Shaver OWB not putting out any heat

[bottlefed89]

So, here's my story;
i bought a used shaver last year, we all know they have some issues, but it was working, and I dont mind the little fixes we have to do. I kind of like tinkering with things. I hooked the stove up between the two houses on my property, and it takes approximately 120' of pipe to reach each house. I know that that is a pretty good amount of pipe, but it is all 1" pex, and every inch of it is insulated. Last winter it had no problem heating both houses. This year, i picked the stove up and poured a concrete pad under it thinking it would improve effeciency if it didnt have the ability to have cold air surrounding it. . . I hooked everything back up the same, bled the air through the systems in both houses and reconnected everything just as it was. When we started burning this year, the fire never really seemed to stay going with the door and ash door closed, so after checking everything out I installed a new blower. This made a world of difference. Now when you open the door to feed the stove it will have a nice roaring fire, or atleast a glowing bed of coals. The problem is its just not putting out any heat. I can grab the lines coming out of the pumps and they are just luke-warm at best. Im kind of at a loss as to how this can happen. . . The system is full of water, and I keep a pretty good fire going. . . . Any ideas?? im pretty fed up with the amount of $$ ive got in this stove and all the piping and such, Id like to atleast stay warm. . . .

 

[tibikedad]

sounds like the circulator isn't running. If it was, the line would be too hot to touch.

Try bleeding the line again. If that doesn't work, try replacing the circulator.

 

[chjhorses]

Do you have a temp gauge on your water tank? If you try shutting off the circulator pump for a couple hours with a good fire going does the water temp go up significantly?

 

[itn]

:agree2:::

sounds like the circulator isn't running. If it was, the line would be too hot to touch.

Try bleeding the line again. If that doesn't work, try replacing the circulator.

 

[Slick]

Two houses, so two pumps right? I agree it sounds like a pump issue but what are the odds both went bad at the same time?

 

[yodayoda]

My first step would be to determine the water temp of the water in the stove.

If you have access to some type of temp gauge with a flexible probe, you could stick the probe into the vent/overflow tube on the side of your shaver, this will tell you if you have a stove problem or a circulation problem.

 

[itn]

they could be air bound some. i thought i did mine correct once, did it again and it worked.

i fill mine from my house back to the boiler with the valve into the boiler restricted some. i listen for any air bubble sounds at the boiler. i do the supply and return seperate.

 

[steroidsplitter]

Hello new to the site. I installed a new Heatmor Model400 this year ( my old stove started leaking into the firebox and already relined the fire box years ago) I had the pipes unhooked for only maybe 2 weeks, when I hooked everything back up I could not get heat in my garage. So I unhooked the circulator to see if it was turning and found it was not. I got the impeller to turn by pushing on it with a screwdriver. Hooked circulator back up and still did not circulate heat, so I took the circulator apart and found the impeller was broke off the shaft. Replaced the pump and suddenly it worked perfect as did last year. Hopefully htis may help you as it did for me. Good luck.

 

[mschoff]

I have a shaver 165 check and make sure your pumps are working and as far as the fire going out when the doors are shut your chimney is clogged I have to clean mine out every so often .

 

[bottlefed89]

Going to look at all these things tonight. i"m guessing it has to be a pump issue. Chimney is defenitely not clogged, i just looked down in it the other day. . . .

 

[bowtechmadman]

I would think that if you weren't circulating it would start to boil water right out the vent/fill. I know when my temp probe on my Woodmaster went out and it was left to fire freely w/ the blower running wide open that it started to over temp the water boiling it out until the low water level shut it down.
Good luck finding the issue, I'll be curious about what the problem is. What kind of temp are you reading at the stove (assuming shaver has a temp probe that displays the temp to control the damper/blower).

 

[yodayoda]

I would think that if you weren't circulating it would start to boil water right out the vent/fill. I know when my temp probe on my Woodmaster went out and it was left to fire freely w/ the blower running wide open that it started to over temp the water boiling it out until the low water level shut it down.
Good luck finding the issue, I'll be curious about what the problem is. What kind of temp are you reading at the stove (assuming shaver has a temp probe that displays the temp to control the damper/blower).

The shaver has no temp probe, all it has from the factory is a cheapo $5 hot water heater thermostat, that sets against the outside of the water jacket, to control the draft fan.

Allot of shaver owners on this sight have made up a drywell system, and added a digital auqaustat. Huge improvement

 

[Slick]

wow, I just can't imagine walking out to my boiler and not seeing what the water temp is!

 

[scag52]

Wondering what you found wrong. I got a temp gauge with a long solid probe and just stuck it though the silicone on the top removable plate for the hot water coils. I think you need to know the temp . i look every time i load.