Jumping into the wood and coal boiler world with both feet

[Woodsrover]

Woodrover,

Can take a picture of the cycle timer and do you have a model number.

I was actually thinking the same thing about the cycle timer overheating the unit and blowing off the pressure valve.
Like I said I shut off at 190 and it can swing up to 200 and even 205. I'm not sure how cool it will get in 2 hours but if the timer kicked on it may overheat. I'm not sure what my T&P valve is rated for or if I can buy one rated for 220 or higher.

But I asked this in te past and the WG guys say its not an issue.

Sure. I won't be home until late tonight but I can let you know Friday morning.

While we're talking about boiler temperatures, there's about a 10-degree difference between the aquastat and the gauge on the boiler. I have the aquastat set to kick the boiler off at 180 which gives me 170 at the gauge. Not sure what to believe but I'll er on the side of caution and believe the gauge.

 

[avc8130]

Thanks for looking at the number for me.

Yup, it is, but what I see is that WG doesn't offer a low-temp shut-off when a cycle timer is installed....which kinda makes sense. I'm still tuning this cycle timer in and have set it up to fire for 12 minutes every 2 hours. If I'm not a dummy and charge it with enough wood and get the cycle timer tuned in right, the boiler should be fine for at least 12 hours (especially this time of year) and won't every run cold. It hasn't really gotten cold here yet so the test of wood load will come later, but I think I might be alright without the low-temp shut-off. Everyone says it's a learning curve with these boilers. I'm getting to see what they're talking about. We're only at 7 days online....All things considered it's doing pretty well so far.

It shouldn't be that hard. All the cycle timer does is parallel the purge circuit. The lower water temp basically parallels the overtemp, but in the opposite direction. When the low temp limit is satisfied it allows power through.

I am interested to hear about your cycle time experiences. I will be wiring one into mine once it is up and running. What was the AHS suggestion for timer settings? Why didn't that work? Did the fire not restart?

ac

 

[Gasifier]

1500 sq-ft built in 1991 so it's very well insulated and has good windows in it. I joke that I can heat the whole place with a candle. I used to heat the whole place with just a VC Vigilant in the basement and usually didn't fire it up until November 1st.

Wow. That Wood Gun is going to be doing some idleing. Perfect application for some thermal storage of water. Do you think you will add storage in the future? You could have a fire once every two days a lot of the year and heat your house.

 

[avc8130]

These little Taco pumps only draw about .5 amps and have a 100% duty cycle so I'm not too worried about it, but these are the exact questions I was asking my plumber too. I'll insulate the pipes running between the two boilers but the WG bleeds off so much heat from the front and rear of itself its probably insignificant what comes off the pipes. I actually cracked a window in the basement because it's so warm down there.

I had my limit set at 180 but as I'm still messing around with the cycle timer I wanted to give myself a little room. I had visions of the boiler kicking off after a heating cycle at 180, coasting up to 190 and then the cycle timer coming around right afterwards and switching the boiler back on for 12 minutes and pushing it to 210. As I'm away from home for 12-hours a day with a new boiler I like to play it safe.

I have baseboard radiators. The problem with this little house and figuring this boiler out is its so well insulated I haven't really used the heat yet. The boiler has only been heating hot water so far. It was 60 degrees outside yesterday and down to 34 degrees this morning. The two zones are set for 70 degrees and the heat never came on last night. its been the same for the past three nights. Hahaha. Gotta get some cold weather to see what this thing will really do. Maybe I should leave the windows open.

I had a fear this thing would heat my basement. That's why I put in an electric water heater for summer.

No worries about the cycle timer boiling you over. The overtemp protection is #1 in the circuit. Nothing but a failed overtemp aquastat will make this force itself to boil.

Sounds like a nice problem to have.

ac

 

[Woodsrover]

... What was the AHS suggestion for timer settings? Why didn't that work? Did the fire not restart?

ac

It was set at the factory to fire for 12 minutes every four hours. At that setting with nothing calling for heat the fire would go out. Yesterday I changed it to fire for 12 minutes every two hours. We'll see how that works.

 

[Woodsrover]

Wow. That Wood Gun is going to be doing some idleing. Perfect application for some thermal storage of water. Do you think you will add storage in the future? You could have a fire once every two days a lot of the year and heat your house.

I don't have any plans to, but I'll keep an eye out for old propane tanks and water tanks. With the way these WGs bleed heat off I'd have to isolate them from the boiler after they're up to temperature. I like the simple layout I have now...I'll be slow to add more whistles and bells to it.

If there's one thing I like to do, it's cut and split firewood. My wife thinks I have a problem. Go to the beach, go for a hike, go to the city, go to the amusement park...I really want none of it. Put me in the woods with my tractor and a chainsaw or behind the barn with a maul in my hand and I'm a happy boy. I have all the woods and wood that I can use already and on top of that we had a wicked storm blow through here on June 22nd and knock over probably 5-years worth of firewood (and timber for lumber) on my property alone. The amount of wood I burn isn't really an issue for me. 5 cord a year or 8, I don't really care.

 

[Woodsrover]

Sounds like a nice problem to have.

ac

If I were smart I'd sell the new coal boiler and run 250 of insulated pex out to the barn and heat it with the Woodgun. I'm going to pipe underground power, water, compressed air and phone out there next year anyway. I'm still considering that..... The WG would run more often and more efficient and I wouldn't have two different boilers to take care of. Food for thought.

 

[avc8130]

If I were smart I'd sell the new coal boiler and run 250 of insulated pex out to the barn and heat it with the Woodgun. I'm going to pipe underground power, water, compressed air and phone out there next year anyway. I'm still considering that..... The WG would run more often and more efficient and I wouldn't have two different boilers to take care of. Food for thought.

Now THAT sounds very smart!

ac

 

[Gasifier]

If I were smart I'd sell the new coal boiler and run 250 of insulated pex out to the barn and heat it with the Woodgun. I'm going to pipe underground power, water, compressed air and phone out there next year anyway. I'm still considering that..... The WG would run more often and more efficient and I wouldn't have two different boilers to take care of. Food for thought.

That is a long ways. I wonder what you would need to pump that far and back? And other considerations you would have to make.

 

[Woodsrover]

Woodrover,

Can take a picture of the cycle timer and do you have a model number.

C8845. I'll take a picture for you tomorrow.

 

[infinitymike]

C8845. I'll take a picture for you tomorrow.

thanks. Funny thing is I was just reminded that I allready knew that and had posted it in an old thread last year. So I looked it up and I'm good to go.

 

[Bad Wolf]

Do you need more coal?
(broken link removed to http://hartford.craigslist.org/zip/3395610229.html)

 

[phil johnson]

As far as Hawken energy, i bought 2 global hydronics thru them and both leaked, after patching and leaking and patching and leaking and finally getting a lawyer we got them replaced at considerable cost to us and 2 years without the boilers now one is leaking again and it has been patched several times. total junk.

 

[Woodsrover]

Thanks for the link! Probably worth the drive.
BTW, here's a picture of the coal I have on-hand right now.

(broken image removed)

 

[Woodsrover]

Do you need more coal?
(broken link removed to http://hartford.craigslist.org/zip/3395610229.html)

Already gone. Thanks anyway!

 

[mpilihp]

Alright, pictures as promised.

The Woodgun running happy and warm. My plumber busted my stones for putting it at an angle to the wall but I wanted to get to the cyclone and ashpan and having square to the wall was a little tight. Having it square would have made it clumsy coming in the door too. By the way, those little shoes aren't mine. You'll see we wired the smoke hood into the control box and installed a switch for it. Just nicer and cleaner than the box and cord WG gives you. We also installed a switch to run the circulator independent of the boiler.

(broken image removed)

(broken image removed)

Heres the rest of the mess in the basement. WM propane boiler, WM 40-gallon boiler mate, water softener, ancient Winpower 12k generator parked in front of a doggie-door that I run the PTO shaft through. (Try to keep 150 gallons of diesel on hand for the power outages.)

(broken image removed)

Here's the barn that I'm going to heat with the Coalgun. I put it up years ago but just sided three sides of it last year. This year I built and ubber-strong wooden floor out of wood cut and milled on our property. The front siding is also from white pine I cut, milled and planed right here. The doors will come in the next couple of weeks. In the next year it will get insulation, a ceiling and interior walls, again all cut and milled right here. You can see my little Norwood mill there to the right. Inside the barn is a cool old Parks planer from the 50's. They don't make them like they used to. Sorry about the crappy picture here...It's from the front porch and it was raining out.

(broken image removed)

Hi Woodsrover I am reading up about the Wood gun boiler to learn more about them and Im curious about how you have yours ducted. I see in the first picture two horizontal stove pipe/ducts running towards the wall, the top being your smoke hood exhaust and the lower one Im thinking is the air intake. What Im curious is where they go. Does the hood exhaust go out the wall or into the chimmny pipe? And the air intake does it just stub off inside the room or vent to the outside?

So Im curious how its been running it, do you get a lot of smoke into the room even with the exhaust hood?

Thanks

~ Phil

 

[Woodsrover]

Hi Woodsrover I am reading up about the Wood gun boiler to learn more about them and Im curious about how you have yours ducted. I see in the first picture two horizontal stove pipe/ducts running towards the wall, the top being your smoke hood exhaust and the lower one Im thinking is the air intake. What Im curious is where they go. Does the hood exhaust go out the wall or into the chimmny pipe? And the air intake does it just stub off inside the room or vent to the outside?

So Im curious how its been running it, do you get a lot of smoke into the room even with the exhaust hood?

Thanks

~ Phil

Hi Phil,

The smoke hood pipe goes just goes through the wall to a dryer vent with a flap. The intake air is the same thing but with a screen to keep the critters out instead of a flap.

It's been running great. We shut it down the first week or two of May but was running up until then without a hitch. And no, with the smoke hood running I get little if any smoke in the room. It does a pretty good job.

 

[NE WOOD BURNER]

Great, take it. And take this 8-tons of coal too

sounds like the good old days! nice when a person can be in a position to gain some satisfication of a gift, knowing that a person will benefit from the use.

 

[mpilihp]

Hi Phil,

The smoke hood pipe goes just goes through the wall to a dryer vent with a flap. The intake air is the same thing but with a screen to keep the critters out instead of a flap.

It's been running great. We shut it down the first week or two of May but was running up until then without a hitch. And no, with the smoke hood running I get little if any smoke in the room. It does a pretty good job.

Hi thanks for the info, I am very intrigued by the wood gun, a possibility for us as we do not have the space for storage or the desire for a complicated system. So did you have a conventional or outdoor boiler and did you see any reduction in the amount of wood you burn going to the Wood Gun?

Thanks ~ Phil

 

[Woodsrover]

Heated with a VC Vigilant before this boiler. Used 5-6 cord a year. Only one season under my belt with this WG now but I burned probably 4-5 cord, heated hot water and burned until April.

 

[Coal Reaper]

If

Hi thanks for the info, I am very intrigued by the wood gun, a possibility for us as we do not have the space for storage or the desire for a complicated system. So did you have a conventional or outdoor boiler and did you see any reduction in the amount of wood you burn going to the Wood Gun?

Thanks ~ Phil

if you can install a wood boiler then you can install a wood boiler with storage. Space should be your only limiting factor.

 

[mpilihp]

If
if you can install a wood boiler then you can install a wood boiler with storage. Space should be your only limiting factor.

Yes space is the issue, no room in the basement and I don't want to do something outside nor does my wife. I fully understand that no matter what I install without storage it will not be as efficient. I am trying to find a gassifier that can perform ok without storage, run with minimal creosote buildup is my main concern, second is to reduce the amount of wood we burn, not looking for cutting it in half but dropping it by 20-30% would be nice. The other thing is I want to cut my wood at 2ft lengths, its easier, less pieces, less handling.

~ Phil

 

[infinitymike]

Yes space is the issue, no room in the basement and I don't want to do something outside nor does my wife. I fully understand that no matter what I install without storage it will not be as efficient. I am trying to find a gassifier that can perform ok without storage, run with minimal creosote buildup is my main concern, second is to reduce the amount of wood we burn, not looking for cutting it in half but dropping it by 20-30% would be nice. The other thing is I want to cut my wood at 2ft lengths, its easier, less pieces, less handling.

~ Phil

I see a Wood Gun in your future

 

[Coal Reaper]

I see a Wood Gun in your future

Theres your ticket

 

[mpilihp]

Yeah maybe it sounds intriguing, im a slow spender...