# The new WoodGun has arrived!!! Pics



## 68dodgeramman (Nov 27, 2009)

Well here it is! It arrived on Wednesday. What a perfect gift for Thanksgiving Day! Now I have to get it hooked up. I moved it near the area where I want it installed, I just have to wait for my boiler guy to come and let me know how far from walls and where the chimney can go before I position it in it's final spot. I just can't wait to start burning. I have a bout 9 pulp cord cut split and piled, and ready to burn! Speaking of which I read somewhere on here that with the WoodGun when you start the first initial burn, that you need to dry out the bricks before you burn it full bore. What do I need to do on the first burn to dry them out?


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## Gooserider (Nov 27, 2009)

Looks like a nice boiler, even if the pooch looks rather bored by the whole thing...  :lol: 

You are right on needing to dry out the refractories, and really it applies to any wood burner, no matter who makes it, or what kind of unit it is...  The break in procedure is pretty simple - start small...  

You may have a more specific procedure in your manual, but essentially build a fire w/ some newspaper and a bit of kindling, let it burn out and the boiler cool back down, repeat with a couple of small splits, then larger ones, etc...  The idea is to work up to a full load over the course of 4-5 fires, each one a little bigger, and allowing the boiler to cool back down before each one.

You may notice some smoke and stink coming from the boiler and your chimney piping during these early fires, and each time you reach a new high temperature after that - this is not a problem, it is simply the oils that come from manufacturing and finishing burning off, the final curing of the paint, and so forth.  (Stoves are usually worse about this than boilers since they have more exposed firebox surface...)  

Gooserider


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## Singed Eyebrows (Nov 27, 2009)

Nice boiler! That was my first choice, I couldn't swing the money though. Dry it out slow as mentioned & you should get about 2 years out of your center bricks(nozzles). The rest of the firebrick lasts much longer, Randy


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## muncybob (Nov 27, 2009)

Congrats on the Turkey day present to yourself!
Allow sufficient room in the rear of the boiler to be able to use the clean out rod. I think mine is 3' from the rear wall. What is the warning label on the rear?


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## Singed Eyebrows (Nov 27, 2009)

Lar-Bud; If this is a carbon steel WG you might want to consider a mixer on the inlet. I know it shouldn't need it because on shutdown the gasses that condense on other boilers aren't supposed to be there. To be safe I'd put one on though. A carbon steel WG has an approx. 10 year life per the factory. If it is kept hot it should last 30. If it's stainless disregard post, Randy


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## 68dodgeramman (Nov 27, 2009)

Thanks everybody. 

Singed Eyebrows-
 we ordered this one stainless steel for that very reason, the corrosion. I figured if we're spending the money we might as well go the extra to get the stainless. I plan on using this boiler for along time.

Gooserider-
 The pooch, Daisy, has no idea what this is nor does she care. She just heard me mention going for a ride in the truck, so she wasn't going to get to far away from me right then. lol!

muncybob-
  About the clean out. Will the rake go all the way through to the back? And if so do I really need 36" clearance in the back? That's my dilemma right now with the placement of the boiler. I thought maybe I could cut the clean out rake in half or thirds and then screw them together piece by piece when cleaning. Or I was toying with the idea of putting the boiler in sideways so the loading door would face to the left when looking at it from the front of the garage. 

Oh and the label on the back says:

WARNING

Never fill a hot boiler with water, if unit is low in water. Allow unit to cool before filling with water. Failure to do so could result in death or severe injury and damage to boiler and surrounding property.

Thanks again everybody...


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## tbsdolmar (Nov 27, 2009)

Looks like you got the 4 hour cycle timer and low temp shut-down on it.


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## 68dodgeramman (Nov 28, 2009)

tbsdolmar said:
			
		

> Looks like you got the 4 hour cycle timer and low temp shut-down on it.



Yes we did. It also has the coveted ASME "H" stamp certification, that Michigan requires.


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## Como (Nov 28, 2009)

Just wondering what size the Boiler is and the storage?


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## muncybob (Nov 28, 2009)

[quote author="Lar-Bud" date="1259352178"]Thanks everybody. 


muncybob-
  About the clean out. Will the rake go all the way through to the back? And if so do I really need 36" clearance in the back? That's my dilemma right now with the placement of the boiler. I thought maybe I could cut the clean out rake in half or thirds and then screw them together piece by piece when cleaning. Or I was toying with the idea of putting the boiler in sideways so the loading door would face to the left when looking at it from the front of the garage. 

Yes, it will go straight through so a smaller rod used from both directions would suffice. I also have that warning tag...completely forgot about it! Another highly suggested material as per the booklet is to use stainless steel flue pipe...don't go galvanized as somebody stated they went through a galv. pipe in just a few months! If you have a need to speak with Carl in tech support you may want to ask for his cel ph# since they are not open on weekends...he's been very helpful to me as I am still working out an issue with the "green light".


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## 68dodgeramman (Nov 28, 2009)

Durango said:
			
		

> Just wondering what size the Boiler is and the storage?


The boiler is an E-100 with no storage yet.

muncybob-

I just wanted to get it as close to the back wall as possible to conserve space. I figured if the only reason they want 3 feet of clearance from the back of the boiler to any wall was for clean out and induction fan maintenance I could make a smaller rake. Or just clean out from the front. Anyway I'll call Carl on Monday. Do you happen to have his last name? Thanks for the heads up also on the stainless steel pipe.


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## tbsdolmar (Nov 28, 2009)

His last name is Forney. He's the only one they have for tech support.


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## muncybob (Nov 29, 2009)

I'm fairly certain the 3' clearance in the manual is to allow for room to work on/clean from the rear. I see no reason why you could not cut that down with a shorter cleaning rod of some type and do most of your cleaning from the front. Of course keep in mid clearance needed from any combustable walls etc. and leave yourself room to move around a bit. Even with the 3' I have from my rear foundation wall it sometimes seems a bit tight. Remember that at some point you will need to replace the fan bearing.


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## 68dodgeramman (Dec 17, 2009)

Thanks for the replies. I did end up calling Alternate Heating Systems and talking to Carl Forney. He said basically the same thing muncybob said about the clearance. So I positioned it as close to the wall as I can get while still allowing access and keeping with codes. My HVAC guy started yesterday(finally) on the install. I told him that I wanted to have it lit by the weekend so we'll see how that goes. I'll post some pics maybe tomorrow of the progress.


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## muncybob (Dec 17, 2009)

I'm sure you are "chomping at the bit" by now over this!! As mentioned, be patient with the first few fires and get the refractory dried out with a series of smaller fires. The assocaited smell with the initial burns will be gone after the 4th fire or so. Then 'go for it!'...won't take long to get the onboard 60 gal. water up to temp. Be sure the temp/pressure guage is installed on it's own into the top and not T'd in with the make up water line. Looks like you'll be heating with wood for the holidays....looking forward to pics!

Carl has been good to work with and I'm hoping the replacement part that arrived last night finally solves my green light problem.


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## 68dodgeramman (Dec 18, 2009)

Well here's a few pics of the install so far. And yes I am chomping at the bit! Lol. Still hoping to have it fired up by the weekend, but it's looking kinda tight. They're coming again today and I've got to get ahold of the electrician so I don't know...


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## 68dodgeramman (Dec 18, 2009)

And a few more pics...


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## 68dodgeramman (Dec 18, 2009)

And the last one of the heat unit for the garage.


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## Scott from Canada (Dec 18, 2009)

Congrats on the arrival of your shiny new WG. Did you buy that HX for the garage or did you make it up? Pretty cool looking ,chrome and copper.Scott


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## 68dodgeramman (Dec 19, 2009)

Scott from Canada said:
			
		

> Congrats on the arrival of your shiny new WG. Did you buy that HX for the garage or did you make it up? Pretty cool looking ,chrome and copper.Scott



Thanks Scott.  Yeah, I bought the heat unit for the garage from Anderson's in Wisconsin. The HVAC guys and lady were here again today and got the HX in the plenum and put up almost all of the pex. Tomorrow the chimney pipe and air intake pipe will be here. And hopefully It'll be wired tomorrow too. So if all goes well I'm thinking we may be burning wood by the beginning of next week or sooner.


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## 68dodgeramman (Dec 22, 2009)

Well the HVAC guys were here today and finished up. I put up the chimney pipe. The electrician showed up today but didn't realize that some of the stuff he needed was in another company van and that was 40 miles away. Typical, LOL. So he is supposed to be here in the morning. As is the pipe and grille for the fresh air intake. I'm hoping, and I mean hoping, to have it filled tomorrow and to have her fired up. But here's just a few more pics of the "progress".


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## 68dodgeramman (Dec 22, 2009)

A few more...


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## 68dodgeramman (Dec 22, 2009)

And the last one...


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## Scott from Canada (Dec 22, 2009)

Looking good, that going to be a super present from  Santa. Have a good one. Scott


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## tbsdolmar (Dec 22, 2009)

I personally think you should have used crimp fittings instead of sharkbites.


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## 68dodgeramman (Dec 23, 2009)

I posted this in it's own  thread but I figured I post it here too, just in case.....


Well we got the Wood Gun install completed. We fired it up and eventually brought the water temp up to 170-175, switched it to “Run”, the boiler closed the fresh air intake and shut off the draft fan. Then went into the house and called for heat. I set the thermostat at 70. The heat got up to 69 and didn’t go up any more and obviously the furnace fan kept running. So I went out to check the boiler and it’s still in the shutdown phase but the water temp is at 125-130. So I guess I’m trying to find out why it isn’t firing back up? I would think that that it has something to do with one of the limit switches. Any suggestions? Thanks.


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## 68dodgeramman (Dec 24, 2009)

A quick call to Carl at Alternate Heating and the problem was remedied. Which was just a couple settings on the operating limit and the high temp limit. So now it's working perfect!


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## rowerwet (Dec 27, 2009)

tbsdolmar said:
			
		

> I personally think you should have used crimp fittings instead of sharkbites.


what is wrong with sharkbites?
they are the only thing I used when hooking up my OPB, nice thing about them is if you hook it up and change your mind or add on they quickly disconnect without to much fuss, also the fact they swivel after being connected is great.
I wondered about them but after reading about them at the ridgid tools forum in the plumbers section I found that they all think they will end up out of work from them and none of them can cite a failure, one guy has been using them for I think he said 10 years and he dates them with a marker to see if the seal will fail, so far no leaks.


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## Gooserider (Dec 27, 2009)

rowerwet said:
			
		

> tbsdolmar said:
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From a purely mechanical standpoint, i.e. do they make a leak free connection, probably nothing wrong with the sharkbites, but I do see two issues with them...

First is that they are VERY expensive on a cost per fitting basis, though that can be argued for a small job when looking at the cost for PEX tooling for some of the other systems...  

Second, and IMHO more significant is that they seem to give you a greatly increased fitting count...  Looking at your pictures, I see 3-4 times as many fittings as I would probably have used to do the same job, especially where you have an adapter to metal pipe, an inch or two of PEX and then an elbow - as opposed to just having a PEX elbow fitting...  Given that every fitting adds several feet to your equivalent run length when figuring pump heads and the like, I'm wondering how much extra energy all those surplus fittings are eating up...

Gooserider


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## rombi (Jan 11, 2011)

Old thread but anyone know where to buy one these hanging heaters, looks like it would work better than the one I have at the moment.


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## goosegunner (Jan 11, 2011)

rombi said:
			
		

> Old thread but anyone know where to buy one these hanging heaters, looks like it would work better than the one I have at the moment.



Andersons wood boiler supply, also know as freeheat4u on ebay.

gg


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## sparke (Jan 12, 2011)

LAR-BUD  Can you explain the way your unit exhausts and the black device on the side.  I assume it is like a cyclonic separator for dust/debris etc...  Is that correct?


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## 68dodgeramman (Jan 12, 2011)

Yep, that's the cyclone. It's supposed to separate the ash, dust and any particulates. On mine, some ash and small charcoal(size of pencil eraser) gets by the cyclone and and lays in the elbow of the stack. So I have to clean that out every time I do the regular boiler cleaning once a week. I put some stainless steel wire screen in the "T" it seems to help a little but it still gets by it.


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## sparke (Jan 12, 2011)

Thats a nice feature.  I bet the exhaust pipe hardly ever needs to get cleaned...  I have never seen that type of feature on any other wood boiler...


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## 68dodgeramman (Jan 12, 2011)

Well, they need to address the fact that particulates get past the cyclone. I was told by Carl, before this new company took over that they acknowledged that they had that problem. The new management came in and I was told they are not working on anything like that and they have no problems. 
  What happens is the elbow gets this charcoal in it and when the fire is burning it heats them. Picture blowing on embers in a fire, that's what's happening. It got so hot the first time I noticed it that the high heat caulking I put around the seems of the pipe turned to powder, the stainless pipe was discolored and the metallic label on one of the pipes burned! I'm just glad I was home at the time and awake. I can take pictures of the screen, if I remember, the next time I clean it out.


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## muncybob (Jan 12, 2011)

LR, since we are cleaning in the same apprx time interval, I was wondeing how much ash you normally get in the "drawer" of the cyclone? After 1 week of cold weather I get just under 1/3 full.


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## 68dodgeramman (Jan 12, 2011)

I would say in a weeks time I get about 3/4 to a full drawer. When I clean it I'll take pictures of how much wood I use too.  I'm burning ash, oak, beech and maple.


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## BENAHSMAN (Jan 13, 2011)

Congrats on your new Woodgun  Actually there is a new line dedicated to Tech Service from 8:00 am -9:00 pm. The number is 717-360-6828. Also we have a second line for Tech support. It is 717-369-3369 and his name is Darren. Feel free to give us a call here at Alternate Heating Systems for any installation advice or any other questions you may have. We just purchased a larger manufacturing Facility and Showroom and are in the middle of moving this week. We are now located on Wayne Avenue in Chambersburg.


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## MNBobcat (Dec 5, 2011)

Lar-Bud said:
			
		

> And the last one of the heat unit for the garage.



Hi Lar,

That's a nicer looking unit heater than most that I have seen.  Can I ask if you built it or bought it?  Most of the heaters I've seen that have a squirrel cage blower get to be really long because of the transition between the blower and the heat exchanger.  Not so with yours.  It looks like that blower was designed to match with the heat exchanger!  

If you can share any info on where you bought or where you got the parts to build it I'd sure appreciate it.

Thanks!


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## 68dodgeramman (Dec 5, 2011)

MNBobcat said:
			
		

> Lar-Bud said:
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Bob, I bought the heat unit for the garage from a place in Wisconsin I believe. I found them on Ebay. I also bought the side arm water to water exchanger from them. I'll see if I can find the paperwork for it when I get home either tonight or tomorrow.


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## MNBobcat (Dec 5, 2011)

Lar,

That would be great.  Thanks!


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