Outdoor Wood Furnace Info
Outdoor Furnaces - Manufacturers with NON EPA-Certified Models Only => Acme Furnace Company => Topic started by: sizmo on November 27, 2013, 08:54:12 PM
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Bought and installed the Acme 340. I have 3 sets of ports, and a domestic hot water coil installed. Been very happy with it! Heats our 3,400 sq. foot home with ease. First winter we have been warm in the whole house. Turned the circuit breaker off to the hot water heater, and it heats the hot water just fine. Hot water temps have been about 125* to 135* which is perfect. I made a mixing valve in case I needed it, but haven't had to use it.
I'll hook up my 40 X 60' metal building later, but this furnace should handle that with ease too.
Researched and researched wood burning furnaces. For the money this one was a no-brainer. :thumbup:
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:bash: If your are happy with this furnace then you are happy with Obama. This furnace should be in hell, at least it would be warm then. Piss poor design, and terrible workmanship. The door sucks, and the grill is way too big. Doesn't allow for a fire to stay in the middle of unit, or a bed of coals. Creosote builds up on the door and sticks it shut, not only that but then drips all over everything once open.
Sucks all the way around
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:bash: If your are happy with this furnace then you are happy with Obama. This furnace should be in hell, at least it would be warm then. Piss poor design, and terrible workmanship. The door sucks, and the grill is way too big. Doesn't allow for a fire to stay in the middle of unit, or a bed of coals. Creosote builds up on the door and sticks it shut, not only that but then drips all over everything once open.
Sucks all the way around
Man that was a little rough don't you think? Why don't you start a new thread explaining your troubles and maybe someone here could help. From the sounds of it either your heat load is too small or your wood is too green. Sizmo glad your happy with your furnace and welcome to the forum.
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Sizmo, Glad your happy! Not many people around here with an ACME furnace. Design looks similar to a shaver but you don't here anyone coming on here complaining about how crappy the metal and workmanship is. Just shows how using the right materials will change alot!
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WOW how do you really feel? ask for help and ye shall recieve!
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:bash: If your are happy with this furnace then you are happy with Obama. This furnace should be in hell, at least it would be warm then. Piss poor design, and terrible workmanship. The door sucks, and the grill is way too big. Doesn't allow for a fire to stay in the middle of unit, or a bed of coals. Creosote builds up on the door and sticks it shut, not only that but then drips all over everything once open.
Sucks all the way around
Yes I'll admit the door is a shortcoming. The creosote does build up an the bottom part of my door too. When the temps are warm and the unit doesn't cycle as much, I burn seasoned wood. That helps a ton. When it is colder I'll put some wood in it that hasn't seasoned as much and it is ok. When it doesn't cycle much I burn wood behind the grate and then rake some coals forward if I need to. When it is cold and it cycles alot more, it works fine though.
I have a 340 and the firebox is bigger ( a foot deeper than the 235) so I'm sure that helps too. I have the solenoid that shuts the metal flap to the draft blower, and drilled a small hole in the metal flap to allow just a little air in when idling and that made a huge difference in keeping the coals smoldering. The hole does not make the fire too hot to worry about boiling. I had an issue with the fire going out a couple times and this did the trick for me.
I think for the money, this is an outstanding design and value!! I researched almost all the furnaces, and kept coming back to the Acme furnace.
Mine is well built, and I would recommend it to others. Every furnace has their positives and negatives.
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Just purchased a new acme 340 for my shop, does anyone know how this unit should be wired? The thermostat, blower and pump came unwired to a primary switch. I see the solenoid that needs to be wired to the blower, can anyone help with what goes were?
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RT, Alot of options for you IMHO.
Pump wise, depends on how you are distributing the heat in your shop. if you are using an air handler of some sort, you can either run the circulation pump 24/7 (I think most on here do that) or on demand so basically when the fan kicks on for heat, a relay turns the circulation pump on. Downside is that if you run it on demand, you should have a short circulation loop becasue it will take a little time to move heated water from your boiler to the HX in your air handling unit. While off in demand mode, the water in the circulation lines will cool. I set my shop up to do either with an ON-OFF-ON switch to allow either. I run mine 24/7 most of the time, but can switch to demand when its warmer in the fall/spring. Frankly, i rarely use the demand function as I don't like the idea of cycling the pump that often. What kind of thermostat in your shop depends on how your air handler is set up, either a 24V for a forced air furnace/air handler is set up for that or an inline theremostat if you are looking at a simple 115V (or above) blower motor turning on at a set temp . If you are using radiant, I will let someone else chime in.
There are also several ways to manage your boiler blower/solenoid. I kept mine simple and when the boiler needs to be heated up, the Ranco stat turns on the fan and opens the solenoid for the damper at the same time. When it gets to temp, both shut off at the same time. There are smarter people on here that can explain how to do other things like open/close the solenoid different times than the blower, etc that I won't attempt since I don't have any experience with it.
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Thanks a lot, that's great I am using radiant heat and circulating it through the floor and one hanging heater. I have that part for the shop okay it's the stove it came unwired and I know it has to be a simple wiring job but don't want to make a mistake.
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Thanks a lot, that's great I am using radiant heat and circulating it through the floor and one hanging heater. I have that part for the shop okay it's the stove it came unwired and I know it has to be a simple wiring job but don't want to make a mistake.
I mounted a two gang junction box to the steel brace that runs horizonally (underneath it) with self tapping screws. Power comes in to an outlet. I made a plug and plugged the fan and solenoid into that (one plug). You could bring both leads to the outlet so it is always hot, and "break" the circuit of the plug on the cord that goes to the blower and solenoid. You bring the "broken" wire to the top terminal of the thermostat. Then connect another wire to the bottom of the thermostat back to the cord of the blower and solenoid. When the thermostat calls for heat, it completes the circuit and the blower and solenoid are energized. The second side of the box gets power from the outlet terminals and has a light switch which switches on the circulating pump.
I had trouble with the fire going out on warm days when the furnace isn't on much. The trick is to keep coals behind the grate going. I think the grate slats are to big, and in the spring will make them smaller so the coals can't fall thru as easy. I also drilled a small hole in the metal flap that covers the blower so a tiny amount of air can still get thru. Had some warm days since I drilled that hole in the flap, and it works like a champ.
I dented my furnace when I unloaded it, and got replacement tin today. I'm going to mount a switch to the corner trim in the front so I can shut the blower off when I load the furnace.
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Hello gents I just ordered the 235 after a horrible experience with another furnace only 5 yrs old leak in firebox when I went to weld it.... I burned nothing but holes in it the metal was so damm thin horrible..so I figured these have a pretty thick firebox so it might last a lot longer lol please can't deal with that crap again.
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I wouldn't recommend. I have had problems from the day mine was installed 4 years ago and I have yet to see anyone come to fix it. I always get the parts are here I just need to get there. I'll be there in a few days..... they have yet to show up yet. I was supposed to be reimbursed for a pump that I had to replace and have yet to see a dime from that. all I would recommend buying someplace else.
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dterry,
What is wrong with yours?
Nothings perfect, but I'm very pleased with mine. I installed it myself.
Let me know if there is anything we can help you with.
:thumbup:
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I did have a problem with my solenoid that opens and shuts the flapper to the blower. It quit working a few days after the first firing of the furnace.
I bought the same solenoid from Grainger, and haven't had a problem since and it has been over a month now.
I called Acme furnace and they sent me out another solenoid fast. So now I have a spare.
I wired and mounted a wet location switch box to the front corner trim, so I can switch the blower off when I load the furnace.
I also bought a Sunpro (Automotive) mechanical temperature gauge to monitor the temperature. I taped the sensor to the supply line pipe and insulated and taped the heck out of it. Drilled a 2" hole and mounted the gauge to the back trim next to the removable back panel. The temperature readout is pretty close to my infared heat gun readout. Off by about 7*. I'm using the gauge mostly for a reference anyway.
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Sizmo that sounds great...hope mine gives me. Many years of service missing the heat in the house hard to wait...and it sucks running on propane
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Sizmo, how long can you get on average out of a fill on your 340?
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Sizmo, how long can you get on average out of a fill on your 340?
About 12-14 hours.
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Yea, the solenoid and flapper a must!!! With coal, the times between filling greatly increase. Just got two tons yesterday. Under $150. That is equivalent to 2-3 cords of wood. Cheap heat!
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Man I'm a month away from ordering a stove. I'm having a hard time with this decision. I'm back and forth from the woodmaster 4400 and the acme 235 or 340. I know 4 people in my town that sware by woodmaster. I don't know anyone with a acme except the few reviews on this site. I've called out there and spoke with darla twice now and really like their product and what she has to say. Can somebody just make this easy for me. 2800sq home
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Dawnpatrol what convinced me was the way the acme was built 3/8 thick firewall and cost heat up to 5500 sq ft for $4500? That was a no brainer for me plus a lot of research... I made the mistake last time with a boiler that only gave me 5 yrs of service claiming that the thin firewall made it more efficient...yea ok
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Aries what kinda stove was it??
Ive sold a pile of furnaces with 1/4" firewalls and my number one sellers have 10 guage fire boxes with a lifetime warranty, and no ive not seen on fail, there stainless though. Look at hardy, been around for ever and there firebox and water jacket is 1/16, yes you read that right!
Its more to do with quality control than steel thickness. The wood master is built real heavy, 1/4 in water jacket and firebox. There are a pile of them around been running 20 years.
I do know a few people here who have bought acme, they have been buying a lot of parts converting things over to higher quality components, that little hot water heater aquastat is usually there first thing they change to an actual aquastat.
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Scott it was little power house boiler the firewall is made of 16 gauge steel all I did was throw a large log in it hitting the back of the furnace and it ruptured.. All in all it did a great job heating for a little boiler just very light weight metal used on all the parts ...Burt out grates yearly and the door after second yr was so warped could not get a tight seal..so I made my own used 1/4 angle and plate stopped warping ..I would have felt a little better if it lasted me at least 10 yrs instead of 4 or 5. I just installed the acme seems to be heating the house great very warm just can't get more than 7 hrs burn time so that's a little disheartening being that the other one only gave me 5 hrs..
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Scott it was little power house boiler the firewall is made of 16 gauge steel all I did was throw a large log in it hitting the back of the furnace and it ruptured.. All in all it did a great job heating for a little boiler just very light weight metal used on all the parts ...Burt out grates yearly and the door after second yr was so warped could not get a tight seal..so I made my own used 1/4 angle and plate stopped warping ..I would have felt a little better if it lasted me at least 10 yrs instead of 4 or 5. I just installed the acme seems to be heating the house great very warm just can't get more than 7 hrs burn time so that's a little disheartening being that the other one only gave me 5 hrs..
How big is your house? Does it have good insulation? Was just wondering... 7 hours is not good.
I have my "aquastat" set to about 165-170 degrees.
It was in the single digits and is about 10* outside now. I got 10.5 hours of burn time last night and still had some wood left this morning. Two showers this morning before I put more wood in this morning too.
I did fill it pretty full last evening! Thru a couple of green pieces in there too. I used about 4" round and about 3' long oak pieces.
If I use the split 20" long pieces I used for my indoor buck stove, I will not give me good burn times! Probably about the 7 hours you were saying.
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The house has decent insulation but my pieces are not over 250 my splitter will not split them that size max length is 25" so as you said that might be my problem I will have try getting longer pieces ..A friend of mine has a small scale lumber mill he has plenty of hardwood trimmings off full length logs that are any ware from 6-8" thick I'll go get a load this weekend and try ..Also I noticed if the wood is not right over grate it does get up to temp
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The house has decent insulation but my pieces are not over 250 my splitter will not split them that size max length is 25" so as you said that might be my problem I will have try getting longer pieces ..A friend of mine has a small scale lumber mill he has plenty of hardwood trimmings off full length logs that are any ware from 6-8" thick I'll go get a load this weekend and try ..Also I noticed if the wood is not right over grate it does get up to temp
I make sure the grate is covered with wood, and behind the grate has some wood too when reloading. I have been using about 3' to 4" lengths of wood when possible and this helps a bunch too.
When I reload I rake the ashes/coals over the grate and reload it with wood. Gets the fire ripping fast!
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I have a question for you guys with more experience .. Does the fact that I have a continuous draw on the boiler ? Let me explain my old unit needed to have my not only loop to exchanger continually pumping but I also had to have something drawing heat out of the furnace so I did not over shoot, so my radiant heat is always going through the exchanger drawing heat out of it does that make any sense? How is yours piped any suggestions would help me greatly I'm getting plenty of heat just not long burn times.. Also Scott had mentioned the longer pieces of wood might help
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I was getting ready to add a shutoff switch to blower to my acme 235. There have been a few close calls. But yesterday morning was the final straw for me and this acme furnace. The chimney clogged up so bad I could hardly get the 2x4 out of it. The sad part is I'm burning seasoned wood and a coal mix and the furnace has been running hard this winter! They put me in this unit because the 340 was "not running enough". It's my opinion that it is a poor design. Im upgrading to another brand before I get hurt.
This furnace is for sale in central il if anyone is interested. Only two years old. I have two doors, and paint for front of unit where it is burnt from not having a shutoff switch. There are also quite a few dings in chimney from hitting with sledge to keep it opened up, but nothing major. Any ideas on what a two year old acme 235 is worth? May consider letting 2x4 and ladder go with. :)
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I was getting ready to add a shutoff switch to blower to my acme 235. There have been a few close calls. But yesterday morning was the final straw for me and this acme furnace. The chimney clogged up so bad I could hardly get the 2x4 out of it. The sad part is I'm burning seasoned wood and a coal mix and the furnace has been running hard this winter! They put me in this unit because the 340 was "not running enough". It's my opinion that it is a poor design. Im upgrading to another brand before I get hurt.
This furnace is for sale in central il if anyone is interested. Only two years old. I have two doors, and paint for front of unit where it is burnt from not having a shutoff switch. There are also quite a few dings in chimney from hitting with sledge to keep it opened up, but nothing major. Any ideas on what a two year old acme 235 is worth? May consider letting 2x4 and ladder go with. :)
Sorry to hear you are having trouble! Yes I added a blower shutoff switch to the front of my 340. I switch it off when reloading. I'm wondering why your chimney is clogging. I've been burning some green wood in mine along with seasoned wood. My chimney is still 100% open. I too had to replace the gasket on the door already. I used a better rope gasket with graphite and coated it with high temp RTV silicone. It is working much better than the gasket that came with the stove.
If you are going to sell it, I would knock off $1000 from your purchase price. That would be a great deal for someone.