Yes, ANOTHER OWB build thread... (Tank in tank style)

[NSMaple1]

Ya, Photobucket sucks. Plain & simple. They screwed my stuff up too. Pretty much blackmail imo.

 

[breymeyerfam]

Well that sucked! 4 hours wasted because of photobucket.... BUT, ALL THE PICS ARE WORKING AGAIN! Thanks to the admin for granting me the temporary edit capabilities to fix this thread!

 

[Hddnis]

Thanks for taking the time to do that.

I say eff PhotoBucket and the whorse they rode in on. Crapped all over hundreds of threads I had on dozens of forums. I can't go back and fix any of them, but I can promise there is also nothing photobucket can do to get back in my good graces.

 

[breymeyerfam]

Well, I had the first issue with the boiler last night. A little creosote build up on the damper. Damper door stuck to the blower causing the solenoid to burn up. I pried the door open and sprayed it down with wd40 and replaced the solenoid. Luckily I had bought 2 when I build it...

Anyone else ever have this failure mode? Are most damper doors metal on metal? Did my rubber gasket cause the issue, or would this have happened with metal on metal?

 

[dave_dj1]

I would be more concerned at how the creosote got in there in the first place. Seems counter productive to have it flow out into the draft area. You may have to do some "duct work" and get the damper up higher or at a different angle?

 

[Jakers]

It's a really common problem to get creosote in there. OWB's are really dirty pigs inside due to having a Firefox that's always "cold" compared to the rest of the fire. When they go to idle, the fire does down, and the wood goes to smouldering with no flow to carry the smoke away. Pretty common replacement part for most OWB owners so I'd just get another one to have on hand for whenever this one fails

 

[Babalugatz]

An interior baffle plate in the comb. chamber woulda been smart. Aquatherm (I was a dealer/installer) had a removable baffle that ran just short of the burn chamber. That way the fire didn't go unrestricted right up the vent stack. Had to go up the void in the back, then out

 

[Babalugatz]

Just my 2 cents...That long vent pipe, uninsulated , is gonna give you plenty headaches. It'll become an afterburner like you never seen, when the creosote flames up...& be an ass pain to brush/clean.....you might hafta cut in a tee for a clean out in the future. (I was a dealer/installer for 2 OWB brands for many years. Master plumber with a shop for 30 & counting) BTW, you kicked ass on the build. My hat off to you. I commented earlier about an internal baffle plate, that will add efficiency. ...Also, refractory brick (kinda late on an already- fired boiler) aids efficiency and protects the steel from acidic creosote/ash. Carry on, bloke

 

[cantoo]

breymeyerfam, are you expecting any issue with your concrete pad lifting from frost? It looks like I did pretty the same as you did when I poured my pad. I have a backhoe so I installed my own lines. I dug down 7' for my insulated lines and left them sticking up at the back. I then back filled everything with pit run and A gravel. I then dug down about 8" for the owb pad and room to stand out front. I used 2x6 for concrete forms and the concrete is about 5" thick. When I did it the concrete was about 2 or 3" above the surrounding gravel. It's been about 4 years now and the pad has lifted up approx. 4 or 5". I wish now that I would have put styro foam down under and round the pad. It hasn't caused any issues yet with the insulated lines but I'm starting to wonder if I will have a issue soon if I have more lifting. I really don't want to but am wondering if I should just do some preventative maintenance and move the owb, remove the concrete, dig down again and install the Styrofoam and then pour new concrete? I want a little bigger area anyway. I never cheaped out on anything on my owb, well I thought I didn't but maybe I did in this part. You guys have warmer temps than we do but frost is still an issue there I assume?

 

[cantoo]

Babalugatz, I also have a tall chimney but mine only has about the 1st 6" not insulated the rest is insulated pipe. I have never cleaned my pipe and have never had an issue with creosote, it actually seems to cut down on sparks coming out the top. I still have sparks but not as many.

 

[Babalugatz]

Babalugatz, I also have a tall chimney but mine only has about the 1st 6" not insulated the rest is insulated pipe. I have never cleaned my pipe and have never had an issue with creosote, it actually seems to cut down on sparks coming out the top. I still have sparks but not as many.

Absolutely Cantoo....insulated chimney is always recommended. Theres a couple companies that make stainless steel, double wall insulated smoke pipe. Long Single wall condenses excessively = creosote

 

[breymeyerfam]

breymeyerfam, are you expecting any issue with your concrete pad lifting from frost? It looks like I did pretty the same as you did when I poured my pad. I have a backhoe so I installed my own lines. I dug down 7' for my insulated lines and left them sticking up at the back. I then back filled everything with pit run and A gravel. I then dug down about 8" for the owb pad and room to stand out front. I used 2x6 for concrete forms and the concrete is about 5" thick. When I did it the concrete was about 2 or 3" above the surrounding gravel. It's been about 4 years now and the pad has lifted up approx. 4 or 5". I wish now that I would have put styro foam down under and round the pad. It hasn't caused any issues yet with the insulated lines but I'm starting to wonder if I will have a issue soon if I have more lifting. I really don't want to but am wondering if I should just do some preventative maintenance and move the owb, remove the concrete, dig down again and install the Styrofoam and then pour new concrete? I want a little bigger area anyway. I never cheaped out on anything on my owb, well I thought I didn't but maybe I did in this part. You guys have warmer temps than we do but frost is still an issue there I assume?

I don't think I will have an issue. My soil is pretty much all gravel. My house is actually with 100ft from an old gravel pit. Even if the pad heaves, I have a few inches of extra line under the boiler. Nothing was installed tight. However I will keep an eye on it now.

 

[cantoo]

Babalugatz, I just made my own collar to fit some insulated pipe that I had laying around.

I'm all on gravel too, I blame the heaving on me putting the owb 10' away from my garage and there is no eaves trough on it. Snow melts on the black steel roof and goes into the gravel where it's cold and freezes which ends up causing heaving.