SO CLOSE I can almost smell the smoke (pics)

[infinitymike]

I am almost there boys.

Heres a few pics.




THE GARAGE BEFORE

By infinitymike at 2011-09-05




THE GARAGE AFTER

By infinitymike at 2011-11-05




THE PRIMARY LOOP NEXT THE OB IN BASEMENT the two black insulated pipes on the right are the 1" pex coming in from WG in garage

By infinitymike at 2011-11-11




THE BACK OF THE WOOD GUN WITH THE DANFOSS VALVE ON RETURN

By infinitymike at 2011-11-15




THE TOP OF THE THE WOOD GUN WITH A TACO 00R IFC 3 SPEED CIRC (thank you mark at AHONA)

By infinitymike at 2011-11-15



SOME CONTROLS TO BE INSTALLED

A CONTROL THAT I DONT WHAT ITS FOR ..YET

By infinitymike at 2011-11-15
By infinitymike at 2011-11-15


JUST ANOTHER VIEW

By infinitymike at 2011-11-15

OH YEAH CAN'T FORGET THE FUEL SOURCE

By infinitymike at 2011-11-11

 

[bioman]

Very nice transformation, I'm sure you will like it, excellent looking install.

 

[Gasifier]

:ahhh: WAAAAHOOOOOOOOOOOOOO !! :ahhh:

Awesome pictures Mike! I mean, boss.

That was a lot of stuff in the garage before. :lol: I want to know what is to the right of the picture after. Does to the right look like your closet in your bedroom after your mother told you to clean your room immediately. (In other words, is it to the ceiling over there man?!) :lol:

Hey, the boiler looks good. I was a little concerned with location, and if you had decent access to the rear of the boiler. But you must be able to get in there okay from what I see in the picture of the back. Cool. I am not an HVAC guy so I will not comment on your boiler line hook-ups. But it looks like your guy is doing a good job! Almost there man. Almost there.

A few suggestions. Without storage, it will be better to wait until you have a decent heat demand. Otherwise, you will be idleing a lot. But obviously you have to try it out. Right? For sure. So have a small fire in it first. Then let it go out. Wait a while, maybe overnight. And have a little larger fire in it. And progressively burn larger and larger fires in it to help finish curing the ceramics like the manual suggest.

Hopefully some of the other guys here, who have been burning gasser much longer than I, will chime in with some other suggestions to help you out in bringing the beast on line and getting to know her a little. And I will ask a few questions that might get it going.

What will you be setting your Aquastats at that run your circulation pumps? At what temp will your oil boiler come on when your Wood Boiler is down below a certain temp?

 

[henfruit]

What size pump are you using from the boiler to the house?

 

[infinitymike]

I am using a Taco 00R IFC 3 speed pump on top of boiler to push/supply hot water 70 feet to the primary loop in basement. I used 1" pex my installer was going to use a 007 but by chance I was speaking Mark at AHONA about buying a storage tank and he did the calcs and suggested the 00R 3 speed so I told my guy to buy it. He was a bit upset put did it any (he doesn't like being challenged)

 

[huffdawg]

looks like your trying to kick your hoarding addiction with a wood burning addiction .
looks a lot better now .Nice job.
I am also very close to my first burn. tommorrow around noon I hope.

Cheers. Huff

 

[goosegunner]

Nice job Mike! I see you have the Danfoss in place. You will be glad you convinced the installer to put it in.

gg

 

[infinitymike]

looks like your trying to kick your hoarding addiction with a wood burning addiction .
looks a lot better now .Nice job.
I am also very close to my first burn. tommorrow around noon I hope.

Cheers. Huff

Not really! Didn't you see the last picture?! Now I'm just hoarding wood.

 

[ewdudley]

I am using a Taco 00R IFC 3 speed pump on top of boiler to push/supply hot water 70 feet to the primary loop in basement. I used 1" pex

Looking good.

The 00R or 008 have a better curve for that situation for sure, but it looks like the last place you'd want an IFC. What was the reasoning of the guy that thought you needed an IFC? Or a three-speed?

 

[Gary_602z]

Make sure you get a down pipe for discharge on your relief valve.

Gary

 

[PassionForFire&Water]

First picture, ... white painted boiler with a white painted stack? Don't know this brand. Clearances?
Second taught, ...it's probably a fridge. LOL
Nice job on the boiler install and what a transformation of the boiler room !
I see the box of the Honeywell Auqastat, what's the function of the SafGard? Is this to protect the pump/circulator from running dry?

 

[infinitymike]

EWD,

Iwas speaking to mark at AHONA and he suggested the 00R IFC 3 speed. My guy didn't want to use that. He still feels his calc's are right and I need a 007. Why would that be the last place you would put a IFC? What,in your opinion would be wrong with that. Also about the 3 speed, what is your thoughts on that. I don't know nor does my installer care to share his thoughts especially since I challenged him on it. Your experience and advice is welcomed.

 

[ewdudley]

AHONA suggested the 00R IFC 3 speed. My guy didn't want to use that. He still feels his calc's are right and I need a 007. Why would that be the last place you would put a IFC? What,in your opinion would be wrong with that. Also about the 3 speed, what is your thoughts on that.

Somewhere between seventeen and thirty-six percent of boiler room traffic could be avoided if we all stopped and took the time to review this one stickie:

http://www.taco-hvac.com/uploads/FileLibrary/SelectingCirculators.pdf

Your installer and the guy from AHONA are both right. For a pipe length equivalent of one hundred fifty feet of nominal one inch pex a 007 and a 00R IFC are pretty much the same pump, seven gpm, give or take.

The IFC does two things; it's a check-valve against reverse flow and it provides some 'pop-open' resistance to forward flow to prevent thermo-siphon or parallel flow when the circuit is not active. Since you're using it as a transfer pump for secondary flow into a primary loop, neither IFC function is of any use. Worse, since your transfer piping may be a little undersized, the added restriction of a psi or so from the unneeded IFC is counterproductive.

And since your piping may be a little undersized, the lower two speeds are unneeded.

As the one pump to carry in your service truck, the 00R IFC three speed is just great; a steeper curve than the 007 and three speeds just in case the flow rate is too high, so it can adapt to most any situation. But in your exact application it has no worthwhile advantage over a vanilla 007.






.

 

[McKraut]

Mike,

Do you mind if I ask how much the boiler cost? How about all the accessories to hook up? I really like the look of your hookup.

 

[infinitymike]

Mike,

Do you mind if I ask how much the boiler cost? How about all the accessories to hook up? I really like the look of your hookup.

Heres where all the money went so far.
$ 8,800 for Wood Gun I went for the Stainless Steel firebox and a coil for domestic hot water.(which boosted it by about 2 grand)
$2,700 labor for installer ($80/hour) he worked by himself.
$2,800 plumbing parts
$900 flue pipe
$1,300 in materials for boiler room stuff.
$400 for 2 cords of wood that were supposed to be seasoned

Total $16,900 +/-

Just bought a brand new Weil mclaine gold plus indirect DHW for $177 (normally goes for 1000.00)

 

[McKraut]

It's amazing how quickly the cost of everything adds up. Ouch.
So what do you think of the boiler now that you've had the chance to fire it up?

 

[infinitymike]

It's amazing how quickly the cost of everything adds up. Ouch.
So what do you think of the boiler now that you've had the chance to fire it up?

Thats a bit of a loaded question and I want to answer that carefully.
What I've come to learn about myself is that I am a hard person to please.
I put high expectations on everything and even though I know this about myself, I am usually disappointed.

So my answer is YES...NO...KINDA...I DON'T KNOW :blank:

This is my first experience with burning wood other than the occasional camp fire.
So I have no point of reference to compare the unit other than my oil burner.

The unit seems to be built well. It is solid and rugged. It is very simple to use...put wood in, light wood, close door , come back later and repeat.

That may be a good thing or not. There are some units out there with all types of controls and sensors that may add to the burning experience and make it more efficient.

Here are some things that I could say are causing my disappointment or disillusionment.

As we all have had, Long Island was holding out for winter to come with extremely mild temperatures. In fact the last few days have been the first constantly cold ones so far.
That will make it hard for this unit to burn well because it literally shuts off the fire and will reignite the fire when the aquastat gets to the low temp setting.
If that takes a long time, as in warm weather conditions, it wont relight. Is that the units problem or just the weather?

The wood I am burning was cut, split and stacked in the beginning of September. From what people say here and now I can say as well, its way to green to burn efficiently or effectively. Is that the units problem or just bad fuel?

My installer used 1" pex pipe to supply and return the water from the wood gun to the primary loop. People here say that that is to small as he insists that it is fine. The problem can be not enough btu's delivered to the primary loop. Is that the units problem or a plumbing problem?

My installer hooked the supply and return lines of the wood gun into the primary loop in such a way that according to guys here I may not be getting the full btu's (that may allready be diminished by the above related fact) to flow around the loop. And he hooked up the supply and return lines of the zones in such a way that according to guys here is also not very effective. Therefor when the zones call, they are getting, again according to guys here, very weak and un heated water. Again the units problem or a plumbing issue?

I think that if I resolve at the very least the fuel issue I might be more satisfied. And if I redo some plumbing I may be even more satisfied.

So sorry for the long winded answer.
There are a few guys here that have the same unit and seem to have better results. Gasifier, muncybob, and 711mhw. I thing theres another guy out west who installed it in some school and also loves it.

Hope this helps and the manufactures of the wood gun are probably very close to where you live. I suggest you take a ride and check them out.

 

[McKraut]

My first thought is that it is both the wet wood and the warm temps causing your problem. I've never had a problem burning wetter wood when it is cold outside and the boiler is burning hot (right now I am burning wood I cut in June and July and it is still wetter then I like). I have only had my Tarm not re-ignite because of warm outside temps maybe 5 times in the last 15 years.
Do you keep any wood in your garage? Is your garage heated (besides radiant heat from boiler)?
I hope you can look back on this in a few months and realize that it was no big deal.

 

[BHetrick10]

For $80.00 an hour I would hope he knows what he's doing. I guess that is the difference in area. Going rate around here is about half that. No offense but once again, for $80.00 I would expect better looking solder joints. It does looks like its laid out really nice though. I hope you get it sorted and enjoy using it. Best of luck.

 

[bigburner]

Mike trouble shooting is like eating an elephant, one bite at a time. Find out what you can prove. Isolate the boiler, see if it is operating correctly - use your wood, try some pallets etc, verify that the thing comes up to temperature and you are satisfied with that, then start turning on loads [do primary first] and watch to see if it picks up the load, then try the next one and so on. switch back to old boiler, see where that gets you. I don't think the 1 inch pex is a huge deal with a short run you can cram a 100K btu's threw there pretty easy. I would have done a true P/S instead of the way the loads are tied, it can influence the flow in other circuits , where the true P/S with decouple. You could cut out the bridge in the Tee's from WG and that would make more sense with your zones, problem is old boiler would be heating the wood gun also. It should work as plumbed [from what I can see] Just when certain zones are operating it may change the flow in a individual zone. You sure the air is out. 80 an hour is a fair rate, in most cases you don't really get charged for all the hours.

 

[muncybob]

It's amazing how quickly the cost of everything adds up. Ouch.
So what do you think of the boiler now that you've had the chance to fire it up?

Thats a bit of a loaded question and I want to answer that carefully.
What I've come to learn about myself is that I am a hard person to please.
I put high expectations on everything and even though I know this about myself, I am usually disappointed.

So my answer is YES...NO...KINDA...I DON'T KNOW :blank:

This is my first experience with burning wood other than the occasional camp fire.
So I have no point of reference to compare the unit other than my oil burner.

The unit seems to be built well. It is solid and rugged. It is very simple to use...put wood in, light wood, close door , come back later and repeat.

That may be a good thing or not. There are some units out there with all types of controls and sensors that may add to the burning experience and make it more efficient.

Here are some things that I could say are causing my disappointment or disillusionment.

As we all have had, Long Island was holding out for winter to come with extremely mild temperatures. In fact the last few days have been the first constantly cold ones so far.
That will make it hard for this unit to burn well because it literally shuts off the fire and will reignite the fire when the aquastat gets to the low temp setting.
If that takes a long time, as in warm weather conditions, it wont relight. Is that the units problem or just the weather?

The wood I am burning was cut, split and stacked in the beginning of September. From what people say here and now I can say as well, its way to green to burn efficiently or effectively. Is that the units problem or just bad fuel?

My installer used 1" pex pipe to supply and return the water from the wood gun to the primary loop. People here say that that is to small as he insists that it is fine. The problem can be not enough btu's delivered to the primary loop. Is that the units problem or a plumbing problem?

My installer hooked the supply and return lines of the wood gun into the primary loop in such a way that according to guys here I may not be getting the full btu's (that may allready be diminished by the above related fact) to flow around the loop. And he hooked up the supply and return lines of the zones in such a way that according to guys here is also not very effective. Therefor when the zones call, they are getting, again according to guys here, very weak and un heated water. Again the units problem or a plumbing issue?

I think that if I resolve at the very least the fuel issue I might be more satisfied. And if I redo some plumbing I may be even more satisfied.

So sorry for the long winded answer.
There are a few guys here that have the same unit and seem to have better results. Gasifier, muncybob, and 711mhw. I thing theres another guy out west who installed it in some school and also loves it.

Hope this helps and the manufactures of the wood gun are probably very close to where you live. I suggest you take a ride and check them out.

I can address a couple of your questions from my own experiences with the WG. Re; warm weather operations....this was a pita for me too until I learned how to use the 4 hour cycle timer properly based on the weather temps and heat demand. In place of the timer you could opt to set the differential dial to a low setting and in this way the boiler will fire up sooner and possibly keep you in hot coals? On the wood split a few months ago, I too was not properly prepared the 1st year and while AHS touts the WG will burn up to 30% mc it(and most any wood fired appliance) won't burn it very well and again will be hard to keep hot coals in milder weather. Our 2nd year burning with better wood made a BIG difference, this year should be even better for us. Now that colder temps are here your unit should run a bit better but you may want to see about some drier wood to mix with your current supply to help even things out a bit.