Shaver Improvement Forum.... one year later

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I know you can also use grease on the upper part of the drill bit to collect the shavings. The concern i have is, I was planning on drawing water from the top and returning at the bottom but at the last minute i saw where shaver recomends to reverse this and you will end up with a better set up . So i did this their way and i already had a peice of silicone get stuck in one of my pumps. I have a stainer in front of the HX in the house and shop but couldn't put it right before the pump like i would have liked to.

I'm afraid of shavings running through the pump. Also even if i do go ahead and drill ,being i'm returning water on both sides at the top do you think it will effect the temp of the ranco dry well ?
 
It may effect the temp a little but I wouldn't worry about that.

The 1/4" copper tube of my dry well is 14" long. You could make yours longer. I think the probe wire is 5 feet long, if I remember correctly. You can get a temp reading from deeper in the water jacket, if you want.

You said you had holes on your cover plate or something??? Maybe use one of those for the dry well location instead of drilling.

I heard of Shaver's reccommendation of switching the in/out water flow. I was worried about the pump sucking up sediment. I think a lot of people had problems with boil overs. and they said that switching the flows would fix that.

I run my pump 24/7. The Shaver idea of switching the pump on, only when calling for heat, I believe contributes to the boil over problem. Also running it at the higher temp settings.
 
I guess I'll try using the holes on the side of the dhw cover.I have two coils and when they made the cover it had a large gap on each corner (Door side). I have temp probes stuck in there now . I wish i would have left the supplys at the top .I feel its going to cause problems later. Thanks for the help. Russ
 
I might as well chime in!

Overall, it is easy to admit that Shaver units aren't up to par with CB. Central Boiler units are very well made and have a great reputation.

That being said, I know I never could have afforded a CB. It was a Shaver or nothing for me.

The price difference was enough for me to buy the Shaver. Yes I had to do several mods. The mods didn't take all that much time or money. Maybe $200 or so in mod material (6" flue pipe, insulation, Ranco thermostat and my blower mod)

I actually enjoyed tinkering with it!

If money were no object I might have gotten a CB but the couple thousand $$$ savings made it possible for me to have an OWB.

Like I said, if money is no object get the better made, higher priced, plug and play Central Boiler. If you are on the edge an willing to do a few mods, get the Shaver.

I agree, If you have money to spare then I would go with a gasifier unit for efficiency. I couldn't afford the extra money for the higher priced OWB's and went with the 165 Shaver.

Yes they need a lot of modifying that you will have to do yourself, but it saved me from wasting that money on propane.

I have about $6000.00 in my total install for my system.

When I move I will look at other options but will probably build my own OWB instead of buying.

I want to make a multi-fuel OWB, that can handle square hay bales,cats,opossums you name it. LOL
 
I was just talking to them about this. The 165 passed and the 250 is going to quailify also. There not sure about the bigger stoves yet. I have the 290 so I'm hoping they get it certified too.
 
Pics?

Any chance you took a picture of this? Would like to see more pics on here of the mods you guys are making. I am a man, and therefore more visually stimulated!!
 
I was just talking to them about this. The 165 passed and the 250 is going to quailify also. There not sure about the bigger stoves yet. I have the 290 so I'm hoping they get it certified too.

Great news!

Shaver Furnace is proud to announce that the Shaver Pro Series 165, 250, 2900 and 340 models have ALL been tested and certified to be high efficient; meaning 75% efficient or better and this allows us to offer you a certificate to get the $1500 Federal Tax Credit (or up to 30% of the purchase price including installation)!

This also means that you will use less wood than with most manufacturer's outdoor wood furnaces. Most wood furnaces are only around 65% efficient.

That makes the net cost for the 165, after the Federal Tax rebate, only $3177!

See outdoor-wood-furnace-boiler.com/1500-tax-credit.htm

We're also including the Cold Weather Package NOW at NO CHARGE!

You can also get the 1/2" firebox upgrade at no charge now too!

While ours isn't a true gasification furnace, our design (chimney dropping down in the firebox creating that huge secondary burn chamber along with the air (oxygen) blowing in from the bottom), allows us to capture the gases and burn them off, almost as well as a more complex and more expensive gasification furnace. There is a LOT of energy in the gases!

Best regards,

Ben
 
...I couldn't afford the extra money for the higher priced OWB's and went with the 165 Shaver.

Yes they need a lot of modifying that you will have to do yourself, but it saved me from wasting that money on propane.

I have about $6000.00 in my total install for my system.

...I want to make a multi-fuel OWB, that can handle square hay bales,cats,opossums you name it. LOL

We listened to what everyone had to say on here and aftermarket modifications aren't necessary anymore!

Shavers now have the same digital thermostat if you want it, as well as the solenoid activated damper.

All furnaces have insulation under the stove as well as insulation in the door.

For those that still want the simplicity, they can have their furnace without the extras.

BTW, you should never burn hay/straw because of the chlorine produced when burning, which will fast destroy at least the chimney.

Best regards,

Ben
 
We listened to what everyone had to say on here and aftermarket modifications aren't necessary anymore!

Shavers now have the same digital thermostat if you want it, as well as the solenoid activated damper.

All furnaces have insulation under the stove as well as insulation in the door.

For those that still want the simplicity, they can have their furnace without the extras.

BTW, you should never burn hay/straw because of the chlorine produced when burning, which will fast destroy at least the chimney.

Best regards,

Ben

Im glad to see the changes made to the current units.To myself,this is a big step forward.Now if you could work on quality control ,and fit and finish,you'd have it all.....
 
Changes made recently

Im glad to see the changes made to the current units.To myself,this is a big step forward.Now if you could work on quality control ,and fit and finish,you'd have it all.....

Hi John,

Since you received your furnace, we are having the metal precut with a plasma cutter and we are doing that in-house as well on the smaller parts.

All of the tin is cut tighter and we no longer use silicone. We now use butyl tape for a nice neat appearance.

We have grommets around the piping and hinges now too!

We also redesigned the cover for the hot water coil to make it simpler and easier to seal for the consumer and now the water level is higher. This will protect the water jacket better because now the chemicals can now reach all corners and impart the oxygen barrier on the metal, even on the top and corners. We spray the inside of the water jackets on top too.

We changed the return lines, making them feed further into the water jacket so that water flow more around the front, in cases where high volume or multiple pumps are used.

Bob is trying to contact you in regards to the 5-year Rust Blocker (rust protector), for your furnace.

Best regards,

Ben
 
Great news!

Shaver Furnace is proud to announce that the Shaver Pro Series 165, 250, 2900 and 340 models have ALL been tested and certified to be high efficient; meaning 75% efficient or better and this allows us to offer you a certificate to get the $1500 Federal Tax Credit (or up to 30% of the purchase price including installation)!

This also means that you will use less wood than with most manufacturer's outdoor wood furnaces. Most wood furnaces are only around 65% efficient.

That makes the net cost for the 165, after the Federal Tax rebate, only $3177!

See outdoor-wood-furnace-boiler.com/1500-tax-credit.htm

We're also including the Cold Weather Package NOW at NO CHARGE!

You can also get the 1/2" firebox upgrade at no charge now too!

While ours isn't a true gasification furnace, our design (chimney dropping down in the firebox creating that huge secondary burn chamber along with the air (oxygen) blowing in from the bottom), allows us to capture the gases and burn them off, almost as well as a more complex and more expensive gasification furnace. There is a LOT of energy in the gases!

Best regards,

Ben


Glad to hear it. However, I, for one, would like to know if it was tested with the new damper or the old one. Reason I asked is that those who still have the old one probably aren't getting that efficiency with the slider with the holes in it. It would depend how open the slide was. Thats one of the major problems with the old units. I modified mine with a butterfly type opening which was equal in sq in to the old slide all the way open. Much faster heat gain and no more creosote in the chimney. Plus when the flap closes, it seals much better than having the holes open to draw air that you now don't want in the unit.
One more thing, I continue to have door sealing problems with the silicone sealer. Has Shaver retained this setup ? Also, unless you relocated the outside overflow drain, I don't under stand how the water level would be higher since it flows out the lowest point. Why the water jacket slide had(s) the angle shape is beyond me, should have been a straight piece allowing water almost to the top of the unit obviously helping to control the rust situation. I would strongly suggest to any future buyer that they get the digital thermostat and damper. The thermostat remains the weakest point of my unit. Its acceptable since I modified it somewhat but far from what I'd like. Not like its a surprise, but the steel simply held the heat too long before the stat actually knew it was supposided to kick on.

:monkey:
 
sidenote - time to turn the stove off so I decided to experiment:

I turned the circ pump off. Temp was at 140°F. 2 days later temp was at 207°F. Circ pump was never kicked on. Rayco stat set to 140/145.


- My assessment is the combined leakage through the fill door, ash door and damper over the fan inlet produced enough draft to promote coals/ maintain small fire and increase temp.

Future improvements:
- Seal inlet blower properly (I have the screw/ choke down flappy thing)
- Redo seal on fill door (lasted 1 year - pathetic)
- Cycle circ pump with house stat instead of circ pump on 24/7.
- Possibly a damper on chimney that opens 100% when blower kicks in and closes X% when blower kicks off.
 
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