How often do you clean your outdoor wood boiler?

[J1m]

Ok, so dumb question - how can you tell if its gassifying properly or not?

The word "properly" is kind of subjective. It depends on whether or not the nozzle is clogged with coals or wood, the kind and moisture content of the wood you are burning, the temperature at which your fire is burning - and probably a half a dozen other factors.

But there are several ways you know it's gassifying. The first, most obvious way is to open the bottom door of the furnace while the fan is running. If there is a blueish/orangish/yellow blow torch (with the accompanying sound of a blow torch) coming out of that rectangular hole in the primary fire box: it's gassifying. The second way you know is to look at the exit of your stack while the fan is running. If it is billowing smoke, you're not burning the unspent gasses and therefore not gassifying. If all you see is heat waves obscuring the background scenery - you're gassifying. If it's a mix of a little steam and the same heat waves, you're probably gassifying but burning less-than-ideal moisture content wood.

Did you happen to buy your unit used? Seems a little odd that someone would invest $11,500 for the unit plus installation costs and not fully understand the concept of gassifying. Either that or your dealer just didn't do a great job of explaining it to you? Curious.

 

[jrider]

I bought it new and have the general concept of gassification. But after reading all the things I've read in some of these forums, I began to wonder if mine is working properly and I am doing everything right.
I have virtually no smoke literally within 10-15 seconds of the fan kicking in and yes it does sound like a blow torch. As far as color of the "flame" shooting downward, being color blind, I always question anything that involves specific colors but your range of color and description of sound tells me everything is working perfectly.

 

[hoogie]

The word "properly" is kind of subjective. It depends on whether or not the nozzle is clogged with coals or wood, the kind and moisture content of the wood you are burning, the temperature at which your fire is burning - and probably a half a dozen other factors.

But there are several ways you know it's gassifying. The first, most obvious way is to open the bottom door of the furnace while the fan is running. If there is a blueish/orangish/yellow blow torch (with the accompanying sound of a blow torch) coming out of that rectangular hole in the primary fire box: it's gassifying. The second way you know is to look at the exit of your stack while the fan is running. If it is billowing smoke, you're not burning the unspent gasses and therefore not gassifying. If all you see is heat waves obscuring the background scenery - you're gassifying. If it's a mix of a little steam and the same heat waves, you're probably gassifying but burning less-than-ideal moisture content wood.

Did you happen to buy your unit used? Seems a little odd that someone would invest $11,500 for the unit plus installation costs and not fully understand the concept of gassifying. Either that or your dealer just didn't do a great job of explaining it to you? Curious.

thats a good explaination...i think the main thing here is unlike tradional owb's the cleaner you keep the gasser models the better off you'll be...

 

[J1m]

...I have virtually no smoke literally within 10-15 seconds of the fan kicking in and yes it does sound like a blow torch...but your range of color and description of sound tells me everything is working perfectly.

Sounds like it's running perfectly to me, too. Glad to help.

 

[chadjacobs]

I have a wood doctor. Every day i push the coals back and take a shovel or two of ash out. At the end of the season I Wire brush it a little and coat the fire box with used engine oil. About once every two months the cresode will burn off and it will look like a little torch burning at the chimmeny for a couple minutes.

 

[GeoffB]

I have a wood doctor. Every day i push the coals back and take a shovel or two of ash out. At the end of the season I Wire brush it a little and coat the fire box with used engine oil. About once every two months the cresode will burn off and it will look like a little torch burning at the chimmeny for a couple minutes.

I have a wood doctor too and "wood" love to hear from you about what you do to extend the life of your boiler, cleaning the water, using anything to reduce the chances of rusting or any other wood doctor tips!
thanks!
Geoff

 

[milkie62]

1995 Classic CL40 and I clean it the first nice day around New Years and then at the end of the season.I burn about 9 cord per season.

 

[Jon E]

I have a Central 5648 (2004 model) conventional OWB. I take about 30 gallons of ash out of the firebox PER YEAR, and I will usually clean it out three times a year - once in mid September, once on a relatively warm day in January, and once in May. I burn year-round for domestic hot water as well as heat. I find that I generate more ash in the summer, mostly due to the types of wood I burn, and cardboard or paper tends to generate a lot of ash.

What I have not found yet, is a good way to separate the charcoal or live coals from the ash. I hate pulling a shovelful of ash out of the firebox and getting a bunch of red coals with it. I suppose in the bigger picture I'm not losing much, but it still seems like a waste.

 

[Kevin in Ohio]

I have a Central 5648 (2004 model) conventional OWB. I take about 30 gallons of ash out of the firebox PER YEAR, and I will usually clean it out three times a year - once in mid September, once on a relatively warm day in January, and once in May. I burn year-round for domestic hot water as well as heat. I find that I generate more ash in the summer, mostly due to the types of wood I burn, and cardboard or paper tends to generate a lot of ash.

What I have not found yet, is a good way to separate the charcoal or live coals from the ash. I hate pulling a shovelful of ash out of the firebox and getting a bunch of red coals with it. I suppose in the bigger picture I'm not losing much, but it still seems like a waste.

I run the same stove and was wondering how much wood you go through in a year? I've averaged 13 cord for the 11 years mine has been on line and I only run mine in the winter months. I get a lot more ashes than that, at least over 200 gallons worth and I sift the ashes for coals.

 

[milkie62]

I thought about burning it year round for domestic hot water but found out my electric bill goes down $25/month when the boiler heats the hot water tank.Not worth the bother to me for less than $1 day.

 

[Dogsout]

I have a Central 5648 (2004 model) conventional OWB. I take about 30 gallons of ash out of the firebox PER YEAR, and I will usually clean it out three times a year - once in mid September, once on a relatively warm day in January, and once in May.

You have a very small house, or you don't burn full time if you are only taking 30 gallons of ash out of your OWB for a winters burn. I burn mostly Oak, Ash and Hickory with just a touch of Silver Maple thrown in for fall and spring and I take out between 8 to 10 30 gallon trash cans of ash a year.

 

[Jon E]

I have 4300 square feet of finished space on three floors, which includes a full heated and finished basement. All of my heating is radiant floor tubing. I have a timber frame home and stress-skin panels with an R-33 wall and R-50 roof, the basement is all ICF's with 8" of concrete so it's at least an R-25 or R-30 as well. It's like living in a Coleman cooler. It stays hot when heated and stays cold when cooled.

I burn year round, with the exception of maybe three to four weeks per year when I either run out of wood in the woodshed or it's just too hot. I didn't turn my thermostat up until last week. As far as annual burning, I go through 10-11 cords per year depending on the weather. This will increase slightly as I am building a new garage (24x36, 2 stories) that will be heated with the same OWB. I've considered getting rid of the CB classic and putting in a gasifier, which might cut my consumption by up to half, depending on efficiency. At this point I don't feel it will be cost-effective.

The ash cleanout is no joke. I keep my firewood in a shed, as dry as possible, cut and split 20" lengths, and try not to burn any junk wood. I have two woodsheds which together hold almost 20 cords of wood. I have a couple of 10-gallon galvanized cans for ash, and I will fill one of them every 3-4 months. At worst, I might get 40 gallons of ash a year. I can't imagine filling up 8-10, 30-gallon cans every year unless I was taking all the coals too. Even then it would be a lot.

 

[Kevin in Ohio]

I burn year round, with the exception of maybe three to four weeks per year when I either run out of wood in the woodshed or it's just too hot. I didn't turn my thermostat up until last week. As far as annual burning, I go through 10-11 cords per year depending on the weather.

I have a couple of 10-gallon galvanized cans for ash, and I will fill one of them every 3-4 months. At worst, I might get 40 gallons of ash a year. I can't imagine filling up 8-10, 30-gallon cans every year unless I was taking all the coals too. Even then it would be a lot.

10- 11 cord makes 30 gallon of ash? That's impressive.

Well, off to the store as my meters needle just swung so fast it broke it off.

 

[cantoo]

I maintain that a large large portion of the ash goes up and out the chimney especially if you have a draft fan.