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[birchbark]

Can anyone provide me a detailed parts breakdown on the optimizer gasser.  I would prefer it on the 350, but I would think they are all kindy similar.
Thanks,
Steve

[coolidge]

Steve,

   What is it your looking for? I would think that with the guys on here running the 250 and having issues we should be able to figure something out. I have not seen a breakdown of any sort for these boilers.

[Bill G]

Birchbark,

      Never saw a drawing of our furnaces.  And the booklet supplied w/furnace doesn't do much.  They really need to show some detailed diagrams of all that needs cleaning during use!  Absolutely nothing mentioned about removal/maintenance of airbox cover.  What a nice surprise after a 1/2 season of burning!  Heading for disaster, I was.

     

[martyinmi]

Hey Bill,
   Did you ever figure out why you ended up with that soot in your air box. All three of us who bought ours at the same time were talking today and and we were trying to come up with a scenario where we might get 1" of crap in that manifold, and we are stumped. We've all had ours opened up twice(three times for me), and the second times were completely unnecessary. Everything was free, and there was only a light smoke film in there. Even the first time the amount was barely measurable. We did notice that they will "poof" out of the fan housing at certain times, but that has been only when we neglected to add wood when needed and the refractory temperature got too low. I'm wondering if maybe you had too much fly ash in your primary burn chamber that acted as an insulator and wouldn't allow proper gasification. That does seem to make them want to blow back when they are trying to achieve gasification but just can't because temperatures are too low. I might do some testing to see if I can duplicate your results
   My testing has gone great so far on what you and I talked about. Over 12% so far. I've documented it and sent the results to Rory and Brian. I think I can gain another 5% or so, but that will be harder and probably require another gadget or two. I'll keep you pm'd
   birchbark,
I'm guessing that the information you want might be considered proprietary. Even us owners don't have access to that information, and we have invested over ten grand in our units. If you have a friend or neighbor with a P&M, they might allow you to measure it up when this burn season is over. I doubt you'd be able to get any dimensions or elemental breakdowns from any of the major manufacturers.

[Bill G]

Hey Marty,

      Creosote, my friend, not soot!  Loads of it.  In all it's black, nasty glory!  Some fully hardened, some tarry like and some liquid.

      Sent you a pm, but maybe never got there?

      All ok now and will be standing guard.  If you've been following some of my posts, you can tell my current frame of mind!  Maintenance intensive, this animal will be.  My latest wonderment is, if the nozzle is spalding/cracking, how long does the firebox floor going to last? 

      Appreciate your walking me through airbox clean-up!  Thanks Buddy! 

Bill

[martyinmi]

Bill,
   Haven't received any pm's from you in a while.

   Glad you got her up and smoke free. I guess we are pretty fortunate here in MI. We seem able to be able to just put wood in and go. Taking a couple gravel shovel fulls of fine ash out of the primary burn chamber every three or four days and keeping the nozzle area relatively clear seems to be the ticket for us.
    My air box looked as clean as it was the time I had opened it up last. I had to take the cover off to install my top secret mods a few weeks ago I'll bet if you keep everything hot you'll not have an issue again. Today I'm going to try and get the Carquest part # for the screws I used to replace the old self tappers and share it with you all.
   I wouldn't be worried about the nozzle opening at all if I were you. I believe that area in the refractory is about 4" thick, and as long as we don't just throw heavy pieces of wood in, they will last for a long time. I'll bet several years. If you look in the secondary burn chamber at night you'll see there is no chipping or cracking on the bottom side of it.
   I am deliberately treating mine worse than I should to give myself an excuse to replace it. I have a $100.00 bag of 3200 degree refractory cement just waiting to get mixed up to form a new nozzle. Hope the P&M guys don't read here!
   AND....Just so you know, I'm learning just as much from you as you are from me. I like to talk, but I actually listen to what I'm hearing. Thank You!

   Marty
   

[Bill G]

Hey Guys,

     Still can't get over how well the opt 250 is performing since the airbox clean-up!  Seriously, it hasn't ever burned super clean from day1.  But now, just phenominal!  (big word, think it means almost unbelievable??)  So I'll do my part and keep the maintenance schedule on time.  Do any of you miss the fine smell of woodsmoke around the house?  Think I'll be forced to move the free standing stove into the garage, so I can get my occasional fix of the stuff! 

     My advise to anyone looking at the OWB scene is this:  If you can get away with a conventional OWB, by all means go that route!  These gasser's are ok, but you will soon find they take quite a bit of maint. to keep functioning correctly.  Yes, they do burn less wood, but if you are like me, c/s/s an extra 2-3 cord of wood could be considered fun as opposed to the necessary maint.  To each their own, I suppose, but P&M does make good OWB's.  I am happy just to have one, no matter what type, but that ML36 probably would have been more to my liking.  Hey, I'm helping to save all of us from the horrible smell of wood smoke pollution!

     PS...I got a DPF/EGR and cat for a 6.7 cummins, if anyone needs it, cheap.