wood doctor

[hanko]

the guy i bought my TW5 from, also sells wood master, and wood doctor. he says that the wood doctor is a better stove, boiler plate for a fire box. Ive hearf of the wood master, but no the wood doctor. anyone have one or know anything about it. I cant wait for all the different opinions.

 

[zsteinmetz]

I own a Wood Doctor 8000 sq ft model and love it. I researched long and hard also and the Wood doctor had the best warranty in the business at 30 years pro rated of course. The thing I like about it is its very simple. No electronic temperature controls or stuff to wear out except basically the fan. And yes forced air is the way to go. The fire is up to temp fast and hot with little smoke. There made of boilerplate not mild steel or stainless which i like too. Open the door and tap on the firebox and you can tell the difference right away.

 

[Industry]

Z, which model specifically do you have? I'm looking into these seriously, and would like to grill you a bit about them if you don't mind. Thanks

 

[zsteinmetz]

I have the medium size as wood doctor calls it. It is rated to heat 8000 sq ft but i am only heating about 3000 with it. I load it once a day with mainly hardwood unless it drops below zero then two a day fillings is needed. I figure i will use about eight cord this winter. Fire away your questions and ill answer best i can.

 

[Industry]

How far away from the house do you have it? Do you load the top door or the bottom? How often do you have to clean the ash out? How big a piece do you normally feed it? Thanks

 

[zsteinmetz]

My boiler is about 8 ft away from my garage and about 30 ft away from my house. Its nice to not have to walk far to fill it. The bottom door is the fill point and the top door has a water temp guage and aquastats for adjusting water output temp. I clean the ash out about once a month but i do burn mostly hardwood. If you plan on burning more softwood you will get more ash. I throw in as big of piece as will fit in the door. I like to throw small pieces of dry stuff along side the big stuff to keep the fire going.

 

[hockeypuck]

I did not like the small door on the wood doctor. Bad for shoving in large hunks of soft wood.

 

[zsteinmetz]

Whats the warranty on a woodmaster.

 

[Industry]

I guess I was looking at the converter. or are they both the same unit? I'm not sure. Do you get much smoke? What are you running for heat inside(radiant, HWBB)?

 

[zsteinmetz]

No they are not the same unit. The converter is about nine grand which in my opinion is a waste of money and my 8000 sq ft model was about $6500. They say the converter is virtually no smoke and really easy on wood. Never seen one work i guess. I live within a 100 ft of all my neighbors and mine barely smokes at all. I added a 6 ft extension to the stack just to get it up a bit higher. I have mine hooked to my forced air furnace in my house and i built a heater for my garage out of an old furnace fan and a 12x12 heat exchanger. Ill get some pics up soon.

 

[LeakyWoodDoctor]

Wood Doctor Warranty!!!

I am having a lot of problems with my stainless Steel Wood Doctor!

I am the not so proud owner of my second 2000 lbs heavy gauge stainless steel exterior wood furnace. My original furnace developed perforations in it's belly causing it to loose all it's water in only it's second heating season. I managed to make it to spring by holding vigilance over ten or so pine plugs hammered into the holes to stop the leaks!


This first boiler was promptly replaced under warranty by Wood Doctor at virtually no cost to me.

This replacement stainless steel boiler has now just barely made it threw it's third heating season this time developing perforations primarily along the belly weld lines!


My original furnace has a 25 year replacement warranty covering repairs at 100% for the first 5 years. I am still within the first 5 years of my warranty and have had two of these boilers corrode out on me.

:jawdrop:

This time around though, Wood Doctor is exercising a phrase in it's warranty which they believe gives them the right to request that I ship my entire furnace half way across the country for assessment to repaired or replaced rather then they alow someone local to fix it.

It is simply ludicrous to me that they believe they can interpret their warranty in this way, making it in fact, no warranty at all! Their interpretation is essentially that an entire 2000 lbs furnace is a "part" that they can request be returned to them for repair!

I've stuck epoxy putty over all the holes in my Wood Doctor and put it back online for this heating season, but I have no idea how long it will be able to hold water! I do not seem to have much choice at present!

 

[ngzcaz]

So are the problems coming from inside out or outside in ? Water could be responsible if its inside out ( not likely unless you have a ph so low you couldn't drink it ) but not if its outside and then coming in. If its along a weld, thats your answer. Stainless can be a great material but its a little more tricky to weld and aluminum even worse. In any event they should replace the entire unit or in your case, I'd ask them to haul it away and get a refund.. ( highly unlikely ) Leaks twice in 4 years ? What happens 5, 7, 10 years down the road ? There's lemons in everything but you getting 2 in a row doesnt speak well for your luck/or the product.

It would be interesting if the boilers that were made with that particular batch of stainless developed similar problems. Either that or the welder didn't properly clean and/or weld the material properly.

:censored::censored::jawdrop:

 

[LeakyWoodDoctor]

Patching those perforations in my Wood Doctor!!!

Ya,

Corroding from the inside out!!

I have found that High Temperature Five Minute Epoxy Putty works well sealing the perforations in my heavy gauge stainless Steel Wood Doctor furnace. The trick though is to apply the Putty using a reversed cabinet clamp so that you can get enough pressure to seal off the water leak and at the same time get good adhesion to the metal.

You can't just push this Putty on with your hand and expect it to hold! The first ones I just pushed on leaked and pealed off again!

Cut a square of memory foam and place it over the Putty against the boiler and then push the memory foam almost flat against the side of the boiler until the Putty hardens. After, just peal it off and you're ready to apply another patch.

My Wood Doctor boiler is littered with patches now and they seem like they might hold till spring now that I have applied them with pressure! Hopefully this will get me threw, this, only my forth heating season!

Who knew stainless steel could corrode threw like this!! :bang:

 

[LeakyWoodDoctor]

Altering the Stainless Steel??

Look at this pic,

See where what looks like rust is following the weld line!

It looks like the stainless was improperly welded altering it's resistance to corrosion!

Now it looks like it's rusting right where it was welded!:censored:

Leaky

 

[Butch(OH)]

There made of boilerplate not mild steel

Pure advertising hype but if it makes you sleep better then that's OK too.
In truth they are made of the same hot rolled steel that any other "carbon" steel OWB is made of.

 

[LeakyWoodDoctor]

Pure advertising hype but if it makes you sleep better then that's OK too.
In truth they are made of the same hot rolled steel that any other "carbon" steel OWB is made of.

Yeah! But! :censored: . . .

Should anybody expect that a 25 Year Replacement Warrantied Heavy Gauge Stainless Steel $8,000+ High Quality OWB rot through in under two heating seasons:angry2:

That's some product Wood Doctor is selling trusting folks like me!

 

[CrappieKeith]

There are different qualities of stainless.
A high nickle content is better like in 304 then say a low nickle stainless 400series.
Sometimes welding wire is just steel not stainless.

I'm sorry to see what you guys are going through.
I know glycol prevents rust, but it also looses 25% of your heat transfer and is expensive.
Buying an OWB means there will be air in the lines opposed to a pressurized system that does not have oxygen in the line to start that corrosion process.

This is a problem industry wide.
Jeeze ,if ya had ducting I would give you some great ideas ,but I'm at a loss for words here.
Before you go spending a ton of money on a new one...I'd concider the alternatives.

 

[Zodiac45]

Pure advertising hype but if it makes you sleep better then that's OK too.
In truth they are made of the same hot rolled steel that any other "carbon" steel OWB is made of.

Yep that's right Butch. It's pretty much all the same stuff (except thickness).

Yeah! But! :censored: . . .

Should anybody expect that a 25 Year Replacement Warrantied Heavy Gauge Stainless Steel $8,000+ High Quality OWB rot through in under two heating seasons:angry2:

That's some product Wood Doctor is selling trusting folks like me!

Nope you really seem too have gotten a raw deal Leaky. Maybe it's the pix but the stainless doesn't look all that thick (heavy gauge) too me? Those rust throughs look like something that would occur on a truck fender the way they came through! Serious bummer for you.

 

[ngzcaz]

[QUOTE :
Buying an OWB means there will be air in the lines opposed to a pressurized system that does not have oxygen in the line to start that corrosion process.

This is a problem industry wide.
Jeeze ,if ya had ducting I would give you some great ideas ,but I'm at a loss for words here.
Before you go spending a ton of money on a new one...I'd concider the alternatives.[/QUOTE]



Its my understanding that the only air in the system will be vented out into the OWB upon startup. There will be air at the top of the OWB but not near the bottom where his rust appears to be forming. Water will not flow if there are air pockets, thats why you bleed radiators, etc etc. He cant be the only one with an issue. If the wire ( as in mig ) or electrode ( as in stick ) was incorrect and used in other stoves, they likewise will have issues. Its surprising the company didn't rush a local contractor in there and take it away as fast as they could. I certainly wouldn't want to have potential customers see that..

Suggestion : call a local TV station and see if they would come and do a story on it. Should be a fair amount of interest. Just make sure the company is tuned in ( or send a copy ) when it airs. If that doesn't do it, you have major problems. Good luck..