New member with OWB issues

[finalwinchester]

Hey all,

New member here, ill give a little background. In June the old lady and I bought a house with a heatmor outside wood boiler already installed and being new to wood boilers I found this site to be extremely helpful! Thanks for all the great information I found just reading on here! However I've hit a problem that just reading hasn't been enough to help me figure out, so its time to sign up and seek guidance. Hopefully you gents can help.

So here is my set up. I have a heatmor 200css wood boiler that comes into the basement and goes through a plate heat exchanger for my hot water, from there it goes to a water to air heat exchanger above my propane forced air furnace.

Worked pretty good during the fall to early winter months without turning the propane on. Now that it is in the low 20s outside I'm having trouble. When the thermostat kicks on the heat it blows hot for maybe a minute then it cools down and blows air thats only a degree or two warmer than the house and thus cannot keep up with the cold.

The wood boiler is functioning the way it should and keeping temp just fine. Hot water is good. The propane works if I turn it on so that should eliminate problems with the furnace. That should only leave the heat exchanger as the problem. Maybe it is to small? Or not functioning correctly? Air in the lines? I'm not sure. Maybe you guys could steer me in the right direction on this.

Sorry for the long post but burning propane sucks!

 

[olympyk_999]

Hey all,

New member here, ill give a little background. In June the old lady and I bought a house with a heatmor outside wood boiler already installed and being new to wood boilers I found this site to be extremely helpful! Thanks for all the great information I found just reading on here! However I've hit a problem that just reading hasn't been enough to help me figure out, so its time to sign up and seek guidance. Hopefully you gents can help.

So here is my set up. I have a heatmor 200css wood boiler that comes into the basement and goes through a plate heat exchanger for my hot water, from there it goes to a water to air heat exchanger above my propane forced air furnace.

Worked pretty good during the fall to early winter months without turning the propane on. Now that it is in the low 20s outside I'm having trouble. When the thermostat kicks on the heat it blows hot for maybe a minute then it cools down and blows air thats only a degree or two warmer than the house and thus cannot keep up with the cold.

The wood boiler is functioning the way it should and keeping temp just fine. Hot water is good. The propane works if I turn it on so that should eliminate problems with the furnace. That should only leave the heat exchanger as the problem. Maybe it is to small? Or not functioning correctly? Air in the lines? I'm not sure. Maybe you guys could steer me in the right direction on this.

Sorry for the long post but burning propane sucks!

is the circulator pump working? possible damage to impeller?

 

[finalwinchester]

The pump seems to be working, I can hear it running, not sure how I would test that though...

 

[NSMaple1]

You should measure a bunch of pipe temps - at the inlet & outlet of each exchanger, and also in & out of each pipe that is underground, and whatever other components there are. Including the boiler. Maybe also measure the amp draw of your circ to get a handle on how it's doing.

 

[stevetheboatguy]

Check what this man said above. That is the place to start.
And welcome to as. Hope you like it here.

Steven.

 

[lindnova]

I have the exact same setup as you.

As other said you need to check temperatures at the inlet and outlet of the heat exchanger. Kind of sounds like the exchanger is plugged or way too small, but could also be a few other things. I have never dealt with a plugged exchanger, but they can be cleaned. I would guess you don't have unions or bypass for a quick removal. I have added those on any new work I have done for ease of maintenance.

What pump and pipe size to you have?

Is your water heater turned off so you are on 100% wood heat?

 

[hupte]

it sounds like you could have an air in the lines and the pump can't push enough to fight against the air trapped in the lines. or the problem could be a fitting getting plugged or perhaps a valve not open all the way? maybe double check all the valves. close and open em all. also a few pics could help. you can buy an automatic air separator at a big box store for about 40 bucks. or maybe even cheaper on fleabay?

 

[skindaddy]

How to check to see if pump is working partially close nearest valve and listen for noise changes you will hear pressure increase if all is well.

 

[finalwinchester]

Thanks for the info, I'm at work now but when I get home I will 1. Check all valves again 2. Try and flush any air out of the lines. 3. Take some pictures to put on here so you all know what I'm talking about. And 4. Get the specifics on my pump to post up here.

As for taking temperature measurements, what kind of thermometer should I use and what's the best way to do it?

 

[skindaddy]

At this point try and get your hand in there after it sits awhile then get furnace to kick on if it's that bad would think you could feel it

 

[Marshy]

Get yourself a hand held laser thermometer (non contact). You just point and shoot. They have them at harbor freight if you dont want to spend a fortune.

http://www.harborfreight.com/infrared-thermometer-93984.html

 

[lindnova]

Yes you could go by the feel test if it is real bad. I have a laser handheld thermometer, but it is hard to test on shiny pipes. I put black marks where I want to measure temperature.

One other thing to check that I have on my system is a bypass valve for the furnace exchanger (in case I want to use it in the summer for domestic water only). If you have a bypass and the valve is open a lot or all of the water would be bypassing the exchanger. Might be a simple fix.

 

[Iska3]

All the info about is good places to start. Look for a bypass as stated and before you start to rip in to things, see if you have a screen strainer (see #3 in my picture) Check your water line temps on the in and out of the exchanger with and without the furnace calling for heat.. Was the furnace blower set for the air condition and the fan is cooing down the exchanger faster then it can make heat? Most furnace fans have two speeds, you should be on low during the heating season.

I use a wireless BBQ set up on my owb but what Marshy posted above would be an easy way to check your system and it would make a great back up for the water lines on my OWB, I'd know the operating temps on my splitter, my skid steer and the ATV's... Good info Marshy. Well worth the money. Thanks!!

Get yourself a hand held laser thermometer (non contact). You just point and shoot. They have them at harbor freight if you dont want to spend a fortune.

http://www.harborfreight.com/infrared-thermometer-93984.html

 

[Marshy]

The down side to those noncontact thermometers is they will not work on stainless steel. SS is very reflective and you cannot get an accurate temp from it, you'll end up measuring something in the background. Other materials can have wierd behaviors as well. Choose a non metal material if possible.

 

[finalwinchester]

Just got off work and will be heading home and trying some of this out as well as getting some pictures. Then ill post back up and go from there, thanks for all the ideas so far!

 

[NSMaple1]

On what was mentioned above about IR thermometers & wonky readings - spray a big spot of flat black paint (BBQ paint is good if you've got it) on shiny surfaces you want to measure temps of (e.g. copper pipes). They don't like shiny.

 

[finalwinchester]

Ok I am home now and got some pics of my set up, i also tried to get any air out of my lines and it actually seems to have helped quite a bit. If anybody could walk me through how to properly get air out of the lines i would appreciate it, because I'm not sure i did it right but it seems to have helped a little.

Here are my pics.


This is my pump. (old pic, both valves are open now, was to dark to take a current pic)


This is where my lines come into the basement


Hot water heat exchanger.. obviously not in the best shape..


Water to air heat exchanger

 

[finalwinchester]

So I am pretty sure most of my problem has to do with air in my lines... how do i properly bleed the air? If its not air in my lines my bet is on the plate exchanger, that thing looks pretty corroded but is quite hot. I also don't have a laser thermometer and might take a couple days to get one...

 

[Marshy]

Any chance you can draw on paper the way your system is piped, and take a picture and post it on here? Ideally there would be some sort of high point vent that you could open not always.

 

[hupte]

ok. first things first, your pump is mounted incorrectly. that could be part or all of the problem. check this out. https://video.search.yahoo.com/vide...mozilla-004&hsimp=yhs-004&hspart=mozilla&tt=b