Kerr Titan, auto dampener not dampening....

[team420]

Hi all,
I am new to this forum, and new to wood boilers. I have burned wood in my woodstoves for years, but never had the oppertunity to use a wood boiler.... Until I moved, the place I'm at now has a Kerr Titan boiler... It runs next to the oil burner.
Today I fired it up for the first time, it is heating the water, but... the auto dampener wont do anything, and the cumbustion exhaust fan stays on all the time...I have no idea if its supposed to or not, but I would have thought it would come on at the same time the dampener opened Anyone out there know what might be up? It seems to be holding fine at 180*... just very loud with the fan on all the time.

 

[ISeeDeadBTUs]

It seems to be holding fine at 180*... just very loud with the fan on all the time.

Dekivering 180 °F water is a sweet thing, especially when the weather is like it is now. May I suggest some ear plugs to drown out the fan?

Seriously though, I know nothing about your unit. Have you searched for a manual? I've never even heard of your unit, but then, I don't get out much.

Welcome aboard. and Happy Burning!

 

[team420]

No, i havent been able to find a manual for it anywhere... anyone know where i could find documentation on it? If i could get a schematic, id b able to figure it out.... i think.....

 

[team420]

Hi again all...

I am learning a lot about wood boilers! There is a ton of info out there to be had... this forum has quite a bit of it!

I called kerr directly, they said they couldnt find any documentation on my unit, however I could use the schematics for their tw-2000 indoor wood boiler as a guide, as they are very similar in design. They also told me that the fan, (which I now know is called a draft inducer) was not included with the unit new, and it was likely put on there for one of a couple reasons.... 1) low draft in chimney 2)dual appliance setup on the same flue, 3) the previous owner either didnt want to clean it as often as it might need, or they burned green wood.

#2 is definetly true... The wood and oil boilers are connected to the same flue, and I also assume (by how much wood this thing uses) they wanted to burn green wood. I was also told that if a draft inducer is installed it is likely supposed to run all the time... So that answers that.... Sound about right?

Issue #2 is the auto dampener.... It has a lever on it to switch it to manual operation in the event of a power failure, this is used so you can (I assume) either move the wheel as needed by hand, or adjust the chain as needed, and avoid having it get out of adjustment when the power comes back... sound right to anyone? The problem with the schematics for the tw-2000, is, it didnt come with that lever.... and the guys at kerr didnt really know a lot about it..... So back to square one on that issue... I did try to move the lever (its not marked so I dont know if I was moving it from manual to auto - or opposite), but the lever will not go more than halfway..... Does anyone else out there have anything similar to this setup that could explain a little about it? Being as the unit is over 30 years old... I'm having a real hard time finding any good info on it.

Thanks in advance for any info I can get about this thing... I love heating with wood! And though even FREE wood is not really FREE, it beats paying $500-700/month for heat and hot water!! But I gotta make sure its safe! Also...I am having a hard time finding anyone that will service this unit... Guess you have to have a special license here in Maine to work on them, and they are not as popular as they were around here in the 80's... seems everyone is going with outdoor boilers, and installing themselves these days.