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[AirForcePOL]

My Hardy H2 has been running for a little over a week now and I haven't had any issues.  But, Tuesday when I got home from work I noticed that the low water level light was on.  I had a gallon jug of water handy so I poured half of it in and the light went off.   Last night the light was on again so I just went ahead and poured an entire gallon in.  I can't see any water leaking anywhere on the stove.  I looked around the doors, the plumbing in the back of the unit and in my house.  The only thing that I can think of is that it is leaking in the firebox.  Do any of you have any suggestions on how to find a leak like this? I’m just guessing that it is a leak because the stove shouldn't evaporate water that quickly should it?  Thanks!

[birchbark]

I have had a couple of leaks in my homemade OWB.  I can always tell when it is leaking into the firebox, I just can't seem to get the temp upto 180, about 140 or so.  I can never see where it is leaking until I let it burn out, then I see a nice steady stream of water.  After that, I just drain it down below the leak and weld up the crack, fill it back up, make sure no more water, then light it up again.  The one day it was leaking, I cleaned it out and wasn't able to weld it that day, over night it went down to 20 degrees celcius below 0 and the next day, fixing the leak, the water was still at around 20 (70 f).  Good thing I have a gas furnace for back up.

birchbark

[dumbodog00]

Do you have the auto fill hooked up?  You will lose some water around around the vent, but it is minimal.  Can you see any water vapor near the chimney?
I was having a major water loss problem.  When I took off the cover, the top where the domestic coil is placed was not sealed.  It was screwed and some of the screws weren't holding.  The silicone seal was not enough to keep the top together and sealed.  The water vapor was leaking from there and exiting from around the chimney.

[AirForcePOL]

I don't have the auto fill hooked up because of the poor quality of my well water.  I don't see any water vapor anywhere other than what I believe is creosote dripping from the door.  The inlet and outlet of my DHW coil aren't hooked to anything and they don't have any caps or anything on them but I dont notice any water dripping from there.  The light wasn't on last night when I got home but I will have to wait and see if it is back on when I get home tonight.  I was reading through the manual and did notice that I didnt put silicone around the condensor stack and the tank cover.  That wouldn't cause an issue though would it? Isn't that just to keep rain from getting the insulation wet?

[dumbodog00]

The lack of caulking around the condensor shouldn't matter. Like you said it mainly keeps the rain out and other moisture.  How old is your unit?  Have you been using good water in the unit?  I had an issue with mine due to the water quality and it caused several cracks to form.  It was beyond repair and Hardy replaced the unit under warranty. 
Are you seeing any smoke when the unit is idiling?  If you are still getting too much air, it could cause you to overheat, therefore resulting in a water loss.  An increase in temperature would cause some water loss as well without it coming to a full boil.
One last thing, since you have only been running a week, could you be purging air out of your lines, causing a water loss from the unit?  When I first started up, I had air I had a hard time getting completely out.  Exchanging water for air would cause a drop in the level.

[AirForcePOL]

Sorry, I haven't had time to get on here in a while.  I have had to add a little bit of water in the last week (maybe 1 gallon).  I noticed that water is coming out around the chimney and puddling up on top of my stove.  I can also see the steam coming from aorund my condensor.  I don't have any issues getting the water up to temp of anything like that and I don't beleive it is overheating.  Is there a way to fix the issue with the water coming out around the chimney?

[tawilson1152]

I'm thinking the water out the top is because it is too full. Is there a site gauge?

[AirForcePOL]

There is no site guage.  The only way that I know when to stop adding water is when the low water level light goes off.  Maybe I should turn my water temp down a little? I have it set at 175 deg right now. 

[RSI]

Are you sure the light is working right?

[abarton]

they will use water one gallon is not much

[AirForcePOL]

Yes, the water level switch is working.  I'll just keep adding water, it's not that big of a deal.  But, if I have to start adding a gallon a day then I have a problem    Thanks for all of the replies!!!

[MD20/20]

I think you're right to reduce the temp a hair and see what happens.  Seems to have solved problem on mine.