Merry Christmas to all. Hope you all had a great day with family and friends. Here in Minnesota it was almost 40* today and no snow, can't beat that. I had a top shelf on top of the refractory block that made the heat all travel around the front and long path to the exit, but alas it finally broke and I don't have any more of that refractory board or know where to get it. Just wondering if others have used this shelf and what was your opinion of its effectiveness on efficiency and burn times. Mine has been gone so long now I wonder if I should get another shelf or not. Just trying to limp along with this not so old Adobe as long as I can. Would like to get a different boiler but don't really want to spend the money required and not real sure what I would get anyway since this part of MN really doesn't have anybody selling gassers.
Top shelf in a greenwood /adobe
- Thread starter muleman51
- Start date
-
Active since 1995, Hearth.com is THE place on the internet for free information and advice about wood stoves, pellet stoves and other energy saving equipment.
We strive to provide opinions, articles, discussions and history related to Hearth Products and in a more general sense, energy issues.
We promote the EFFICIENT, RESPONSIBLE, CLEAN and SAFE use of all fuels, whether renewable or fossil.
- Status
muleman51 said:
I feel your pain as I have a not so old Greenturd smoking up my garage that I don't feel I've gotten 8 grand worth of return from as I watch it slowly rotting away each day. As for the shelf (unless you are speaking of the lip in the back of the fire box) I don't have one and really see no benifit of adding anything. As for my bad investment I'm just gonna use it til it implodes and move on. Merry Christmas
hobbyheater
Minister of Fire
[quote author="muleman51" date="132488111 I had a top shelf on top of the refractory block that made the heat all travel around the front and long path to the exit, but alas it finally broke and I don't have any more of that refractory board or know where to get it. [/quote]
Make a mold and make your own.
Here is a link for refractory products.
http://www.budgetcastingsupply.com/
Make a mold and make your own.
Here is a link for refractory products.
http://www.budgetcastingsupply.com/
hobbyheater
Minister of Fire
Still Smokin’ said:I feel your pain as I have a not so old Greenturd smoking up my garage that I don't feel I've gotten 8 grand worth of return from as I watch it slowly rotting away each day. As for the shelf (unless you are speaking of the lip in the back of the fire box) I don't have one and really see no benifit of adding anything. As for my bad investment I'm just gonna use it til it implodes and move on. Merry Christmas
I'm not totally familiar with your boilers, but they appear to have a very large refractory component and small water volume?
The boiler I have also has a very large refractory component, but has forced combustion and draft. I have to be very careful that the refractory is evenly brought to operating temperature and again cooled evenly or the refractory sees damage. An example of this would be to have the blower shut down with a full charge of wood. If this happens, I will find small pieces of refractory in the ash at the next cleaning of the burn chamber.
I wonder. Could your boilers benefit by using heat storage to draw heat from the refractory more evenly and reduce the cycling of the fire?
Just a thought.
Allen , that is how I operate my boiler. I start a fire and keep it going, I have a timer that I set for usually four hours and the fire is about out then I start over when I get home. All of my heat goes to a 1000 gallon storage tank. I think it makes the boiler operate better.
hobbyheater
Minister of Fire
muleman51 said:
It's obvious that this morning I was not fully awake when I read your post. I missed the part that you had 1000 gallon storage. Oops.
Refractory pieces are heavy and expensive. Not sure what shipping would be...
But, Fred Seton has the Greenwood boiler replacement refractories available at http://www.rohor.com/page21.html
But, Fred Seton has the Greenwood boiler replacement refractories available at http://www.rohor.com/page21.html
hobbyheater
Minister of Fire
[quote author="SteveJ" date="1324988753"]Refractory pieces are heavy and expensive.
Steve - looking at the weight and the price of the refractory packages, those prices look very reasonable.
Steve - looking at the weight and the price of the refractory packages, those prices look very reasonable.
hobbyheater
Minister of Fire
muleman51 said:
Pictured are stainless steel refractory needles.
Should you decide to make your own refractory components, these needles help hold the refractory together much like rebar strengthens a concrete wall. The needles make about 1 1/2% of a mixed batch of refractory.
They can be obtained from- http://www.newhorizoncorp.com/ This company has been very helpful with advice.
Attachments
My boiler is slightly different then yours but the same concept. Does your unit have combustion air coming through a grate on the bottom of the unit like my Greenfire? Anyway, I have tried many different things, the shelf being one of them. I found the shelf actually accelerated the fire too much, with little to no additional heat output. I had also expected the unit to burn cleaner on start up (mine burns clean once up to operating temp), but it did not. I would not bother replacing it.
2.beans
Minister of Fire
Nothing noticeable for heat(overall) or less smoke at start up. My board was refractory so it may have accelerated the fire faster then the Hx could transfer. I took it out and have overall better performance. When you install a board or refractory piece at the top, you are blocking off some of the radiant heat reflecting towards the hx. IMO the exhaust stream does not make up for that loss, even if it is higher temp.
- Status
Similar threads
