The Beast w/Gut Shots

[jrsdws]

Okay so I've mentioned "the beast" a few times in other threads. I'm referring to my biomass furnace made by Illinois Corn Stoves in Watseka, IL. It's really a plain Jane sort of unit that was originally designed for use in large spaces like greenhouses, etc., but adapted for residential use a couple of years ago. It's not thermostat capable. There are two fire pots and you can burn either one or both at the same time. I guess the big combustion blower is the key to being able to burn about anything in it. The manufacturer claims they can burn up to 21% moisture corn.

They don't show the furnace on their website anymore, just their stove, but I'll post a picture so you can relate to why it's named "the beast".

Some specs: Comustion Blower - Dayton 1TDV4 - 310cfm
Distribution Blower - Dayton 1XJX7 - 1009cfm - variable speed user controlled by rheostat/potentiometer on control panel

Construction is all 3/16" plate steel. Exchange tubes are 14ga steel. Rated btu output burning corn up to 180,000btu. I have secondary fuel hopper so can hold about 300lbs of fuel...depending on fuel. Max fuel feed rate (corn) 11lbs/hour.

It's a heating monster, but hard to dial down for the mild weather.....thus the addition of the multi-fueler stove on the main floor.

I'm considering using the beast to maintain a slow circulation of air in the house while running the stove on the main floor. I don't know if it's too far for the warm air to go before it cools, or if it would just take a certain amount of time to "fill" the system with warm air.

Would I be able to disconnect that switch on the exhaust blower and jumper it together to make it think it there is fire so the distribution blower would run? If that'd work it could be put on a toggle switch maybe?

 

[DexterDay]

Cant help on the wiring of the blower. But the circulation may help. Especially if you can dial back the speed on the distribution blower to a lower CFM.

That looks like a pretty clean install to me. I watched that.video last night. It shows the double pot system. Thats actually a pretty nice feature. Dual augers... Nice.

Thanks for posting pics. Always enjoy seeing "New" stoves that not a lot of people have.

Whats the lowest feedrate you can burn on the furnace?

Ive been running a very low feedrate on the my furnace (on manual level 1) and letting my Quad run on the stat.

If you run a stat to your CPM, you could let it kick on as needed and try to run the furnace as low as possible. You still get heat into the bedrooms this way and when the CPM kicks on, the air is already moving around the house very well and let it bring the house up to temp, then shut down and let the furnace keep purring. (If you the furnace can be set just low enough so you still have heat loss/ otherwise your CPM wont kick on). Random thoughts. . .

I have been trying something like this for a couple days now.

Thanks again for sharing. Gotta love options. ;-P

 

[jrsdws]

The lowest feedrate I can set is programmed for 2.15lbs/hour (medium sized corn). When clean and running well it's just enough to keep the proof of fire switch made. It's not hot enough, however, to get it distributed throughout the house before it cools. It's a game of splitting hairs....just enough fan to get your heat throughout the house without cooling it down. Once burning just one pot on level 3 though, the fan can be cranked. One pot, level 3 feedrate is 2.7lbs/hr (medium sized corn). I burn a corn/pellet mixture almost always in the beast. The ratio depends on the temp and wind. More corn = more fuel dropped per auger turn = more heat.

 

[DexterDay]

Here is a neat video for those that didnt see this thread. I found the dual pot (burn dual fuel) and.double auger system was pretty slick..

Also wondering if you ever found anything out on the snap disc (POF) and your blower? If not, maybe someone will see it now and help..

http://www.illinoiscornstoves.com/

 

[UMainah]

Is Illinois Corn Stoves the manufacturer of your furnace or are they just the dealer? Their website says they are a Golden Grain Stove dealer

 

[jrsdws]

They are the manufacturer. Supposedly he was the largest dealer for Golden Grain in the country (not sure how large that is). I don't even know if Golden Grain is still in business? I know the ICS units are based off of the Golden Grain units design.....but they feel improved them.

 

[Ejectr]

Okay so I've mentioned "the beast" a few times in other threads. I'm referring to my biomass furnace made by Illinois Corn Stoves in Watseka, IL. It's really a plain Jane sort of unit that was originally designed for use in large spaces like greenhouses, etc., but adapted for residential use a couple of years ago. It's not thermostat capable. There are two fire pots and you can burn either one or both at the same time. I guess the big combustion blower is the key to being able to burn about anything in it. The manufacturer claims they can burn up to 21% moisture corn.

They don't show the furnace on their website anymore, just their stove, but I'll post a picture so you can relate to why it's named "the beast".

Some specs: Comustion Blower - Dayton 1TDV4 - 310cfm
Distribution Blower - Dayton 1XJX7 - 1009cfm - variable speed user controlled by rheostat/potentiometer on control panel

Construction is all 3/16" plate steel. Exchange tubes are 14ga steel. Rated btu output burning corn up to 180,000btu. I have secondary fuel hopper so can hold about 300lbs of fuel...depending on fuel. Max fuel feed rate (corn) 11lbs/hour.

It's a heating monster, but hard to dial down for the mild weather.....thus the addition of the multi-fueler stove on the main floor.

I'm considering using the beast to maintain a slow circulation of air in the house while running the stove on the main floor. I don't know if it's too far for the warm air to go before it cools, or if it would just take a certain amount of time to "fill" the system with warm air.

Would I be able to disconnect that switch on the exhaust blower and jumper it together to make it think it there is fire so the distribution blower would run? If that'd work it could be put on a toggle switch maybe?

If all that blower switch does is get hot and close the circuit and then turn on the distribution fan, the answer is yes...you could put a toggle switch in place of that switch and turn the distribution fan on/off at will. You'd just be replacing the current heat sensitive switch with a manual switch.

 

[rickwai]

wiring a toggle switch in to go around the snap disk would be better. So if you forgot to flip switch blower would still run as designed.

 

[Ejectr]

Yes..that. too.

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

You can also get adjustable ones that might let you set a lower turn on/off temperature.

ETA: Grainger's list of goodies: http://www.grainger.com/Grainger/ww...napdisc&op=search&Ntt=snapdisc&N=0&sst=subset