Home Made OWB

[stltreedr]

Thanks for sending me the pics, awesome build, did you build because there isn't one like it on the market, or just because you can? Seems like you have quite a bit of $$ and a whole lotta time in it.

 

[kyle1!]

u need some pipe?

I think finding the proper sized material within reasonable cost and proximity to your location are probably the biggest hurdles in building your own. Very nicely done and when can I pick up mine that you so nicely built for me? :jester: Will have to make a mental note on where to find large pipe.

Brian

 

[zogger]

Wow, thats nice! Excellent!!

wish I could weld better, theres a stack of old bulk fuel tanks here I bet I could buy from my boss for a project like that. theres large ones..and smaller ones...

I just suck at welding. Ive practiced on various broken things, meh, sometimes it works, ugly, but holds, but I wouldnt trust a boiler build.

I am thinking of modifying my exisiting heater next summer to add an internal baffle, that would just be sheetmetal and bolts and some cement, that I can do...

 

[hupte]

Good job. I would like to see the rest of it like the pump and radiater. How did you pressure check your welds and can you tell me what it cost in electricity to run it?

Thanks Doug!! Here is a pic of the pump and some plumbing in the shop. I use 3- 8ft long base board, fin tube heaters in the shop.

also If I want to warm up the shop real fast I turn on this forced air heater. its a radiator out of a jeep grand Cherokee. I bought this radiator for 15 bucks. then I mounted an attic fan on the back of it. its gotten a little dusty over the years.

I bought a heat exchanger for the house and mounted it inside my furnace plenum. here's a couple pics.

side view

My drafty old farm house never had heat upstairs so I ran more base board heaters.

here's a close up.

For a pressure test, I welded the firebox inside and out. Then put it inside the water jacket. Then once i finished welding on the end caps for the water jacket. I simply plugged all the plumbing fittings except one. Then I got some adapters so I could hook up the air hose to it. the formula for a compression test is normal operating pressure x 1.25. but since its an open system there is no pressure. so I put 10 lbs of air in it then sprayed all the welds with soapy water just to be sure.

i have a kill-a-watt meter and electricity costs 12.16 per month to run the pump in the house, I run it on high. the shop pump running on low costs 8.16 per month. the boiler itself just has a small blower that runs intermittently so it will take a few days to average the cost of that. I have it plugged in, for about the last 30 minutes it says 3.68 to run the blower for the month.

 

[hupte]

Thanks for sending me the pics, awesome build, did you build because there isn't one like it on the market, or just because you can? Seems like you have quite a bit of $$ and a whole lotta time in it.

Really I built it just to save money off buying a new one. after studying a bunch of manufacturers designs I came up with one that I thought would be a good quality long lasting and efficient.

stack temps measured 130 just above the roof.

brian, check the "tradin' post" on this web site in a couple days, I have one I'm gonna list.

 

[Old Doug]

Thanks for answering my questions. I wondered about the cost to run one and you are the first to tell me. I would like to have a stove in my shop that would heat the house when it got colder.

 

[hupte]

more pics

here is some pics of the smoke bypass system.

 

[Biglurr54]

Very well done. I see a lot of similarities with my woodmaster but there are so many things I would change with my woodmaster. I love that you moved the stack up front. I open the baffle and open the door and I still get a face full of smoke and all the heat goes right out the door. What did you use for a draft fan? That's my other issue with my woodmaster. The flapper closes on the fan to stop all drafts which makes a ton of smoke and soot. All the smoke and sot are trapped in the fan. Every month I have to clean the blades of the fan and I know there is nothing I can do about the soot and ash that are making there way in the motor shaft. The only thing I would change on your set up would be a draft fan in the back as well as in the door. I will try to build one of these as soon as the woodmaster gives up. Here in NY they have got very strict on the sales of Woodboilers. They have very strict regulations around efficiency here and no one sells boilers here anymore.

 

[hupte]

Very well done. I see a lot of similarities with my woodmaster but there are so many things I would change with my woodmaster. I love that you moved the stack up front. I open the baffle and open the door and I still get a face full of smoke and all the heat goes right out the door. What did you use for a draft fan? That's my other issue with my woodmaster. The flapper closes on the fan to stop all drafts which makes a ton of smoke and soot. All the smoke and sot are trapped in the fan. Every month I have to clean the blades of the fan and I know there is nothing I can do about the soot and ash that are making there way in the motor shaft. The only thing I would change on your set up would be a draft fan in the back as well as in the door. I will try to build one of these as soon as the woodmaster gives up. Here in NY they have got very strict on the sales of Woodboilers. They have very strict regulations around efficiency here and no one sells boilers here anymore.

I saw that heatmor uses a flap that opens by turning on the motor. so its simply operated by air pressure. there's no solenoid to go bad. they say with my design the solenoid goes out more than any other part. Heatmor also has an option of 2 blowers like u mentioned. I know a guy who has one. he said he only burns soft wood that's still green, because hard wood burns too quick. he's heating a pretty well insulated 2000 sq ft house. I thought about 2 blowers but I figured that would be too much air into the fire. I didn't want it to be like the old wood doctors that just ate up wood really fast, so I went with 1 blower. i just noticed my blower has a lot of ash on it. my last boiler never got ash on the blower. I think its because on my last boiler the auger hole is in the back of the boiler. now this boiler its in the front like a woodmaster. when I'm cleaning out the ashes they blow around in the wind, and get sucked into the blower. that's the reason I'm getting ash on the motor. could be the same problem for yours? I still get some smoke that comes out the door. usually it happens if I haven't pushed the wood pile closer to the boiler, and I have to take a few steps to grab the next piece. then by the time I'm throwing the last piece in the first piece has started smoking.
here's some pics of my draft fan. I know its a 10cfm fan by fasco. I hope this answers your questions.

 

[Biglurr54]

Never thought it would burn wood up quicker. It would be hotter with two fans which means they would run less possibly. My fan looks much like that. when the flapper closes it closes the fins of the fan in the smoke and ash. Same as mine. Take the fan out in the spring when the boiler is shut down and check the fins on the blower. They will be filled with ash. Nothing a wire brush cant take care of but a pain to do. Also it is my theory that the same ash and soot works its way into the bearing at the base of the shaft under the fins because that too is closed into the smoke and ash when the flapper closes. I know I'm on a blower a year give or take because the blowers seem to be getting weak. If you got nervous about the foam near the flue and loading door, great stuff makes a high temp fire safe spray foam. Not sure about R-value or temp ratings but it should be better than nothing. With a flue temp of 130 Im sure regular spray foam will last a while.

 

[hupte]

Take the fan out in the spring when the boiler is shut down and check the fins on the blower. They will be filled with ash. Nothing a wire brush cant take care of but a pain to do. Also it is my theory that the same ash and soot works its way into the bearing at the base of the shaft under the fins because that too is closed into the smoke and ash when the flapper closes. I know I'm on a blower a year give or take because the blowers seem to be getting weak. If you got nervous about the foam near the flue and loading door, great stuff makes a high temp fire safe spray foam. Not sure about R-value or temp ratings but it should be better than nothing. With a flue temp of 130 Im sure regular spray foam will last a while.

good ideas about cleaning the fins, and the great stuff... someone told me that with this design of owb (blower inside the door) that I should pull the blower out of the door and store it in the shop for the summer. he said something about leaving the blower in the door all summer, is like leaving it outside. and although it sheltered from the rain. moisture still gets in there and corrodes the blower motor. I know another guy who used his owb 1 year then let his blower sit in his door all summer and when he fired it up in the fall the blower was shot.

 

[Mike Van]

Nice job on that OWB - Any thoughts on how many years she'd go without major problems? [leaks, burnthrough, whatever]

 

[hupte]

Nice job on that OWB - Any thoughts on how many years she'd go without major problems? [leaks, burnthrough, whatever]

thanks mike, Im gonna pull the ashes out every spring and check the water treatment at least twice a year. so I figured it should last 25-30 years. obviously the longer the better. I figured worst case scenario, it leaks in 25 years and I put it on a trailer and scrap it. with scrap at 200 a ton. it will fetch 600 bucks. hopefully that's still enough to buy the end plates to build a new one. or by then maybe Ill retire and move somewhere warm. hopefully Ill have an energy efficient house and maybe I wont want to burn wood... I doubt that will ever happen. lol.

 

[Ayatollah]

Instead of car radiators, you might also look to refrigeration condensing units for adaptable parts. They're pretty durable too, many connections welded at the seams with silver solder, and they have closely spaced fins. Also, fan and shrouds pre-fit. I've ran in to a lot that were steel too, rather than copper/aluminum coils.

 

[hupte]

thanks for the tip ayatollah. here is a video breakdown/explanation of this boiler.
Home made outdoor wood boiler, furnace - YouTube

 

[Arbonaut]

I'm with hondaracer2004. That is one of the nicest setups I ever saw. Was the smoke bypass system explained? I missed it.

Thanks for showing. I wondered if my heatmor is made of half a pipe with the bottom of the two different half pipes welded together. What I see of yours is it is an efficient design.

 

[dave_dj1]

Hupte, I just watched your vids, great job on the boiler and the splitter.
I had to laugh, you said you didn't want to say a brand name and after the first vid was over, the big ad for Hardy outdoor furnaces came up.

 

[hupte]

I'm with hondaracer2004. That is one of the nicest setups I ever saw. Was the smoke bypass system explained? I missed it.

Thanks for showing. I wondered if my heatmor is made of half a pipe with the bottom of the two different half pipes welded together. What I see of yours is it is an efficient design.

Thanks stroker ace!!!! I explained the smoke bypass in the video...
Home made outdoor wood boiler, furnace - YouTube
I hope I explained it clearly in the video. in the video when u can c the inside of the burn chamber u'll notice there is a quarter round pipe on the top of the burn chamber, the smoke goes up and to the front of the burn chamber. then it goes up and in between that quarter round pipe and the top of the burn chamber. then it goes all the way to the back of the burn chamber. and up into the square chamber. then the smoke goes all the way to the front of the square chamber and up and out the chimney. when I push the handle in, that moves that spiderweb plate in the square chamber and opens the hole in the front of the square chamber. which lets the smoke go from the burn chamber straight out the chimney (instead of going thru the quarter round pipe and then into the square chamber). so the square box has 2 holes in it. 1 in the front and 1 in the back. the 1 in the back is used for normal operation. the hole in the front is used in the bypass mode. I hope that makes sense. if not, please don't hesitate to ask.
I found a breakdown of a heatmor unit on their website once. but I cant find it again. it was a square box with water on all sides except the bottom.

Thanks davedj1!!! that is funny, hardy makes indoor wood stoves so I didn't study their design before building my boiler.

 

[hooty481]

Hey I have been watching the video of your boiler for about a year now and today I finally run across this thread with some great pictures that help explain a lot of questions that I had.

One thing that I am still scratching my head over is how did you weld the stove pipe into the bypass chamber after you put it into the water jacket.

Also would you happen to have another piece of that 52" pipe or know where I could find about 5feet of it. My fire box is a propane tank cut in half at 41" diameter and 4' 3" long. If I could get a piece of that pipe it would be great.

Thanks for laying the ground work to a great boiler!

 

[hupte]

well, it wasnt easy... i dropped a very short section of 8"pipe inside the water jacket and into the smoke bypass. then i rolled the whole 52"pipe into position. (so the short 8"chimney was sticking out the bottom) then i welded it with my mig welder. i had to weld it in a downward position cause its not a pulse mig welder. then when i welded the topside of the smoke bypass i used a mirror while welding (sacrificed the mirror) but i took my time and it turned out pretty good.

a couple things i learned since building this boiler is:
1) dont put your blower in the door cause this causes condensation and the water drips down onto your door frame and finds it way out the bottom seal of the door. eventually you have to replace the bottom lip of the door seal on the burn chamber.

2) dont put your smoke bypass/burn chamber so high in the water jacket. because when water heats up it expands. and the water level rises and falls with the temperature of the water. so when the water temp is high. the water overflows out of the breather. then when the water level is low it evaporates cause there is only 1/16 of an inch of water over the top of the smoke bypass or burn chamber. the solution would be to keep the burn chamber/smoke bypass lower in the water jacket or to build another smaller tank above the water jacket to let the water level fluctuate and keep the main water jacket full at all times.

just this week. i was just looking at the rest of my 52inch diameter pipe and thinking i should scrap it. message me for a good price on it.