I want to hear from Shaver OWB owners. I have decided to buy a Shaver 250 and would like to hear of all Shaver owners experiences. I don't want any opinions. I don't want any brand bashing. I don't want anyone telling me to buy another brand. I have made the decision to buy a Shaver 250 for my own reasons. If you own or have ever owned a Shaver OWB of any model, please tell me what your experiences have been with it.
Shaver OWB Owners
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imagineero
Addicted to ArboristSite
I don't want mosquitos buzzing round my ears. I don't want the oil cap to come off my saw, spilling bar oil down my leg. I don't want my coffee to taste like rancid ass.
We can't always get what we want in life ;-)
But I do try to buy my coffee only from coffee shops that have fresh ass. I want a cup right now
We can't always get what we want in life ;-)
But I do try to buy my coffee only from coffee shops that have fresh ass. I want a cup right now
Bought a shaver 4 years ago. I had 1 little leak near front of boiler which I fixed with jb weld. Have not a problem since. Haven't gotten the burn times I was hoping for (8 hours if it's cold). Replaced unions where pex connects to copper coils that sit in tank for hot water (mine has 2 with one for pool). Unions that came with it were plastic and didn't hold up. Don't get water on the draft fan or you will have to replace the start up capacitor. It is in a position to get wet if you have a leak in the unions I mentioned before. Price was right for me. You won't get a response from the factory so select a dealer which will respond to your problems or prepare to repair yourself. I added a zone control so pump didn't run 24/7.
chiefs584ever
ArboristSite Operative
I don't own one. I run a Central Boiler 6048. I have a friend that has one and his complaint is a huge amount of creosote buildup. Even burning seasoned wood. Creosote runs out around the door and he has to scrape the interior quite often. I saw it a couple weeks ago and could not believe the buildup he was getting.
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jlromine76
ArboristSite Lurker
I currently am running a 250 and my list of complaints are small. I did do some of the mods talked about on here with the flapper and solenoid which I think they do now and I installed a ranco instead of the water heater thermostat they use. Mine is built like a tank and has been going strong for 4 seasons now. I also took the roof off and cut some Styrofoam panels to fit in the frame to insulate the roof better. I don't really like how it heats the DHW since mine sits during the summer, the iron in my water will run into my water heater upon firing it up so I am going to take that out and have the top cover welded on this summer and move to a plate or side tube heat exchanger for the DHW which should fix that issue. I put the chemicals in once a year and let it go and it has paid for itself already. I want to reinsulate it one day or move it into an enclosed barn since it does have to work pretty hard when it is -15 out. In the warmer 30-40 degree weather I can load it once a day and maybe top it off later with a few more pieces and I am good to go. Never had a creosote problem on the door or the chimney but with the flapper opening the fan up I am burning pretty hot when it kicks in. I bought mine based on the cost as I couldn't afford a CB at the time but in general have been pretty happy. If you want pics or to know more let me know I would be happy to send.
Canton
ArboristSite Member
I've been running my 250 continuously since nov of 2012 with no real complaints. I'm heating my house including the basement, hot water, and a hot tub. Even on the coldest nights (zero or slightly below here) I able to get 12 hours of burn time without much issue. I do have some creosote collecting in the summer months, but it depends a lot on what you feed it. Like a lot of the other members here I added extra insulation in the sides and roof as well as the back door and in the fire door. Construction seems to be very solid. I would have like to have seen them make the water jacket out of 1/4" plate, but time will tell. The ranco temperature controller seems to work well and holds my temps very steady even under load. I traded the original single stage in for dual stage so I could shut the blower off if the temp fell too low.
Any info you need, I'd be glad to share.
Jeff.
Any info you need, I'd be glad to share.
Jeff.
I guess i'm one of the lucky ones, i've been running a 165 for 5 years heating 2 houses and have had no real problems with the stove. I have upgraded the fan to use a solenoid and damper,(original fan) and added my own temp controller. Yea I burn a lot of wood, load it 3-4 times a day when temps are below the 30's. Twice a day or less when temps are above 30's depending on the weather and temperature. It may not be the fanciest on the market but it does the job for me. If i hadn't cheaped out on the piping when I installed it i could likely get buy with less wood. thinking about moving closer to house and redoing the piping. Whatever you buy install the best piping you can buy and try and burn only seasoned wood. It will save you a lot in the long run.
ngzcaz
ArboristSite Operative
well.. there's certainly a wealth of info somewhere here in the site. There were 2 or three main discussions that had hundreds of posts and thousands of lookers. Tons of relevant ( and some not so ) info. Are there specifics you have in mind ? ie wood usage,
mods to the blower, ash pan, insulation, chimney etc etc If you just want an owners experience I have a 165 thats works for heating my home and of course hot water. This is the 6 th year I believe and I replaced one blower motor ( today in fact ) and one circulator motor ( taco 07 ) oops, also a thermostat a couple of years ago. Would I buy another one ? Here in Pa you couldn't buy the one I have, has to be a newer more efficient one that I'm not sure Shaver makes or handles. Anyway the neighbor up the road has over 12K
in a different brand thats no longer on the market and had many problems most of which was burning less than ideal wood. In contrast mine burns literally anything I toss in and I'm quite sure emits a lot more hydrocarbons in the process. A lot of guys ( including me ) tried to get away with as little air supply as possible and as a result suffered thru the dripping from the front door some may mention. I found burning a hot fire heats the water quicker and knocks off the blower sooner and greatly lessens the creosote issue. Sometimes a raging fire with less wood is better than choking it with a lot of wood that smolders and doesn't produce any heat. If you stick a pot of water on a stove at low heat the water never gets hot.. Same for these units.
They can save a ton of money.. they are also a lot of work. I'm pushing 70 and I know my wood gathering days are numbered
and wouldn't do it now. However even at 63 the stove paid itself back in a little over three years since I had less than 6k in mine total.
If you're 60 ish or younger I'd do it in a heartbeat. Early payback was a must for me, I did when Katrina hit the US and oil profiteers threatened to push prices to all time levels. I just got pissed, sad FY to the oil producers and found one that met my needs.
mods to the blower, ash pan, insulation, chimney etc etc If you just want an owners experience I have a 165 thats works for heating my home and of course hot water. This is the 6 th year I believe and I replaced one blower motor ( today in fact ) and one circulator motor ( taco 07 ) oops, also a thermostat a couple of years ago. Would I buy another one ? Here in Pa you couldn't buy the one I have, has to be a newer more efficient one that I'm not sure Shaver makes or handles. Anyway the neighbor up the road has over 12K
in a different brand thats no longer on the market and had many problems most of which was burning less than ideal wood. In contrast mine burns literally anything I toss in and I'm quite sure emits a lot more hydrocarbons in the process. A lot of guys ( including me ) tried to get away with as little air supply as possible and as a result suffered thru the dripping from the front door some may mention. I found burning a hot fire heats the water quicker and knocks off the blower sooner and greatly lessens the creosote issue. Sometimes a raging fire with less wood is better than choking it with a lot of wood that smolders and doesn't produce any heat. If you stick a pot of water on a stove at low heat the water never gets hot.. Same for these units.
They can save a ton of money.. they are also a lot of work. I'm pushing 70 and I know my wood gathering days are numbered
and wouldn't do it now. However even at 63 the stove paid itself back in a little over three years since I had less than 6k in mine total.
If you're 60 ish or younger I'd do it in a heartbeat. Early payback was a must for me, I did when Katrina hit the US and oil profiteers threatened to push prices to all time levels. I just got pissed, sad FY to the oil producers and found one that met my needs.
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