOL!  I do not have the Ranco connected yet, so there is no way I can set anything at any kind of differential.  Earlier on another thread of the Shaver page, someone mentioned that if the water temp is set too low that the creosote will again appear.  Been through the creosote deali- bob and don't care to go back.  :-(  then there's the deal of how to adjust my damper.  I tried the lengthening of the chain...does NOT work; I tried taping off the blower motor...does not work; I attempted to mount a turnbuckle up on the rear wall of the furnace and that would work, but, the solenoid has to be attached as well.     IF I could mount the damper/solenoid on the blower in a vertical fashion, I would be having only half these issues, but for the fact that it is mounted as it is...this is the issue.

Well screw it.  I'll just keep reading these posts and go back on the arbonist site and continue reading over there as well.  If I don't get it figured out this winter, I'll play with it in the Spring.  I have another idea though that someone gave me about mounting the damper...I might very well have to mount it to the crappy metal plate at an angle..solenoid higher than the opening.

Slugnut   

[jimr]

why did you mount the new blower in a different position then what it was designed for. by doing this you changed how the solenoid works, i believe yours pulls in?

[Treewinder]

"Well I feel that I'm getting too much of a draft and that because of this, I'm going through wood at a rather quick pace.  Seems that I'm loading it up sometimes three times a day...."


Jerry,

Yes mine is mounted vertical from the factory. 
You say your going thru a lot of burns so your trying to slow it down by adjusting the blower gate, correct?

I'd be looking at why your water is losing temp so quickly, that it turns your blower on more frequently.  Now that takes looking at :
Insulation on water box
Insulation on underground pex
Distance from OWB to house
Major air leak to fire box
Aquastat set too low
Square feet heated greater than output

Maybe someothers can time in here....

Ed

[lugnut]

why did you mount the new blower in a different position then what it was designed for. by doing this you changed how the solenoid works, i believe yours pulls in?

Jim,

The blower is mounted horizontal because there is no room to mount it vertically because of the water line directly above it.  Look at the photos either on this thread some where or over on the thread titles Shaver Auto Damper.

Jerry

[lugnut]

"Well I feel that I'm getting too much of a draft and that because of this, I'm going through wood at a rather quick pace.  Seems that I'm loading it up sometimes three times a day...."


Jerry,

Yes mine is mounted vertical from the factory. 
You say your going thru a lot of burns so your trying to slow it down by adjusting the blower gate, correct?  "CORRECT."

I'd be looking at why your water is losing temp so quickly, that it turns your blower on more frequently.  Now that takes looking at :
Insulation on water box..........................How ever it was insulated at the "factory" is the way it is insulated now.
Insulation on underground pex..............foiled insulated wrap as is the norm for the underground pex lines.
Distance from OWB to house..................115 from OWB to the house.
Major air leak to fire box..........................NO leaks that I can find.  Rear top plate has silicone arond all the gaps.
Aquastat set too low...............................No  aquastat...just the standard DHW t-stat..temp on that stat set at 150*
Square feet heated greater than output....Pro Series 250....square footage of house 3400

Maybe someothers can time in here....

Ed