GARN EXPERTS

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2.beans

Minister of Fire
Mar 22, 2008
525
new hampshire
i bought an old garn that needs a little work. i believe its a whs 2500, mid 80's. it looks different then the new ones but its a garn. looking for input for any improvements that i can make as i overhaul it before i put it in service.
 
Does it have the air nozzle in the middle of the loading door? That would make it mid-late 80's.

There's really not a lot to go wrong with a Garn but you could start here......

1. If it's been sitting around for a while it might be wise to give it a good power wash inside the tank to check for any pitting or scale.
2. pop off the flue tube cleanout covers and have a look. Get them cleaned up if they need it.
3. Check the door gasket and door adjustment
4. If I were you I probably just go ahead and replace the wind up timer and the relay in the control box.
5. Check the low water float switch to make sure it functions and will not let the motor come on if the water level is low.
6. Pull the motor and check the blower wheel to see if it is distorted. They are made to purposely fail under extreme conditions to snuff out a runaway condition and i have seen a couple that have done what they were supposed to do. (They come apart at flue temps over 1000*F)
7. If the inside was dirty or it had been sitting for a while, I'd probably get in touch with the factory and order up their pre clean and chem treatment program. Send in a sample of your fill water and have "Chemical Mike" at Precision Water Treatment do a workup for you. (included in the treatment program) After you get it cleaned and flushed out, add the chem treatment they provide and let 'er rip!

I really don't know how long one of those things will last given decent water chemistry and maintenance. I have personally serviced several dating from the early 80's. Pushing 30 years old.

Good luck with your project!

You can still get most parts for it here. http://shop.garn.com/
 
Cool. How did you come across a used Garn? And do you have a pic? What kind of shape is it in?
 
the bottom of the tank is soft. leaked from the outside in. so im replacing the bottom of the tank. when i have it opened up im going to clean it up. it has the control box that has sensors at the top of the tank, bottom exhaust and outside, but no low water sensor.
 
Cool. How did you come across a used Garn? And do you have a pic? What kind of shape is it in?
pretty good shape. found it on craigslist in MN. 3000 miles later.
 

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That's early to mid 80's vintage. The major issue with that style is that the door or parts for it are no longer available, at least as far as I know. You can get the tadpole gaskets.
The "draft box" on top of the door on those old beasties is usually found to be out of commission. It had a damper in it that diverted most of the airflow to either the nozzle in the center of the door or to all the holes along the outer perimeter of it. The assumption was that the user would allow the fire to get going with the air diverted to the nozzle in the middle of the door at the start of the fire and then move the damper to the secondary position after things got cooking. Worked good if actually used that way but most users just neglected it and the damper wound up becoming non functional because they were never moved. I would bet yours will be in that condition also.

I know a couple guys that cut out the bottom of the tank and welded in a new sheet. It's just regular mild steel......seems like it was 1/4" material. Both are still using them.

Here's the parts that you can get yet for it. http://shop.garn.com/garn-model-2500-1985-1988/

The actual model/serial number were on an adhesive backed aluminum tag located on the inner surface of the blower mounting area. We ran across serial number 29 and 44 last year and got both of them up and running for a guy on a dairy farm up here. They were both 1500's. We had to get a new inner door ring fabbed up by a local metal shop but other than that they were good to go.
 
pretty good shape. found it on craigslist in MN. 3000 miles later.

Nice find 2.beans. I hope it works out well for you. When do you plan to have it up and running? Are you shooting for this heating season?
 
i was checking out the draft box last night. it does move but not all the way. pretty sure its saveable. as for the serial number i cant find it. the tag is there but no serial number. id like to find it just to know what it is.im guessing its a 2500 just because of its size. as for putting it in service im going to wait until next year. one more year with the seton
 
i hope so. do you ever need to get in the access hole? just curious on how high i should have the roof.

so i dont get bashed what would think its worth?

I honestly don't know. They are quite pricey new. $15k I believe. I've never seen a used one for sale. This one looks like a bit of a project, so I assume it was "cheap".

ac
 
Oh what the hell. I will take a stab at it. Well. Nice gassification boiler with storage included. Older model that needs work. Transporting. $ Etc. But a new one would cost you dearly. I would guess it would be worth it for you to pay $4000.00. Then put a little work and time into it. And have a nice set up for $5-6,000. Considering a little risk involved. And as you all know, I am an expert in the heating field. :rolleyes: And I slept at a Holiday Inn Express last night. So, just throwing that out there. o_OOkay. You can stop laughing now. ;lol
 
2.beans. I have about $14000 into my system. What say you?! ;lol
 
I'd say $2-3K in the boiler & gas, travel time is free :rolleyes:. I bought my boiler on CL and traveled 1500 miles for it.

TS
 
:confused: What the hell is that? A heat exchanger?

Okay. You got a wicked deal on this whole thing didn't you. Like the guy who got two boilers for free! Okay, maybe not that cheap. But you got a hell of a deal, didn't you?
 
:confused: What the hell is that? A heat exchanger?
yeah its a big flat plate heat exchanger. about four feet tall. paid 2k for the boiler and plate, 1k for fuel, room and food door to door. figuring $500 for material to repair it. TS nailed it! gives me excuse to put a much needed addition onto my shop.
 
Nice find 2.beans. Great for you! That is awesome. I hope you can get her up and running for that little and with little trouble. Keep us posted, with plenty of pics of course. When do you start the repair? That sounds like a great winter project. Do you have a shed or garage to do the work in on her?
 
plenty of room in my shop. i have a buddy that can roll the plate to match the curve of the tank tig it in and its good as new, kind of. ill take pictures of the whole process. more garn input would be great.
 

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Oh what the hell. I will take a stab at it. Well. Nice gassification boiler with storage included. Older model that needs work. Transporting. $ Etc. But a new one would cost you dearly. I would guess it would be worth it for you to pay $4000.00. Then put a little work and time into it. And have a nice set up for $5-6,000. Considering a little risk involved. And as you all know, I am an expert in the heating field. :rolleyes: And I slept at a Holiday Inn Express last night. So, just throwing that out there. o_OOkay. You can stop laughing now. ;lol
I just finished "maybe" a Garn install about 25k, it was worth it , 2 beans looks the same any thing less is a good deal.
 
Do I get a prize? I knew that if you went that far to get it it must have been a great deal! That is ONE MONSTER OF A PLATE EXCHANGER! Wow I should say that again! And some big copper to boot. I love copper, no explosion from heat posts like with pex. I'm looking forward to pics of the repair. I'll let real Garn users post now, had to get that out.

TS
 
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