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Home Made / Re: Gasification wood boiler build

« on: December 28, 2010, 05:21:09 PM »

Great work! I just went thru all 9 pages....you sure do nice work...Id kill to have your garage......I cant wiat to see how it turns out and performs....only thing in your whole setup Im not liking is your pex tubing.....I hope the ground your putting it in is dry......and high above the water table....and you should be fine.

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Shaver Furnace / Re: Just about had it with this damn stove!!!!!

« on: May 21, 2009, 04:56:49 AM »

Im glad they hooked you up finally. You got a nice upgrade as well,just being able to burn 4 ft long smaller pieces is very nice.Ill be interested to hear how your burn times are affected by the bigger unit,once next winter comes.

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General Outdoor Furnace Discussion / Re: Shutdown

« on: May 04, 2009, 09:13:13 PM »

I shutdown yesterday morning.Fired it up 12/14 when i bought it.I cant wait to pull it all apart,and insulated it properly,and Im hoping it works better with less wood next yr.Whats the dril lfor summer prep? Im draining mine because i have to move it to pour the pad i never got done last yr,I set it on a make shift pad of a pair of rows of 8" concrete blocks,and 2x8s on top of them.Once drained my skid steer will be able to lift it off the pad.Then the plan is to pour the pad,add a row of 8" decorative block,then a cap block,then set it on there,and caulk up every crack to help hold the heat in.

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General Outdoor Furnace Discussion / Re: spark arrestor / rain cap

« on: April 09, 2009, 09:40:11 PM »

Mine too,I had 2 fires already,even with the rain cap,homemade arrstor it still sparks like crazy. I think the only solution is going to be to extend the chimney (which I do not want to do),or make up a draft door,and run the shaver on natural draft only.To be honest ive been thinking about doing that anyway,the fan just seems to push the heat right out the chimney,and burn the wood faster.

   With my Shaver,my idea is to make a new ash door,one with a draft flap door in it,and install a grainger solenoid on it,and a cover to protect it.I think the draft door needs to be a lot larger than the feed pipe that the fan blows thru,so thats why i am going to build a new door.This should stop the sparks,and improve efficiency due to a slower ,steadier burn,and the oxygen feeding the front of the firebox first,so the fire burns front to back,not back to front like a shaver does with the fan coming in from the rear.

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General Outdoor Furnace Discussion / Re: Firebox size

« on: April 09, 2009, 09:34:34 PM »

I dont think any OWB smokes much using dry wood.My Shaver doesnt smoke when i load it with dry wood.I will get smoke right after loading for about 5 minutes,and again when the fan turns on,it will blow a quick puff of smoke,nothing for me to worry about with my closest neighbor being well over 1000ft away.Now when you throw in wood thats wet,or has laid on the ground and picked up moisture,it can and will smoke pretty good at times.
      Yoda, I agree with you in that exchange area is very important.Shavers do not have a lot of exchange area,they could use a lot of improvement there.Im pretty sure thats why CB installs the rippled top on there fireboxes,thats the hottest part,and they get about 40% more exchange area there,between the firebox and water,it has to help.

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Home Made / Re: Going to start looking for material.

« on: April 03, 2009, 09:15:18 PM »

Finally got a chance to stop at a place that has some large pipe.The guy i need to talk to wasn't there so i will have to call next week.The pipe was 5/16" thick.Looking at a 30" diameter to make my fire box out of.

   Very cool,depending on how big a unit you want,Id go with a 36" minimum diameter.A few logs is all you can get in there with my 36" Shaver.I couldnt imagine 30".

7

Plumbing / Re: what did you use for the feeder line

« on: March 15, 2009, 06:56:53 AM »

 The 1" is most popular,1 1/4" should be used in big buildings or homes with large heat exchangers,and OWBS with 500 gallon of water capacity or more.
      I would stay away from the 1" pipe in the 4" drainage pipe.Unless you are very high above the water table,and have sandy soil,it wil eventually leak,and get the insulation wet,then you willl have to redo it all,as your insulation becomes a conductor,and you lose all your heat to the ground .Thermoplex,logstor anf there are a few others that are good.If you make your own,the setup that works well seems to be 3-4 wraps of solarguard,with the first wrap between the pipes,installed  in 4 or 6" PVC glued,and pressure checked,and you will not have any problems with leaks.

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General Outdoor Furnace Discussion / Re: Can you buy too big?

« on: March 06, 2009, 08:50:55 PM »

newtoit,I recommend you get an owb thats rated to heat double with you have as far as sq ft.I have 3000sq ft,went with shaver 250,rated for 5500 sq ft.If i could do it over id went with the 340 rated for 8000 sq ft.No one on here's evr complained there owb was to big or had too long a burn time.

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General Outdoor Furnace Discussion / Re: Should I buy a Woodmaster???

« on: March 06, 2009, 08:40:00 PM »

If you make your own lines,i recommend u use PVC,not corrugated pipe.The pvc wont leak if glued correctly.The corrugated pipe will evetually leak down the road,letting water in,which your insulation will absorb like a sponge.Once wet,insulation becomes a conductor,you will need to dig it all up,and redo it.Do it once,do it right.

10

Equipment / Re: bar oil

« on: February 19, 2009, 09:27:51 PM »

I have had the same chain saw (John Deere 50V) for 30 years. For the first 10 of those years all I did was heat my house with wood. The saw came with an Oregon bar on it. I now live on 10 acres of land which I still cut wood with the same saw and bar. What I use is filtered oil out of the crankcase of my cars/truck. I take a gallon of oil and mix it with a pint of STP oil treatment or Wal -Mart equivelent  (well 15 oz. I think). That is what I have done for the better part of 30 years. . All I do is put a "t" shirt over a funnel and pour the oil over that to make sure that no grit that gets into the bottle. My brother always found it incredible that I did this but as I explained to him would it have hurt my car engine if I ran that oil in it for another couple of seconds before i changed it? He now does the same thing.

      BA,great use of used oil.  The only thing ill add is the STP or in my case Lucas oil additive is important as it tackifys the oil,thickening it,and helping it stick 2 the bar.I was going to start doing the same as you,as oil prices are nuts now.I remember buying bar and chain oil from Agway 20 yrs ago for 1.75 a gallon.I bought a bunch of it,but now im buying husvarna oil or tractor supply brand.I like the husky oil better,but its thicker,so i cut it w cheap 10w30 in winter 50/50.

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General Outdoor Furnace Discussion / Re: Nature's comfort

« on: February 19, 2009, 09:20:36 PM »

   I am easily getting 14-18 hr burn times with good wood on  cold nights. i usually have a log or 2 left as well.I have gotten 24 hrs 3 or 4 times now on the warmer days (30 at night,40 daytime).The last cold spell we had,it was 15 below at night,15 during the day,I still got 12 hr times.I also load the front only,30" long logs in a 50" long firebox.if theres an uneven piece left,ill shove it to the back,and stack fresh wood up front only. 
         Not for nothing your dropping more in 70 ft than i am in 110 ft,and I do not have top of line insulation,just the cheap solarguard 3 wraps around metal lined pex,and shoved in a 4" drain pipe.Mine is 4-5 ft deep though,its a little warmer down that far,but not much.About 30 ft of mine is hanging in the air,in my attic,and up side of house.I think your lines may be contributing,and you shouldnt have needed to upsize the pump unless your uphill a long distance,but even then the returning water running downhill should help draw the water thru with a siphon effect.

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General Outdoor Furnace Discussion / Re: Incomplete burn

« on: February 18, 2009, 04:07:17 PM »

Only thing Ill say is be careful not to rake too much.I kind of like leaving some coals,in case i cant get to the furnace or the wood i throw in is wet,theres something to burn,the coals just sit there,in my case I dont let them build up to the point that they are obstucting the size of the firebox,but they are my safety system.The Shavers forced draft will light them and burn them completely ,giving me a few more hours of burn time.I found out monday morning,when I went out to the furnace cooled off to 165,and the only thing left was a huge round I threw in,I was cleaning up,and threw it in,it must have been on the ground,and was so wet it didnt even start to burn,but all the coals were gone,and kept the house warm all night,165 wasnt too bad,I had temps back up to 180 in an hr.

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General Outdoor Furnace Discussion / Re: Nature's comfort

« on: February 18, 2009, 12:08:42 PM »

firebug,I initially had a lot of problems with my Shaver keeping up as well.I found a lot of my problem initially was the wood i was using.Add to the the shavers lack of a good tstat and blower shut down. I got all that fixed,and its much better now.I went with a Shaver 250 which is almost as big as a NC 250,they are very close in size,and i have about 3000 sq ft home,every well insulated,I was going to get the 165 which is about the size of your NC175,and im so glad i upsized.If i had it to do over,id went one more bigger it was only $250 more ,it held another 30 gallons of water.Has a 58"long firebox opposed to my 50".Ive learned to not beleive any of the MFG specs as far as BTUS and what it will heat,the only one who pust accurate info,IMO is central boiler,they error on theside of too big,I think thats one of the reasons why  you see so many happy owners of CB,they pay more,but are satisifed.When I called Shaver they told me a 165 (165 gallons of water) would easily heat my home,and its poorly insulated,and small. The cost about 5200 deilvered,it sounds enticing,next to the central boiler dealer who said i needed a 6048 ,holds 393 gallons of water ,huge firebox,9000+ dollars.You know what if id went with the central boiler I'd be enjoying 24Hr burn times,and the ability to fit real big wood thru the door.

         One thing I wanted to ask you was how many degrees of temp are you losing between the house,and OWB,how long is your run,and what kind of PEX did you use,and what is it enclosed in.If you cant get the NC working to your satisfaction, Im sure a CB 5036 would make you happy.

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General Outdoor Furnace Discussion / Re: OWB Loading Gear

« on: February 18, 2009, 11:51:58 AM »

I put a cheap 250 watt halogen light on top of my homemade wood shed right next to the OWB.I got a an extension cord with a lighted plug,I tied the cord,and lights plug in a loops so they are together,and hung them under the sheds roof,when i got out i plug in the light,(i put a 120V  GFCI outlet on the back of my Shaver),I just plug it in,it lights my wood pile,and right at the door.I also bring my paper,and cardboard,throw them in first,they light up the while firebox long enough to see were i can add wood.

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Wood Doctor / Re: Patching those holes in my Wood Doctor!

« on: February 12, 2009, 09:08:34 PM »

Stainless steel belongs in Kitchens,not outdoor wood furnaces.I would not replace it with another stainless model. I hope you can get thru the winter with it now.