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ericjeeper

ericjeeper

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I am in the processing of fabricating a new OWB. I have a 4'10" long piece of 36" .375 wall pipe.and a 4 foot long piece of 30" .50 wall pipe. One will live within the other basically.
Does anyone have any excellent ideas on how to get the flue gasses to work better?
My plans are pipe straight out of the top. But will insert the 6 inch pipe about 3 inches down into the firebox. to keep the flames from just licking their way out.
 
seems to me the best way would be to exhaust out the back of the firebox and then the front of the outer water jacket thus the flew gasses give up all they have for heat before final discharge the only problem I see with this is making your internal 45's and flew pipe water as well as air tight some kind of cast pipe welded in might work good but then you got the cost associated with that set up.
 
upandcommer said:
seems to me the best way would be to exhaust out the back of the firebox and then the front of the outer water jacket thus the flew gasses give up all they have for heat before final discharge the only problem I see with this is making your internal 45's and flew pipe water as well as air tight some kind of cast pipe welded in might work good but then you got the cost associated with that set up.
Click to expand...

I could possibly achieve the same results with some plate welded in to make the gas flow, and not just flow straight out the flue.
right now my biggest problem is finding a door.
Looks like I am going to have to fab it too. I am thinking .375 plate with some mitered 2x2 .25 wall angle and then weld a channel to hold a gasket type of deal.
 
ericjeeper said:
I could possibly achieve the same results with some plate welded in to make the gas flow, and not just flow straight out the flue.
right now my biggest problem is finding a door.
Looks like I am going to have to fab it too. I am thinking .375 plate with some mitered 2x2 .25 wall angle and then weld a channel to hold a gasket type of deal.
Click to expand...

many years ago, my grandfather built a homemade forced hot air wood furnace, outdoor type. The remenents of it still stand behind my shop. His biggest problem was the door. He did , much like what you plan on doing and I can tell you it still warped. The plan always was to have the door bent, rather than just welding on angles for strength, then add reinforcing to the door. The theory was, and to me makes sence, is one piece of steel bent to form a lip, the reinforced will withstand warping better. If I explained this well......

I like your idea for the flue, should work great.
 
ericjeeper said:
I am in the processing of fabricating a new OWB. I have a 4'10" long piece of 36" .375 wall pipe.and a 4 foot long piece of 30" .50 wall pipe. One will live within the other basically.
Does anyone have any excellent ideas on how to get the flue gasses to work better?
My plans are pipe straight out of the top. But will insert the 6 inch pipe about 3 inches down into the firebox. to keep the flames from just licking their way out.
Click to expand...


i would come out the back of the firebox about a foot from the bottom and make the flue 4" if your going with forced air 6" natural draft to hold as much heat in it as you can...
 
The reason for not exiting the rear

There is always a place for creosote to puddle or drip. My current setup has made a mess behind the stove. Creosote will burn so why not drop it right back into the firebox?
The old central boilers came with a rectangle box coming out the back and then the flue pipe mounted to a collar and went vertical.They did have a door on the end to clean the rectangle box.
I guess I am going to have to fabricate a door. You would think somewhere on the internet a man could buy a nice large door for a stove. When I get a free day I am going to hit some salvage yards and look for plate steel.I hate to pay new prices for rusty stuff.. so it will have to be one hell of a bargain before I go with scrap/.
 
why not a water filled door?

Why not use a water filled door? It would solve your warping problems and if you used clear high temp plastic hose for the flexible parts and mounted one below and one a bit higher than the door (just over the top of the fire box)it would also eliminate the need for a water level gauge!!

I've attached a crude drawing.I'm not very good with the paint program and the scanner wouldn't cooperate to scan the one I sketched out on paper.
 
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The boiler is going to be setup differently.

I do not wish to have a water filled door.. as the door will be outside.. Not within an insulated door.plus that is just one more area prone to a leak.imo. I was planning on welding a raised panel on the inside to basically deflect the heat away from the door.
The boiler will not be a closed system.It will be fed from a 600 gallon storage tank beneath the unit. It will have a temperature and pressure relief valve as well as an air valve built into the tank.
My main question was does anyone know a better way to build the interior of a firebox to get the most out of the heat? I had thought of welding 2 inch heavy wall tubing at an angle passing through the edges of the firebox, That way the water, in my minds way of thinking will flow with the heat.and pass up through these tubes.But I am not sure if it is worth the effort.
I plan on using a Johnson Controls A419 temp sensor. It will measure the temperature in the storage tank, once the tank drops below a certain set point.Lets say 150(I am heating a radiant slab I do not need 180 degrees)The blower located on the front of the stove will kick on. once the temp is satisfied the blower will shut off and let the fire simmer til the next call for heat.Yes I realize that it will smoke a bit on startup again, But I do not have any close neighbors. Here is my sketch.
 
No

It is still two pieces of pipe standing on end in front of my shop.
I have called around for prices on the plate steel for the ends. 2 pieces 36 inchx1/4" and one 30inch by 1/4 equal 330 dollars.
I have been to busy with work.
I did take a look at a homeowners heatmore today when I was putting his windows in.It has a water cooled door. But he has to clean the fittings a couple times a year or they plug up.
I am going to try to get on it next week hot and heavy.
I do not have another load of windows to install til next thursday.
 
well it is getting closer

I took some pics. but they are still in the camera,across the road at the shop.. I am too tired to walk back over there. Today I got The end welded onto the 30 inch, Then I welded the other end of the thirty to the piece of .250 plate that is 42 wide by maybe 60 tall.Got basically the firebox section done. Did an air test on that. It passed had to touch up a couple of pinners.Then I cut the hole into the 30 for the 6 inch ID heavy wall galvanized pipe.I left 4 inches sticking out it passed through a hole in the 36 inch pipe. I slid the 4'10" piece of 36 down with the tractor loader slid it over the flue pipe then welded it all up 100 %.
My last move of the day was to get the end plate another identical .250 42x60 squared up. and tacked.. It was a long day at the shop./ Lots of grinding and so far I have used well over 10 pounds of mig wire.a couple of grinding wheels. and had the feed motor on MY Hobart welder take a dump.So I am running a friends welder. He said it could use a good work out.. well let me tell you.. It is a getting one. Three passes around each joint is a lot of welding.
Tomorrow I hope to get some spreaders across the bottom so I can lay it over. Right now it is standing on end.My tractor will not lift it..I will either have to use two tractors to lay it over or have a friend bring his larger tractor and strap it,.. I am hoping his will lift it.. Cause his is the one I am planning on using to move it to its resting spot in my back yard.
If someone wants to sit down and figur up the weight of this monster feel free.
It has a piece of pipe 36'x4'10" by .375 wall.
piece of pipe 30' x48"by.500 wall.
One piece 37 inch diameter flat plate by.375
and two pieces of flat 42x60..250


I will post some photos tomorrow
 
Last edited:
nice Eric. Nice homestead...ohh wait, thats a different forum......

The door looks good. I can't imagine it'll give you any troubles. You also making domestic hot water with yours? I forget. I run my boiler 365 days a year. Looks like you have it done before the heating season. Always a good thing.:rock:
 
I do not have a clue

But I have a 600 gallon buried storage tank, The water will be pumped up through the bottom of the boiler and return out of the top. So really I will never know how much it holds.But I suspect it will hold a plenty. The pump will run continuously, The blower on the firebox will cycle off and on when a demand from the storage tank temp sensor calls for heat,.
So basically when the storage tank drops below 150 the blower will kick on and get the fire going.
 
Well, the capacity is pretty easy to figure.
The volume of th ebig piece is 250 and the small piece 150, so it's 100g, rounded off a couple of galloms.

How about wrapping a few turns of 1/2 or 3/4 copper tubing around it for domestic hot water, unless you can make a plate to get some tubing in the water area. If you do the tubing wrap, put some furnace cement over it, to increase heat conduction. Then wrap the whole thing in insulation.
 
For domestic water

infomet said:
Well, the capacity is pretty easy to figure.
The volume of th ebig piece is 250 and the small piece 150, so it's 100g, rounded off a couple of galloms.

How about wrapping a few turns of 1/2 or 3/4 copper tubing around it for domestic hot water, unless you can make a plate to get some tubing in the water area. If you do the tubing wrap, put some furnace cement over it, to increase heat conduction. Then wrap the whole thing in insulation.
Click to expand...

Yes I could wrap a few loops of copper.. But to get the hot water into the house is another story. My line set is already insulated and buried.If I were ever to get really creative and wishing to do some serious replumbing..I can achieve it here in the mechanical area.with a plate exchanger.
Plus the smaller pipe does not go all the way to the back of the 36.It lacks about eigh inches. so you will have to factor eight inches of full 36 inch volume.
 
added photos today

I have most of the siding and roofing on it.. And most importantly it is now moved into position. I still have some work to do.. But dam it is 90 out there.,. Hard to get in the mood with these temps and the humidity is nuts.
http://www.pbase.com/ericjeeper/solar
Feel free to browse. or if someone that knows how can pull some pics from my website and post em here. I can weld and fabricate and engineer. But I'll be darned if I know how to make a photo appear in the text.
 
Well, been a while. I figured the volume of the big pipe and subtracted the volume of the small pipe...didn't worry about the wall thickness! 100g and I'm sticking to it.

I guess you'll have to make your hot water inside the house. You can buy a tank with a coil inside, but they are expensive. You could wrap a regular heater with some tubing and reinsulate, or, of course, use a heat exchanger outside a regular tank. You can do a thermosyphon for the tank side, but will have to pump the boiler loop through the coil.

Sounds like fun.
 
great pics Eric, and I'll say it once again...nice homestead. I'm working toward where you are now. I've got the boiler, heats the house and shop. I use less electricity than I ever have. Solar is on my wish list. I can't talk the wife into an outhouse, but a sawdust toilet....well I'm still working on that. She'll come around. Great pics. I know what you mean about the weather. I was milling yesterday and today, and its tough going running a chainsaw when its around 90. Great pics!
 

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