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[gandgracing]

After all the problems with the 165 I had the past 2 seasons they traded me a new 250.  I still made a few modifications that I thought it needed to the new one.  Like the fan, I bought the relay selenoid? (for a Hardy stove)to open the fan door when it needed to run.  It stopped the overheating and boiling.  Second, I still ran my cold water return lines up through the top plate and to the front of the stove.  Dont understand why Shaver didn't figure this out.  The last thing I did was built my woodshed around the stove so no wind would affect it.  That front door gets really HOT with no wind on it to cool it down.  Hope I have better luck with this one.

[willieG]

gandgracing, i think you will be much better off with your shed around your stove..also you sound like a handyman. if your door is getting too hot it may try and warp on you..check and see if you have room, you could add an angle iron frame to the inside of yoru door and add some firebrick to it to help insulate it. my stove is home made and i have fire brick in the door. it does get quite warm but not enough to cause any damage.

i used an angle frame ..filled it with fire brick and then tack welded some expanded metal ofer the brick to hold it in place. this will be winter 8 and i have never had a problem with the door

good luck with your stove and it's operation

[yoda]

 Grandgracing, glad to hear it worked out for you, I traded my 165 for the 290. Insulated the bottom, removed the siding and insulated the whole stove better, I'm actually looking forward to some extreme cold to see how it works.

 As far as the door, I just stuffed some unfaced fiberglass insulation between the inner and outer part of the door, seems to help the door run alot cooler, I actually got the idea from someone at arborist website.

[MarkP]

I built my own OWB, and built the door out of 1/4" plate, and made it hollow.  Problem was it made an awful mess by dripping all the time.  I ended up cutting an access hole in the inside of the door and filling the door with fiberglass insulation and drilling and tapping the door to bolt a plate over the hole.  No mroe sweating, and I can lay my hand on the outside of the door even at full temperature.  No problems yet with warping.

[gandgracing]

Grandgracing, glad to hear it worked out for you, I traded my 165 for the 290. Insulated the bottom, removed the siding and insulated the whole stove better, I'm actually looking forward to some extreme cold to see how it works.

 As far as the door, I just stuffed some unfaced fiberglass insulation between the inner and outer part of the door, seems to help the door run alot cooler, I actually got the idea from someone at arborist website.

So what did you use for the insulation on the bottom?  And you just put that unfaced insulation between the door and the inner plate?  I just figured it would burn out.  What about your cold water return lines.  That cooled water gets returned right below where the pumps draw from.  From looking at it, it looks as if it would only be cycling from the back of the tank.  It hasn't been real cold here yet but its been running for 24hrs. between fillups at 160*.   High 30*'s and mid 40*'s at night.

[bruey]

heads up on a new product.  i think its new, or the wholesaler said it was, anyway, they are making a new type of insolation using ground rock, yes, you herd me right, its very dense and totally fire proof, i mean we put a torch on it and it wont burn at all, mostly to be used for rooms using sound systems, or between rooms,but the first thing i thought of was my stove, moisture no problem . about 60% more than fiberglass from a cost basis

[yoda]

Grandgracing, for insulating the bottom I laid R11 batts on top of a piece of R5 foil faced 1" styrofoam, stapled the faced bats to the styro,(paper side towards the styro) then slid the whole thing under the stove, then added another piece of 1" foilfaced styro under that, I cut it so it would slide between the feet, slid it through from the front. Then did the same from both sides( to insulate from the inside of the feet to the edges. I had all the siding removed except the rear. Took me a full day to do.

 The fiberglass in the door turns black, but really helps keep the door cooler,I figured even if it has to be changed once in awhile, it's cheap.

 As far as the water curculation issue, What I did was, with the hot water coil cover removed, working from inside the boiler, I added galvanized pipe to the top supply pipes. My stove came with 3 hookups, the one for the house I added aprox a foot, ( so it pulls water from just in front of the back plate area) the shop supply I added about 2 feet, and the 3rd supply I ran almost to the front, right on top of the firebox.  the 3rd is not being used for anything so I just added a pump that just loops right back to bottom of the stove.

 It was kind of a pain working through that opening and was thankfull I never dropped any tools or parts inside the stove and I had to use some 45 elbows and various pipes to make it work.I figure the extra 3rd pump I may leave unplugged, unless I feal I need more curculation. Hope you could follow what I was trying to explain.

[gandgracing]

I haven't insulated the bottom but I did insulate the door. WOW, what a difference.  Before you couldn't hold your hand on it and now you can.  It must be keeping that heat inside.