Outdoor Wood Furnace Info
Outdoor Furnaces - Manufacturers with NON EPA-Certified Models Only => Shaver Furnace => Topic started by: Another6 on September 14, 2012, 01:47:22 PM
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I'm new here. I currently heat with an earth stove. I've been doing research on OWF I like the shavers 250 and NC 250 any thoughts on either of these furnaces?? Thanks
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Well... I am active in this business 365 days a year and I would never ever reccomend a shaver to anyone. Just google shaver problems and grab a bag of popcorn and enjoy, endless amounts of complaints and investigations
I was a natures comfort dealer for a few years. The first few runs I recieved all had excellent welds and were real nice. The last batch I recieved came from another builder, as nc does not build any of there own stoves. The last batch was kinda sketchy and the welding wasn't near as nice, also had 2 nc120's burn the fronts off of the stove, but I beleive they fixed that issue.
With that being said, the nc 250 is still 100 times better than any shaver, the issue I have with the model ncb-250 is the long firebox, only the front half has grates, so the wood in the front burns well but the wood in the back burns poorly.
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Seriously!! have you actually looked at both of the stoves you mentioned !! Just look at the fit and finish and the craftsmanship of the two stoves and there is no comparison. The shaver looks like it was built by a middle school shop class. And if that isn't enough for you do like Scott suggested and google shaver problems and get ready for lots of reading !! Good Luck with your decision.
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I'm hoping to look at both furnaces either friday or sat. Thats why I wanted some kind of input as to what to look for.
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Are they still building Shaver from used pipeline?
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Are they still building Shaver from used pipeline?
Yea, and then turn around a brag about the thickness of thr material..... Thick steel isn't that great when your trying to transfer heat
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What kjw58 said, I was all set to buy a Shaver did comparisons online and that is what I decide on. went to the dealer to look at one
and he just happened to sell NC and it was a no brainer NC was the one I got
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I am new to this forum and not sure how to post. Anyways here goes.
I live in W. Md and have been buring a Shaver 250 for five years. For the most part I am pleased with my stove's performance. I have had some small issues along the way. My biggest complaint is the creosote build up in the flu. Twice a week during the my burn season (Nov. to May) I have climb on top of stove and unplug the flu. I also had creosote so bad that it was destroying my door gasket. Two or three times a season I would have to replace the gasket. My next complaint had to do to the amount of water evaporation. I can't even begin to calucalte how many gallons of water I would have to add per week.
Without any modifications, I would always fill my stove twice a day... once at 6 a.m. and again at 10 p.m.. and have no trouble heating my home of 3500 sq. ft. at 72 degrees. If my schedule would allow it I could consistantly have 18 hr burn times. I burn approx. 8 cords of seasoned wood 85% red oak and 15% white oak and locust.
This year I have made many of the modifications seen throughout this forum including the Ranco thermostat with the selonoid activated blower. I also installed the 90 degree elbow on the overflow pipe and reinsulated the entire furnace. I am hoping the furnance is a new beast with these mods. and the the creosote burns away better and the water does not evaporated at such a high rate.
Thanks to the members of this forum for their thoughts. I am looking forward to burning my "new" 250 and having many positive posts in the coming weeks.
Husky 555
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Someone could tell you better than me, but I don't you should have ANY evaporation. As for the creosote, do you burn dry wood? The blower will definately help out with the flue line.
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I'm guessing that my firewood has less than 20% moisture. The trees I fell have not had bark on them for quite sometime.
With these modifications I anticipate little to no evaporation. Everything is sealed up with high heat silicone including my door gasket that should no longer be damage with creosote. With the blower modification, the furnace should shut down completley b/w burns and also fire much hotter durning the burns resulting in less creosote.
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The solenoid shutoff you added on the blower should make a huge difference on the creosote. Going with a higher temperature differential setting should help too.
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Currently I have the Ranco programmed to shut off at 170 and on at 165. I'm thinking about increasing to 175 off. Thoughts?
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It is hard to say without being there but I would try getting it up to at least 15 or 20 degree if possible. If you can go up to 180 without risking it boiling, I would set it to turn on at 160 and off at 180.
Once you see how it runs with that setting you can cut it back and see if it makes much difference. If you have it really sealed up good, there is a chance the fire could go out with the large temperature differential so if that happens you need to cut it down some.
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Hello fellow OWH's. I've been heating with wood for over 35 years, having designed and built many plate steel wood stoves over my career, but never a wood boiler. In 2008 I bought into the Shaver hype about their OWB boilers. We ordered one in July of 2008, but by December 2008..no boiler, and given every excuse under sun why. Ben Shaver could write an encyclopedia of excuses, because we heard them all. I had purposely not rebuilt my oil fired boiler, since we were going to have the Shaver to heat the house. Or so we thought. After an all night online search we settled on Natures Comfort. We had no experience with them, but neither had we with Shaver, until they didn't deliver. I found a N/C dealer in PA & was given a very fair price for a NC250. We loaded up a trailer and drove to pick it up. 400 miles driving and one week later we had the 250 on the pad, and wired up. There is NO comparison to a Shaver. I am a nuclear certified weldor and fabricator. The welds on a Shaver look like something you'd find on a a high school shop project...pure crap! On the other hand my NC250 was the more professionally fabricated product that works flawlessly after 4 years of use.
I did file a complaint with the Arkansas State attorney Generals Office to get my deposit back. Which arrived a wekk after the letter from the ASAG office. Seems Shaver also has a hard time delivering your deposits back too.
Two words to remember for Shaver....Forget it!
Buy their junk at your own peril!
Remember, if it seems to good to be true..it probably is. In my case it absolutely was.
Shaver Hater
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i built my boiler from there ideal have more i want to do to improve am lost though information and bashing are two diffrent things. except for home built this shaver site seems to be the most liked :thumbup:
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I ordered my Shaver in April 2008 and was told that the furnance would be put on back order right off the bat. By the first week in July 2008 the stove was sitting on my pad. I honestly cannot say anything bad about my furnance except that it should have come with the modifications that this forum suggests for the Shaver models. For $150.00 I did the modifications and can say that the Shaver heats as good as any owf on the market. I fill my furnace twice a day just like the majority of the folks on this site and it keeps my house and garage as warm as I want them. When I took delivery of the Shaver, I inspected it and it seemed to be built to last. The welds were clean and strong. The best thing about my furnace or anyone's furnace on this forum is that we are not spending the money on forgein oil. I personally have about $3000.00 extra money in my pocket every year!!!!! Everybody has their opinion whether it's an owf, car, boat, saw, etc, do your research and buy what you think will work for you and if a company gives you poor customer service - STAY AWAY!!
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well said husky555. there are a lot of bashers on this and other sites that do there bashing on hear say and rumors. i my self would buy another shaver if i had the need for a OWB. Jim
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I own a shaver stove, before it was 2 years old the fan burned out, the fill valve had to be replaced, as far as the on site warranty, it's not worth the paper it's printed on.
Oh yeah, also before 2 years old it started leaking. I contacted the dealer, after 2 weeks he tells me I need to deal direct with the factory. I was told I would have to disassemble the outside of the unit, and take pictures, and send them to Ray.( so much for the warranty). After jerking me around for the better part of the summer they offer to send me a 1year newer stove, or come out, and fix the one I have, thinking I can't afford to wait another 4 mons for a repair I said OK. Well I cranked it up, and low ,and be hold I have a 3/4 in gap where the door is warped. Here we go again, I called Ray, was asked if I could seal it with silicone, to make a short story long he promised to send me a new door, that was over 2 mons ago, I haven't heard anything back.
So if anyone is thinking about buying a Shaver OWB, I have one word for them. DON'T.
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I own a shaver stove, before it was 2 years old the fan burned out, the fill valve had to be replaced, as far as the on site warranty, it's not worth the paper it's printed on.
Oh yeah, also before 2 years old it started leaking. I contacted the dealer, after 2 weeks he tells me I need to deal direct with the factory. I was told I would have to disassemble the outside of the unit, and take pictures, and send them to Ray.( so much for the warranty). After jerking me around for the better part of the summer they offer to send me a 1year newer stove, or come out, and fix the one I have, thinking I can't afford to wait another 4 mons for a repair I said OK. Well I cranked it up, and low ,and be hold I have a 3/4 in gap where the door is warped. Here we go again, I called Ray, was asked if I could seal it with silicone, to make a short story long he promised to send me a new door, that was over 2 mons ago, I haven't heard anything back.
So if anyone is thinking about buying a Shaver OWB, I have one word for them. DON'T. '
your pretty much preaching horror stories that are plastered all over the internet. for some reason folks keep going back, there are quality products out there, shaver imo has always been one of the worst things ive ever seen made
they have claimed gasification, which was pure lies, they have claimed they were epa phase 2, i mean if it could be done, they've done it