What OWB to buy

[Roundgunner]

I mentioned a month ago that my wife finally gave me the OK to find a replacement OWB. The Pro-Fab is cracking and re-cracking all the time. It's being welded again today.

My nephew is considering buying his first OWB and showed me literature on the Central boiler gasification boilers to get my opinion. They look great. A person here said to look around to see what else is available, I took that as a sign of disapproval. I looked at some and got literature but all literature is written to say their product is the best.

My system has been on line for about 10 years and all the bugs worked out of heating our 3 homes(4-5000sf) that are under 1 roof except the boiler itself, it cracks.

I want to stay with something like I have that won't require me to purchase a storage tank and change the delivery system. I have this plumbed to keep 2 oil boilers hot and the return from one boiler goes thru the radiant floor of the 1200sf second story apartment above the garage.

I have diagrams and descriptions of what we have and I will show them if interested, but would like to hear from people and get thoughts from others about the type that have 100, 200, 300 or so gallons of built in circulating water and the boiler going on and then idling. I want to stay with that mostly becouse it should be a simple swap out and not require a lot of different equipment to purchase and setup.

 

[salecker]

From what i have seen and read...
Keep shopping around.Make sure you are reading the right reviews.

 

[brenndatomu]

.Make sure you are reading the right reviews.

Yes...reviews from real world users, not the ones that the manufacturers post on their site...look on sites like this forum, and look for owners groups on FB and the like...

My nephew is considering buying his first OWB and showed me literature on the Central boiler gasification boilers to get my opinion. They look great.

They do look great...CB is great at marketing...but you want a company that is great at making top notch boilers.

 

[Roundgunner]

I read some literature from Heat Master. It looked nice too. I don't know of any others to look at...

 

[brenndatomu]

Well, there are only so many OWB makers anymore, at least gasifiers (which is what you want) Polar is another one that comes to mind...
Ask these guys what they think between the 2 brands (CB and HM) there is something like 3500 members on there...I think you'll get to the bottom of it all.

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[brenndatomu]

Here is a vid to watch...a lil look into what its like to live with a CB (and a look at a Polar too)

Have any additional links you'd suggest @sloeffle ?

 

[sloeffle]

Here is a vid to watch...a lil look into what its like to live with a CB (and a look at a Polar too)

Have any additional links you'd suggest @sloeffle ?

The above video should definitely be a selling point for any boiler other than a CB. They also use a SS firebox surrounded by a mild steel water jacket. Not a metallurgist, but it doesn't seem like a good idea to me. They are great at marketing but not backing their products up from what I've heard.

Polar ( @cumminstinkerer has had really good experience with his ) makes a nice boiler, so do Heatmaster and Crown. I'm not too fond of the Crown nozzle so that's why another reason I chose HM.

 

[maple1]

Here is a vid to watch...a lil look into what its like to live with a CB (and a look at a Polar too)

Have any additional links you'd suggest @sloeffle ?

That stuff he was calling fiberglass batt looked a lot like ceramic batt to me.

 

[salecker]

For what it's worth...
I have an Econoburn.The flue tubes are cleaned the same as the polar boiler.Just cleaned mine on Sunday.
I have a tool i made that takes the hard buildup off the tubes down to shiny metal.I noticed an immediate difference in the next load.It takes 20min per tube when its dirty.Mine has 6.Removing the top cover and removing the turbulators takes about 10 minutes same as reinstalling them.So to clean mine totally takes a couple hours by the time you clean up after you are done.
Econoburn's newer boilers should be getting close to having EPA certification.Their new units got delayed due to covid,and couldn't get tested.
Mine is on it's 14th season,have replace the nozzle twice.
I have modified the turbulators which has dropped my stack temps.The boiler was designed for hard wood.All i have access to in the Yukon is spruce and aspen.I believe the spruce wood off gasses quicker than hardwoods and was the main issue of high stack temps.Although prior to the turbulator modifications i had brought the stack temps down by making my splits bigger.
5-7 years ago i would have bought another no questions asked.
When it comes time to replace this one, hopefully get anouther 14 years out of it, i will be shopping around as there has been big steps taken to produce a better boiler by a few manufactures.

 

[hobbyheater]

For what it's worth...
I have an Econoburn.The flue tubes are cleaned the same as the polar boiler.Just cleaned mine on Sunday.
s.

Soon as time allows I will do a video of cleaning the Vedolux 450 it takes about 15 minutes .

 

[Roundgunner]

I have looked at a lot of boilers now.
I think the Wood Master Clean Burn 500 or 700 is at the top of my list right now. I haven't got any prices for those yet, but I hope to soon.

The Crown Royal is second. I have a price list for them.

Polar looks nice but I haven't Seen any info on the type steel used. My Pro-Fab has me scared of anything but SS.

I welcome opinions and first hand experience. I also had a member offer a phone conversation I have not had time for yet, we had out of town guest but this week is catch up and get it done time!

Thanks

 

[hobbyheater]

I have looked at a lot of boilers now.
I think the Wood Master Clean Burn 500 or 700 is at the top of my list right now. I haven't got any prices for those yet, but I hope to soon.

The Crown Royal is second. I have a price list for them.

Polar looks nice but I haven't Seen any info on the type steel used. My Pro-Fab has me scared of anything but SS.

I welcome opinions and first hand experience. I also had a member offer a phone conversation I have not had time for yet, we had out of town guest but this week is catch up and get it done time!

Thanks

Cleaning The Vedolux

Cleaning the Vedolux takes less than 15 minutes, just cleaning the base is dirty and I'm going to come up with a better way .

www.hearth.com

 

[sloeffle]

I have looked at a lot of boilers now.
I think the Wood Master Clean Burn 500 or 700 is at the top of my list right now. I haven't got any prices for those yet, but I hope to soon.

The Crown Royal is second. I have a price list for them.

Polar looks nice but I haven't Seen any info on the type steel used. My Pro-Fab has me scared of anything but SS.

I welcome opinions and first hand experience. I also had a member offer a phone conversation I have not had time for yet, we had out of town guest but this week is catch up and get it done time!

Thanks

Have fun cleaning your CB / Woodmaster. What a horrible design. IMHO - I'd keep looking.

 

[Roundgunner]

Well, with the help of many here I think Polar G2+ is sitting at the top. I will be pulling the trigger on something next week.

 

[Case1030]

Well, with the help of many here I think Polar G2+ is sitting at the top. I will be pulling the trigger on something next week.

I used to have a Heatmaster Gseries (first boiler), switched to a Polar Furnace Gclass (for a few design reasons) was extreamly happy... then went on to becoming a dealer for Polar and Portage and Main.

Nice when you believe in the products you sell!

 

[The Weimar]

PLEASE read any of my posts on the Central Boiler products and their customer service, or lack of AND their deceptive warranty and sales tactics....I loathe the purchase of my boiler and now its sits out there losing value as scrap steel

 

[Mic]

Hello, I would avoid the Central Boiler Maxim M255PE as supply water is drawn off the bottom of the water jacket and this was like pulling hens teeth to find out. The boiler gage on its side panel is located in the mid/upper portion of the water jacket but water at the bottom supply is 20F below the gage temp which is not good at all. The return line is only about 1.5'' above the supply line too so if any stratification occurring. Hope Central boiler finds a fix or this is going to media for help....marketplace or CBC or the BBB.