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31
General Outdoor Furnace Discussion / Re: Wand and 1.75" cleaning brush for tubes
« on: December 01, 2018, 07:34:16 AM »
How is your brush attached now - threaded? I bought a 2 inch brush from Felton Brush, and welded that onto a length of 1/2 inch pipe. Then welded a short tee as a handle onto the other end to make it easier to push and pull through the tubes. It is a very snug fit.
32
General Outdoor Furnace Discussion / Re: question on purging when refilling boiler
« on: October 24, 2018, 07:45:14 AM »
I also have the fill line tapped directly into the Boilers return line in the house. I emptied the system after year 1 and some discoloration and sediment came out (probably from the build process). I flushed again after year 4 and all was clear, so I haven't flushed and refilled since. The pump sits at the lowest part of the system and it does not get air bound, and any residual air in the system eventually works it's way out the vent.
33
The Wall Of Shame / Re: Do you know what happens when...
« on: October 22, 2018, 08:44:08 AM »
I am a big fan of having a spare key some place hidden on the property - not someplace obvious like under the welcome mat. I always remember the story when my BIL and family got home late one night, tired, the weather is miserable, and he can't get into his attached garage because the power is out and the garage door won't open and they have no keys on hand for the outside entrance doors. So now they are scrambling to get a Motel room for the night. I mean...seriously.
34
General Outdoor Furnace Discussion / Re: Fired up!
« on: October 22, 2018, 07:23:42 AM »
I fired up Sept 22. It was off and on for the first few days, and it has been pretty much on since Oct 1. Heavy frost and trace of snow the last couple mornings.
35
General Outdoor Furnace Discussion / Re: The chemical free boiler
« on: September 23, 2018, 06:47:43 AM »
Thanks for posting.
Does the Fluidyne unit use energy besides the circulating pump. It looks like the magnets are permanent and not electric.
I believe I interpret that your make up tank had a steam injection. This sounds to me like it is used as a de-aerator, essentially pre-heating the water which will also vent off dissolved oxygen.
I found it interesting that the Fluidyne system discussed it's ability to precipitate hardness scale. It specifically mentioned calcium carbonate. It didn't say what happened to the "solid white crystal", although it sounds like it would pass into the boiler, not settle on tubes and form a hard scale, but be removed with the blowdown.
I have to question some of the stats presented by Fluidyne. Your boiler produces about 30,000 lbs of steam per hour, making it a smaller industrial boiler, but still a decent size. Pre Fluidyne, the blowdown was 50% and the chemical usage was 200 lbs per day. If this is accurate, both of these are insanely high, although perhaps possible if the system uses a very high percentage of make up water. Post Fluidyne, the blowdown was 4%, which is normal even with chemical use. It does not state weather you currently use any chemicals, although, I am assuming not.
I am one of those sceptics - basically a chemical guy, although I never sold them, however I used them and it is all I understand. However, always willing to learn something new. You say the boiler is very clean upon inspection with no scale or rusting. This is the proof of the pudding. However for me, I will stick with what I know. LOL.
Does the Fluidyne unit use energy besides the circulating pump. It looks like the magnets are permanent and not electric.
I believe I interpret that your make up tank had a steam injection. This sounds to me like it is used as a de-aerator, essentially pre-heating the water which will also vent off dissolved oxygen.
I found it interesting that the Fluidyne system discussed it's ability to precipitate hardness scale. It specifically mentioned calcium carbonate. It didn't say what happened to the "solid white crystal", although it sounds like it would pass into the boiler, not settle on tubes and form a hard scale, but be removed with the blowdown.
I have to question some of the stats presented by Fluidyne. Your boiler produces about 30,000 lbs of steam per hour, making it a smaller industrial boiler, but still a decent size. Pre Fluidyne, the blowdown was 50% and the chemical usage was 200 lbs per day. If this is accurate, both of these are insanely high, although perhaps possible if the system uses a very high percentage of make up water. Post Fluidyne, the blowdown was 4%, which is normal even with chemical use. It does not state weather you currently use any chemicals, although, I am assuming not.
I am one of those sceptics - basically a chemical guy, although I never sold them, however I used them and it is all I understand. However, always willing to learn something new. You say the boiler is very clean upon inspection with no scale or rusting. This is the proof of the pudding. However for me, I will stick with what I know. LOL.
36
Equipment / Re: Wood Splitter Recommendation?
« on: February 21, 2018, 09:15:35 AM »
I built a splitter and used 32 wt hydraulic oil. The splitter lives outside 24/7. This year, it worked OK even at -20 C. (Fine for the equipment, not so fine for the operator LOL)
37
Fire Wood / Re: Got wood
« on: February 07, 2018, 07:09:58 AM »
I called my "guy" early January, and had a 9 cord load of logs three days later. Price dropped 50$ vs the last couple years. There was about 50 logs in the load, all maple, maximum diameter about 30 inches, and general average between 12 to 20 inches. They have since been blocked up and I am working on splitting them now. Probably half done. This load won't be burnt until the fall of 2019. I may get another load now, since it comes out of the bush nice and clean, and cut/split next November to avoid the snow and cold.
38
General Outdoor Furnace Discussion / Re: man dies in "outdoor furnace explosion"
« on: January 31, 2018, 09:13:21 AM »
I suppose it is possible but details would help any analysis. If the unit somehow became over-pressurised, it could explode, but I would think a fitting would give way first. There are TV shows which have shown what happens to a home's hot water tank when the relief valve is capped off and the thermo shut off is overridden. A small house can be easily destroyed! There is a lot of potential energy in a pressurized vessel!
39
General Outdoor Furnace Discussion / Re: Wood usage comparisons
« on: January 31, 2018, 09:07:29 AM »I didn't do anything fancy to know my approximate weights. Rubbermaid storage tubs from Walmart and the bathroom scale (needless to say the wife was not impressed). Measured how many tubs worth of wood I was using, weighed a few tubs and there was my approximation. You don't have to check every time. After a few days and different weather scenarios you can judge how much wood you're using and how much your logs and splits weigh. If you're unsure or if you change species, just fill the tubs and weigh them again before throwing that wood into the boiler.
Sure it won't come close to passing any engineering test, but with a bit of due diligence in measuring I think it's still more accurate than saying "I use 1/2 a firebox full a day every 8-14 hours".
I know it's still not perfect but it could help standardize troubleshooting when we're trying to diagnose problems over the web.
I like your thinking. When I first commissioned my system in 2010, I weighed the wood, measured boiler temps and monitored the time to try to get a sense of the overall efficiency. To weigh the wood, I put blocks in a heavy shopping bag and used a luggage scale. I soon learned, that in my case, an average sized block of seasoned wood was 14 lbs. There is no need to over analyze and over think all this. Keep it simple and there is a much greater chance of continuing the measure and monitor process.
There is some debate as to how much BTU's are available in a pound of wood. We have to take into account the water in the wood, also the hydrogen that is combined within the wood's hydro carbon structure as it also combines with oxygen to form water. This process creates heat, but stack temp needs to be kept high enough so this water does not condense. So some will say 6800 BTU/lb, and I have seen estimates as low as 6050 BTU/lb. You are right in that species is basically irrelevant.
Some fun bedtime reading;
http://mha-net.org/docs/v8n2/docs/WDBASICS.pdf
40
General Outdoor Furnace Discussion / Re: Does anyone put a roof over their OWB?
« on: January 31, 2018, 08:35:15 AM »
I covered mine with a building.
41
General Outdoor Furnace Discussion / Re: Adding storage questions
« on: January 14, 2018, 09:46:40 AM »
I use storage with my home built boiler. Commissioned in January 2010, I am now on year 8 with the current set up. The boiler capacity is roughly 250 gals, and storage is 300 gals. By OWB standards, my firebox is extremely small at just 8 cu ft, so storage is a must. Also my boiler is not set up with any sort of auto regulating damper, so I batch burn only, usually starting the fire mid afternoon with the water temp between 120 and 130 F, burning "full out" for 6 hours, then shutting it down for the night with water temps at 180 F. Providing it is a "normal" January i.e. average daytime high of -5 C and night time low of -15 C, it seems to work quite well. Last night at - 28 C it was cooler than normal. I shut the fire down at midnight, and it is currently 11 am, outside temp is - 14 C and water temp is 140 F.
My storage is beside the boiler, both in a small separate building (10 ft x 10 ft x 6 ft H), 165 ft from the house. The boiler building is fully insulated, and boiler and storage have 8 inches of insulation. As Willie says, the best place for storage is inside the building you wish to heat, but that is not always possible.
The only pump I have on my system, which does both the house and garage (90 ft away) loops, pumps from the storage tank, through the boiler, to the house and garage and then returns to storage. Advantages are, the pump is handling the "cooler" storage water, and when the boiler is fired, the higher temp heat is pumped directly to the house first.
I burn 6.5 to 7.5 cords per year to heat an older 1500 sq ft farm house and 700 sq ft shop (which is only minimally heated 80% of the time). The wife likes the house T stat > 70 F. I am sure the boiler/storage causes a heat loss, but I am sure I have a higher heat loss with 250 ft of the cheap 3 wrap underground pipe.
My storage is beside the boiler, both in a small separate building (10 ft x 10 ft x 6 ft H), 165 ft from the house. The boiler building is fully insulated, and boiler and storage have 8 inches of insulation. As Willie says, the best place for storage is inside the building you wish to heat, but that is not always possible.
The only pump I have on my system, which does both the house and garage (90 ft away) loops, pumps from the storage tank, through the boiler, to the house and garage and then returns to storage. Advantages are, the pump is handling the "cooler" storage water, and when the boiler is fired, the higher temp heat is pumped directly to the house first.
I burn 6.5 to 7.5 cords per year to heat an older 1500 sq ft farm house and 700 sq ft shop (which is only minimally heated 80% of the time). The wife likes the house T stat > 70 F. I am sure the boiler/storage causes a heat loss, but I am sure I have a higher heat loss with 250 ft of the cheap 3 wrap underground pipe.
42
Home Made / Re: Designing my Generation 2 waste oil boiler.
« on: January 07, 2018, 07:55:53 AM »
Nice work Marty. Looks like you are getting all the bugs worked out. I am curious about a few things; Such as the cfm rating on your compressor, and how long it cycles for when the burner is lit?, The gph rating of the nozzle? - I did not see any specs for it on the website. Also, did you need to adjust the burner air registers, and if so, how did you determine the setting? In one of the photos, they appear to be blocked off, but that could be an optical delusion.
I volunteer with a small tourist steam locomotive. We burn about 250 L of furnace oil per day. On the rare days in which the steamer is down and we have the diesel locomotive in service, we consume about 15 L of diesel. (So we can see why steam locomotives no longer roar across the country.)
Anyways, we are always looking to reduce costs, so I am following this thread with interest.
I volunteer with a small tourist steam locomotive. We burn about 250 L of furnace oil per day. On the rare days in which the steamer is down and we have the diesel locomotive in service, we consume about 15 L of diesel. (So we can see why steam locomotives no longer roar across the country.)
Anyways, we are always looking to reduce costs, so I am following this thread with interest.
43
Home Made / Re: Home made boiler 2.0
« on: December 22, 2017, 07:58:18 PM »
First photo is the firebox (which is 30 inch dia x 30 inch long) and fire-tube heat exchanger that sits above the firebox. The firebox is insulated with firebrick on all 4 walls, there is a top ss baffle plate which directs the flue through a pass, then through the fire-tubes and out the stack. The idea is to have the fire burn hot and have heat exchange in the fire tubes.
Second photo is the front and rear walls of the firebox. The rear wall also has water tubes to pick up radiant heat from the fire but still allow the fire to burn hot.
Third photo is the firebox and fire tubes sitting in the boiler shell.
The firebox is surrounded by water on all 4 sides, including the front wall. I would not include a front water wall on build 2.0. It has really complicated things that I would like to do with air flow.
Fourth photo is the more or less completed boiler, showing access doors to the tubes, which I brush weekly, firebox, and ash pit door at the bottom. Water capacity is around 225 gals. Wheels were to move it from shop to its building.
Fifth photo is inside the boiler building. You can see the 300 gallon storage tank, and above it an expansion tank. Air is supplied from a retrofitted oil furnace burner. The fan is on a timer and only comes on once a day for 30 or so minutes when I first start the fire, after that it's natural draft. I try to burn the fire hot enough to keep the stack temp around 300 and especially to have no smoke! That's it in a nutshell. I start the fire at 4 pm most days, water temp is around 120 F, burn it hard for 4 hours, and then shut it down (close air dampers) around 8 pm with the water temp around 190 F. Next day repeat. It is very different than the "store bought" units and not everyone's cup of tea, but it works well for me.
Second photo is the front and rear walls of the firebox. The rear wall also has water tubes to pick up radiant heat from the fire but still allow the fire to burn hot.
Third photo is the firebox and fire tubes sitting in the boiler shell.
The firebox is surrounded by water on all 4 sides, including the front wall. I would not include a front water wall on build 2.0. It has really complicated things that I would like to do with air flow.
Fourth photo is the more or less completed boiler, showing access doors to the tubes, which I brush weekly, firebox, and ash pit door at the bottom. Water capacity is around 225 gals. Wheels were to move it from shop to its building.
Fifth photo is inside the boiler building. You can see the 300 gallon storage tank, and above it an expansion tank. Air is supplied from a retrofitted oil furnace burner. The fan is on a timer and only comes on once a day for 30 or so minutes when I first start the fire, after that it's natural draft. I try to burn the fire hot enough to keep the stack temp around 300 and especially to have no smoke! That's it in a nutshell. I start the fire at 4 pm most days, water temp is around 120 F, burn it hard for 4 hours, and then shut it down (close air dampers) around 8 pm with the water temp around 190 F. Next day repeat. It is very different than the "store bought" units and not everyone's cup of tea, but it works well for me.
44
Home Made / Re: Home made boiler 2.0
« on: December 22, 2017, 10:15:50 AM »
The old firebox was 15 cu ft. You will end up with 20% more volume (45 cu ft vs. 37) with the box vs. the new tank, but a lot more welds and potential site of future leaks. I would go with the tank, especially if the jacket is a tank.
My firebox is 8 cu ft. I get through by having storage. About 550 gallons in total.
My firebox is 8 cu ft. I get through by having storage. About 550 gallons in total.
45
General Outdoor Furnace Discussion / Re: Generator interlock
« on: December 22, 2017, 09:48:05 AM »Would feeding a sub panel with a receptacle be up on code?
I have no idea.
I kinda doubt it. The whole ideal of an interlock is so its impossible to back feed the line with a generator.
With this set up it is impossible to back feed. From that regard it is safe. I believe the issue is running a permanent install (sub panel) from a non permanent wire (heavy extension and plug/receptacle). The codes in some jurisdictions may frown on it.