Homemade OWB (Picture Heavy)

[doeber21]

I'm finally getting around to posting my OWB build from last fall. After finding a couple of scrap tanks from work i thought i would see how it turned out. I started the build on October 5th and lit my first fire November 11th. (Lets just say my girlfriend wasn't real pleased with me...) I tried to do the complete build with salvaged materials to keep cost to a minimum. The boiler is a tank in tank design with about 125 gallon water capacity. the fire box is 32" diameter and about 46" deep. All the steel in the build came from scrap piles. Knowing how we like pics on here i tried to take quite a few. I'm still learning to post pics on here, hope this works. Please post any questions or comments. Thanks


Firebox welded to head sheet.


Soon to be water jacket.


Chimney Hole

Door Frame


Slid the water jacket on and had to tip it up.


Aligning the water jacket.


Water jacket all welded and stack installed.


Inside view of stack.




Pressure test. Only a couple small pin holes, not to shabby.

 

[Marshy]

Nice work. Is this just carbon steel? Any plans to add a baffle inside?

 

[doeber21]

More Pics. The door build. I spent a lot of time to get this right. I'm real happy with how it turned out. Its very heavy, all 3/8" sheet and 1/4" angle. No warping yet. I included a bunch of pics to show how i built the latch, hinge, and damper
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Hinge in just a solid bar running through cut pipe sections.

Might work.

Hanging it just so it all clears.

Air opening cut in and sided welded.

Not just your ordinary fiberglass insulation. Ceramic hightemp used for packing around boiler piping.

Door all welded up.

Handle welded up, 3/8" sheet cut out to act like a cam lock and 1" solid bar welded in.



Solenoid installed.

Complete with weather cover.

 

[doeber21]

And some more.

Borrowed this from the boss for the weekend. Its not what you know. But who you know and what they can do for you... ha

Tried to keep it about 4' deep. Was a little less next to the house since its a walkout.

Core drilled 2 holes. Work had just gotten a new drill and i thought i'd better make sure it worked.

Clean through.

Much nicer than peckering out a bunch of small holes.

2 4" sch 40 PVC for sleeves to pull the lines in. No water penetration possible. And can always pull new if needed.

Tipping over in the garage after attaching legs.

Tight fit.

Ports all welded in. 2 supply and 2 return for house and garage. Port for aqua stat and drain.

Pressure test for leaks once again.

 

[doeber21]

Moving Day, hadn't really thought this through but it worked out ok

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The problem with design builds, sometimes things don't get properly accounted for. Like garage door height.

Had to tilt it way back and drag it out to get the stack to clear.

Need a little counter weight. May be pushing capacity a bit...

Got er up off the ground.

Needed a cable come a long to help balance the weight on the bucket.

Home sweet home.

 

[doeber21]

Building the frame, insulating, and tinning. All materials sourced from leftovers that were headed to the dump.


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I mean who wouldn't build a wood frame around something containing fire.

Everything seems secure.

Wrapped the water jacket in fiberglass held on with chicken wire. And then insulated the enclosure before putting on the tin.

Ready for the door.

Test burn.

 

[doeber21]

Completed. Completely insured and ready to heat. Gravel around the unit per insurance man. After my first season i had no issues. I added a little expansion tank to the top to ensure the firebox stayed completely submerged. I also added another section of class A chimney to keep and smoke on the heavy days up more. So far so good.



Complete with light.



Another view

Back Door to Ports and aqua stat.

Added expansion tank.

Gauges to monitor out going and incoming temps. Garage circuit hadn't been completed yet. I added a wi-fi camera in there pointed at the outgoing temp gauge so i could monitor my boiler temp anywhere from my phone or computer. Works real well if you have doubts about how the boiler is doing.

Fresh Load.

Added pipe section.

Exchanger install in the garage. Down draft furnace mounted up stairs.

Hope you guys like as much as i have enjoyed reading all your posts. Be sure to let me know if you need any more detail. i know when i was building mine i referred to this site and the world wide web quite a bit. Maybe this will help me get on the posting band wagon. A lot of great info on here!! Thanks again

 

[doeber21]

Nice work. Is this just carbon steel? Any plans to add a baffle inside?

Yes, just carbon steel. Only 1 season in but no issues yet. I haven't done a baffle yet. I ran the pipe low in the boiler in hopes the smoke would have to work a little harder to get out. I think about it from time to time, then i crack a beer...

 

[sawjunky23]

Nice work that's looks very professional. Can I ask what your total cost was?

 

[Marshy]

Are you using any corrosion prohibitor in the water? You might want to consider it if your not.

 

[H-Ranch]

That looks very familiar - brought me back a few years to when I built mine. Very similar in most ways, except I built mine outside so I didn't have any trouble getting it out of the shop!

 

[doeber21]

Nice work that's looks very professional. Can I ask what your total cost was?

Total cost was right around $1500. That was for all install parts. Pex, fittings, insulation for pex, side arm, furnace heat exchangers x2, pumps and misc stuff one never thinks of.

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[doeber21]

Are you using any corrosion prohibitor in the water? You might want to consider it if your not.

I didn't the first year. Probably not a bad idea. Can you recommend something?

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[doeber21]

That looks very familiar - brought me back a few years to when I built mine. Very similar in most ways, except I built mine outside so I didn't have any trouble getting it out of the shop! [emoji23]

Yes, very similar. Thanks for the build pics that helped give me the design idea. How's yours holding up?

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[benp]

Good job!!!!

Looks great!!!

What kind of burn times were you seeing last winter in the sub zero's and how much sq footage are you heating?

 

[Marshy]

I didn't the first year. Probably not a bad idea. Can you recommend something?

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No, sorry I don't have an OWB. Someone should be able to.

 

[doeber21]

Good job!!!!

Looks great!!!

What kind of burn times were you seeing last winter in the sub zero's and how much sq footage are you heating?

Only heating about 1800 sq ft house. The garage is just heated up when needed. A full fill will get me 24hrs+ but I try to just put enough wood in for 12 hours between checking on it. I've never had the ability to keep my house at 70° all winter and it was awesome!

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[benp]

That's awesome!!!!!

 

[Marshy]

Any idea what you yearly consumption is?

 

[H-Ranch]

Yes, very similar. Thanks for the build pics that helped give me the design idea. How's yours holding up?

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Ha! That's exactly why I posted mine and I thank you for sharing yours with others. I was wondering if I was looking in some kind of warped mirror with the likeness - I'm diggin' on all your improvements too. The door latch, the gauges, and the expansion tank are great upgrades to my crude unit. I made my design from a couple of friend's suggestions and then made up what they didn't account for.

My smoke baffle still is not perfect and I've repaired it a few times but I believe the concept is still sound. I've also replaced the fan motor a few times and a solenoid or two. Overall I'm still very pleased with it, so much so that the wife says I force new visitors to take the woodburner tour whether they want to or not.