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1
Shaver Furnace / Re: Shaver has locked their doors and left town
« on: July 30, 2016, 06:22:55 AM »
Lugnut
Last year I noticed a wet spot coming from the front right side of my 165. It had not rained for awhile so I assumed that the tank was leaking. I took the sheet metal off the front and sides and I eventually figured out the the "leak" was coming from the square frame tubing used to construct the frame. On the roof at least one of the screws used to hold the sheet metal on had let rain water build up into the tubing until it found a spot to leak out. I drilled a few small holes into the tubing to get all the water out then I sealed the sheet metal screws back up by putting a dab of roofing sealer on each one. I have not had an issue since then. I installed my furnace in October of 2011. Anyway I thought I would throw that idea out there for you.
Last year I noticed a wet spot coming from the front right side of my 165. It had not rained for awhile so I assumed that the tank was leaking. I took the sheet metal off the front and sides and I eventually figured out the the "leak" was coming from the square frame tubing used to construct the frame. On the roof at least one of the screws used to hold the sheet metal on had let rain water build up into the tubing until it found a spot to leak out. I drilled a few small holes into the tubing to get all the water out then I sealed the sheet metal screws back up by putting a dab of roofing sealer on each one. I have not had an issue since then. I installed my furnace in October of 2011. Anyway I thought I would throw that idea out there for you.
2
Shaver Furnace / Adding water capacity with an external tank
« on: March 07, 2014, 12:44:35 PM »
I was thinking of the possibility of adding a well insulated storage tank on the inside of my home as part of the circulation loop of the furnace to increase the available hot water when the system calls for heat. So I would add an additional 55 gallons of capacity by using a plastic 55 gallon drum. The hot line from the furnace would feed into the drum and then the line would go to the heat exchanger and back to the furnace as normal. This could help with under sized systems or with maybe moderating the temperature of the loop.
Thoughts?
Thoughts?
3
Shaver Furnace / Re: Thermowind Owners??
« on: February 11, 2014, 10:36:11 AM »
The control board I have is a VK111 it is from QKITS LTD www.QKits.com
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Shaver Furnace / Re: Thermowind Owners??
« on: February 09, 2014, 07:59:43 AM »
TRMPyro,
I installed a circuit board in my fan/damper. The circuit allows me to run the fan on an adjustable amount of time then off for an adjustable amount of time and repeats while the damper stays open until the thermostat stops calling for heat from the fire box. It should work for your installation. I installed it two years ago with no problems in operation.
I installed a circuit board in my fan/damper. The circuit allows me to run the fan on an adjustable amount of time then off for an adjustable amount of time and repeats while the damper stays open until the thermostat stops calling for heat from the fire box. It should work for your installation. I installed it two years ago with no problems in operation.
5
Shaver Furnace / EPA Alert!
« on: February 09, 2014, 07:50:00 AM »
http://health.yahoo.net/news/s/hsn/old-wood-stoves-a-costly-way-to-keep-warm-experts-say
Please read the attached news story, it looks like the EPA wants to make some new rules!
Please read the attached news story, it looks like the EPA wants to make some new rules!
6
Shaver Furnace / Shaver Mod
« on: November 01, 2013, 07:15:53 PM »
This is my 3rd year of using my Shaver 165 which I purchased from Greg Steinacher. I received the furnace within a week or two of the purchase. Prior to receiving the furnace Greg had giving me the manual so I had the pad ready when he delivered the furnace. My install consisted of two zones for a two story home. With doing the install myself, the
Shaver cost me a little less then $7000. I figure it to be paid for in propane savings this year. My neighbor has a Central Boiler which he had installed for around $12000 so he probably has a couple more years to go before he's is paid off. As far as I know he has Not had any problems and neither have I. I have done some mods to my furnace including buying the spark arrester from Greg, I posted some of my other mods last November. This year before I fired it up I added a flue blocker on the inside of the fire box as I never did like seeing the flames shooting straight up the flue. What I did was I bought three pieces of stove pipe (the kind with the open bead, ie the black stove pipe available where any kind of wood burning furnace parts are sold) and I fitted the pieces together one inside the other until I had one thick piece still opened down the length of the closing bead. Together the three pieces are about a quarter of an inch thick and cost about $23. I cut about 5 inches from the total length of the pipe so it would fit into the fire box over the flue pipe. The opened end faces the back of the fire box and the extension rest on the floor of the fire box, so the the only way the fire/heat can go up the flue is to go around the pipe extension on the back side of the fire box. Anyway I hope this will help the furnace retain heat in the firebox. On a side note I have not had any problems with my furnace, and maybe if I had spent more for a different brand I would not have to do mods...but where's the fun in that? Also Greg is a good person and he is trying to help like a lot of the people on this site offering suggestion and advice.
Shaver cost me a little less then $7000. I figure it to be paid for in propane savings this year. My neighbor has a Central Boiler which he had installed for around $12000 so he probably has a couple more years to go before he's is paid off. As far as I know he has Not had any problems and neither have I. I have done some mods to my furnace including buying the spark arrester from Greg, I posted some of my other mods last November. This year before I fired it up I added a flue blocker on the inside of the fire box as I never did like seeing the flames shooting straight up the flue. What I did was I bought three pieces of stove pipe (the kind with the open bead, ie the black stove pipe available where any kind of wood burning furnace parts are sold) and I fitted the pieces together one inside the other until I had one thick piece still opened down the length of the closing bead. Together the three pieces are about a quarter of an inch thick and cost about $23. I cut about 5 inches from the total length of the pipe so it would fit into the fire box over the flue pipe. The opened end faces the back of the fire box and the extension rest on the floor of the fire box, so the the only way the fire/heat can go up the flue is to go around the pipe extension on the back side of the fire box. Anyway I hope this will help the furnace retain heat in the firebox. On a side note I have not had any problems with my furnace, and maybe if I had spent more for a different brand I would not have to do mods...but where's the fun in that? Also Greg is a good person and he is trying to help like a lot of the people on this site offering suggestion and advice.
7
Shaver Furnace / Re: auto damper for shaver 165
« on: October 04, 2013, 08:46:43 AM »
Dwight,
A link to alternative heating and supply is attached. It is for the auto damper for the shaver. Not sure how much more efficient it makes the Furnace but it is highly recommended.
http://www.altheatsupply.com/catalog/product/view/id/1232/s/sd-kit/
A link to alternative heating and supply is attached. It is for the auto damper for the shaver. Not sure how much more efficient it makes the Furnace but it is highly recommended.
http://www.altheatsupply.com/catalog/product/view/id/1232/s/sd-kit/
8
Shaver Furnace / Shaver mods I did to my 165
« on: October 27, 2012, 10:30:04 AM »
Listed below are the mods I did to my Shaver 165 before I started using it this year.
1. Drained the tank and placed 2 copper pipes 3/4 in diameter into the return ports of the furnace, the pipes extend to the front wall of the tank. I cut about half of the diameter of the pipe about 3 inches long off and inserted them so the notch was facing up. The reason I did this mod was to move the return lines further away from the pump ports, which I hope will cause more circulation of the hot water in the tank. Which should cause hotter water circulating through the heat exchangers and less wood being burned.
2. Took the fire box door off, removed the old insulation and installed new, wrapped the exposed edge of the insulation / plate with metal furnace tape. Also cleaned out the old silicon form the door seal area and placed a stripe of the house door seal insulating felt around the fire box door seal channel and covered it with new silicon. Seems to be a good seal and is hold up so far, I have been using it since the beginning of October.
3. I drilled and tapped a 3/8 inch hole into the fire box door catch and inserted a bolt with a nut on the end so I can increase pressure on the door of the fire box as needed if the door seal becomes gapped. I had posted about the idea of doing that mod last year and I saw a new Shaver at the county fair with it this summer so I suppose I was a good idea.
4. Added more insulation in the top of the unit and let some of it drape over the front to the top of the pumps.
5. Added a control circuit to the blower, so that when the tank thermostat calls for heat the blower and the blower flap both turn on for 15 minutes then the blower shuts off and the flap stays open for 5 minutes. If the thermostat is still calling for heat then the cycle continues until the call for heat ends. The reasoning behind this was to allow the hot water in the tank to absorb the heat from the fire box without having the water temp ramp up past the actual setting on the stat. I think this will help create longer burn times.
1. Drained the tank and placed 2 copper pipes 3/4 in diameter into the return ports of the furnace, the pipes extend to the front wall of the tank. I cut about half of the diameter of the pipe about 3 inches long off and inserted them so the notch was facing up. The reason I did this mod was to move the return lines further away from the pump ports, which I hope will cause more circulation of the hot water in the tank. Which should cause hotter water circulating through the heat exchangers and less wood being burned.
2. Took the fire box door off, removed the old insulation and installed new, wrapped the exposed edge of the insulation / plate with metal furnace tape. Also cleaned out the old silicon form the door seal area and placed a stripe of the house door seal insulating felt around the fire box door seal channel and covered it with new silicon. Seems to be a good seal and is hold up so far, I have been using it since the beginning of October.
3. I drilled and tapped a 3/8 inch hole into the fire box door catch and inserted a bolt with a nut on the end so I can increase pressure on the door of the fire box as needed if the door seal becomes gapped. I had posted about the idea of doing that mod last year and I saw a new Shaver at the county fair with it this summer so I suppose I was a good idea.
4. Added more insulation in the top of the unit and let some of it drape over the front to the top of the pumps.
5. Added a control circuit to the blower, so that when the tank thermostat calls for heat the blower and the blower flap both turn on for 15 minutes then the blower shuts off and the flap stays open for 5 minutes. If the thermostat is still calling for heat then the cycle continues until the call for heat ends. The reasoning behind this was to allow the hot water in the tank to absorb the heat from the fire box without having the water temp ramp up past the actual setting on the stat. I think this will help create longer burn times.
9
Shaver Furnace / Re: Failed tests?
« on: February 23, 2012, 07:26:17 PM »
What is the Shaver efficiency rating, if you know it?
10
Shaver Furnace / Re: Failed tests?
« on: February 23, 2012, 08:57:55 AM »
What was the tax credit? When I bought my Shaver 165 last August my dealer said I could get $300, which is the tax credit anyone can get for a pellet burning wood stove.
11
Shaver Furnace / Re: Failed tests?
« on: February 22, 2012, 09:07:34 PM »
I agree with Mark Twain.
12
Shaver Furnace / Re: Failed tests?
« on: February 22, 2012, 08:46:16 PM »
In an earlier post I asked the question about how the EPA tested the OWBs for a efficiency rating. I really was not trying to get to the method involved, I was basically getting at how could they determine the efficiency(more of a philosophical question) They can do a test and say OWB "A" gets more BTUs then OWB "B" from the same amount of wood but if I only spend $200 for gas and I save $2000 by not buying propane, I would think that the EPA formula would need to be: total BTUs from wood burned/ total BTUs available from $200 of unleaded gas that I used to get the wood. Because the wood I burned grew without any help from non renewable sources.
It is kind of like saying one solar panel is 12% efficient and another is 14% efficient, because all the energy collected from the sun is free so if the input energy is more or less free who cares?
It is kind of like saying one solar panel is 12% efficient and another is 14% efficient, because all the energy collected from the sun is free so if the input energy is more or less free who cares?
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Shaver Furnace / Re: Failed tests?
« on: February 18, 2012, 10:04:41 PM »
How is the efficiency of an OWB measured? I have a Shaver 165 and I have burned for the most part dead tree timber (already fallen) since October. I heat a two story home with two heat exchangers plus DHW. My total cost out of pocket for the wood I burned would be less then $200. I will probably save over $2000 by not buying propane this winter. I am happy with that.
14
Shaver Furnace / Re: My shaver 165 can't keep up....
« on: January 15, 2012, 12:22:15 PM »
I do not know what you have your 165's water temp set at, but I also have a new 165 (with the auto damper) and I was experiencing the same issue during very cold temps outside. I had my temp set above 160 on the OWB. I tried setting it even higher but that did not work. I set the temp to around 140 and that seems to have helped the situation.
I was thinking that having the blower running all the time you keep injecting cold outside air into the fire box. Which made me think about running a tube from the blower intake to the smoke stake before it goes through roof of the enclosure (above the water tank) which could either be wrapped around the smoke stake to heat the air inside or maybe the tube could be placed near the stake so the the air it is sucking in and sending to the fire box is heated. Does anyone think the heated combustion idea would work?
I was thinking that having the blower running all the time you keep injecting cold outside air into the fire box. Which made me think about running a tube from the blower intake to the smoke stake before it goes through roof of the enclosure (above the water tank) which could either be wrapped around the smoke stake to heat the air inside or maybe the tube could be placed near the stake so the the air it is sucking in and sending to the fire box is heated. Does anyone think the heated combustion idea would work?
15
Plumbing / Re: Heat exchanger in attic
« on: January 07, 2012, 08:01:31 PM »
Thanks for replying. It is a water to air system. I suppose an electric valve would work on the return line I would be a little worried about adding a potential fail point though. Maybe I will get used to the noise the water lines currently make, kind of like how you get used to the sound of a fan running in the summer.
I thought of running the pump continuously, but I had concerns about the wear on the pump, and the pumped water would also lose more heat and cause more wood to burn. I guess I'm cheap.
I thought of running the pump continuously, but I had concerns about the wear on the pump, and the pumped water would also lose more heat and cause more wood to burn. I guess I'm cheap.
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