Central Boiler OWB

[castlenail]

Greetings-
I have a Central Boiler CL 3340 Outdoor wood burner. I hate trudging outside to make sure the fire is still going and find the water temp is down to a 100 degrees. Is there an INEXPENSIVE and EASY way to put a remote thermostat I can view from the comfort of inside my house?

 

[itn]

Just make it a habit of checking it morn and night. You'll be able to take care of your boiler without looking at the temperature before long.

 

[barkeatr]

I SIMPLy bought a cheap outdoor wireless thermometer and taped the sensor to one of my incoming pipes right before it goes to the heat exchanger. i check it constantly from inside the house.

this unit has an arrow that shows temperature trend, so i know if the wood caught fire or not...

its usually fifteen degrees below the actual boiler temp...due to heat loss and the sensor being on the outside of the pipe, but that is ok, its very consistant.

 

[mtfallsmikey]

Looks like the dual-temp smoker thermometer some of guys got last year is no longer available on Fleabay

 

[castlenail]

Just make it a habit of checking it morn and night. You'll be able to take care of your boiler without looking at the temperature before long.

Thank you all for your comments.

I have used an outdoor furnace for 5 years, and get tired of checking it all the time. I do have it down to a pretty good rhythm- but I like the insurance policy of checking at a glance (malfunction, etc) without going outside.


Barkeatr- where did you get your wireless thermometer? What brand is it? Does it have to be a special kind due to the higher temps of the incoming water?
Here are some that came up on ebay searching "wireless thermometer"-
http://shop.ebay.com/?_from=R40&_trksid=m38.l1313&_nkw=wireless+thermometer&_sacat=See-All-Categories

Mtfallsmikey- what is this "dual-temp smoker thermometer" you speak of?

Thank you again for your help!

 

[mtfallsmikey]

It was a dual-temp. wireless thermometer, sold on fleabay for a while last fall. No longer available.

 

[windthrown]

Several things that you can do to check the OWB heat inside the house. I used to just read the temp gauge that I put at the input of the Hx of the DHW in the OWB water loop in the utility room. If it dropped below 140 F. I knew it was low on wood. You can also just grab the PEX line near that point and if it is hot, it is OK. If it is warm, then the beast needs more wood.

As other also said, you typically just need to add wood in the morning and at night. I used to add wood before I went to bed at night, at the same time I let the dog out to pee. The ex usually filled it in the morning. The ex used to complain to me if the boiler was out of wood in the morning. For some reason I was suppsoed to be able to forecast the nighttime low temperature and calculate the house heating demand, and add the proper amount of wood to burn in there overnight. Usually I filled it enough to burn what I thought was the right amount, and then added a fat madrone or oak log that I knew would last the night, no matter what.

 

[castlenail]

Several things that you can do to check the OWB heat inside the house. I used to just read the temp gauge that I put at the input of the Hx of the DHW in the OWB water loop in the utility room. If it dropped below 140 F. I knew it was low on wood. You can also just grab the PEX line near that point and if it is hot, it is OK. If it is warm, then the beast needs more wood.

As other also said, you typically just need to add wood in the morning and at night. I used to add wood before I went to bed at night, at the same time I let the dog out to pee. The ex usually filled it in the morning. The ex used to complain to me if the boiler was out of wood in the morning. For some reason I was suppsoed to be able to forecast the nighttime low temperature and calculate the house heating demand, and add the proper amount of wood to burn in there overnight. Usually I filled it enough to burn what I thought was the right amount, and then added a fat madrone or oak log that I knew would last the night, no matter what.

I presume Hx is the "heat exchanger" and DHW is "domestic hot water". I have a forced air system and my heat exchanger is in a utility room out in the (attached) garage. Maybe I'll try an inexpensive thermometer on the line where it meets my hot water tank inside the house and compare the temp to the known standard outside (I.E. when it is at peak temp, around 181 degrees, and comparing whatever the corresponding inside line is). I'm no mechanical genius, so I'm trying the K.I.S.S approach (Keep It Simple, Stupid).

I have it down to almost a 24 hour load time, except in the coldest of weather (and it does get very cold here in the hills/mountains of far Western Maryland). I fill it up with some good Locust or such at night before bed, and it'll generally go to the next evening. Sorry to sound like a bit of a wuss, but I wear business attire to work and don't want to smell like smoke in the AM, or having to get up any earlier than needed and trudge outside. My wife has chewed my tail a few times when she goes to shower and it's too cold because it went out sooner than I thought, hence the need to check the temp at a glance, like you said (140-160 degrees).Thank you all again!

 

[showrguy]

sounds like ya need to teach the wife how to add wood too !!!!
if she pisses and moans about it tell her it was my idea >>....he,he,he
glad i could help..

 

[castlenail]

sounds like ya need to teach the wife how to add wood too !!!!
if she pisses and moans about it tell her it was my idea >>....he,he,he
glad i could help..

lol I'm sure that'll work out just fine. I'll let you know how sleeping in the woodshed is!

We have an agreement, she takes care of the inside, I take care of the outside. She'll fill the stove only if I do the laundry. That ain't happening!

 

[windthrown]

Yes on the Hx and DHW meanings. Yes on KISS too. The ex used to rag on me any time there was cold water in the shower too, so I told her to check the boiler and fill it with wood herself. You would think... but, for some reason they do not.

The DHW Hx input should be the first place that the boiler PEX loop goes, so the temp drop there should not be much more than 5 degrees, if that. Simple, no-fault system. You can also get one of those temp reading 'guns' and hit the DHW Hx copper fittings with it. Typically I found that we got about a 2-10 degree overshoot when the damper closed at 170 degrees, and we got a 2-10 degree undershoot when the damper was opened (at 160 degrees). So it could drop as low as 150 and peak at 180 in the normal operating cycle. Between 155 to 175 was more typical though.

As for smoke on the suit, I found that if you crack the door for 10 seconds before you open it all the way, the smoke will blow out the stack and you will avoid the smoke blast in the face that you will otherwise get.

 

[mtfallsmikey]

castlenail;...where is McHenry?...are you near Oakland?...My SIL is fom those parts.

My dear wife is very good about feeding the boiler...I split a lot of larger wood down so it in't too heavy for her...she also uses the MS 170, FS-55, and the BR 550
:chainsawguy:

 

[castlenail]

castlenail;...where is McHenry?...are you near Oakland?...My SIL is fom those parts.

My dear wife is very good about feeding the boiler...I split a lot of larger wood down so it in't too heavy for her...she also uses the MS 170, FS-55, and the BR 550
:chainsawguy:

We're the next town over, about 20 minutes away. It's a nice area. The lake is a tourist destination, but we're not in the middle of that mess. Just hills, woods and farms here. We have more in common with West Virginia than the rest of Maryland. PM me if you want, there is a fair chance we know each other!

My wife is a country girl raised on a farm and not afraid to get her hands dirty (she does more carpentry and electrical work than me...) , but doesn't like to deal with the fire. Fair trade I think.

And for the record, I love my CB Classic. It's been reliable as the sunrise, and just about as low maintenance. Hasn't given me a hint of trouble, knock on wood.

I did just order a wireless thermometer and will try attaching it to the the in-line near the HX. I'll let you know how it works. Thanks all for the input.

 

[tazz001]

Man oh man...some of you guys must cater to the wives...my Dearest Hubby (cough :bang:cough) figures since he and the kids cut and stack I get to feed the OWB all winter...I tell the kids that they may have stacked it all but Momma has to move that whole pile during the winter...granted it may be 5-6 pieces at a time 2-3 times a day (depending on how cold it is) I call our OWB the "outside child"

Back to the OP...figuring ut your boiler just takes some time...if the water temps are dropping to fast you just aren't putting enough wood in it...and if your fire is going out...same issue...you don't have enough red ember to refire...feed the hungry child just a bit more esp when its really cold out...

This time a year I feed it 5 nice chunks at 10 PM and generally toss a piece in in the AM to keep up the coals and feed it 3 pieces late afternoon (4-5 PM range) Works good as we get alot of southern exposure.

Serious winter...5-6 pieces AM, 5-6 pieces around 5 PM and 6-7 pieces around 10 PM...that has been working for me for 15 years on the same ol OWB....

We also have a variable speed water pump...turn up or down the spped as needed.

 

[mtfallsmikey]

Sorry 'bout your bad luck tazz...I'm on my third wife.


:jawdrop:

 

[Blazin]

Temp monitor with a thermocouple on the incoming line worked for me.

 

[LadyToysDream]

We don't use a extra thermometer of any kind.
Not sure how hubby does it, but he has a regular routine of checking that furnace. When I get the pleasure of throwing in a few logs, I do check the temp on the furnace first, and am careful how I open the door, and where I am standing. I only have to worry about it, if we have major snow storm and hubby is on that highway plow and can't get a meal break.
I grew up on a dairy farm and am more than capable of doing what I have to around here. Deal now is....hubby does the outdoor things, and I do the indoor things. That way I can't get blamed if there is a problem with his tractor or chainsaw or anything else. I'm innocent, and that's my story and I'm sticking to it

 

[Scootermsp]

Binoculars

I use binoculars from inside the house to read the digital display....can't read it when direct sunlight is on it though.

 

[mtfallsmikey]

When in doubt...hold a MS361 against it...it will speak to you!

 

[i'mstihlaguy]

RediChek ET-73

http://www.thefind.com/appliances/browse-maverick-remote-smoker-thermometer

Many of you already know about these. Mine reads the temp. just before the side arm. It reads five degrees below actual but thats easy to remember. I just have the probes stuck between the pipe insulation and the supply line which is copper at this point. The alarms are nice too.