Anyone ever take apart a magic heat reclaimer ?

[SmokeyCity]

Been using mine 2 yrs now and it seems 2b less and less effective.

Would like to clean the surface of those tubes inside the chamber. Im betting they are covered with a thick glaze of hardened creosote which is acting as an insulation coating thus reducing heat Xfer.

Heat reclaimer haters need not comment :=)

 

[raybonz]

Just heard a pin drop lol...

Ray

 

[SmokeyCity]

Just heard a pin drop lol...

Ray

tisk tisk tisk you weren't supposed to comment :=)

I might be on my own on this one

 

[Beetle-Kill]

Abandon hope, all 'ye who channel "Pook". -

 

[Mt Ski Bum]

take it out & leave it out... you know heat reclaimers & newer EPA stoves don't go together!

Heat reclaimer haters need not comment :=)

that would be about 99.9%+ of forum members

 

[nate379]

Isn't that what the knob in the front is for, to clean the tubes?

 

[SmokeyCity]

Isn't that what the knob in the front is for, to clean the tubes?

it knocks the big stuff off but you need to remove that baked on glaze of creosote every couple seasons. IT serves as an insulator and reduces Xfer

 

[yooperdave]

i used to have one in my garage...worked quite well, way back then. left it with the ex...i'll have to ask if it ever got clogged up. (after the fire marshall leaves....)

 

[SmokeyCity]

i used to have one in my garage...worked quite well, way back then. left it with the ex...i'll have to ask if it ever got clogged up. (after the fire marshall leaves....)

All the hardcores on this site hate em so Im guessing there must be a good reason.

Safety probably the foremost

 

[yooperdave]

everyone feels they remove too much heat from the flue, thus enabling creosote to build up quickly. lots of variables involved. length of flue, age of wood...in regards to moisture content, etc.
i never had a thermometer hooked up the the pipe in the garage...only had about 1 foot of single wall pipe, then into a masonry chimney which was inside the garage (stayed warmer that way) but was only about 12' tall or so. being as i had dry wood and an excellent draft, i never had trouble with the thing. i didn't burn in the garage but a couple times a month...but i always worked the lever on the magic heat a few times when i was burning. the stove was a listed circulator...atlanta homesteader, i believe. the ex has that too.

 

[SmokeyCity]

In my first season with it - it poured out unbelievable heat. A buddy of mine in the HVAC biz was really impressed with how much iot put out. Especially since I burn at high output almost continually.

Ill take it apart and see how glazed the tubes are.

everyone feels they remove too much heat from the flue, thus enabling creosote to build up quickly. lots of variables involved. length of flue, age of wood...in regards to moisture content, etc.
i never had a thermometer hooked up the the pipe in the garage...only had about 1 foot of single wall pipe, then into a masonry chimney which was inside the garage (stayed warmer that way) but was only about 12' tall or so. being as i had dry wood and an excellent draft, i never had trouble with the thing. i didn't burn in the garage but a couple times a month...but i always worked the lever on the magic heat a few times when i was burning. the stove was a listed circulator...atlanta homesteader, i believe. the ex has that too.

 

[firefighterjake]

i used to have one in my garage...worked quite well, way back then. left it with the ex...i'll have to ask if it ever got clogged up. (after the fire marshall leaves....)

All the hardcores on this site hate em so Im guessing there must be a good reason.

Safety probably the foremost

Not a hard care member or a hater . . . but never went with the Magic Heat . . . figured there was a reason only one or two members were fervent supporters of the MH . . . and I soon realized that with the proper sized woodstove in the proper location using well seasoned wood and running it properly that I would have more than enough heat for my entire home without adding on a device that could potentially cause a bunch of creosote issues . . . me . . . I get my heat from my stove and not my chimney so attempting to reclaim much of the heat in the chimney would be pretty negligible.

 

[SmokeyCity]

i used to have one in my garage...worked quite well, way back then. left it with the ex...i'll have to ask if it ever got clogged up. (after the fire marshall leaves....)

All the hardcores on this site hate em so Im guessing there must be a good reason.

Safety probably the foremost

Not a hard care member or a hater . . . but never went with the Magic Heat . . . figured there was a reason only one or two members were fervent supporters of the MH . . . and I soon realized that with the proper sized woodstove in the proper location using well seasoned wood and running it properly that I would have more than enough heat for my entire home without adding on a device that could potentially cause a bunch of creosote issues . . . me . . . I get my heat from my stove and not my chimney so attempting to reclaim much of the heat in the chimney would be pretty negligible.

I dont worry about creosote. Besides, everyone need a good chimney fire once a year - just to "clear the pipes" so to speak.

 

[kettensäge]

i used to have one in my garage...worked quite well, way back then. left it with the ex...i'll have to ask if it ever got clogged up. (after the fire marshall leaves....)

All the hardcores on this site hate em so Im guessing there must be a good reason.

Safety probably the foremost

Not a hard care member or a hater . . . but never went with the Magic Heat . . . figured there was a reason only one or two members were fervent supporters of the MH . . . and I soon realized that with the proper sized woodstove in the proper location using well seasoned wood and running it properly that I would have more than enough heat for my entire home without adding on a device that could potentially cause a bunch of creosote issues . . . me . . . I get my heat from my stove and not my chimney so attempting to reclaim much of the heat in the chimney would be pretty negligible.

I dont worry about creosote. Besides, everyone need a good chimney fire once a year - just to "clear the pipes" so to speak.

It'll probably clean itself sooner or later. We had one on a Fisher when I was growing up. The threaded rod that the knob attaches to pulled out of the cleaning plate. Ended up replacing it since it didn't come apart. May have been a predecessor to a Magic heat but it looked and worked the same.

 

[firefighterjake]

i used to have one in my garage...worked quite well, way back then. left it with the ex...i'll have to ask if it ever got clogged up. (after the fire marshall leaves....)

All the hardcores on this site hate em so Im guessing there must be a good reason.

Safety probably the foremost

Not a hard care member or a hater . . . but never went with the Magic Heat . . . figured there was a reason only one or two members were fervent supporters of the MH . . . and I soon realized that with the proper sized woodstove in the proper location using well seasoned wood and running it properly that I would have more than enough heat for my entire home without adding on a device that could potentially cause a bunch of creosote issues . . . me . . . I get my heat from my stove and not my chimney so attempting to reclaim much of the heat in the chimney would be pretty negligible.

I dont worry about creosote. Besides, everyone need a good chimney fire once a year - just to "clear the pipes" so to speak.

I'm guessing . . . and hoping . . . that you are kidding about the annual chimney fire.

 

[Jags]

try stovenet.com. i saw a post there.

OH MY GAWD - Pook has his own show. :ahhh:

(its not really his, but he has the most posts)

 

[SmokeyCity]

Ill find out soon cause Im gonna tear it apart and see exactly what is on the surface of the tubes. Once I scour the tubes and reconnect it - Ill know if it made a difference.

It'll probably clean itself sooner or later. We had one on a Fisher when I was growing up. The threaded rod that the knob attaches to pulled out of the cleaning plate. Ended up replacing it since it didn't come apart. May have been a predecessor to a Magic heat but it looked and worked the same.

 

[mayhem]

Actually been considering getting an 8" pipe model and installing it in the basement on the boiler. Basement is the coldest room in the house and since the exhaust is on a power vent I don't see much of an issue with draft being compromised by cooling the flue gasses. Could use the extra BTU's in the basement when the boiler is running to make hot water anyway.

 

[SmokeyCity]

Actually been considering getting an 8" pipe model and installing it in the basement on the boiler. Basement is the coldest room in the house and since the exhaust is on a power vent I don't see much of an issue with draft being compromised by cooling the flue gasses. Could use the extra BTU's in the basement when the boiler is running to make hot water anyway.

Yes!

If your draft is mechanically induced/maintained then that eliminates the loss of draft (and thus creosote) factors.

Hard liners will still tell you that when the power goes out - the unit overheats and burns up (and they are right) so now we need a UPS power backup on the draft inducer and heat exchanger. Then we have addressed all the major issues.

 

[mayhem]

I wouldn't think a power outage would be an issue since the boiler shuts off when the power goes out.

That and I've got less than 24 hours of power outage since we built in 2003.

Now I jsut need the $180 to buy it and to splice it into the existing pipe.

 

[Mt Ski Bum]

i used to have one in my garage...worked quite well, way back then. left it with the ex...i'll have to ask if it ever got clogged up. (after the fire marshall leaves....)

All the hardcores on this site hate em so Im guessing there must be a good reason.

Safety probably the foremost

Not a hard care member or a hater . . . but never went with the Magic Heat . . . figured there was a reason only one or two members were fervent supporters of the MH . . . and I soon realized that with the proper sized woodstove in the proper location using well seasoned wood and running it properly that I would have more than enough heat for my entire home without adding on a device that could potentially cause a bunch of creosote issues . . . me . . . I get my heat from my stove and not my chimney so attempting to reclaim much of the heat in the chimney would be pretty negligible.

I dont worry about creosote. Besides, everyone need a good chimney fire once a year - just to "clear the pipes" so to speak.

I'm guessing . . . and hoping . . . that you are kidding about the annual chimney fire.

+100

 

[Mt Ski Bum]

try stovenet.com. i saw a post there.

OH MY GAWD - Pook has his own show. :ahhh:

(its not really his, but he has the most posts)

Ha! Love his post wondering why we won't go over there & visit! :lol:

Gotta wonder about a guy who claims Magic Heat acts as a saftey device...

 

[SmokeyCity]

Gotta wonder about a guy who claims Magic Heat acts as a saftey device...

who the hell would claim that ?

 

[firefighterjake]

Gotta wonder about a guy who claims Magic Heat acts as a saftey device...

who the hell would claim that ?

The one and only Pook . . . or whatever he is calling himself today . . . guy used to be a member here . . . changed his screen name more often than he changed his underwear (not that I was keeping track) and wrote in Pookese -- which as far as I can tell was some language known only to children under the age of 2, French poodles and an obscure tribe of natives living somewhere in the Amazon . . . I know I couldn't tell what he was trying to say half the time.