Woodmaster Mods

[pipe welder]

Cut about twice as many holes in the grate and it works better than it did, while the auger system still work marginal at best it is better. I also installed 50 fire bricks down the sides none in the back ,need more bricks. I am getting a better longer burn, nothing monumental but I am guessing maybe 15% less wood usage. I'll take whatever I can get. Mods to the fan and more bricks up the back still on the agenda. I will report good or bad after these mods.

 

[abohac]

I don't want to sound dumb but how does this help?

 

[pipe welder]

What part of burning less wood to provide the same amount of heat with less cutting, less frequent loading, and easier ash removable don't you understand.

 

[abohac]

Really simple. If it's not falling through the grates it's giving heat. Auger out the fines. I do not want to insulate my water jacket with fire brick. I want to heat my water jacket. That's "what I don't understand".

 

[rx7145]

Really simple. If it's not falling through the grates it's giving heat. Auger out the fines. I do not want to insulate my water jacket with fire brick. I want to heat my water jacket. That's "what I don't understand".

Useing fire brick should help the fire burn hotter and burn more complete. That way the "smoke" will be burned as well and the fire should be more complete.

 

[bowtechmadman]

I'm with abohoc...I don't understand. I don't have the auger system w/ my woodmaster so no grate to modify. Adding firebrick w/ reduce the amount of wood so I will not be able to go away for a weekend at a time and still come home to a fire.
Most important aspect...who in their right mind wants to cut less wood???? I left my kitchen slider door open for 20 minutes tonight just to let in fresh air...and to burn more wood so I can cut more wood.

 

[pipe welder]

Well people I don't know about any one else but if I burn less wood to do the same amount heating, it means to me that I do less wood cutting, less wood hauling, less wood splitting, less wood stacking, less gasoline doing all the above, must mean I improved the system just a little bit. Hey it is your stove, if you think it's the best thing since sliced bread then leave it the way it is. My only purpose here was to make the wood pig use less wood thereby causing me less work and the modifications I did to the unit I bought and I paid for did exactly that. I am not suggesting to any one to do what I did, but it works for me. Did it void my guarantee , I don't know and I don't care . OWB's have a bad rep because they smoke, stink and burn way to much wood. The mod's I made help all of this so at this time I am well pleased with what I have done and I will continue to make modifications to make the unit burn longer, cleaner and use less wood. This is not an epa unit and I am breaking no laws. If I piss somebody off that works for woodmaster so be it.

 

[laynes69]

http://www.woodheat.org/technology/outbobpen2.htm

Here is a article on someone with the same idea.

 

[abohac]

Those are some of the things I was looking for (as to why you would add fire brick etc.). I have had a Woodmaster now for 8 years and have been very happy with it. Haven't even thought about any modifications, however I would if it would help anything.

 

[beerman6]

Dude only gets 5-6 hour burn times? :censored: I'd be downright pissed.

 

[Sawmill]

There has to be something wrong if he is only getting 5 to 6 hour burn times. Maybe his line isn't insulated all that well. I have a Woodmaster 4400 and I filled it half full at 4 yeaterday and I added wood at 9 this morning and it still had some wood in it. The temp outside last night was 14 degrees and at 9 today it was 17 degrees. It seems to me that the fire brick wouldn't heat the water as fast but once they get warm they may help to hold the heat. I would still be afraid of them breaking when wood was added.

 

[abohac]

There has to be something wrong if he is only getting 5 to 6 hour burn times. Maybe his line isn't insulated all that well. I have a Woodmaster 4400 and I filled it half full at 4 yeaterday and I added wood at 9 this morning and it still had some wood in it. The temp outside last night was 14 degrees and at 9 today it was 17 degrees. It seems to me that the fire brick wouldn't heat the water as fast but once they get warm they may help to hold the heat. I would still be afraid of them breaking when wood was added.

I'm with Sawmill. There is no way you are not going to get 10 to 12 hours out of a load no matter what the temp is outside. bet he's losing a ton of heat from the stove to the house. We have three of these things between my dad's shop his house and mine and we have no problems whatsoever.

 

[pipe welder]

Don't know any thing about the other guy or his heating load. Mine burns more wood than any two men can cut. Thats an exaggeration but let me tell you if its in the teens or below I can burn all you can stack on a 3/4 ton pickup in a week. Thats twice what I burned with an inside boiler, unfortunately it had to be loaded every three hours. This excessive wood consumption is only one of the reasons for my modifications The very nature of these OWB's is poor performance, basically they are a steel fire chamber surrounded by cold water. The steel can never get any hotter than the water by very much and cold steel per mote's a cool burn hens forth the reason for fire brick. Nearly all new epa stoves are loaded with fire brick just for this reason. It only stands to reason it would help an OWB achieve a hotter burn and hotter means better. The first thing I noticed was no black goo on the bricks. They make the fire burn hot enough the bricks stay clean and white. The bricks are only an inch and half thick so I loose 3 inches out of the fire box, whoopie do here not enough reduction in fire box size to even notice. The reason for the extra holes in the grate is two fold, first it helps the ash and I said ash not coals to fall through and second, part of the induction air goes under the grate so more holes means hotter burn. These OWB's are so poorly designed its pathetic and with all the complaints out there about them if the designers don't get off their butts pretty quick we will see the end of the OWB.

 

[Sawmill]

I agree that with a 3 hr burn time I would be pi## also. What kind of wood are you using and have you ever tried using it without the grate and auger? When I bought mine I was going to get the grate and auger also but my dealer advised me not to. He said there were to many problems with them and one was higher wood useage. Another thing is the grate is appox. 10 ince up off the bottom and the way these stoves are desgined you may be losing heat under the grate. I was told to keep the ashes emptyed because you cannot heat the water under the ashes very good. How well is your house insulated? I built 4 of these stoves and all of them are still in use and they are all getting between 12 and 15 hr burn times When we moved into our new house I bought the one I have now because I did not have time to build another one. I am not sorry I bought it but I could have built 3 for what I payed for the one I am using now. I lined these with fire brick up 12 inches on the sides and did the bottom also and as you stated the fire brick burned white and they really held the heat.

 

[iowawoodcutter]

http://www.woodheat.org/technology/outbobpen2.htm

Here is a article on someone with the same idea.

pipe_welder, did you try something similar as this guy did? I admit I don't have a OWB, only a wood stove, but his idea was very cool...

 

[pipe welder]

I use oak in the colder months, fall and spring I try to use up the junk I cut out of fence rows. Between the storm damage and dead falls from oak wilt I have all the oak I want. No I have not tried removing the grate and auger but I sure ain't to proud to give it a try. I wanted to keep the grate until I try coal, one of my Amish friends hooked me up with a source. You are dead on with the auger system it's junk always something hung up in it and have to turn it backwards to dislodge whatever is stuck and when it does turn it does a terrible job. The silly thing is a 500 buck option and it isn't worth 5 bucks. The short burn time was with my inside boiler. It was a used piece of junk I bought off a local farmer, has since been moved to the work shop, filled the system with antifreeze , I just fire it up when I want to work out there. As for the house insulation , nothing special but is the same as it was with the other boiler. Before somebody ask I have no under ground piping. The stove is only 10 ft from the house ,pipe is up on blocks and well insulated. What little pipe I have inside is insulated to the heat exchanger. I have plenty of pump, TACO 0013. The link to the other guy is the first I have seen it but I like his thinking.