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16
Shaver Furnace / Re: first cold snap
« on: December 19, 2008, 10:41:41 PM »
yeah, I'm talking about the firebox door. I think a lot of heat is lost there. I'm definately going to add insulation this spring. Not sure if I'll use spray foam or foam panels, maybe I'll fill the void underneath with foam, and use the panels on the sides, inbetween the square tubing over the existing insulation. Did you have a hard time maintaining temperature before you insulated it? did you go through more wood before also? I can only get about 165* out of my 290 in sub 30* weather, if I set the stat any higher the blower just keeps running. You should consider the mod I did to my blower to stop your boiling problems in warmer weather.
17
Shaver Furnace / Re: Shaver OWB's
« on: December 18, 2008, 06:01:37 PM »
your chimney may be partially blocked also. Is it burning hard if you open the door real quick, or does it slowly burn better and better when the door is open?
18
Shaver Furnace / Re: first cold snap
« on: December 17, 2008, 02:52:33 PM »
There is a guy on arboristsite that has regular fiberglass insulation stuffed between the panels, and said it's holding up well. He's had it in there for 3-4 weeks and said only the edges have blackened, but not melted or deteriorated. He said he can hold his hand to the door during a burn cycle now, I measured over 250* on the outside of my door.
19
Shaver Furnace / Re: first cold snap
« on: December 17, 2008, 01:07:13 PM »
I heat my 3000 sq. ft. house (including basement), it's a log home and in need of sealing , so there are some draft issues. I also heat my 36x26 garage to 45* and an 800 sq. ft. apartment above the garage. My domestic hot water is heated indirectly through my existing system, and I'm going to run the apartment DHW off the coil in the shaver eventually. The boiler is 160' from my house, and 50' from the garage. I used the cheap TSP 1.25", but only go it down 2-3' because of ledge. I had snow melt above the trench for the first dusting we got, but only see a 3-4* drop in temp from the furnace to the house. I'm glad I got the TSP, it saved me over $2000 and I think it will serve me fine.
I've done several mods to my shaver already (you can read my thread) and have a few more in mind. The shaver is poorly insulated in my opinion and d improvement in this area is important to the system efficiency. I bought 1200 lbs of anthracite coal to mix in during the very cold (teens and below) days and it seems to work well. I add 3-4 shovel fulls and then load with wood. I saw a 30* temperature increase in 1 hour mixing in coal on a 10* day, when every zone in my house was calling for heat.
I've done several mods to my shaver already (you can read my thread) and have a few more in mind. The shaver is poorly insulated in my opinion and d improvement in this area is important to the system efficiency. I bought 1200 lbs of anthracite coal to mix in during the very cold (teens and below) days and it seems to work well. I add 3-4 shovel fulls and then load with wood. I saw a 30* temperature increase in 1 hour mixing in coal on a 10* day, when every zone in my house was calling for heat.
20
Shaver Furnace / Re: first cold snap
« on: December 17, 2008, 05:33:31 AM »
What size did you get? I have a 290 and still need to fill 3x when it's very cold.
21
Shaver Furnace / Re: Insulation
« on: December 10, 2008, 11:50:25 AM »
very nice. I got my cover resealed and my modified blower installed. So far so good and not water loss after 1 month.
22
Shaver Furnace / Re: My Shaver experience and modifications I've made
« on: December 10, 2008, 11:45:26 AM »So how did the fan modification work out??
Sorry for the slow response, I thought the site would email me when there was a post to my topic. It's Working well, here are some images of the finished product. Next project is to insulate the firebox door, and line the floor with firebrick. I'm going to get a pickup load of coal and see how it works on the 0* nights when mixed with wood. As far as my steam fix goes, no more adding water every day or two. It's been over a month and my water level is still good.
Does anyone have ideas on insulating the firebox door, mine gets over 250* during a burn cycle? I've considered regular fiberglass batting, ceramic blanket, or even firebrick (remove inner panel, add brick and re-weld panel.
23
Shaver Furnace / Re: Insulation
« on: November 21, 2008, 08:22:26 PM »
I've got to reseal my cover before I put my updated blower on, but I'll post a link. What type of heat do you have in your house? I have mostly radiant floor, but 1 zone of baseboard too. I'll try 150* once I get everything set. I really like my Ranco digital thermostat. How much insulation did you use? what model Shaver do you have? Really no insulation on the bottom?
24
Shaver Furnace / Re: Insulation
« on: November 21, 2008, 03:09:54 AM »
I've modified my spare blower to work like the hardy one with a solenoid, going to install it this week and see what happens. How do I know if my cold return is in the wrong spot? I've got to remove the coil cover and reseal it, can I tell by looking in there? How difficult was it to remove the siding? I was thinking about pulling it off and cutting rigid pieces of 1-2" foam siding to fit between the framing. My blower runs constantly right now 30* during the day, 15* at night and my water temp won't get up past 160-170, I have it set for 180* on a real thermostat, not the shaver one. I have the Shaver 290* and use to heat my house/garage with a 100K BTU oil boiler with no problems, so I should have enough heat. I ordered my boiler in April and they built it in May (they were still pretty dead then). I'm starting to get tired of modifying this thing. Do you have more pics of yours disassembled?
25
Shaver Furnace / Re: Insulation
« on: November 19, 2008, 07:50:40 PM »
gandgracing, Awesome idea on the insulation. Where did you get it, and how did you spray it on? Do you have any issues steaming out the vent pipe? How often does your fan come on compared to before you insulated it? My blower seems to run constantly when it's cold out.
26
Shaver Furnace / Re: My Shaver experience and modifications I've made
« on: November 19, 2008, 07:29:44 PM »
What kind of blower did you use for your first design? Do you have any pictures?
27
Shaver Furnace / My Shaver experience and modifications I've made
« on: November 19, 2008, 09:44:31 AM »
I have a shaver 290 and for the most part it is great, but like some of you I have had a couple issues. My biggest concern is the water steaming off, I am down several gallons a day and steam constantly at all temps. My friend, who has the same furnace uses no water in a 2-3 week time frame and has basically the same installation with the same parts. I think I have discovered the difference in our boilers and why some Shavers steam more than others. I've attached an image depicting our installations. My boiler (Boiler B) has a slight lean to the rear, where my friends (Boiler A) has a slight lean to the front, and possibly an upward angle of the vent tube exiting the boiler.
I believe the lean frontward lean and upward angle of the vent pipe on my friends boiler dramatically cuts down on the surface area of water exposed to the atmosphere. Boiler A's vent pipe is full of water, where Boiler B's is simply a passage way for the atmosphere to make contact with the entire surface of the water in the tank allowing much more steam to be created and exit even when the water is below boiling.
I slid a 1" piece of pex over my overflow and and secured it with a hose clamp. Then added a short 90* and another 1-2" of pex vertically. The boiler water level is now raised slightly, but would still be vented and the surface area of the water exposed to the atmosphere would only be the area inside the vent pipe instead of the entire top of the tank. Another side benefit is I can see my water level in the pex, as I have a pink rust inhibitor additive that shows through the pex. If you run straight water clear flexible pipe attached to the vent, bent upwards and held in place with clamps on the side of the boiler should be an easy fix, just don't extend the pipe up too far or you may risk overflowing out the water coil cover.
Here is a quick sketch of the two scenarios (boiler A and boiler B) as well as a diagram of my proposed fix (bottom right). I've been running this for a day now and have seen zero steam and have lost zero water. I don't think the water in the pex will ever freeze as mine is quite hot (160*+). Does anyone see any problems with this? I sent an email to shaver for their input and am awaiting a response.
Here is my steam fix, I keep the water at about halfway up the pipe so I can track any level changes. My vent use to steam nonstop, but no more.
I replaced the original thermostat because I had bad luck with it and boiled the water a couple times. I also wanted a thermometer to tell me the water temp inside the boiler (I have one on the line coming off the OWB but it is only accurate when the pump running). It's funny you mention inside application, because the controller I have sends a signal 0-10v for a remote monitor, still deciding if I want a display inside to tell me the temp of the boiler. My Ranco is working fine, I'm going to move the well to a better spot . Another guy gave me a great idea for a thermostat well. He used a 12" piece of 1/4" copper, capped one end then flared the other. He then drilled a hole on the top of his water jacket near the cover in the back. He dropped the copper pipe down the hole and the flared end kept it from falling in all the way. dropped in his sensor and siliconed the top. Said it's dead nuts accurate. I plan on doing this to mine this weekend. Here is a pic of it, it is mounted inside the rear door:
I still need to do some cleaning up and insulating on the rear of the boiler, but I have a few more adjustments to make first.
My next project is to modify my blower damper to operate like the natures comfort and Hardy OWB. They use a solenoid to cover and uncover the blower inlet when the fan is on/off. Here is a pic I borrowed from fellow member (derwood91, thanks for the pic):
I modified my spare blower yesterday. I re drilled the flange so it can be mounted with the door facing up. Then I drilled out the door rivet and cut out the grill off the air inlet. I the door to a hinge so it will swing up and put an eyelet in the center of the door. I'm going to mount it on the boiler this weekend and attach the door to a solenoid that will activate and lift the door when the blower turns on. When the blower turns off, the door will close and limit draft. I think this will help the boiler recover quicker when the blower is on, more air entering because the door will be wide open. When the blower is off, the fire will smolder better and not overheat the water. I'll take pics this weekend and let you know how it works.
I believe the lean frontward lean and upward angle of the vent pipe on my friends boiler dramatically cuts down on the surface area of water exposed to the atmosphere. Boiler A's vent pipe is full of water, where Boiler B's is simply a passage way for the atmosphere to make contact with the entire surface of the water in the tank allowing much more steam to be created and exit even when the water is below boiling.
I slid a 1" piece of pex over my overflow and and secured it with a hose clamp. Then added a short 90* and another 1-2" of pex vertically. The boiler water level is now raised slightly, but would still be vented and the surface area of the water exposed to the atmosphere would only be the area inside the vent pipe instead of the entire top of the tank. Another side benefit is I can see my water level in the pex, as I have a pink rust inhibitor additive that shows through the pex. If you run straight water clear flexible pipe attached to the vent, bent upwards and held in place with clamps on the side of the boiler should be an easy fix, just don't extend the pipe up too far or you may risk overflowing out the water coil cover.
Here is a quick sketch of the two scenarios (boiler A and boiler B) as well as a diagram of my proposed fix (bottom right). I've been running this for a day now and have seen zero steam and have lost zero water. I don't think the water in the pex will ever freeze as mine is quite hot (160*+). Does anyone see any problems with this? I sent an email to shaver for their input and am awaiting a response.
Here is my steam fix, I keep the water at about halfway up the pipe so I can track any level changes. My vent use to steam nonstop, but no more.
I replaced the original thermostat because I had bad luck with it and boiled the water a couple times. I also wanted a thermometer to tell me the water temp inside the boiler (I have one on the line coming off the OWB but it is only accurate when the pump running). It's funny you mention inside application, because the controller I have sends a signal 0-10v for a remote monitor, still deciding if I want a display inside to tell me the temp of the boiler. My Ranco is working fine, I'm going to move the well to a better spot . Another guy gave me a great idea for a thermostat well. He used a 12" piece of 1/4" copper, capped one end then flared the other. He then drilled a hole on the top of his water jacket near the cover in the back. He dropped the copper pipe down the hole and the flared end kept it from falling in all the way. dropped in his sensor and siliconed the top. Said it's dead nuts accurate. I plan on doing this to mine this weekend. Here is a pic of it, it is mounted inside the rear door:
I still need to do some cleaning up and insulating on the rear of the boiler, but I have a few more adjustments to make first.
My next project is to modify my blower damper to operate like the natures comfort and Hardy OWB. They use a solenoid to cover and uncover the blower inlet when the fan is on/off. Here is a pic I borrowed from fellow member (derwood91, thanks for the pic):
I modified my spare blower yesterday. I re drilled the flange so it can be mounted with the door facing up. Then I drilled out the door rivet and cut out the grill off the air inlet. I the door to a hinge so it will swing up and put an eyelet in the center of the door. I'm going to mount it on the boiler this weekend and attach the door to a solenoid that will activate and lift the door when the blower turns on. When the blower turns off, the door will close and limit draft. I think this will help the boiler recover quicker when the blower is on, more air entering because the door will be wide open. When the blower is off, the fire will smolder better and not overheat the water. I'll take pics this weekend and let you know how it works.
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