empyre pro series 200 update

[firecaptain]

so its been 2 months since this unit was first fired up. so far (knock on wood) the only problem has been the loading door would not seal right. tried adjusting the hinges, etc but with no luck. ended up replacing the gasket and havent had any problems since then with sealing.
i have been getting 12-14 hour burn times between loading. the average load is about to half the capacity of the firebox.
the past week we have gotten some cold weather, single digit at night, teen to low 20's during the day. the boiler seems to work a lot better and more efficient inthe colder weather. in terms of wood usage, about 1/3 of the amount of wood i would have used in my old conventional wood stove inside. this is a big benefit, i have used not quite a cord so far.
boiler temp set at 180, house temp set at 72, plus heating domestic hot water.
so far very satisfied with my decision to buy this unit.

 

[hoogie]

great to see another empyer pro200 out there...I had the same issue on the door rope gasket. As you did i changed that and problem solved. As for burn time, i'm not getting what your getting i'm getting an easy 12hr. though which is good enough for me with water temp. set at 170 and house temp. at 75. I'll tell ya watch those spaces leading into the secondary burn chamber. Mine got plugged last year and i couldnt see that they were, once i found out that was the problem i had a 4 foot bar with a 3" plate welded to the end of it so that i could stick it down those openings and make sure those are free of coals and ash, that made a world of difference. I'm in my second year with this unit and love it thats for sure...keep me posted about your experences with the burner i'm on here and arborists site under the same name, i've got lots of pictures overthere of my install...

 

[ISeeDeadBTUs]

Pictures, F'Cap, pictures!

 

[firecaptain]

ok... i will try to get some pics up this weekend. leave for work when its dark and get home when its dark so pix dont come out real good.

hoogie... seems like thats the factory "glitch", door not sealing right. but for $20 its an easy fix, hope thats the worse. lol.
heres a question, i cut my wood to 28", seems like about 24" would work better. any suggestions? seems like the 28" peices leave small peices that dont burn since they are not over the slots in the firebrick. no big deal, just rake them to center before reloading.
tried some smaller stuff, 15", seemed to work better but didnt completley cover the slots. seems like when slots are covered it burns a lot more effeiciently. since this is my first year, its a learning year. luckily the slots havent clogged up yet on mine like you sai yours did, have been checking it the last few days, seems ok. if they do i will weld up a "cleaner" to solve that as you did.
good to hear your comments on your pro 200. i cant say enough about mine. very pleased.

 

[hoogie]

lol oh you'll have to make that clean out tool, I use that more than anything else. As for wood length..eh i'm 20" to 24 that seems like bout the right size to me I've tried longer and like you said the back just dosent seem to burn that great.