My OWB Plumbing Layout

[LeakyWoodDoctor]

My Home-made DHW Heat Syphon!

Hey,

I was looking for a place on this forum to put up general OWB plumbing information and this looks like the spot!

My siphon is made from 1.5" black iron and 3/4" copper with a mixing valve at the top acting as a shut off to prevent cold water from rushing through the siphon and mixing with hot water leaving the top of my DHW tank.

I have also piped the bottom with some ball valves which allow easy addition of water into my OWB to top it up every now and then! It's not much fun dragging a hose all the way over to the boiler (see a little further down in my other post) !!

Check it out . . .

http://outdoorwoodfurnaceinfo.com/forum/index.php?topic=126.0

 

[Kevin in Ohio]

Hey,

I was looking for a place on this forum to put up general OWB plumbing information and this looks like the spot!

My siphon is made from 1.5" black iron and 3/4" copper with a mixing valve at the top acting as a shut off to prevent cold water from rushing through the siphon and mixing with hot water leaving the top of my DHW tank.

I have also piped the bottom with some ball valves which allow easy addition of water into my OWB to top it up every now and then! It's not much fun dragging a hose all the way over to the boiler (see a little further down in my other post) !!

Check it out . . .

http://outdoorwoodfurnaceinfo.com/forum/index.php?topic=126.0

:monkey::monkey:

I've never added water to mine in 6 years of use as the level hasn't moved down.

Aren't you the guy who has had 2 stoves rot out in a few years including a stainless one? I asked on one of your other threads what your water tested for PH and such but you never replied so maybe this is the spot. What's the scoop on that?

I tried to keep all mild steel out of my system and that is why everything but the pumps is brass, copper or stainless. No problems in it's 6th year so it seems to be working.

 

[mtfallsmikey]

My preference is doing piping primary/secondary, using circs. If you look at the fine print on install instructions on zone valves, most are not rated for use on open systems....use circ's with built-in check valves (Taco IFC models), will do the same thing as zone valves, will eliminate ghost flow.

 

[John D]

Please forgive me if this has been addressed somewhere else. I've started building my system and I'm still collecting parts too. Is there an advantage in having individual zone pumps over having one larger pump and zone valves?

I got a huge pump(compared to yours) and flanges free if I removed the boiler. While looking at your excellently executed system I noticed that you had 2 smaller pumps. I'm eventually going to be heating a floor loop in a garage and one in a greenhouse plus a heat exchanger in my house. Hopefully there will be a few Btus left for a sidearm DHW

It's already been said but that is one clean and well though out install!!

Individual pumps are better because if one fails,you still have your remaining zones working,so if you lose DHW,you still have heat.If you lose one heating zone you still have DHW,and remaining zones.Also the individual pumps can be smaller,and much cheaper,so the cost is pretty close in the end,I preffer the individuals myself.My brother has one pump and 4 zones,he;s had the DHW zone valve stick a few times now,they stick on,but ive never had any trouble with my individual pumps.

 

[LeakyWoodDoctor]

:monkey::monkey:

I've never added water to mine in 6 years of use as the level hasn't moved down.

Aren't you the guy who has had 2 stoves rot out in a few years including a stainless one? I asked on one of your other threads what your water tested for PH and such but you never replied so maybe this is the spot. What's the scoop on that?

I tried to keep all mild steel out of my system and that is why everything but the pumps is brass, copper or stainless. No problems in it's 6th year so it seems to be working.

Ya that's me!

I try to respond to any questions directed my way!

So, I keep my PH right where Wood Doctor says it should be kept, have inserted an anode as well and have boiler well grounded, but I still get all this corrosion.

I'm finding out via various forums that salt (chlorides) in the boiler water are perhaps even a more serious problem than PH!

PH testing doesn't tell you squat about your chloride concentrations!

Wood Doctor didn't tell me squat about chloride concentrations!

I would rather start a separate thread to discuss OWB corrosion problems or find one here already started! Same goes for, "Words to watch out for" under warranty issues!!

You say you never add water??? Is your OWB an open system??

 

[Kevin in Ohio]

Ya that's me!

I try to respond to any questions directed my way!

So, I keep my PH right where Wood Doctor says it should be kept, have inserted an anode as well and have boiler well grounded, but I still get all this corrosion.

I'm finding out via various forums that salt (chlorides) in the boiler water are perhaps even a more serious problem than PH!

PH testing doesn't tell you squat about your chloride concentrations!

Wood Doctor didn't tell me squat about chloride concentrations!

I would rather start a separate thread to discuss OWB corrosion problems or find one here already started! Same goes for, "Words to watch out for" under warranty issues!!

You say you never add water??? Is your OWB an open system??

I have a Central Boiler SCL 5648SB which is a non pressurized system. No water added in 6 years. CB test kit tests for both PH and corrosion so you know when to add more. I was just barely borderline this year so I added a litle and it put it way up on the acceptable scale.

What brand of corrosion inhibitor did you use, if any? You might want to post that so people can avoid it as it obviously must not work very well. Maybe you never tested for it? That is why I said PH AND SUCH in the original post. If your dealer never told you about it I'd be looking elsewhere as well.

 

[sorethumbs]

Thanks for posting your plumbing layout. I like it. A few questions for you:
1)What kind of PEX clamps are those? I"ve never seen anything like that before. 2) Is that an air eliminator down by the plate HX? do you need that with an open system? why is it so low?

You said you did this 6 years ago and that you have learned a lot since then. How would you make it diffrent today?

 

[Kevin in Ohio]

Thanks for posting your plumbing layout. I like it. A few questions for you:
1)What kind of PEX clamps are those? I"ve never seen anything like that before. 2) Is that an air eliminator down by the plate HX? do you need that with an open system? why is it so low?

You said you did this 6 years ago and that you have learned a lot since then. How would you make it diffrent today?

The clamps on the green pex are wire type hose clamps the dealer provided

On the orange pex are just all stainless clamps

Are you referring to this?

That is a 3 way zone valve. It is connected to the thermastat and allows hot water to got to the heat exchanger, Otherwise it bypasses it. I run the circulator pump on the original oil furnace constant whether it calls for heat or not.

It is low because that was the spot where it worked out in the layout.

On the layout I wouldn't change anything as no problems other than a zone valve went bad this year.

 

[Kevin in Ohio]

Seems the pics were messed up on this from the crash/hack a while back and was asked to repost if possible. I made an album of the complete house redo with captions and explanations on the pics so hopefully it will be clear. The radiant floor heat starts at pic 66 and the plumbing layout starts at pic 197. Decided it would be easier to host myself as opposed to retyping and running the risk of losing it again.


http://imageevent.com/kevininohio/houseredogaragefurnacehouse?n=0&z=2&c=4&x=0&m=24&w=0&p=0

Feel free to ask any questions and I'll help if I can.