Thinking Wood Gun...any advice or experience?

[CTFIRE]

 

[avc8130]

The slide! You are my HERO. Forget the kids, I'm ripping the swingset apart tomorrow.

ac

 

[avc8130]

Wait a second. That control panel! Is that one of the new PCB controlled WG's?

ac

 

[CTFIRE]

Ok. So I posted a pic. Will probably redo the hydro in the spring as the house is 30 yrs old the original oil system was piped odd.

1. Are you new to wood burning- Yes. We have a fire place, but that doesn't heat too well. Old system was 15 yr old oil hot water baseboard. 3 zones now, but planned to add the basement and will also probably do the kitchen floor from below.
2. Do you have a good supply of dry wood. Yes. Have been hoarding for a year ahead of the purchase. Maybe 4 or 5 cords split. Another 6 is eight foot logs.
3. Did you do the install. - Yes. Will a lot of help from friends. Excavator to bring it around back and lower into the basement. Several other guys to sweat pipes and trouble shoot.
4. What kind of goodies did you get with WG - Smoke hood, oil back up.
IE: smoke hood, low temp shut off, cycle timer, etc
5. And most importantly.
PICS, PICS, and LOTS OF PICS.Posted the pic. If you see the pink kids slide in the background, it is my wood shoot. Converted a basement window. Pull my tractor and cart up and dump. Plan on keep a cord outside and bringing one in every couple days to cut down on bugs.

 

[infinitymike]

Thanks great. Looks good. Love the slide. Like AC said, what kind if control box is that.
Can you get a better pic of it.

Also, how do you have the main exhaust and the smoke hood piped.
It's hard to see. Did you tee the smoke hood into the main exhaust?

You will benefit from the radiant heat of the WG, what room is above it?
It will be toasty.

Homework: need pics of control box, exhaust piping, and WOOD SUPPLY!

 

[infinitymike]

AC. What's a PCB?

 

[CTFIRE]

 

[CTFIRE]

 

[avc8130]

AC. What's a PCB?

See the pic. That thing! lol

 

[CTFIRE]

 

[Gasifier]

 

[CTFIRE]

I had started doing the standard racks and then my brother told me to research Holzhaufen's. It's a German wood stacking technique where you build a circle of wood. Every two feet you add a row to help tilt the wood back in towards the center. The center is wood is put in vertically. You create a chimney effect where by the air gets drawn in and sucked up the center. Cuts drying time. Also they are self supporting and look neat.

 

[infinitymike]

You are the man. Or as we scary LI'ers say U DA MAN.

 

[infinitymike]

What is the white and yellow pipe for.

 

[CTFIRE]

What is the white and yellow pipe for.

That's how you start the circle. Place the pole and then take a string to set your initial diameter. I have a couple that are 6 or 8 ft in diameter. Once you lay our that first circle, you can start stacking and it is all self supporting.

 

[Gasifier]

I had started doing the standard racks and then my brother told me to research Holzhaufen's. It's a German wood stacking technique where you build a circle of wood. Every two feet you add a row to help tilt the wood back in towards the center. The center is wood is put in vertically. You create a chimney effect where by the air gets drawn in and sucked up the center. Cuts drying time. Also they are self supporting and look neat.

CTFIRE. Check out the Wood Shed forum, if you haven't yet. Lots of cool info there about stacking, drying, etc. etc. Tons of information on Hearth.com.

 

[infinitymike]

Tons of information on Hearth.com.

Yeah, and that's why I get nothing done all day, cause I'm reading and posted all the time. :-

 

[CTFIRE]

Yeah, and that's why I get nothing done all day, cause I'm reading and posted all the time. :-

Hey Mike - Are you a fireman or cop? Listening to you on those youtube clips made my brother and I think you were on the job.

 

[avc8130]

Hey Mike - Are you a fireman or cop? Listening to you on those youtube clips made my brother and I think you were on the job.

Everyone LOVES Mike's vids. He was actually the first person I ever subscribed to on Youtube!

ac

 

[CTFIRE]

So the house is warm and everything is ok. Wood gun is idle and around 180 degrees and quiet. Why do I keep purging the gas and opening to look inside the firebox. Nice glowing coals and wood ready to burn. I feel like a fool. Sorta of when I first brought the kids home and would go check in the middle of the night to see if they were sleeping. This forum is great. Still unsure on the timers you guys are mentioning and the water storage.

 

[avc8130]

So the house is warm and everything is ok. Wood gun is idle and around 180 degrees and quiet. Why do I keep purging the gas and opening to look inside the firebox. Nice glowing coals and wood ready to burn. I feel like a fool. Sorta of when I first brought the kids home and would go check in the middle of the night to see if they were sleeping. This forum is great. Still unsure on the timers you guys are mentioning and the water storage.

It's ok. I've been running mine a few weeks now and I still like to check in on her.

The timer really only matters when the weather warms up and the heat demand goes down.

Storage? I have none.

ac

 

[muncybob]

So now the purge is a button instead of a dial? Do you have any control on how long it will run? They certainly have changed the control box since I got mine!

It took me almost 2 full seasons to stop "peeking in" on the fire. Now I know what it's doing by the stack temp. Nice supply of wood you have on hand...and a belated welcome!

 

[avc8130]

So now the purge is a button instead of a dial? Do you have any control on how long it will run? They certainly have changed the control box since I got mine!

It took me almost 2 full seasons to stop "peeking in" on the fire. Now I know what it's doing by the stack temp. Nice supply of wood you have on hand...and a belated welcome!

I saw in the back of my manual that they had switched some of the control panels to programmable controls. The purge function is done digitally on the new models. He also has a button for the "start" with the low temp cutoff. I bet it is programmed to watch for temp and then activates the circuit after temp is reached the first time.

This is a catch-22 to me. The digital controls are totally sweet and really add a modern touch. However, one of the major things that attracted me to the WG over the other boilers was its simplicity. I really like how everything is mechanical and off-the-shelf at the local home supply store.

ac

 

[infinitymike]

Hey Mike - Are you a fireman or cop? Listening to you on those youtube clips made my brother and I think you were on the job.

Thats interesting that you would think that from a video, but no I'm not on the job, it's just that Lawng Gyland Ginny accent that I have, kinda like Rocky Balboa.
I'm a residential contractor, primarily a framing contractor.

Everyone LOVES Mike's vids. He was actually the first person I ever subscribed to on Youtube!

ac

Thanks, Those are the first videos I ever took, let alone posted.
I need to do a few more. Got any suggestions.

So the house is warm and everything is ok. Wood gun is idle and around 180 degrees and quiet. Why do I keep purging the gas and opening to look inside the firebox. Nice glowing coals and wood ready to burn. I feel like a fool. Sorta of when I first brought the kids home and would go check in the middle of the night to see if they were sleeping. This forum is great. Still unsure on the timers you guys are mentioning and the water storage.

I love just standing in front of it and staring and thinking about things to improve on. Don't worry you're in the right place and you're not alone.
The timer we talk about is a timer that you set to turn the unit on for a minute or two every hour or so to keep the coals hot and ready to relight.

But you only need that if you didn't order the FIRE LIGHTING GREMLINS from AHS, like I did.

 

[infinitymike]

Here is my latest project, its 9000 sq ft, plus a 3000 sq ft basement.
This a view from the back of the house on my 65' arial platform and that is my Lull rough terrain fork lift down there.