Has anyone's OWB had a meltdown

[Kemper]

This is what i use to watch the temperature, don't laugh it works good!

Just zip tie the probe on your pex pipe coming in and wrap it with a little insulation, then take the remote and set it on top of the fridge or wherever, mine is set so the alarm would go off if the temp gets to 185, batteries last a couple months, and you can tell at a glance what your OWB is doing...




New Maverick Black ET732 Wireless Dual 2 Probe BBQ Smoker Meat Thermometer | eBay

 

[beerman6]

A question for all of you though, is there any way to put an alarm of some sort on this so If temp gets too high I will know it in the house?

Mine has a reset-able snap disc switch on it,(that would help if the aqua stat malfunctioned) you could use that to control a relay and run the light/horn/buzzer thru the relay?

 

[motoman3b]

I run my owb at 145 degrees so I think it would take it awhile to boil over if somehow my fan stayed stuck on, hasnt happened yet knock on wood

 

[Kemper]

I run my owb at 145 degrees so I think it would take it awhile to boil over if somehow my fan stayed stuck on, hasnt happened yet knock on wood

I ran mine at 140 when i got it and found out that the water jackets will sweat below 145
that is why they recommend running at 175 or 180, soooo i turned mine back up and now
it turns on at 160 and shuts down at 175...

 

[stltreedr]

This is what i use to watch the temperature, don't laugh it works good!

Just zip tie the probe on your pex pipe coming in and wrap it with a little insulation, then take the remote and set it on top of the fridge or wherever, mine is set so the alarm would go off if the temp gets to 185, batteries last a couple months, and you can tell at a glance what your OWB is doing...



QUOTE]

Awesome Idea- people's ingenuity always amazes me. Is the alarm loud enough to wake a person?

 

[deutzman]

after reading all the responses, I assume the solenoid is bad. It had been making noise since almost new. Which is one of the reasons I didn't mess with it. I actually thought it was the fan motor, and replaced it once, only to find that it wasn't making the annoying, buzzing sound. I closed the flapper by hand and it felt 'gritty' inside, but then it freed up. I already ordered the parts, I'll let you know how it goes, hopefully they will be here today. About $120 so far for the solenoid, temp/pressure gauge, stick of pex and a couple gator bite fittings. I guess it could be worse. Then again, there might be more wrong with it. I put about 38 gallons of water in it last night before thinking, hey, it's gonna be cold tomorrow, I think I'll stop putting straight water in this. Still not sure how much water it will take.

Solenoids will make a buzz noise but will make more noise if it has a restriction and not let it stroke proper. I keep a can of wd-40 at my CB and once a month I spray the damper hinge, linkage joints and the damper seat and use a knife to scrape the edges where it seals when closed.

I also use a temperature monitor sorta like the other gentleman posted the link too. I have mine set at 195 to alarm. I run the aquastat setpoint off at 185. Had the alarm once 3 years ago when I had some stainless braided hose connections and one sprung a leak. Water level went down and started to over heat. My son heard the alarm and found the problem in minutes. I removed all the flex hoses and replaced with pex since. Son said he saw temp at 213 when he got to the stove. If I use good batteries they will last 6 or more months in the temp. monitor. I also use it to tell when to reload the firebox too. Saves me from going out there to check.

 

[stltreedr]

still not going good. I fixed the above problems and fired it up last friday night. Fired it up and seemed to be working ok- found out later on the aquastat was also fried, boiled over again. ####!! Ordered a new stat friday night, got it tuesday, went to install it and needed a new fitting where it melted again. No big deal right? I'll pick it up at lowes, it's warm anyway..50's and 60's.

Installed new fitting last night, filled the tank and started pressurizing the system, won't build pressure.... checked a million things, won't build pressure.... Dig up half the yard in the dark and snow and find broken line... That's not the worst part- the Vanguard Pex is so distorted from heat that It won't accept a fitting to splice it. ####. Supposed to be 9 degrees tonight, half of my underground system is exposed to the air, looks like if I don't get something fixed tonight the water remaining in the pipes will freeze and I'll be burnin' propane for the rest of the year. ####!

 

[brenndatomu]

This is what i use to watch the temperature, don't laugh it works good!

Just zip tie the probe on your pex pipe coming in and wrap it with a little insulation, then take the remote and set it on top of the fridge or wherever, mine is set so the alarm would go off if the temp gets to 185, batteries last a couple months, and you can tell at a glance what your OWB is doing...



QUOTE]

Awesome Idea- people's ingenuity always amazes me. Is the alarm loud enough to wake a person?

Yeah, I have that same temp monitor (Maverick ET732) on my wood furnace in the basement, it works good, saves trips to the basement! I have one probe clamped to the outside of the flue pipe and one in the supply plenum.
To answer your question, yes, the alarm is plenty loud, I bring the remote monitor into the bedroom at night to make sure I would hear the alarm if it ever went off.
I have had it turned on 24/7 since early Nov, still on the same battery's.

Sorry to hear about your current problems stltreedr! Too bad you're not in Ohio, I'd come try to help ya get something worked out! Sure hope ya don't hafta go back on the "bottle"!

 

[Iska3]

+1

I picked up the Maverick Wireless for around 39.00 several years ago. I have the cheaper single lead and taped the lead to my incoming line in the basement. It works great!! Saved my fanny once when I didn't close the door all the way; I filled the OWB, came inside and 30 min later the alarm goes off. I set the alarm at 180 degrees the OWB was set for 165 at the time. Now I have the alarm set at 190 and the temp set at 180. When the control shows 160 degrees I know I best check the wood. My batteries will last for 1 year or better. I leave it on 365 days 24/7 Best insurance I ever had..

This is what i use to watch the temperature, don't laugh it works good!

Just zip tie the probe on your pex pipe coming in and wrap it with a little insulation, then take the remote and set it on top of the fridge or wherever, mine is set so the alarm would go off if the temp gets to 185, batteries last a couple months, and you can tell at a glance what your OWB is doing...




New Maverick Black ET732 Wireless Dual 2 Probe BBQ Smoker Meat Thermometer | eBay

 

[Patrick62]

Necessity is.... a mother.

Mother of something.
At a time like this, I would start "rigging" :censored:

busted pex in middle of yard? Fittings don't fit? improvise. It isn't possible to hose clamp pex down onto a tubing with ordinary stuff. Then slide a hunk of rubber hose over the thing and use two clamps on each end. Don't have to be pretty, or even perfect. Just get that sucker working!

 

[Iska3]

Can you run the OWB without pressure on it so you could run the system and at least get some heat going? You'll need to replace all the line anyway, think of buying Thermoflex it's like Thermoplex but cheaper.. I ran my lines on top of the ground the first year and it would get down to -20 below.. Gott'a feel bad for you... Bad time to have that happen..

Mother of something.
At a time like this, I would start "rigging" :censored:

busted pex in middle of yard? Fittings don't fit? improvise. It isn't possible to hose clamp pex down onto a tubing with ordinary stuff. Then slide a hunk of rubber hose over the thing and use two clamps on each end. Don't have to be pretty, or even perfect. Just get that sucker working!

 

[stltreedr]

Got it going

dug up a little more yard after work yesterday, went to a plumbing store and they gave me some "AY" ???? compression fittings some 3 piece copper or brass fittings. The pex was still distorted, so I heated it up a bit with a lighter and had to screw the fittings into the plastic. The fitting was cutting thread into the pex (which it isn't supposed to) got it all together and it seemed to work last night, and still had coals this morning. 5 degrees.

I agree that I'm going to have to replace my lines, hopefully it will wait until summer. I am thinking of a design idea to keep the lines insulated, but make them easier to replace. Something like a 4 inch PVC inside an 8inch pvc, then fill the gap between the two with some expanding foam. Hmmm. sounds much easier than digging the yard up.

 

[Iska3]

I hope you can keep it going for now.. Kind'a tough with a pressure system but anything is better than nothing until it warms up a little. It would be a bugger to drain the system until spring.

Look in to ThermoFlex Pipe. Less than ThermoPex. It has an R25 value Polyethylene foam for thermal performance and protection against water migration. I have this 18 inches below ground and the last 20 ft is above ground in my crawl space. I can't feel any heat of the pipe in there so it must work well. I had this above ground for the first year and the snow never melted off. I also have a second run going to a shop and forgot to turn on the pump one winter so when it got down to -18 below the line froze going back to the OWB. I back flushed it using a ¼ inch air hose connected to a small pump with water.. It only froze back about 2 ft and the rest of the pipe was still full of water..

The Polyethylene Foam will not suck up water like some of the other foams and it does not shrink. If push comes to shove, you could pull out the water lines in this pipe.

It might be worth checking this out..

Insulated Pex | Insulated Pex Pipe | Insulated Pex Tubing

 

[Patrick62]

fukushima

don't worry, it'll be fine. These controls are the best it can't run away....

granted it isn't in quite the same category as a nuclear reactor, but the end result is about the same.

Question being is there a better way?

I have never worked on one of these things, but the concept is similar to the typical gas fired boiler. Call for heat fires the boiler, and when the boiler reaches 180 the fuel is cut off. Circulator pump kicks on at about 150 (iirc) and starts circulating water thru the house. What if the pump didn't work? The boiler would happily maintain 180. What if the thermostat and pump failed? Then it overheats and hopefully the pressure release isn't plugged up... or blammo.

Atleast the wood boiler is usually in the backyard, not in the basement!! :yikes:

I think some further thought process would be needed to see if there is some practical method of shutting it down when stuff don't work quite right.