Outdoor Wood Furnace Info
Outdoor Furnaces - Manufacturers with NON EPA-Certified Models Only => Shaver Furnace => Topic started by: RJ1968 on February 03, 2014, 05:51:00 PM
-
Hi, this is our 1st winter in a house we purchased that already had a Shaver installed (not sure on the model #, it is a front loader with ash door). December the unit worked really well, we saved 50% over our November bill.
Currently I have been having trouble keeping a fire going after i shut the front door. Smoke is hardly coming out the chimney stack, I have cleaned the stack several times this past weekend & the issue remains. As soon as i shut the door smoke comes pooring out the front & ash doors & when i open the door a ton of smoke comes out & the fire is just smoldering. Any help for a rookie would be greatly appreciated!!
-
Well this should be a real simple problem to solve. You need to ensure that the chimney is completely clear. Open the loading door up, get up on top and look down the chimney, shine a light and make sure its clear all the way down. If that is clear the next thing is to ensure that the fan is working on the back. If it is blowing you next need to open up the ash door and look to the back where the air tube comes into the firebox. Ensure that air is flowing through there. That should be the only two things that will be a problem with what you describe. Let us know what you find.
-
Thanks for the quick reply, i have already received more information from this forum than i have received from the Shaver company in the past month, no one wants to return phone messages & good luck getting anyone to answer..
I have done what you mentioned below, i have no obstructions in the chimney, & my fan is working well (I just replaced it last month), so well that when i shut the front door (with a fire blazing) & turn the fan on smoke poors out the front door. I am going to replace the seal around the front door this coming weekend, do you think that will force the smoke up & out the chimney & keep the fire going? Also, until i replace the door gasket I am slightly opening the front door & ash door to regulate the fire, do you think that is too dangerous? Many Thanks!
-
Does your fan blow above or below the coals?
-
below the coals
-
Ok, you should try to really stir up your coal bed. The coals can form a crust and really choke off your air flow. Pull ALL your coals forward the push them all back, all the way down to the grates. I had the same symptoms and after I really stirred the coals and emptied the ash pan, it was like a new stove. Give it a try.
-
Thanks CBJ, will give it a try & post how it went.. thanks again
-
No don't leave your either door open. This could easily lead to overheating since there is no regulation on the fire. The concept of how the stove works is extremely easy. When the water temp gets down to a certain temp the fan will turn on which blows air under the fire. Air then travels up through the grates, fans the fire and the smoke and heat travels up through the chimney and out. As long as the pathway is provided then there should be no problems. I could see the grate possibly getting all plugged up with ash. Make sure that it is clear.
If you have not done it already, you should replace the current junk water heater thermostat that the shavers come with and upgrade to a ranco aquastat. Also you should add the soleniod and damper kit which shuts down the fire when it is not calling for heat. Saves wood and reduces creosote build up in the chimney.
-
Thanks honda, i knew it probably sounded like a dumb question.. also thanks for the info about updates.. i will definitely add it to the list of things i need to do before next season..
-
The updates made my Shaver work much better. Hotter fires and less wood useage. This forum is a great place for good ideas.
-
I am betting CountryBoyJohn has the answer for you. That is what I was thinking as well. When my Shaver starts doing what you describe, I do a good coal stir. I don't think its the coals, I think the ashes consolidate and crust over the grate. After I stir, the next time I clean the ashes out, I have crusty ash balls that have been pushed thru the grate.
If you want to know what model you have, when the stove is fairly cool, stick a tape measure to the back of the wood box and measure the depth of the fire box. Shaver uses the same diameter for pretty much all of their stoves and just makes the burn chamber longer. Or you could measure the outside dimension/depth of the "building" part of the stove and compare it to the dimensions on their website.
There is a fellow named Ben, I think he is in one of the Carolinas and I think he is a dealer and is real helpful with Shaver problems and issues and is much more responsive than the factory in Arkansas. I think he must have a secret access code to the manufacturer or something! PM me if you want his email address and I will see if I still have it. He might be more helpful if you do have manufacturer questions.
-
RJ,
All these suggestions are good ones. Do these and you should be good to go!
All the Shaver Furnaces Pro series are 45" wide, the 165 is 54.5" long!
the 250 is 70.5" long!
the 290 is 78.5" long!
the 340 is 88.5" long!
These are outside furnace dimensions!
Hope this helps
Greg Steinacher
618-401-0726
-
Does anybody know how you can tell how old my Saver 165 is?
There is a serial number on the door. I purchased it reconditioned from Shaver in June of last year. I had the bigger fan and damper added before they shipped it.
-
Ed,
Give me the number off of the door and I will find out the build date for you.
Greg Steinacher
618-401-0726
-
1st of all thanks to everyone that has helped me out, this forum is awesome. Still working through the 1st season with my inherited shaver.. Earlier in the season i was able to get the house to stay at 71-75 degrees in the house. Now I cannot seem to get the tempature in the house above 65 degrees, my wife really loves that..
I have cleaned out the furnace entirely & started a new fire. I get the fire so hot that flames are shooting out the door, i shut the door turn on the blower fan & i have a good stream of smoke coming out the chimney stack. Does anyone have any ideas on what i might be doing incorrectly?
Thanks for any help
-
All we need to know is the different temps of your supply piping at different points in the system to determine where your problem is. What is the temp whe it leaves te boiler, temp before it enters the heat exchanger in te house, after the heat exchanger in the house an when it returns to the boiler. This should point to the problem area.
-
thanks Honda.. how do i get the temperature at these different points..
-
RJ,
It was good to here from you and was glad to help. When you try some new firewood let us know how it works! Don't forget the new damper, it is important!
Greg Steinacher
618-401-0726