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1
General Outdoor Furnace Discussion / Wand and 1.75" cleaning brush for tubes
« on: November 29, 2018, 05:45:29 AM »
Hey people,
I trust everyone is enjoying the change of season and next to free warmth provided from our boilers?
I am looking for the rod and brushes to clean my empyre 200pro stove. I have found a few places that still have brushes but the wand is elusive and mine has seen better days.
Any thoughts?
I trust everyone is enjoying the change of season and next to free warmth provided from our boilers?
I am looking for the rod and brushes to clean my empyre 200pro stove. I have found a few places that still have brushes but the wand is elusive and mine has seen better days.
Any thoughts?
2
Pro Fab / Hey Fellas
« on: January 19, 2016, 09:07:10 AM »
How are your Empyre/Profab gassers runnin?
We have had a mild winter so far but has been pretty cold lately. I have gone through about 2.5 cords with a continuous fire burning from the end of October. I am gonna have some wood left over, that's for sure!
Hope all is well!
We have had a mild winter so far but has been pretty cold lately. I have gone through about 2.5 cords with a continuous fire burning from the end of October. I am gonna have some wood left over, that's for sure!
Hope all is well!
3
General Outdoor Furnace Discussion / Re: Have a gasifier? Share your story.
« on: March 21, 2015, 11:07:34 AM »
Empyre Pro 200
This is my first season and shut down the boiler for the first time last week for 6 months. I used just shy of two cords a month heating my 140 year old two story farm house that is well insulated including foam sprayed basement walls. I also have a 40X80 shop that I heat when it isn't too cold with a 100k BTU dragons breath air handler. The 200pro capabilities are pretty much at their max with my setup.
I am really happy with the unit and only had a few problems I was able to work out pretty quick. The combustion fan in the back of the unit has sealed bearings that only lasted about 4 months. The warranty process was incredibly easy and a new fan was delivered in five days. I would highly suggest oiling the bearings with a drop of oil when cleaning the unit once a week. I usually remove the fan when cleaning so ash does not intrude the motor housing. I think this is where bearing failure begins. My electronics warranty has run out so now I am on my own. I have a total of three fans now (one new one on machine, one backup and one I am taking apart this summer to design a better bearing setup.) Pretty much everything else I might need can be bought and shipped out online.
Creosote build up seems to be the problem for alot of owners. I do not have any to speak of but I think keeping the load times shorter is the key. All gassers like seasoned wood but with a keen eye or a 30 dollar moisture meter you can mix up the wood. I have only had a few bridge outs but eventually they cave in and it starts making good heat again. I also put in a cap full of creosote killer powder a few times a week.
I started my fire Sept 12 of last year. It was a bit early but I wanted to be able to work out some bugs if need be. The fire has never gone out. Even when the fan quit and the unit idled for 12 hours reducing a full box of wood to a not even a smoulder all had to do was get the fan going again and the fire roared to life.
I decided to build a fire today as we are dropping down to -9 tonight but well into the positives early this week. It took about 2 hours to go from stone cold to 180'F.
The manual and video shows the stove being loaded with optimum shaped wood. 6-8" in diameter for the 200pro and 3'long there abouts. I do not have access to this type of wood and I burn just about everything that doesnt have nails in it. (ok, maybe the odd pallet too). I have not had a problem at all.
The only thing I would change is the firebox size. It is ridiculously small but I guess its part of the design. If I had bought th 400 pro it would have too long of burn times and create creosote.
The smoke door has a hinge that is in a sheety spot making the stove difficult to fill to the top but on the other hand the ash cleanout is stupid easy and very efficient. I create about 1 bucket of ash a week and have never had to clean out the firebox as the ash is directed out the bottom holes in the brick.
All and all if this bitch doesn't spring a leak in the next 4 years I am one happy guy. I spend about 4000 in oil/propane a year and purchased this unit at a deep discount. My total install including concrete pad and walkway was under 10k.
Maintenance,
Pretty easy all and all and takes less than 15 min. I keep all the tools including a cheap drill in the back of the machine. Cleaning out the tubes with the fly ash brush supplied and a power drill is a snap. I also lightly scrub around the gaskets, oil the motor and blow out the fan with compressed air. I wouldn't even call it maintenance to be honest. I was doing it once a week, then once every two weeks and left it for three once. I think the buildup after three weeks was a detriment to the efficiency so now I just do it every Sunday morning as a rule.
This is my first season and shut down the boiler for the first time last week for 6 months. I used just shy of two cords a month heating my 140 year old two story farm house that is well insulated including foam sprayed basement walls. I also have a 40X80 shop that I heat when it isn't too cold with a 100k BTU dragons breath air handler. The 200pro capabilities are pretty much at their max with my setup.
I am really happy with the unit and only had a few problems I was able to work out pretty quick. The combustion fan in the back of the unit has sealed bearings that only lasted about 4 months. The warranty process was incredibly easy and a new fan was delivered in five days. I would highly suggest oiling the bearings with a drop of oil when cleaning the unit once a week. I usually remove the fan when cleaning so ash does not intrude the motor housing. I think this is where bearing failure begins. My electronics warranty has run out so now I am on my own. I have a total of three fans now (one new one on machine, one backup and one I am taking apart this summer to design a better bearing setup.) Pretty much everything else I might need can be bought and shipped out online.
Creosote build up seems to be the problem for alot of owners. I do not have any to speak of but I think keeping the load times shorter is the key. All gassers like seasoned wood but with a keen eye or a 30 dollar moisture meter you can mix up the wood. I have only had a few bridge outs but eventually they cave in and it starts making good heat again. I also put in a cap full of creosote killer powder a few times a week.
I started my fire Sept 12 of last year. It was a bit early but I wanted to be able to work out some bugs if need be. The fire has never gone out. Even when the fan quit and the unit idled for 12 hours reducing a full box of wood to a not even a smoulder all had to do was get the fan going again and the fire roared to life.
I decided to build a fire today as we are dropping down to -9 tonight but well into the positives early this week. It took about 2 hours to go from stone cold to 180'F.
The manual and video shows the stove being loaded with optimum shaped wood. 6-8" in diameter for the 200pro and 3'long there abouts. I do not have access to this type of wood and I burn just about everything that doesnt have nails in it. (ok, maybe the odd pallet too). I have not had a problem at all.
The only thing I would change is the firebox size. It is ridiculously small but I guess its part of the design. If I had bought th 400 pro it would have too long of burn times and create creosote.
The smoke door has a hinge that is in a sheety spot making the stove difficult to fill to the top but on the other hand the ash cleanout is stupid easy and very efficient. I create about 1 bucket of ash a week and have never had to clean out the firebox as the ash is directed out the bottom holes in the brick.
All and all if this bitch doesn't spring a leak in the next 4 years I am one happy guy. I spend about 4000 in oil/propane a year and purchased this unit at a deep discount. My total install including concrete pad and walkway was under 10k.
Maintenance,
Pretty easy all and all and takes less than 15 min. I keep all the tools including a cheap drill in the back of the machine. Cleaning out the tubes with the fly ash brush supplied and a power drill is a snap. I also lightly scrub around the gaskets, oil the motor and blow out the fan with compressed air. I wouldn't even call it maintenance to be honest. I was doing it once a week, then once every two weeks and left it for three once. I think the buildup after three weeks was a detriment to the efficiency so now I just do it every Sunday morning as a rule.
4
Empyre / Re: Fixed one problem now have another
« on: March 12, 2015, 07:26:08 PM »
Can someone post a picture of their blower flap arrangement? I have no creosote buildup (6 months continuous fire) and when I remove my fan and the box housing it mounts to there is only a small steel flap that opens up about 30 degrees or so....
5
General Outdoor Furnace Discussion / Re: Why no electric heating elements?
« on: March 08, 2015, 11:35:39 AM »Why has no owb company not put in an element or two inside the water jacket to be a backup in case the fire dies? Seems they could kick on at 120 or something and it would keep the water from freezing. Put them at bottom of water jacket to avoid having evaporation bare them.
I am guessing because it isn't necessary. The moving water through my system would be kept well above freezing when my oil furnace kicks on. I inadvertently tested this theory a few weeks ago when my fan quit and I didn't have my back up for a few days. I didn't feel like letting my gasser up-draft so I just let the fire go out and waited for UPS. Temp dropped to a number above zero, oil furnace kicked on and that was that.
Should a pump quit I might have different results. My house began heating the boiler water jacket at some point. It would be ill advised to not have a backup pump I suppose but an element in the waterjacket with no pump is not going to prevent my lines from freezing.
On another note I am not sure I would want the added risks involved in an element. Any current leakage through element to waterjacket housing will promote cathodic corrosion and you could end up springing a leak.
6
Empyre / Re: How are the Empyre boilers running?
« on: February 15, 2015, 07:09:25 AM »Empyre has a 1 year warranty on ALL electrical parts. I have to eat the blower fan. I'm so glad that I can bank on spending 170$ every year to year and a half on a blower.
My blower stopped again last night. Funny how it can't stop in the middle of the day. Has to be 3am-5am for some reason. Quickly took motor off and put a drop or two of oil on each end of the shaft and its good to go. I ordered a new fan from AltHeating this morning and a few other doodads.
I smashed my thigh off a tree snowmobiling yesterday and can barely walk without looking like I am 90. Its a pretty nasty deep bruise but I guess I am lucky I didn't break my leg. I should have put up a video camera of me taking the blower motor off this morning at 4am. Dog knocked screws into snow, dropped the marretts, dropped the screws several times. It would have been hilarious.
The fan from Altheat was 7 bucks more than from Ecomfort. I have used Altheat before and the shipping is really fast so I think its worth the 7 bucks.
I am not all that upset about the fan. I don't have any creosote build up in air channel, no water leaks from water jacket and no bricks appear to be broken. I know some people are having trouble with their units and I usually bite my nails when something seems out of sorts with the water temp but overall I am still happy. I have been burning a continuous fire for 5 months now. Gone through about 7-9 cords of quality hardwood/ash/willow/pine and junk wood. I didn't pay for any of it and I am easily 3000.00 bucks ahead of the gas/oil guys at this point and I have 7 or 8 cords of hardwood left and two more heating months.
I figure I am at a 3.5 year rate of return for my whole install.
If the thing sheets out even though I try to look after it I will move it to the back corner behind my shop, gut it and make a chicken coop out of it. If it lasts 10 years I will buy another one.
7
Empyre / Re: How are the Empyre boilers running?
« on: February 06, 2015, 04:37:47 PM »
My blower quit last weekend. Check and see if your fan will run if you give it a spin by hand. I can tell you by personal experience there has to be very little resistance in the bearing or the fan won't get rolling. A few drops of oil near the bearings and mine has been fine. I am going to source out a replacement this summer...
8
Empyre / Re: How are the Empyre boilers running?
« on: January 13, 2015, 04:22:10 AM »http://ecomfort.com/empyre-elite-xtprodeluxe-flue-brush-92364.html
Here is a link for the place where I buy my empyre products.
Holy Sheet. I went to order the flue brush and shipping was calculated out to 245.00. I am going to call them today.
9
Empyre / Re: How are the Empyre boilers running?
« on: January 12, 2015, 08:55:50 PM »
My configuration does not look like that. You remove two screws for fan and two screws for airbox. The flapper is not serviceable?
10
Empyre / Re: How are the Empyre boilers running?
« on: January 12, 2015, 04:27:14 PM »
I removed mine yesterday for its bi-weekly cleaning to see if anything was building up. Because of the milder weather in the fall I was thinking there must be some creosote build up of some kind.
I remove the two 10mm head screws, placed the motor to the side and then removed the bracket that holds the motor on.
the flap is very clean and swings easily. I can't see very well in the chamber as the flap only goes back about 30 degrees or so. It looks clean, albeit impossible to rectify if it did become plugged... I watched the DVD the other day again and they mention the chain cleaning method but I don't see how this is possible in the middle of the winter, with one person. I am really happy with the stove but I am concerned about this design....
Speaking of cleaning where does one get the air tube brush? MIne is just about worn out...
I remove the two 10mm head screws, placed the motor to the side and then removed the bracket that holds the motor on.
the flap is very clean and swings easily. I can't see very well in the chamber as the flap only goes back about 30 degrees or so. It looks clean, albeit impossible to rectify if it did become plugged... I watched the DVD the other day again and they mention the chain cleaning method but I don't see how this is possible in the middle of the winter, with one person. I am really happy with the stove but I am concerned about this design....
Speaking of cleaning where does one get the air tube brush? MIne is just about worn out...
11
General Outdoor Furnace Discussion / Re: Large Water Volumes
« on: December 12, 2014, 04:44:22 PM »
My Empyre 200 holds 75 gallons.... Not very much in comparison.
12
General Outdoor Furnace Discussion / Re: Best Stories of 2014
« on: December 05, 2014, 04:30:13 AM »
My propane tank is on an automatic fill for the second week of every month starting in September. Third week in octorber rolls around and because I had forgotten to cancel automatic dispatch the truck showed up to fill the tank. Our tank is located about 10' from our bathroom window and because of the excess heat we leave some windows cracked open. I could hear the driver arguing with dispatch that someone had filled the tank and it wasn't him. He was adamant he had been out in September and the tank was full then.
I opened the back door and apologized for not calling to cancel dispatch. He asked where we were getting propane and I pointed behind my shop where you could see the vapor trail coming off the stove. He looked a the stacks of wood and then at me and said "got it..."
I opened the back door and apologized for not calling to cancel dispatch. He asked where we were getting propane and I pointed behind my shop where you could see the vapor trail coming off the stove. He looked a the stacks of wood and then at me and said "got it..."
13
Empyre / Re: How are the Empyre boilers running?
« on: December 03, 2014, 10:02:47 AM »
I am running mine 180/170on. Seems to be working for me..
14
Empyre / Re: How are the Empyre boilers running?
« on: December 02, 2014, 10:04:58 AM »
My 200pro has been running from Sept 8th to now.
Zone A
- Domestic Hot water
- X-changer in furnace plegnum
- 3 X 200' loops under main floor of house
- Cast Iron Radiator in Great room
Zone B
110,000 BTU dragons breath in 40X80X15 Insulated shop.
My house gets about 9-10 hour burn times on the relatively small firebox a 200 series has. If I fire up the dragons breath handler I am down to about 5-6 hours burn time. This is only if the ambient air temp is below -10C. If it hovers around 0 It keeps up perfectly with 8-10 hour burn times. I can get 12h times with just the house if I use quality hardwoods.
For the record I have had only two bridge outs. And both were my own fault and ignorance on effective stove loading. Other than that .....
Very fricken happy.
Zone A
- Domestic Hot water
- X-changer in furnace plegnum
- 3 X 200' loops under main floor of house
- Cast Iron Radiator in Great room
Zone B
110,000 BTU dragons breath in 40X80X15 Insulated shop.
My house gets about 9-10 hour burn times on the relatively small firebox a 200 series has. If I fire up the dragons breath handler I am down to about 5-6 hours burn time. This is only if the ambient air temp is below -10C. If it hovers around 0 It keeps up perfectly with 8-10 hour burn times. I can get 12h times with just the house if I use quality hardwoods.
For the record I have had only two bridge outs. And both were my own fault and ignorance on effective stove loading. Other than that .....
Very fricken happy.
15
General Outdoor Furnace Discussion / Re: Gassers vs. conventional - Looking for input from those that have had both
« on: November 22, 2014, 06:12:28 AM »
I am running an Empyre 200 gasser and so far things are great. I really like the stove and I am very happy with the burn times and consumption although I have read there are problems with these units. I guess time will tell.... I have not used any propane or Oil since September and have only had a bridged firebox twice this season and it was my own fault. Once you get the grasp of an inverted fire and what will happen to the wood over time it's a snap. I have most likely two and a half years worth of wood I processed this spring. It only takes a summer to season it if you stack it right and burning green wood is a waste of BTU's anyhow.
My only complaint is the size of the firebox. I suppose the design maximizes it's efficiency but it would be nice to be able to jam a bit more wood out of it. I try to keep my burn times to a convenient 12 hours but depending on ambient temperature I get 9-10 hours. I process some pretty ugly pieces of wood so getting the box tightly packed it difficult with the small loading door.
I bought a unit that has to work a bit hard to keep up to all my demands. From what I read you don't want to purchase a gasser if you want it to idle all day so I did some math to try to find one that would manage my house during the day and night and start rippin when I called for heat in my shop. I am basically pulling 65,000 BTU's off zone A and 100,000 BTU's off zone B.
I personally would rather the entire system to run lean. It optimizes wood consumption, increases BTU's and lowers cleaning time. Due to some of the complexities and design of the stove I do not want any creosote problems.
My shop is huge so I have a wood furnace and used oil stove in my shop to supplement heat if my air handler can't keep up. So long as I am not paying for fuel I could care a less about the extra work.
My only complaint is the size of the firebox. I suppose the design maximizes it's efficiency but it would be nice to be able to jam a bit more wood out of it. I try to keep my burn times to a convenient 12 hours but depending on ambient temperature I get 9-10 hours. I process some pretty ugly pieces of wood so getting the box tightly packed it difficult with the small loading door.
I bought a unit that has to work a bit hard to keep up to all my demands. From what I read you don't want to purchase a gasser if you want it to idle all day so I did some math to try to find one that would manage my house during the day and night and start rippin when I called for heat in my shop. I am basically pulling 65,000 BTU's off zone A and 100,000 BTU's off zone B.
I personally would rather the entire system to run lean. It optimizes wood consumption, increases BTU's and lowers cleaning time. Due to some of the complexities and design of the stove I do not want any creosote problems.
My shop is huge so I have a wood furnace and used oil stove in my shop to supplement heat if my air handler can't keep up. So long as I am not paying for fuel I could care a less about the extra work.