Shaver Improvement Forum

[ngzcaz]

A while back while everyone was experimenting to see what worked and what didn't, someone suggested putting firebrick along the sides. This seemed to me to defeat the purpose of distributing the heat to the water jacket. I also think the cleaner the firebox the more heat will be available to the water.

I just want to confirm the draft blower mod ( auto closing flaps when motor shuts off ) really is working well. I don't know if its reducing wood consumption but blocked chimneys are a thing of the past and much faster water recovery is being noted. One thing remains.. the water well for a better stat. While I modified mine to be acceptable its simply impossible to be as accurate as a well. I hope the weather lets up a bit. Its been cold here in NE Pa.

 

[headleyj]

A while back while everyone was experimenting to see what worked and what didn't, someone suggested putting firebrick along the sides. This seemed to me to defeat the purpose of distributing the heat to the water jacket. I also think the cleaner the firebox the more heat will be available to the water.

I just want to confirm the draft blower mod ( auto closing flaps when motor shuts off ) really is working well. I don't know if its reducing wood consumption but blocked chimneys are a thing of the past and much faster water recovery is being noted. One thing remains.. the water well for a better stat. While I modified mine to be acceptable its simply impossible to be as accurate as a well. I hope the weather lets up a bit. Its been cold here in NE Pa.

couldn't agree more on the water well for a stat man. That and reinsulating are the 2 best things I've done. Don't get me wrong, below 15° she still eats wood like a 86 Suburban drinks gas, but it's leaps and bounds better than last year.

 

[John D]

couldn't agree more on the water well for a stat man. That and reinsulating are the 2 best things I've done. Don't get me wrong, below 15° she still eats wood like a 86 Suburban drinks gas, but it's leaps and bounds better than last year.

I find that cold temps dont eat wood as bad as windy days. It could be zero,and i get 12 hr loads overnight no problem if there is no wind.On a 20 degree night with wind,I will use a lot more wood.My home is fairly tight,and I added quite ab it of insulation to the shaver over the summer.

 

[headleyj]

I find that cold temps dont eat wood as bad as windy days. It could be zero,and i get 12 hr loads overnight no problem if there is no wind.On a 20 degree night with wind,I will use a lot more wood.My home is fairly tight,and I added quite ab it of insulation to the shaver over the summer.

haven't correlated wind to wood usage. I do need to add insualtion to the roof of mine again. I kept a generous airspace around the chimney and that's hurting me quite a bit. Also I wonder if the 1 layer of 1/2" insulation board underneath with R19 on top of it is damp/wet at all. Haven't checked that...

 

[KYDave]

Holey Smokes

I came home, opened the firebox door, the upper hinge bolt broke, and the door fell down into my lap. It was still attached to the lower hinge mount, so it bent that mount down an inch or so. The top mount was undisturbed.

I ran into the barn and got a couple of AN aircraft bolts. I measured the seperation of the hinge mounts on the door, and used a sledge hammer to beat the bent down lower hinge back up into position. Put the new bolts in place.

There is some mismatch, because the door is now very hard to fully close, I actually have to use a hammer to completely close the handle/latch mechanism. I assume that some minor misalignment of the hinge supports has caused the silicone gasket to be off a bit.

I don't feel like shutting down long enough to install a new silacone gasket ( that would take 24 hours to cure, I assume ). I can see doing that in the spring.

Looking at all the mechanicals of the handle/latch....is it adjustable? Is there an easy temporary fix? It kind a bugs me to see wisps of smoke or the occasional spark coming out the door.

David Breeze

 

[smus]

You might try to place a shim of sorts ( small piece of wood etc) between the U shaped bracket and then close the latch assembly. I have been thinking of adding an adjustment bolt to that area so that when things get a little sloppy you could just tighten the bolt a little and increase the clamping force applied to the sealing surface. It will have to wait till spring tho.

 

[bluscout]

Same thing hapened to me about a month ago. I used some 1/4 20 grade 8's.
I spent some time adjusting (tweeking with a hammer) the lower hinge so that it was aligned with the upper (unbent) hinge before installing new bolts. The door actually opens and closes easier now than it ever did before.

 

[smus]

After hearing someone else with worn bolts, sounds like a potential problem to me. I think the next warm day will see some new bolts in mine before they decide to break.
Also, try some anti-seize on the hinges and the locking assembly. You will be surprised how smooth the whole thing is afterwords and one application lasts for a few months. I put some on the ash tray hinges and the threaded knob as well to keep them from sticking.
If you get it on you, you know how hard it is to get off.

 

[John D]

Are any of you guys with breaking bolts forcing the door shut on chunks of wood? Just wondering how they are breaking,there isnt much pressure on them,they should be fine...

 

[KYDave]

JohnD,
Your point is well taken. In my case I will admit I never paid a bit of attention to the two hinge bolts, untill one broke. I should have slathered it with grease of some type...only makes sense.

But I will say that the broken bolt was a very cheap "stove" bolt, threaded it's entire length, and of questionable grade. I didn't see any grade 3, 5 or 8 marks, so I'd bet they are cheap hardware store bolts.

They also shouldn't be threaded the entire length. That's why I used AN bolts as replacements. They have a smooth grip, better suited to acting as a hinge.

I'm now wondering what is the general proceedure for creating a new silacone gasket, and wondering what luck others have had by installing a rope-type gasket.

David Breeze

 

[bluscout]

Are any of you guys with breaking bolts forcing the door shut on chunks of wood? Just wondering how they are breaking,there isnt much pressure on them,they should be fine...

I haven't done that although I know others do. Seems like a bad idea to me....especially over time.
Thinking back, I did notice that the door was always stiff but I didn't get around to looking at it. The bolt failed when the furnace had been in use for about six weeks.
The bolt was an ungraded extemely cheap bolt with no shoulder. I'm pretty confident that the problem won't return.

 

[headleyj]

same thing happended to me - my top hinge bolt rusted to the point where one day, it flat broke. Replaced both of them with GR8 IIRC and no they weren't fully threaded. I put some grease b/t the metal contacts and a delrin washer as well - i know it'll wear out eventually, but it's the best I had at the time.

 

[smus]

I looked @ my hinge bolts today and they appear to be GR5. Must not have a standard bolt supply @ shaver. I do believe I will change them when the weather breaks a bit.

 

[scag52]

Holey Smokes



Looking at all the mechanicals of the handle/latch....is it adjustable? Is there an easy temporary fix? It kind a bugs me to see wisps of smoke or the occasional spark coming out the door.

I read on here somewhere that a guy recomended scraping the opening at the door when he loads the stove. Someone replied that they didn't want to do this everytime and i was thinking along the same . Well i noticed a few wisp of smoke and thought i would have to replace the silicone. After checking the stove edge i found it had build up on it. I cleaned it off and it sealed fine . So now i take a look at it every few days . Only takes a minute.

 

[PURPLEBOWYER]

The shaver 165

Hello everyone!Im brand new to this site,and the new owner of a 165.I installed myself last month with no modifications.I fired it and heated the house for about aweek before it really got too warm,but I continued to heat my hot water and was pretty satisfied with the job it did,but I let the fire go out about a week ago because I got tired of the creasote mess that spilled out the door everyday.Other than the thermostat swing I have no complaints "so far",but like I said I only used it for a month,and to be honest all the neg threads have me a little concerned.I have a question,being as my heat exchanger is about 3 to 4" above my A coil should I be concerned with running my ac?Could my exchanger freeze up?My neighbor has a hardy and says hes never had a prob.Thank you

 

[smus]

I strongly suggest you look at the mods that several hve made to their Shavers. They are not really that costly and allow a lot more control to your OWB. I think you will be very happy with your investment.

 

[PURPLEBOWYER]

Hi!Yeah Im definately going to follow some of the advice here.I like to think I can get the feel for this stove "as is",Im not new to wood burning but new to the OWB,once I have the therm set and my water up to temp shouldnt it stay a constant temp.When I first lit the stove I wanted my water temp at 140 deg so I used a temp gun opened my draft got a roaring fire going and when my gun said 140 I backed my therm off til the fan quit,the temp rose another 10deg and that was it,I have my draft set at about 1/4".My water temp at the stove stayed between 150 and 155 deg.Im thinking that Ill bump the temp to 170 come cold weather,sure glad I found this site.

 

[headleyj]

Hello everyone!Im brand new to this site,and the new owner of a 165.I installed myself last month with no modifications.I fired it and heated the house for about aweek before it really got too warm,but I continued to heat my hot water and was pretty satisfied with the job it did,but I let the fire go out about a week ago because I got tired of the creasote mess that spilled out the door everyday.Other than the thermostat swing I have no complaints "so far",but like I said I only used it for a month,and to be honest all the neg threads have me a little concerned.I have a question,being as my heat exchanger is about 3 to 4" above my A coil should I be concerned with running my ac?Could my exchanger freeze up?My neighbor has a hardy and says hes never had a prob.Thank you

I too worried about the HX freezing. I put a "T" on each fluid path of the HX (1 on the IN and 1 on the OUT) Top of those "T's" is where the water goes in/ out.....middle of each "T" hooked to the HX itself.....other leg of the "T's" I put shutoff valves in there. They act as drains....I have a floor drainright there so it works out well.

THis year I added a shutoff before each "T" so I wouldn't have to drain all the lines to drain the HX. I get a little bit of a vacumm lock, but not enough to worry me. WIth the upstream T's shut off, drain T's open and the AC blowing full blast, I'll get a trickle of water from the HX drains for a day, then it's done. I leave them open during the summer to ensure water has a place to go if it needs to.

wow - that was a damned novel - hopefully u can follow it - I'm on vacation without internet access for 10 days starting in 30 minutes, so I'm not ignoring you if you respond...

 

[John D]

As everyone here knows,I tell it like it is...I an happy to post something positive about the Shavers.....I have to say that in spite of the Shavers having very low fit and finish and poor quality control,they seem to do pretty well on wood,esp the big 340...in fact,the second 340 we got in our order ,my cousins, was brought online this winter,heating an 8000 sq ft home.Both 340s are heating at max capacity with zero trouble keeping up,the other 340 is heating 2 homes,both over 4000 sq ft....one with high celings,but both homes are relatively new and tight...I want to add that both these 340s are using substaintially less wood than the 6048 CB boilers my uncle is running right down the road.....and the 340s are heating bigger homes....the last 340 is using about 1/2 the wood of a CB 6048...heating a bigger home with 10 ppl living in it,the 6048 has 6 ppl and 2000 sq ft less,and its a newer home...the same ppl fill both OWBs every day,and have no reason to fudge the wood useage numbers....the 6048s used about 14 cord each,the one 340 used 7-8,the other about 12(heating 2 homes).Both CB OWBs are using thermoplex,both shavers are using cheap triple wrap solarguard,in a 4" drain pipe...all circs are wired to run 24/7 on all OWBS.All are using mixed hardwood from the same wood pile....

 

[headleyj]

OK - new question - insulating the wood loading door

I lose alot of heat out that door (when it's closed - no smart azzes )

Ideas:
Rockwool
Mineral wool
Firebrick (hard to slip into that"pocket" they've made in the door there
Ceramic Fiber Insulation (made for kilns, etc....)
http://www.prairieceramics.com/PRC/fiber_blanket_boards.html

I think the Ceramic Fiber Insulation Blanket would be the best choice, it can be cut to size and slipped in that pocket. I'd have to tack weld something to prevent it from sliding down , no biggie.....

Thoughts/ other ideas???