CB 5036 Review

[Woodmarc]

This is my first year with the 5036 and so I thought I would post I initial thoughts after my first three months of running the boiler in hopes that it may benefit someone making their own decision.

First a little about me and my situation. I've been around wood burning my whole life, so wood cutting and collection are nothing new to me. I have heated my house (1500 sq ft well insulated) for years with an indoor wood stove and was quite happy with it. However my son has developed asthma problems and the dust from indoor wood burning had become an issue. After a lot of research I decided to go with the CB 5036 mainly because there is a dealer close and he seemed to be quite knowledgeable.

I mounted my boiler on a pad made of paver bricks which is 6' by 8', this leaves me with maybe 2 feet of bricked area in front of the boiler. If I had it to do over again I'd make the pad larger in the front since I find myself standing half on, and half off of the pad when loading. This can be problematic when there is ice on the ground.

I chose to set it close to the house in order to minimize the cost of the underground lines. I bought the thermopex lines from CB and seems to have been a good decision since I see minimal heat loss. The lines are only about 6 inches underground in the vicinity of the house due to the way i had to penetrate the foundation wall, and when there has been snow on the ground it does not melt in these areas.

After talking to the braintrust here, I set the boiler with the door facing the prevailing wind. I'm glad I listened to the advice I got on here because these things can put out the smoke when you first open the door. Whatever you are wearing when loading the boiler will smell like smoke! Doesn't bother me to much, but the wife complains about it on the rare occasion that she has to load it.

On wood consumption, I burn a mix of oak, hackberry, Honey Locust, and a little bit of walnut. This is all wood that I had cut to load in my stove and is about 18in long, seasoned about 14 months. I have not noticed excessive amounts of smoke from the stack like some report. I always get 12 hour burns and have gotten as much as 36 hours. Now that I have gotten the hang of how this things likes to burn, I just load enough to get 12 hours, which keeps the firebox from getting a lot of excess coals, and i think helps get a complete burn. Based on what I have used so far this year I estimate I'll burn about 5 cords.

All in all I'm very happy with my CB and love the fact that all of the mess is now outside. I'll try to post some pics of my install at a latter date.

 

[STLfirewood]

I have a CB also and really like it. When you load it make sure it is deep into a burn cycle and that will limit the amount of smoke that comes out of the door.

 

[legg28]

Woodmarc I've had good luck with my 5036 also . On my third year and only problem I had was on christmas eve the solenoid got stuck and the damper was held wide open,which caused the temp to reach 203 degrees before i caught it . Now i will pull the outside cover for the damper solenoid 2 or 3 times a year and spray with WD 40

 

[Woodmarc]

Hopefully, Pics as promised... The first picture is the pad I made from patio paver bricks. The second picture is the gantry I built to unload the boiler from my trailer. It worked and was very stable but if I had it to do over again, I'd just pay the money to either rent some equipment or have the dealer set it with his truck crane.
The third picture shows my connections at the boiler and the armaflex insulation I used to cover the lines. One thing I did that I didn't mention in my first post that has worked out real nice is I set a pole off of the corner of the boiler a few feet and wired up a flood light with a switch. This comes in real handy when loading in the evening because I set the light to shine directly in the firebox door. The lights that come with the boiler in my opinion are not mounted in such a way that it is much help.

 

[bigdaa]

Hopefully, Pics as promised... The first picture is the pad I made from patio paver bricks. The second picture is the gantry I built to unload the boiler from my trailer. It worked and was very stable but if I had it to do over again, I'd just pay the money to either rent some equipment or have the dealer set it with his truck crane.
The third picture shows my connections at the boiler and the armaflex insulation I used to cover the lines. One thing I did that I didn't mention in my first post that has worked out real nice is I set a pole off of the corner of the boiler a few feet and wired up a flood light with a switch. This comes in real handy when loading in the evening because I set the light to shine directly in the firebox door. The lights that come with the boiler in my opinion are not mounted in such a way that it is much help. View attachment 324592 View attachment 324582View attachment 324583

I too have a 5036 - I am on my second year of use. I use a headband light for night loading (got it for under $5 and it only uses three AAA batteries). I heat about a 2500 sq ft ranch. For twenty years used an inside wood stove but got tired of the dust and smell inside the house. The only thing I do not like is going out in bad weather to load.
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[legg28]

Its nice to have a light that shines in the firebox , I have one on my garage above the man door. Lights it up good ! Good luck with your 5036

 

[Pleasant Ridge]

Just getting started... I started with a 16 x 16 shed over the boiler and space for about 4 cords in the dry. Mrs. Ridge now thinks that I'm working on a third world compound.