Outdoor Wood Furnace Info
All-Purpose OWF Discussions => General Outdoor Furnace Discussion => Topic started by: mingom on December 14, 2013, 09:46:13 AM
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Woke up this morning to no heat - went out and check the woodmaster and it was at 310! no water in anything - what could have caused me to loose all of my water? I haven't changed any setting or anything - it was really cold last night - im wondering if it boiled off all of the water if it ran away at some point? Any ideas??
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If there isn't a major leak in a pipe then it probably boiled away. Was the door closed all the way and the air shutoff working?
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I believe it was all closed down fine - I can't seem to find a leak on either end, and no melted snow above ground so i'm not sure its leaking underground. Maybe it all boiled off but I'm not sure. I filled it with quite a bit of water last sunday, checked it thursday and it was fine.
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Is it normal to need to add that much water?
Are your ashes usually dry and powdery or damp? If they are damp, you could have a leak inside the firebox and it mostly goes up the chimney. If the water level gets below the aquastat it will not control the blower properly and then could boil it away.
Have you re-filled it yet?
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Ashes are usually dry and powdery, it seemed like an awful lot of water to add last weekend. Ive refilled it and everythings back up and running, I can't seem to spot a leak inside the boiler but who knows. I'll recheck the ashes.
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Have you inspected the air shutoff flap to make sure it isn't cracked?
If you can't find any leaks anywhere, I would watch the water temperature really close and make sure it isn't over shooting. Also make sure the solenoid is working smooth. If it just sticks every now and then you might not notice the boiling.
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I have a W/M 440 - last month the solenoid got stuck in the open position and I had good boil over - lucky I caught it early before I lost to much water - remove door fan cover ( 4 screws ) - manually push up solenoid , repeat over and over - see if it sticks - on mine I had turn the eyelet where spring connects to the flapper to 8- 9 o'clock . - also grease sides of solenoid .- good luck
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Thanks for the help guys - it seems like after I fix one thing it leads to another - I think it might have boiled over - talked to a local owb guy and he said the digital aquastats on these have crapped out on others in the past leaving the vent open to overboil. Also, can anyone point me to where the float is located on the woodmasters? I think my is not working - I replaced the light the other day and its still not working, so I think the float is stuck
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Woke up this morning to no heat - went out and check the woodmaster and it was at 310! no water in anything - what could have caused me to loose all of my water? I haven't changed any setting or anything - it was really cold last night - im wondering if it boiled off all of the water if it ran away at some point? Any ideas??
check your silnoide as stated before make shure its working also check door gasket,ash pan gaskets also check around boiler for frozen water may have an external leak in water jacket or on top by chimney between jacket and tin, look for any moisture that not normal.....let us know what you find...and good luck
kelly
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Thanks for the quick replys guys, I can't seem to find a major leak anywhere, I've refilled and seem to be running okay. No water coming into the house (ie underground break in lines) My local OWB guy thinks the dixell aquastat may have gone bad (he says he had issues with them on wood doctors) and not told the owb to shut down. I checked the solenoid and it seems to open and close no problem no air leak around the door that I can find. Unless there is a major leak that is evaporating instantly inside the boiler i'm at somewhat of a loss.
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Update - think there is a leak somewhere - its not boiling over and i can still feed it more water - just dont know how to tell where - i might try and switch to my other set of lines underground tomorrow and ababysit it tonight
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Good luck and hope you find it quick!!
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Hey Matt it's Richard, give me a call in the morning.
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have you check around your furnace in basement could the water be draining out the a/c condaion pan
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Hey guys - found a small leak last night around 10pm, right off the back of the stove water was running down the return line from a bad compression fitting. Got it fixed up with a sharkbite and monitored all night - seems to be holding water no problem - funny how a small drip can turn into a monster.
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Good deal glad to hear your back online.
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Hey guys - found a small leak last night around 10pm, right off the back of the stove water was running down the return line from a bad compression fitting. Got it fixed up with a sharkbite and monitored all night - seems to be holding water no problem - funny how a small drip can turn into a monster.
glad it was an easy fix....it is amazing how much water leaks out of a little drip....
kelly
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Glad to hear it nothing serious. Those small leaks are the most difficult to find. I had one last year inside the basement behind oil furnace. The problem was it drained into the floor drain so I didn't notice it until one morning I decided to check the water level for giggles and it was down quite a bit but not enough to cause any problems. It was a loose fitting. No more leak problems. Roger
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Moral of the story, add a few sharkbite fittings and a few feet of each of the sizes of hose you use to your stash of spare parts. I keep enough to hopefully keep me going if I spring a leak.