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1

Plumbing / Re: zone valve question

« on: February 05, 2015, 12:51:51 PM »

normally closed, when I hooked my wood boiler up I thought i'd save money by using the existing circulator pump on the oil system. in order to do that I must have one of the zones open all the time allowing for circulation. I thought this an easy thing to do with what I thought was a lock out on the valve but it appears that when the thermostat tell the valve to open it resets it to normal operation once satisfied. there appears to be some sort of spring in the box of the valve that pushes the lever over to a position that will restore normal operation when the stat is satisfied even though I still need it open. right now I just have the lever tied back against that spring so that is continues to be hooked in the open position but just wondered if there was a better way. lj I don't want to permanently alter the valve open as I need the oil system to operate normally when I go away for longer period of time.

2

Plumbing / zone valve question

« on: February 05, 2015, 09:16:47 AM »

I have a pressurized wood/oil system whereby I must keep a zone valve locked on at all times. this morning I noticed one of my valves had reset to normal operation. its an erie valve with the lever to lock open when needed. there is also a slide switch under the lever that says actuator switch that I havnt moved because I don't know what it does. why would the valve reset from locked open to normal use?

3

General Outdoor Furnace Discussion / Re: help me tweak my system

« on: December 23, 2014, 05:01:37 AM »

upon power loss, my damper springs completely shut. going forward I may put in back up power. no dump zone at this time.

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General Outdoor Furnace Discussion / Re: help me tweak my system

« on: December 22, 2014, 01:17:15 PM »

wood boiler totally autonomous. has its own pressure relief, fill valve with reducer and relief, expansion tank, and air scoop with auto vent

5

General Outdoor Furnace Discussion / Re: help me tweak my system

« on: December 22, 2014, 10:03:19 AM »

slim
cant upload for some reason but i'll try to explain the reason for my setup. wood boiler is not an "outdoor" furnace but one that should be in a basement. (no jacket or insulation) I didn't want to place it there as I didn't have a chimney available and for the same reasons as everyone else as far as wood outside etc. wood boiler has 11 gallon tank on top and +/-25 feet of direct fire box exposure coil. I could not get enough info when planning the install to know whether I could just tap into my oil boiler without some additional water storage in between. oil boiler is a lennox conservator series with only 15 gallons of water. so when a couple of indirect hot water heaters hit craigslist locally I thought they were worth picking up to add margin of error. I thought I was going to plumb the tank side of the exchangers to the wood boiler to allow for this margin but ended up doing just the opposite as I started to think it would be better to have the btu's on the oil side. so at this time the wood boiler is hooked to the coil side of both heat exchangers and the tank side of one is stored oil boiler water and the tank side of the other is stored domestic hot water. I like everything that's happening except I would like to have a longer burn time. might not be possible I understand but this one question of "does it matter which side the btu's are stored" help? other thought I have is going from 180/160 water temps to a lower 170/160 or less if it continues to do the job of heating the home.

6

General Outdoor Furnace Discussion / help me tweak my system

« on: December 21, 2014, 07:13:27 PM »

just got my wb online last week and like everything but would like to see if someone can help me increase my burn time. 20 plus year old glenwood water heater style pressurized boiler. full time circulation into a pair of water/water heat exchangers in the basement. first exchanger is with the oil boiler witch has two zones of water/air heat exchanger in the air handlers. water leaves that exchanger and goes into another for dhw. I have a plumbing question: currently the wood boiler uses the coils in both w/w exchangers. if I were to replumb so that the wood boiler used the tank side of the exchangers (20 gals each) would that be more efficient? full load of wood is only getting 7 hr burn and would like to do all I can to improve. also, the glenwood has a aquastat driven damper actuator motor for natural draft. the flap is completely closed when water temp is up. would a draft fan improve overall burn time or only give a faster water temp increase cycle? thanks guys

7

Plumbing / water to water xchanger question

« on: November 18, 2014, 10:25:57 AM »

I picked up a used tank xchanger that was designed as a pool heater. tank fittings are 1.5" and the coil fittings are 1". is there a more efficient way to plumb? i.e. does the load side have to be the coil and the supply side have to be the tank side? if it matters, my application is wood boiler to oil boiler in series. thanks

8

Plumbing / Re: installing in series with oil boiler

« on: November 05, 2014, 10:39:25 AM »

thank you for responding but what i'm hoping is that I can still heat domestic with the glenwood using the existing exchanger in the oil boiler. if the existing x is tankless as the specs say, is it still immersed in the 9-13 gallons you reference above? I will be heating the water jacket in the oil boiler with the glenwood for heat just didn't know if I was able to expect to get dhw to be heated this way or does the coil receive an intense, direct fire from the oil burner I cant give it with the glenwood from 60 feet away?

9

Plumbing / installing in series with oil boiler

« on: November 05, 2014, 07:23:04 AM »

I have a lennox oil fired boiler with what the brochure calls a tankless domestic coil. placing my wb in place now in series and i'm concerned I wont be able to heat the domestic water satisfactorily if i'm not heating the dwc as intensely as the oil fire would. how much water is in the lennox cowb3? cant find that online. will I need to sidearm a separate hot water tank to have wood fired domestic in my application? my boiler is an older glenwood with 11 gal tank on top of the unit and +/- 50' of coil in the firebox. thank you

10

Plumbing / help with pipe sizing

« on: February 23, 2014, 09:02:49 AM »

add on pressure boiler 50 feet from the oil boiler. oil boiler has 1 1/4" outlet to expansion tank to 3/4" copper. immediately T's to 2 zones that are 3/4" copper throughout. one is 30' loop in the basement and other is 70' to the attic. (both water to air) upon return both zone lines turn to 1" copper just after zone valves then to 1 1/4" iron after single pump at the inlet to oil boiler.  what size pipe from wood boiler to oil boiler?
wood boiler is dual 3/4" inlet and single 1 1/4" outlet.  also does it matter where I tap into that system with wood boiler lines?  thanks so much for the help.

11

Plumbing / install questions

« on: February 20, 2014, 01:16:18 PM »

Finances made me buy  used and found a glenwood 1250 boiler with +/- 50' of 1" Pipe snaking thru firebox and 9 gal tank on top of unit.  Installing in a shed 10' from the house. 20' of crawlspace and 15' more to the  oil boiler.  Unit has 2 3/4" inlets and a n 1 1/4" outlet.. existing boiler  is 1 pump with 2 zone valves. 1 is 15' from pump, other is35'.  What size line from boiler to boiler? Do i need to pump from b to b?  Thanks

12

General Outdoor Furnace Discussion / Re: D and S Machine shop

« on: February 09, 2014, 06:21:56 PM »

Toured the shop on saturday. I was impressed but am easily impressed. I love to tour small manufacturing  processes and  see someones idea forged into a marketable product. The salesman impressed me with his answer to my question about how business was with the following: "business is very good but when we're this busy people are hurting."  The stove were sturdy stripped down models. Atractive to me as i'm not a bells and whistle guy. All models are pressure boilers and non gassers.  160000 btu was just under 4k. By my investigation as cheap as they come but probably still not cheap enough to get me into a new unit. You can buy direct from the manufacturer also. If i were to purchase one i would ask some questions about warran0ty and service.

13

General Outdoor Furnace Discussion / D and S Machine shop

« on: February 07, 2014, 10:39:16 AM »

anyone have any feedback on this manufacturer.  a buddy picked up a coal stove and is very impressed.  I've heard some decent things but no website as they are amish run out of Lancaster.  they offer a couple boiler models and would love to hear from anyone with knowledge. going to try to make a visit this weekend.

14

General Outdoor Furnace Discussion / Re: newbie question

« on: February 07, 2014, 10:34:58 AM »

thanks for all the feedback guys. you are certainly helping me narrow my choices.

15

Portage & Main / Re: ml 25 question

« on: February 07, 2014, 10:32:50 AM »

the ml is ADVERTISED as being very lightly used and the price is right. what was the reason for the replacement? was is just p and m updating all models or somthng specific to the ml25?  I don't mine buying old generation if it worked, I don't need bells and whistles. thanks for any ml 25 model specific feedback.