rsnider said:i know what your talking about now. did seton suggest this for th boiler?
Seton stove said:After running a Seton 300 for 2 seasons, I'm now in the process of removing all side panels, replacing the thermal blankets, and doing a "MAJOR" creosote removal.
The stove has always smoked, thank goodness it's out in the wood shed, and it's always dripped creosote, around the door and many of the panel seams.
When it stopped working, I started removing cover panels to find the thermal blankets were wet to the touch...must be a combination of moisture and creosote as when we started a bit of mig welding in the back (the flexible exhaust pipe that Fred Seton uses has fallen apart), we started a smoldering fire in the blanket, which went on for hours...eventually I got out the water hose and saturated it as I couldn't get all the side panels off quick enough.
Fixes: I'm told bring my return water temperature up over 100 degrees F, and I like the gasketing some of you have done. Any other suggestions?
Only lucky thing to happen is that this stove is a "take apart", if it had been the Greenwood (based on the Seton), I understand there are a lot of welds I would have had to contend with.
Regards, Scotty
:coolsmirk: Does it get cold enough on the west coast to heat with a Seton? I have learned from reading the various posts on this forum, that there is a "learning curve" period while operating any wood burning appliance. The good news is that there are plenty of "learners" in this forum who will be able to help you. It is always important to insure that the wood burning appliance is not "idling" for extended periods of time. These types of heaters work best when there is a sufficient demand for heat so that they burn hot.Seton stove said:An additional problem is one we brought on ourselves...I couldn't get the Seton 300 to hold a fire overnight and the warehouse was dropping temperature drastically...tho Fred Seton helped to spec PEX size, layouts, stove etc...so we went and installed an on/off switch that allowed me to close the damper, yet have all heat go to the warehouse. Course this cooled the stove waaay down.
Additionally, I was assured the stove would handle mostly green wood better than dry, so I went from burning dry Cedar to 16 month Oak split into 50 lb. chunks...never got a good heat going, possibly already too creosoted up.
So, I'm guessing I need to add a mixing valve?
Regards, Scotty
muleman51 said:The real question is, how do you prevent this. Those pictures could almost be mine, although mine has never gotten that bad. My Adobe will plug up so that it burn poorly in about two weeks, 'm getting to be a pro at removing the back and cleaning it. Everyone says you need higher return temps, but unless I quit my job during the day and get up in the middle of the night it ain't going to happen. Seton, Adobe, Greenwood we all seem to be in the same boat.
master of sparks said:muleman51 said:The real question is, how do you prevent this. Those pictures could almost be mine, although mine has never gotten that bad. My Adobe will plug up so that it burn poorly in about two weeks, 'm getting to be a pro at removing the back and cleaning it. Everyone says you need higher return temps, but unless I quit my job during the day and get up in the middle of the night it ain't going to happen. Seton, Adobe, Greenwood we all seem to be in the same boat.
There is always a cause for an ugly mess like that. I doubt it is inherent to the design of the appliance??
It could be one, or a combination of events. Green or wet wood is a common cause. Draft problems too much or not enough. Mainly it is caused by running them to cold. You MUST know what that return temperature is and have a means to adjust it. Manual balance isn't very practical. Really a 3 way thermostatic mix valve is a simple and effective fix. It assures the boiler stays warm enough regardless of the loads. Although when it starts opening to bypass more flow back to the boiler, you are probably running out of available power to meet the heat load. The 3 way will prioritize the boiler protection and provide less to the building load. A simple strap on aquastat that turns off the pump until the fire catches up works, but does lead to cycling. Variable speed injection, delta T circulators are a few more methods.
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Seton stove said:Fortunately our Seton 300 is in a free standing 3 bay building that we use to store wood for the stove...otherwise I would have removed it from the home/whatever some time ago.
Regards, Scotty
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