Shaver Improvement Forum.... one year later

[John D]

Setting the OWB was a little tricky,I used my ever handy Caterpillar SS and a homemade lifting bar off the front of the pallet forks.In addition I used a strap that i hooked into the ash pan opening and onto the pallet forks to help stabilize the unit and adjust its forward/rear pitch.Ill say this that 250 is HEAVY.Luckily my machine is strong or id had to hire out moving it. After setting the unit,I had to lengthen the water lines 4" as it now sits 4" higher than it sat last yr when it was on the shipping pallet and setting on a row of 8" blocks.I reconnected everything partially filled it,and rinsed it,refilled it and fired her up.It took less than 2 hrs to get up to temp,last yr it took double that easily.

 

[John D]

One last thing I noticed,the OWB is working great,definetely using less wood,the only issue is that even with the damper mod,and the door shut all the way with mid 30 degree weather,after a few hrs of idling the temps will creep about a degree or 2 an hr upward....its usually not a big deal since a zone calls for heat or someone uses hot water every few hrs.But I seen 188 inside last night,a few hrs after it had worked with a 184 shutoff.I think the extra insulation is almost working too good....I took a look at the ash pan door,it seems to be shut fully,going to see if the the wood door is sealing all the way.I didnt make any changes to any of that since last year.

 

[fletcher0780]

making progress, hope to be finished with the shed this week, then start adding insulation and fire the boiler:

 

[headleyj]

Fletcher and John D - awesome work fellas!

It's well worth it! I was so used to feeding mine 2x/day last year....now it's 1x/ day and it really doesn't need that....I actually forgot to feed mine for about 36 hrs this weekend, fire ended up going out of course.

Insulation definetly the most bang for the buck here , wow can't believe how long it holds a temp!

 

[John D]

Fletcher,it looks great so far! I wish I had the $$ and will to spend more time at our building dept for another building permit to build one...

 

[John D]

It was 27 here last night,i loaded at 7pm last night,as my kids where taking showers,i took one after so i didnt smell like the owb.i did a dishwasher load,and my tenants used water as usual.So we had 6-8 showers taken,heat for both units w stats set at 72.I didnt even burn 2 log about 30" long and 8-9" around in 14 hrs! I had 4 logs on the firelast night,had about 2 left this morning,probably could have went a full 24 hrs easily.To say Im happy now is an understatement.I couldnt be happier with the wood use now,I think im going to save a lot of work,and stretch my wood supply out ,maybe get another full season out of the 25-30cord or so ive got gathered so far.I spent under $100.00 on insulation,so far best bang for the buck outside my ranco stat...

 

[fletcher0780]

Fletcher,it looks great so far! I wish I had the $$ and will to spend more time at our building dept for another building permit to build one...

Building permit, What's that

 

[John D]

Building permit, What's that

LOL! I know what you mean,but ive got plans down the road to do more on my 22 acres.If I get on the bad side of the towns building dept,they will make sure my applications and permits,esp with respect to subdivision are bogged down ,and slow the process. Ive seen it done,and its not pretty.....BTW I got a permit for my OWB,now they are in the process of banning them all around me,and im legally grandfathered in here now,all my friends that didnt pay the $50.00 permit fee will be given 90 days to remove theres....or face fines,and prosecution.I think im doing the right thing here,my dad never pulled permits for anythign he did my whole life,when he sold the house it was a nightmare,took months to resolve and cost thousands,several things had to be demod as they didnt meet code(sheds,3 season porch).They could have lost the buyer easily.There are only 4 "legal" OWBs in my town,building inspector knows of over 35 OWBS,so theres 30+ illegal...

 

[bluscout]

Shaver 165 Comments and a question

Have been lurking here for a while now. Wow! What a wealth of information. You guys have quite a network here!
I'm to take delivery of or go and pick up two furnaces for my parents and myself. I plan to do some work on it before I put it in service and have quite a list.
My first comment is about the seal between the firebox and the siding. The exposed silicone looks to me like a bad deal. I'm planning to remove the skin from the front of the furnace and install J-trim around the area. I can't see a downside to this.
I have seen an insulation blanket treatment used in boilers at powerplants that is used to slightly wet the blankets. When exposed to heat it dries out and solidifies. The goal that we had was to avoid the looser insulation blankets being torn apart and getting sucked out of small holes in our cladding due to hot high velocity gasses. It worked like a champ. We used Kaowool blanket material. It is made by Thermal Dynamics. The liquid is made by the same company and is called Rigidizer. Temps at your firebox door probably aren't hot enough to activate it buy you could use a torch.
Now for my question, I read somthing about relocating the return line to somewhere up on the front of the waterbox. What is the verdict on this change?

 

[bluscout]

Link to Kaowool and Rigidizer

Don't know how the prices are here but this is what I mentioned above. http://http://www.sheffield-pottery.com/Bricks-Refractories-and-Kaowool-s/349.htm

 

[Windwalker7]

Welcome to the site!

Lots of good info in here.

I did not do the return water relocation mod.

I've done several mods though. They really improved the performance of the Shaver.

I highly recommend the Ranco thermostat mod. It really helps.

I also feel that the blower needs some kind of flapper. Whether you got the improved Shaver version or not, I don't know, but you definitely need to have a flapper. I have a thread on how I did mine with a dryer vent flapper and others, on here, have used a solenoid. It seems Shaver copied the solenoid idea.

Insulate everything. I insulated the firebox door, the rear access door, under the water jacket, the chimney pipe, and the attic of the Shaver.

Some of us slid either 6" double wall or triple wall insulated pipe over the 5.5" chimney of the Shaver. Seems to cut down on creosote.

These mods have transformed my Shaver into a much better unit.

I get longer burn times and have no problems getting the water up to temp quickly.

You will like your OWB! There's nothing like being able to turn up the thermostat, in your home, after keeping it low for many years, just to save on heating oil or propane. It feels great!

It's alot of work getting everything ready and sometimes a bit overwhelming, but it is all worthwhile in the end.

By the way, we like to see pics

 

[littlebow]

ranco 111000 for shaver

New to the site and have a question for you shaver owners on wiring the ranco up. How did you guys do it. i have just the two wires going to the factory thermostat. Please help. Do you need a transformer. thanks

 

[John D]

New to the site and have a question for you shaver owners on wiring the ranco up. How did you guys do it. i have just the two wires going to the factory thermostat. Please help. Do you need a transformer. thanks

Welcome to AS! Follow the instructions with the Ranco,you need to run the power,neutral and ground into the Ranco.....I did mine last yr,not sure exactly how i did it,if no one else chimes in Ill go out and look in the Am when its light out.I think i ran a 14/2 Hot all the time power feed,into the Ranco,and and a 14/2 out and to the blower...

 

[littlebow]

Wow , you guys are fast. If you could look in the a.m. that would be great. Just give it to me simple, I'm kinda thick when it comes to electrical. hehe

 

[Windwalker7]

These might help!


http://www.susanminor.org/forums/showthread.php?t=644


http://pumpkinpicker.auburnbrewclub...a-ranco-etc-111000-000-single-stage-rheostat/

 

[littlebow]

Thanks for sites you gave me .I've seen the one before but where do the two black wires going to my original thermostat go.

 

[fletcher0780]

Thanks for sites you gave me .I've seen the one before but where do the two black wires going to my original thermostat go.

one goes to the "c" terminal, and the other goes to the "NO" terminal

You will have 4 wires total:

1 black - hot all the time (to the 120V terminal)
1 white - neutral (to the "com" terminal)
1 black - hot all the time, the wire that fed your old thermistat (to the "C" terminal)
1 black - switched power, the wire that fed your blower from the old thermistat (to the "NO" terminal)

(you could actually use a jumper wire from the 120v terminal to the C terminal, but then you'd have an extra unused wire from your old thermistat, so do whatever works best for you.)

 

[littlebow]

Thank you guys for the help , I got it now. Shaver told me I needed a transformer. They were wrong!! Gotta do the steam fix next. Great info here, keep up the good work.

 

[Windwalker7]

Transformer???



While your into doing mods, check this out.

It works great and is cheap and easy to do. Saves on wood usage.


http://www.arboristsite.com/showthread.php?t=110817

 

[fletcher0780]

Transformer???



While your into doing mods, check this out.

It works great and is cheap and easy to do. Saves on wood usage.


http://www.arboristsite.com/showthread.php?t=110817

You only need a transformer if you got the 12v ranco. Make sure yours is rated at 120/240v.