OWB - Too efficient?

[showrguy]

i also have a mahoning, 400 multifuel, mine never goes out !!!!!

unless;;;; your burning pine, or something similar that does'nt "coal up"..
if that's the case just make sure to throw a chunk or two of oak, hickory, cherry, ect. in there that does coal up..
also for temps like we've been having so far, set your aquastat down to around 160-170, that'll make it cycle more often..
hope that helps..
p.s.
mines going on 11th season heating with no major issues....i use rust inhibitor faithfully..

edit; i lied, mine does go out......when heating season is over..

 

[smokee]

I just hit the firewood jackpot. The school property that borders my yard had a row of large cherry trees. I got a notice that they were going to cut them down due to neighbors concerns about branches falling. I called and asked what they were going to do with all the wood and was told "grind it up and dispose of it". I said it seemed like a shame to waste all that and they said I could have all I wanted. Well, let's just say I got a few years of free heat. lol. I just did one of the smaller piles and have 2-3 cords with more than double that left. I cut up enough for next year and split it. This seems like really nice wood - I know it smells wonderful just sitting in my yard.

It's hard to believe they throw that away. In my township there's so many tress taken down this time of year. They should have someplace that tree companies can dump it and anyone that wants to take it and put it to use should be able to do so.

 

[sw18x]

Smokee:

Another advantage to an OWB is you get to play with fire three times a day ...and I mean a BIG fire. There's nothing like feeding wood to a furnace big enough you can crawl inside, when we heat ours up from cold (or even from 130 to 170), more often than not we get the stack cherry red, sparks flying everywhere, it's a real pyromaniac's dream.

 

[crowbuster]

Sorry if this has been covered but make sure you are using dry seasoned wood in the warmer weather, seems to keep coals better for my buddys stove.

 

[chugbug]

sw18 , Is your owb holding a fire for you now or still going out ,was wondering also how thick is your ash bed , I've noticed when starting a new season with no ash at all the air flow will come up through the grates at the very back of the firebox and not go through the wood and not feeding the fire itself , it will burn but not real fast until you get some ash to kind of choke up the open holes .

 

[slinger]

sw18 , Is your owb holding a fire for you now or still going out ,was wondering also how thick is your ash bed , I've noticed when starting a new season with no ash at all the air flow will come up through the grates at the very back of the firebox and not go through the wood and not feeding the fire itself , it will burn but not real fast until you get some ash to kind of choke up the open holes .

Good point, My Hardy will go out because of this early in the season. Another thing I do is shake the wood down morning and night. I use a 1" diameter 3' long hedge stick prod the fire and get good contact wood to ashes.

Add a piece or two off wood when it's warm and I am usually good to go.

 

[showrguy]

hey sw18,
i just thought of something.
how far does your fan door open when calling for heat/air ??
the reason i ask is, for the 1st two years mine was open full (about 2 inches)....
i thought that theres no way it needs that much air so i called mahoning and my thoughts were confirmed..
i burndt a WHOLE LOT MORE than i should/could have those 1st two years...
i have mine set now to only open about 3/8ths. of an inch..
maybee this will help other mahoning (and other models) owners of owb's ??

 

[sw18x]

Thanks for the tips guys. I finally gave in and shut her back down with this warm weather. Looks like I'll fire back up on Saturday, based on the weather forecast.

One thing about that ash bed...I read what the Mahoning manual says about building up an ash bed to insulate the grates, and they recommend running 1/2 coal the first week or so. Well, I tried that and it didn't seem the coal helped much at all, in fact I think the wood was leaving more ashes. Now I've got to start from scratch because when I followed their advice and opened up the grates a little, a bunch of coal got jammed in between. So when I shut down, I shook everything out and closed the grates again. I've got piles and piles of cardboard, think I'll keep burning that with the wood when I fire back up again, hopefully that will leave a nice layer of ash.

 

[slinger]

Yes, lots of coals and smaller pieces ( split if possible ) of dry wood is what has worked for me during this 80 degree week in October.



Good luck

 

[artbaldoni]

Welcome to AS. I run my OWB in the summer for hot water. I heat 2 houses with mine and both houses have oil fired boilers with hot water coils in them. I cut the wood on my own land so the cash out of pocket is a lot less than burning oil for the hot water. It also lets me use my chainsaws more! :msp_wink:

:agree2:

 

[topgut]

How I run my mahoning mf300

Hello Folks,

I have been running my Mahoning ODF since Oct 2008. I am very pleased with its service to date.
I do burn wood and coal in the unit based on heat requirements, i.e. BTU's for the day.
I do not cycle my grates. I set them so that the included bar that comes with the furnace can drop ash down.
I have found that the key to operating this stove is to build a large ash mound in the back of the fire
box and burning the fire in the middle of the stove away from the loading door.
My stove has a baffle in the back of the fire box, some of the older stoves may not have this. This makes it more
efficient. It does work well if you keep in mind that the fact that heat rises and the baffle slows its exit out the stack.
I have always used the anti-corrosion blue stuff supplied per mfg every six months. Also, my stove is under a carport.
I do not let my stove get cold, I make sure it evaporates any water that may accumulate from rain.
I strive to use the stove to keep smoke levels low, but thats not easy by design. Otherwise the stove works very well.
I had one failure, the small pump for the domestic hot water failed and i replaced it for about $100. One other failure was
an electric relay which costed $14 and that had nothing to do with the MOF. It was in my house for a fan....outa space....JJ

 

[topgut]

mahoning coal use

I would also like to mention how i use anthracite coal in my MOF.

Generally, I don't use coal unless the outside air temp is expected to be below 20 degrees F.

In my stove, if I use coal I will put a piece of wood on the left and right side of the fire box and put coal in the middle
kinda protecting the sides from extreme heat that coal can produce under air injection from the fire box fan.

It works well. I laugh when I tell this story. If you watched star trek back in the day you might remember that they
would phaser rocks and make them red hot to keep warm!!! So they could stay warm.

Well, when I fire coal in my stove under these conditions its like the lava rock scenerio. It just keeps giving alot of heat
and guess what, less wood cutting and hauling etc...........love my Mahoning ODF. Maybe I'll call captain Kirk to drop
a ton or two off for my winter turmoil etc.

Have a wonderful day , gotta love he pennswoods whole heartedly................J

 

[topgut]

Keep the flue pipe clean!

I read this thread again. Going back to the fire going out; make sure your flue is clean of creosote. Mine gets very clogged up with creosote during the milder weather months due to the fire smoldering. In this case the stove does not 'breathe' well since its restricted on the exit side. A contributor to this is the fact that there is a piece of metal welded inside the flue pipe of the stove. I believe its there to prevent warping, it works for that but creosote likes to collect there and needs to be knocked off it periodically.
I scrape it out from the top using a 1/2 in piece of metal conduit.

OK, about fire box managemant; I do not cycle the grates, I set them. I set the grates so I can rake back and forth with the bar that came with the stove and knock down the ash but maintain an ash bed. If I burn coal (anthracite) I do get 'klinkers' which is the coal melted together in lumps. I pull the klinkers out the front door of the stove if they will not break up and pass thru the grates. One thing to consider is putting some ashes back into the fire box to maintain a several inch level of ash. It protects the grates and boiler plate on the left and right sides of the fire box. Keep a DEEP ash bed in the back of the stove and burn the fire in the middle of the fire box in front of the baffle if you have one. So, in general, set the grates, build an ash bed to protect the grates and sides, keep the flue clean. These things combined work well for me. Hope this helps those interested.