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1
General Outdoor Furnace Discussion / 1" to 3/4" at DHW exchanger
« on: October 12, 2015, 09:00:10 AM »
I recently got a 50 plate 3X8 heat exchanger with 3/4" fittings on it. My pex tubing is at 1". How big of an issue is this going to be going down from 1" to 3/4" for this? I understand it is limiting the flow, but how much is the flow limited by the plate exchanger anyways, since it goes down to much less than 3/4" through the plate. There is a 5X12 50 plate exchanger with 1" fittings on it that I could possible acquire, but it won't be here until about halfway through the season, and I'd rather have this installed before starting up the boiler.
2
Plumbing / 1" to 3/4" at DHW heat exchanger
« on: October 12, 2015, 08:59:39 AM »
I recently got a 50 plate 3X8 heat exchanger with 3/4" fittings on it. My pex tubing is at 1". How big of an issue is this going to be going down from 1" to 3/4" for this? I understand it is limiting the flow, but how much is the flow limited by the plate exchanger anyways, since it goes down to much less than 3/4" through the plate. There is a 5X12 50 plate exchanger with 1" fittings on it that I could possible acquire, but it won't be here until about halfway through the season, and I'd rather have this installed before starting up the boiler.
3
General Outdoor Furnace Discussion / Temperature of door seals
« on: July 12, 2015, 05:48:01 AM »
Looking for a new rope seal for the door, and I'm wondering what temperature does it need to be rated at? There are some silicone only seals that are rated for temps up to 480degrees, and some silicone coated rope that is rated up to 500deg. Does it need to be higher than that, or will those work? Thanks.
4
Equipment / Accessories for Troy Built
« on: October 25, 2014, 08:10:59 AM »
Just bought a new Troy built 27 ton splitter and love it. Having some trouble finding a larger log catcher. What other brands would fit this one? Also, anyone have any luck with a 4 way splitter head on it?
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General Outdoor Furnace Discussion / Silicone rope for sale
« on: August 23, 2014, 02:11:00 PM »
I recently bought 25' of the high temp 5/8" silicone rope from this site http://www.firesleeveandtape.com/high-temperature-heat-flame-fire-resistant-silicone-rubber-coated-fiberglass-rope.html
For some reason my door is not shutting with this tape in, guess it doesn't compress enough for my burner, and I can't adjust the door either. Anyways, I paid $110 for the 25', and can't use it. I can sell it to anyone for $50, and I'll ship it included. It is cut in 3 pieces, one is about 1.5' long, one 3' long, the rest is the remainder of the roll.
For some reason my door is not shutting with this tape in, guess it doesn't compress enough for my burner, and I can't adjust the door either. Anyways, I paid $110 for the 25', and can't use it. I can sell it to anyone for $50, and I'll ship it included. It is cut in 3 pieces, one is about 1.5' long, one 3' long, the rest is the remainder of the roll.
6
General Outdoor Furnace Discussion / New Woodshed
« on: August 05, 2014, 01:05:05 PM »
Just built this dandy a few weeks ago. The one I was using previously was a cheap canvas temporary garage from Harbor Freight. It did the job, but couldn't hold a few years worth to season, only got about 1.5 years worth in it. So....a friend and I got together and out comes this monster. 32X10, and can stack it 5.5' in the back, and up to 7.5' in front. Since these pictures were taken, I've put a few inches of sand on the ground to help with drainage and keep the small plants from popping up, and lined the floor with pallets to keep the wood off the ground. Now its time to start cutting more. I've got about a years that is seasoned already, now time to get more cut for future seasoning!
7
General Outdoor Furnace Discussion / Burning wood chips?
« on: January 11, 2014, 10:12:24 PM »
Looking through craigslist I am seeing many ads for chipper/shredders, which got me to thinking... With the tree tops that I am not using, just basically putting them in a burn pile and burning right there, what about chipping them and burning them in the boiler? Has anyone tried doing this? It seems they would dry out pretty quickly, but it would also be harder keeping them dry. Almost need to store them in a large barrel/trough. Transport to the burner would also be a pain, but it would add a bunch of extra wood that I am currently wasting.....Any thoughts?
8
General Outdoor Furnace Discussion / replacing rope seal...silicone?
« on: January 07, 2014, 07:04:15 AM »
Have read many things about replacing the rope seal with a silicone seal. When doing this, do you still put the rope seal in the groove and place the high temp silicone over the top of that, or skip the rope seal completely? Also, what temp rating of silicone do I use? "High temp" has ranged anywhere from 400-5000 from some of the sites I have been looking at.
9
General Outdoor Furnace Discussion / Perfect storm
« on: January 04, 2014, 05:18:08 PM »
Hit the perfect storm the last 3 days with the boiler. It was below 10 for the last few days with pretty strong winds was strike #1. #2 came when my wife had a few friends over for "crafts" and we turned the garage heat from 50 to 70 to keep them all warm. #3 was hitting a spot in my wood pile that was cottonwood and didn't burn worth a crap. It was free wood a friend cut this summer and brought over, so I couldn't refuse it, but also can't wait til this spot in the pile is burnt. So instead of having 14-18 hr burns, I hit the 8 hour mark and the temps started falling. Luckily I was here all day to feed the beast and now am back to my oak to burn.
10
General Outdoor Furnace Discussion / Burning time?
« on: November 12, 2013, 01:04:51 PM »
How long does your burner actively burn at a time? Just wondering what everyone else gets with the different burners out there? If you could put what type of burner you have, what water temp you run at, and how long it typically takes for it to burn to keep it at that temp. I know each burner is going to vary widely, based on heat draw, what type of wood you are burning, and many other factors. This isn't a exact survey, just for $h!+$ and giggles.
I am running a Heiss Heater gasifier at 185 degrees. I have aquastat set to kick blower on when the water coming back in is +\- 2 degrees, then usually takes 25-30 minutes of blower time to get it up to point it shuts off. Thats burning oak that is seasoned only since spring. (Just got burner and this season's wood is not as seasoned as future will be).
I am running a Heiss Heater gasifier at 185 degrees. I have aquastat set to kick blower on when the water coming back in is +\- 2 degrees, then usually takes 25-30 minutes of blower time to get it up to point it shuts off. Thats burning oak that is seasoned only since spring. (Just got burner and this season's wood is not as seasoned as future will be).
11
General Outdoor Furnace Discussion / Loving my new boiler
« on: November 09, 2013, 02:12:54 PM »
First year with a new boiler and so far I am loving it. Granted we haven't had any very low temps that are consistant, but the nights where it has been in the 30s have been toasty.
First a little back story. Moved to a new place last year in December. It is propane only and when we got there the tank was at <10%, so there was one fill. From December until April we had 3 more fills for almost close to 750 gallons of use. Paying these bills got me looking for alternative heating, and decided on a wood boiler. Main thing bringing me to this choice is we bought acreage that the previous owners had started to let people log, and there are lots of trees down, but off the ground. Then the research into the different boilers started. I wanted to stay local if possible, and there were a few dealers in our area. I also wanted a gassifier, mainly because my in-laws had a non-gasser, and all I heard was him complaining about the smoke from it. (Don't know specifics, but looking back likely burning too green of wood). This ultimately led me to the Heiss Heater. I chose this one mainly because I liked the idea behind it, having the thermal mass in the refractory cement, the gassification, and the price. Put a down payment on it and finally got it paid for, then set up installation. All was going smooth until then. The company had some major personel issues and installation was delayed and put off for quite some time. If I hadn't had it paid for, I may have went somewhere else. Ultimately after many trips out to our place, it was installed, and have it heating our dhw, house of about 2000 sq ft, and garage with a hanging blower. I never got a jump on cutting the wood, but got about 5 cords that was already down, but still somewhat green, cut by early September. Since then I also have been getting pallet scraps and burning them in addition to my regular wood.
So far I am loving the boiler. Our house is warm, and on days that it is nice outside can get a little toasty inside. I think our blower has came on 3 times since I started burning. The rest of the time it heats by convection coming out of the duct work. I can get a 24 hour burn easily out of it, and have went a few times not filling it for about 48 hours. It is gassifying almost every thing I am putting in it, even some wood thats a little greener than I want to burn. There is some creosote build up inside, but usually only collects around the door, not inside the firebox, and it is pretty easy to clean it off. There is some dripping down the front and staining the paint, but that is usually my fault for the way I have been cleaning it.
So over all, pros of the Heiss heater that I have: Good gassifier, solid construction, good idea behind the unit, simple use. The cons I have so far: installation and customer service, little more difficult to clean than other units I have seen. I'll post more as the year goes on as I know this has been a controversial company/heater. If anyone has any questions feel free to put it on here or PM me. I am in no way a agent of thier company, and will give and honest answer to your questions.
[attachment deleted by admin for space issues]
First a little back story. Moved to a new place last year in December. It is propane only and when we got there the tank was at <10%, so there was one fill. From December until April we had 3 more fills for almost close to 750 gallons of use. Paying these bills got me looking for alternative heating, and decided on a wood boiler. Main thing bringing me to this choice is we bought acreage that the previous owners had started to let people log, and there are lots of trees down, but off the ground. Then the research into the different boilers started. I wanted to stay local if possible, and there were a few dealers in our area. I also wanted a gassifier, mainly because my in-laws had a non-gasser, and all I heard was him complaining about the smoke from it. (Don't know specifics, but looking back likely burning too green of wood). This ultimately led me to the Heiss Heater. I chose this one mainly because I liked the idea behind it, having the thermal mass in the refractory cement, the gassification, and the price. Put a down payment on it and finally got it paid for, then set up installation. All was going smooth until then. The company had some major personel issues and installation was delayed and put off for quite some time. If I hadn't had it paid for, I may have went somewhere else. Ultimately after many trips out to our place, it was installed, and have it heating our dhw, house of about 2000 sq ft, and garage with a hanging blower. I never got a jump on cutting the wood, but got about 5 cords that was already down, but still somewhat green, cut by early September. Since then I also have been getting pallet scraps and burning them in addition to my regular wood.
So far I am loving the boiler. Our house is warm, and on days that it is nice outside can get a little toasty inside. I think our blower has came on 3 times since I started burning. The rest of the time it heats by convection coming out of the duct work. I can get a 24 hour burn easily out of it, and have went a few times not filling it for about 48 hours. It is gassifying almost every thing I am putting in it, even some wood thats a little greener than I want to burn. There is some creosote build up inside, but usually only collects around the door, not inside the firebox, and it is pretty easy to clean it off. There is some dripping down the front and staining the paint, but that is usually my fault for the way I have been cleaning it.
So over all, pros of the Heiss heater that I have: Good gassifier, solid construction, good idea behind the unit, simple use. The cons I have so far: installation and customer service, little more difficult to clean than other units I have seen. I'll post more as the year goes on as I know this has been a controversial company/heater. If anyone has any questions feel free to put it on here or PM me. I am in no way a agent of thier company, and will give and honest answer to your questions.
[attachment deleted by admin for space issues]
12
Electronics / Temp probes
« on: October 20, 2013, 10:38:20 PM »
What type of temperature probes/monitors are you guys using to monitor your in/out going water heat? I have an IR temp gun, one of the cheap Harbor Frieght ones, and it seems way too inaccurate. I have found some on ebay, but don't know if they will be ok for this or not. Any help would be appreciated.
13
General Outdoor Furnace Discussion / Distilled water
« on: October 19, 2013, 08:42:25 PM »
We just put in a OWB and instead of putting water from our well, which has a very high calcium level, I used distilled water. I did put antifreeze in it at the ratio suggested by the company also because there are times during the winter that it will be down for a few weeks whlie Iam out of town and not able to feed it daily. I did this after changing out a faucet that was in place for 2 years and having the inlet valve nearly closed from build up. Has anyone else done this or have I went too far?
14
General Outdoor Furnace Discussion / Gasifier running
« on: October 09, 2013, 09:29:04 PM »
Just got our heater up and going. We bought a Heiss Heater gasifier. So far so good. Had it running since yesterday, and went out today to check the wood level after running overnight and was still pretty full. I shot this video when the blower kicked on tonight, opening up the gasifier chamber first then the upper burn chamber. I know some people's feelings on the Heiss Heaters, and if anyone wants to talk about them let me know. I am not a employee and have no financial ties to them.
[attachment deleted by admin for space issues]
[attachment deleted by admin for space issues]
15
General Outdoor Furnace Discussion / Water temperature
« on: October 09, 2013, 09:08:15 PM »
What temp do you keep your water at in the boiler? This is my first year running ours, and have been told anywhere from 140-160. Any input?
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