Jetstreams- Out with the old, in with the new.

[hobbyheater]

PART ONE

This is a project that was done with mixed emotions! The boiler was still in good condition in spite of being 30+ years of age.
The recent and quick death of an older brother to cancer, a second older brother having had a debilitating stroke last fall, and my oldest brother with serious health issues got me thinking. Should some health issue or worse overtake me, the wife would not be able to do the switch over if required and finding someone locally to do the job would be likely impossible plus very expensive for her. So while my health is good, I decided to do the switch to the new Jetstream which should give another 30 years or more of service.
The first part will deal with the removal of the old boiler.

Jackets, timer box, loading door, smoke hood, blower removed, plumbing and electrical disconnected.

A moment of silence in respect for a good old friend.

Heat exchanger removed.

The refractory base showing its years of use, but still repairable.

The refractory was in a lot better shape than what I expected as it took the better part of an hour to break it up.

The bottom of the box that the refractory was encased in was burnt out.

The wife giving her approval!

Pulling the old heat exchanger up the hill to the road.

 

[hobbyheater]

PART TWO

The Jetstream is a little different as with other boilers you need to connect the plumbing, electric, and chimney. But with the Jetstream, it is sectional so you have to do the assembly first!

The refractory base and heat exchanger sitting on the dolly in my work room. When the boiler room was added onto the house, a high sill was left when the door was cut through a 8 foot high concrete wall. This created a dam that would contain all the water from the boiler and storage tank in the boiler room but a bit of an obstacle to get heavy boilers into the room.

To get over the hump, the heat exchanger was lifted off the base.

The dolly was made so it could be assembled or disassembled under the 1,400 lb base very easily.

Back for the heat exchanger.

3/4 inch deep High Temp Stove and Furnace cement (2,700 F) is spread over the base to form a gasket between the base and heat exchanger. This gasket assures good radiant heat transfer between the base and heat exchanger plus the BTUs that are captured in the flame tubes.

The new heat exchanger is almost there.

In place. Just before the heat exchanger makes full contact to the base, you wiggle the heat exchanger to get a nice flat seal.

 

[hobbyheater]

PART THREE

Boiler did not quite line up with the flue so one end had to be moved 1 inch.

Smoke hood installed.

Turbulators into the fire tubes.

The new boiler turns out to be 1 1/4 of an inch lower!

Used a bottle jack to lower the chimney.

Move the boiler closer to make the smoke pipe connection.

Connection made with no extra smoke pipe joints.

 

[hobbyheater]

PART FOUR

Looking down loading tube into the high temperature burn chamber.

3 lbs of kindling. This processes is repeated every 2 hours until all moisture is driven from the refractory. Usually about 48 hours.

The big moment. Here's a picture so it really did happen.

Start of the first curing fire.

This is the end of the ninth burn. The grey refractory is cured but the upper section that is still black. The moisture has yet not all been driven out.

After 29 curing fires the last 5 using 6 lbs of kindling ,the moisture has been driven from the refractory!

The curing fires are done with the loading door adjar , so only the draft inducer operating no forced combustion air . The Jetstream will gasify just on the draft inducer so the small loadings of kindling prevent gasification and the high temperatures .Tedious process but will pay off in longevity of the refractory!

The only disappointing thing about this project is that you only get to do it every 30 years

 

[GENECOP]

Nice install, are Jetstreams still being made?

 

[maple1]

No they aren't.

They were ahead of their time, for sure.

 

[warno]

Sorry to ask out of ignorance, but does this thing work basically like a rocket stove? Simply draws air down through the fire to create a clean burn?

On another note looks like a clean install. Good job.

 

[GENECOP]

Just wanted to jump in, I Love the design of these furnaces, they operate much like a rocket stove , but they incorporate a great Burn Chamber Mass and downwind a heat exchanger. Warno check out Dick Hills original design, there is also a guy from Australia who built one..I want to do a nice Rocket Mass Heater one day, there is a lot of good info on the efficiency of them..I love the Greenwood / Seton Design stuff, but if I was going to do it again, some kind of Rocket Furnace would be my choice..

 

[huffdawg]

How many days did the install take,hopefully you had a backup heat source?

 

[hobbyheater]

How many days did the install take,hopefully you had a backup heat source?

About 4 1/2 days including the curing of the refractory. Have an electric boiler for backup .

 

[GENECOP]

Did you just replace the refractory? Or was the entire unit new. Where did you get it from...I really like the design.

 

[hobbyheater]

Did you just replace the refractory? Or was the entire unit new. Where did you get it from...I really like the design.

It is an entire new unit. Found it on e bay about 4 years ago.

 

[GENECOP]

Well done...

 

[hobbyheater]

Sorry to ask out of ignorance, but does this thing work basically like a rocket stove? Simply draws air down through the fire to create a clean bur .

The air is only drawn do through the wood by a draft inducer when the loading door is open , once the door is closed an air nozzle shoots air directly at the burning wood becoming a pressurized combustion chamber.

 

[warno]

That is a really cool design. Really simple and obviously works great.

 

[BoilerBob]

HH, I always enjoy your posts. Great job! Glad to see you working smart, moving that heavy beast around.

 

[tom in maine]

These were great boilers that deserve an updating. Having moved a few of these in my time, brought back memories of how heavy they are.
Beautiful work!

These are quite different than Rocket Stoves with some similarities. The similarity is they both rely on refractory for a clean burn.
Rocket stoves originated as cooking devices and then morphed into small space heaters. The vertical configuration of the Rocket stove is solely to enhance heat exchange into the room. They require small finely divided sticks for firing.

 

[slowzuki]

When I bought my jetstream, the former dealer related a story of a client who burned old unsplit telephone poles cut to 36" long in his. Had a huge magnet to fish out all the hardware.

 

[GENECOP]

These were great boilers that deserve an updating. Having moved a few of these in my time, brought back memories of how heavy they are.
Beautiful work!

These are quite different than Rocket Stoves with some similarities. The similarity is they both rely on refractory for a clean burn.
Rocket stoves originated as cooking devices and then morphed into small space heaters. The vertical configuration of the Rocket stove is solely to enhance heat exchange into the room. They require small finely divided sticks for firing.

Tom I think a number of people and companies have produced what they call Rocket Stoves for cooking and heating that are made without refractory..Many of these metal designs have been exported to third world countries for cooking.

 

[GENECOP]

Some of the discrepancy I think is the two varieties. A Rocket Mass Heater ( that I hope to build one day) uses Cob or concrete that heats up a mass with a long exhaust path that pulls all the heat out before exhausting. A rocket stove can be one of these.

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[hobbyheater]

When I bought my jetstream, the former dealer related a story of a client who burned old unsplit telephone poles cut to 36" long in his. Had a huge magnet to fish out all the hardware.

Have you ever tried burning unsplit 8 to 10 inch rounds ?

 

[tom in maine]

Some of the discrepancy I think is the two varieties. A Rocket Mass Heater ( that I hope to build one day) uses Cob or concrete that heats up a mass with a long exhaust path that pulls all the heat out before exhausting. A rocket stove can be one of these.

View attachment 169399

Bottom line is a Rocket Stove is going to operate with little sticks of wood, not the larger heat load installations that are being discussed in the Boiler Room.
Nothing wrong with that, it is just different and is probably not going to operate anything like a decent gasifier boiler. At best, it is a fun DIY project that will require a lot of attention to keep it operating and will function best in lower heat load situations.

 

[slowzuki]

No because mine isn't connected at the moment but have spoken to other users who have. They said it helps when burning softwood to reduce the burn rate as the split size instructions are based around hardwood. They did mention you have to burn some split first to get the refractory temp up. Once hot they just lower the piece in and let the heat in the refractory ignite the wood. Softwood doesn't really leave much for coals to light off a new load of wood.

Have you ever tried burning unsplit 8 to 10 inch rounds ?

 

[BoilerMan]

@hobbyheater, is there a pressure rating to the HX on the Jetstream? I guess I was not aware of all the stays welded in, I always assumed it was strictly an open system as Dick Hill's original designs were. I see a relief valve on there, but I know you have a large riveted storage that is open to the atmosphere upstairs. Always good to read and enjoy your posts with lots of pictures and details. Nice work with the bottle jacks and the entire install!

TS

 

[hobbyheater]

@hobbyheater, is there a pressure rating to the HX on the Jetstream?
TS

The HX is pressure rated and for extra bucks it could come "H " stamped .