Wood gun with integrated propane backup

[Buzz Saw]

I've been researching for quite some time on different boilers and I think the wood gun might be my choice, but I'm hesitate to make a decision because I don't see alot of posts/information on the hearth about them(I've searched wood gun only from my phone using Tap a talk. Maybe I need to use the computer). I was all set a Garn, but it's just so big. The Garn would eat up a lot of my garage /workshop. I'm hoping to start up a business so I need all the space I can get. Also with the Garn I'm not sure I would have enough deltaT for forced air application.

Things I like about the woodgun.
1. Burns larger rounds, advertising 10". What is really possible could be a different story.
2. Propane backup
3. Pressureized system.
4. Longevity
5. quick recovery for forced air applications.

Things I don't like.
1. Smoke spillage.
2. Leaking doors. I've read of guys having thier loading doors leak. Is this normal? Easy fix?

So my questions are.
1. Anyone have a propane backup wood gun?
2. Can the smoke spillage be prevented if the fan is running?
3. Are replacement parts expensive compared to other brands?


Any other general knowledge&input would be much appreciated.

Thank you.

 

[krinkov]

yes i have a back up propane gas boiler.the woodgun 140 feeds hot water to the gas boiler.i turned the limit switch down to 150 on the gas boiler and if the woodgun is out of wood the propane turns on.works good.

 

[Buzz Saw]

yes i have a back up propane gas boiler.the woodgun 140 feeds hot water to the gas boiler.i turned the limit switch down to 150 on the gas boiler and if the woodgun is out of wood the propane turns on.works good.

Thanks, but I ment the woodgun with integrated propane backup. The wood gun is capable of burning propane instead of wood(for long periods, holidays & vacations).

 

[muncybob]

The WG will burn large rounds and from what I have read it is more tolerant of greater than 20% moisture content than most gassers. For the most part I have no smoke spillage problems ever since I installed the fan that mounts directly above the loading door. Installing the smoke hood and getting rid of their smoke flap was one of the best things I've done to the unit. It really helps to only load wood when the box is fairly low, but I can open the door in mid burn(rarely these days!) and I would say 95+% of any smoke spillage goes up the fan.

As for door leakage, problem solved once I replaced any of the "rubber" door seals/gaskets with the rope type and skimmed high temp silicone over them. The other areas for smoke is possibly any pipes into your chimney...they must be totally sealed. I eventually had several of my seams welded and the other 2 seams are well sealed each year with the high temp silicone.

 

[Buzz Saw]

Bob, have you had to replace the nozzles? Is it a pain in the butt? Expensive?

 

[muncybob]

I've replaced the nozzle brick twice. 1st time was mid season...won't do that again! It is not too hard but you need to find your own technique that works for you. I thought I could use a hay hook and pull them up but what works best for me is applying pressure from underneath using a 2X4 to work them loose taking care not to damage the center tube. The hook then can be used to pull them out, they usually come out in pieces.Total process takes about 20 minutes if there are no complications(which I have not had). They run around $100 for both bricks. I always keep a set on hand for possible emergency. Planning to use the spares I have to make molds and try casting my own. Also have had a protective plate made to lay over the nozzle hoping for some protection and longer life but the plate I have looks like it is warping too much to be of much use.

 

[Green Mt Heat]

Muncybob What diameter rope gasket did you use on your door and how thick of a bead of silicone did you apply to the rope? Do you have any pictures?
Thanks.

 

[Buzz Saw]

Bob, how thick did you make the plate? What type of material? Stainless steel, mild steel, high carbon steel?

Thanks

 

[avc8130]

I've been researching for quite some time on different boilers and I think the wood gun might be my choice, but I'm hesitate to make a decision because I don't see alot of posts/information on the hearth about them(I've searched wood gun only from my phone using Tap a talk. Maybe I need to use the computer). I was all set a Garn, but it's just so big. The Garn would eat up a lot of my garage /workshop. I'm hoping to start up a business so I need all the space I can get. Also with the Garn I'm not sure I would have enough deltaT for forced air application.

Things I like about the woodgun.
1. Burns larger rounds, advertising 10". What is really possible could be a different story.
2. Propane backup
3. Pressureized system.
4. Longevity
5. quick recovery for forced air applications.

Things I don't like.
1. Smoke spillage.
2. Leaking doors. I've read of guys having thier loading doors leak. Is this normal? Easy fix?

So my questions are.
1. Anyone have a propane backup wood gun?
2. Can the smoke spillage be prevented if the fan is running?
3. Are replacement parts expensive compared to other brands?


Any other general knowledge&input would be much appreciated.

Thank you.

I do not have a propane backup, but I did just finish setting up an oil backup integrated to my Wood Gun. I bought the gun 3 years ago oil backup "ready" but burned 100% wood up until now. With the price of oil dropping and having 2 kids under 3, it just seemed like the right time to get the oil setup. It works. Not much more to say about it. LOL

Smoke spillage is best solved with the smoke hood vented outside. In theory you could get no smoke spillage by only reloading when the fire is down to coals, but in practice this is too tough to time to be worth the hassle. Get the hood from the start.

I don't think their parts are expensive. Unfortunately the Honeywell rotarty actuator seems to be the weak link. It's ~$200 from supplyhouse.com and once you buy it from them it comes with a reasonable warranty direct from Honeywell. Another option is to switch to a Bellimo which we perceive is a better quality unit (Honeywell is made in Mexico these days...) One of the selling points of the WG was the availability of common components. There really isn't anything you MUST buy from Alternate Heating. If they went under tomorrow you could make any of the spares with a bit of effort.

ac

 

[muncybob]

Muncybob What diameter rope gasket did you use on your door and how thick of a bead of silicone did you apply to the rope? Do you have any pictures?
Thanks.

I think it is a 1" fiberglass rope. The silicone is on just barely enough to completely cover the rope...it may not even be necessary but just seemed like the right thing to do. The doors are adjustable so there is some forgiveness if you get carried away

 

[muncybob]

Bob, how thick did you make the plate? What type of material? Stainless steel, mild steel, high carbon steel?

Thanks

It is 304 SS. It's fairly thin, maybe 1/8"? The person that made it for me said I would be better off with a type of SS that is rated for high temps. He didn't have any and it would have been expensive to get the min order he needed to place for just 1 plate to be made. If I find several people interested in this I may go back to him but for now I have removed the plate.

 

[infinitymike]

I don't believe the WG has an integrated Propane setup, but I could be wrong.

The Wood Gun is simple in design and therefor simple in maintenance and repairs.

Storage, although marketed as not necessary, would be ideal for the wood gun and resolve any small nuances.

I replaced the center nozzles a couple years ago, not hard at all, but they most likely won't come out with out breaking, but hey, who cares, the reason for changing is they are no good anyway.
I will be needing to change one of the lower main bricks, which I don't anticipate to be a walk in the park.

I've burned 5 winters for heat and DHW and 3 summers for DHW, basically the unit is running 365 days for the past 3 years.


I get NO smoke spillage from any doors while they are closed and they are adjusted properly.
I did have some smoke spill from the lower part of the firebox door but that was resolved by tighten the hinge adjustment.

I've also shot many youtube videos for the wood gun.
Hopefully a video is worth a thousand words.

 

[Buzz Saw]

I don't believe the WG has an integrated Propane setup, but I could be wrong.

This took me awhile to find it, but I knew I had read it somewhere.
For your reading pleasure [emoji2]

On the list of WGs there is a weight category. In the parentheses (it says weight w/o oil/gas backup. )

(broken link removed to http://www.alternateheatingsystems.com/wood-gun.html)

Also on the brochure next to the red box it talks about oil, NG or LP backup.

(broken link removed to http://www.alternateheatingsystems.com/downloads/WoodGunBro.pdf)

 

[avc8130]

I think you can put any type of fire source you like.

 

[Buzz Saw]

I think you can put any type of fire source you like.

???

 

[avc8130]

???

Just about any type of fuel burner. Gas oil propane. Heck you could even rig up an electric element if you wanted.

 

[Buzz Saw]

Agreed, but what I'm referring to is a backup fuel burner that is part of the WG.

Now I'm assuming you are talking about an external back up?? Hey but it's an assumption.....and I've had some bad luck with ASSupmtions in the past.

 

[avc8130]

Agreed, but what I'm referring to is a backup fuel burner that is part of the WG.

Now I'm assuming you are talking about an external back up?? Hey but it's an assumption.....and I've had some bad luck with ASSupmtions in the past.

We're talking about the same thing. There's nothing magical about the backup burners AHS uses. They are simply commercial burners usually used for normal boilers or furnaces.

Here's my oil burner on my Wood Gun:





Standard Riello burner you would normally find on a boiler, furnace or hot water heater.

 

[Buzz Saw]

Storage, although marketed as not necessary, would be ideal for the wood gun and resolve any small nuances.


I've also shot many youtube videos for the wood gun.
Hopefully a video is worth a thousand words.

Storage is in the plans. I'm thinking 1000 gallons to start.

I'll have to check out the YouTube videos.

 

[Buzz Saw]

We're talking about the same thing. There's nothing magical about the backup burners AHS uses. They are simply commercial burners usually used for normal boilers or furnaces.

Here's my oil burner on my Wood Gun:

View attachment 173200

View attachment 173201

Standard Riello burner you would normally find on a boiler, furnace or hot water heater.

Thanks fornthe photos. The simplicity of the WG is really attractive for my application. Does the backup burner work pretty well for you? How about efficiency?

The reason I want to go with propane is b/c we already use it for forced air furnace and cooking stove.

Does the WG have a cold air intake or does it use air from the room?

 

[avc8130]

Thanks fornthe photos. The simplicity of the WG is really attractive for my application. Does the backup burner work pretty well for you? How about efficiency?

The reason I want to go with propane is b/c we already use it for forced air furnace and cooking stove.

Does the WG have a cold air intake or does it use air from the room?

The burner heats the house easily. I have a 1.1 gph nozzle in there, at the pump pressure Riello suggests it runs like a 1.25gph. We are talking a fair amount of btus there! Flue temps are pretty low so overall efficiency of the system is thermodynamic-ally good. I haven't had a chance to tune the burner yet, so it is running a bit sooty and I'm sure cleaning that up will increase the efficiency. I've only had the burner installed for ~2 weeks so I don't have much longterm experience.

I don't blame you wanting propane. I'm sure they use a pretty standard propane burner that was originally designed to retrofit oil boilers like this one:
(broken link removed to http://www.carlincombustion.com/gas-oil-burner-products/burners/residential-burners-gas-fired/ez-gas-burner/)

You can hook up the intake to outside air. I have not.

ac

 

[Gasifier]

I don't believe the WG has an integrated Propane setup, but I could be wrong.

The Wood Gun is simple in design and therefor simple in maintenance and repairs.

Storage, although marketed as not necessary, would be ideal for the wood gun and resolve any small nuances.

I replaced the center nozzles a couple years ago, not hard at all, but they most likely won't come out with out breaking, but hey, who cares, the reason for changing is they are no good anyway.
I will be needing to change one of the lower main bricks, which I don't anticipate to be a walk in the park.

I've burned 5 winters for heat and DHW and 3 summers for DHW, basically the unit is running 365 days for the past 3 years.


I get NO smoke spillage from any doors while they are closed and they are adjusted properly.
I did have some smoke spill from the lower part of the firebox door but that was resolved by tighten the hinge adjustment.

I've also shot many youtube videos for the wood gun.
Hopefully a video is worth a thousand words.

And, if you have any problems getting your center nozzle bricks out, infinitymike or avc8130 will let you borrow a large gun and you can just blast them out of there. You may end up needing to repair a hole or two in your boiler's hull, but hey, that is all part of the fun with the Wood Gun!

 

[avc8130]

LOL. I changed my center nozzle this summer. EASY PEASY. The originals lifted right out very easily and the new ones dropped in no drama.

ac

 

[Gasifier]

LOL. I changed my center nozzle this summer. EASY PEASY. The originals lifted right out very easily and the new ones dropped in no drama.

ac

Hello men. AVC I changed mine out not long ago. I think this is the nozzle bricks second heating season. No problems in exchange here either.

Buzzsaw. I think you will find you will have to make modifications to your Woodgun to your liking. Everyone's locations and needs are a little different. Lots of good guys here though to show you some of the mods we have made to ours to get them just right. Smoke hood is essential. Getting all your exhaust sealed tight is essential with a forced fan draft. I added a 400 gallon buffer tank to dump heat into and I like that. Wish I had 1000 gallons of storage, but this works fine so I'm sticking with it.

 

[Hydronics]

Bear in mind that combined fuel use with wood burning devices are considerably less efficient once the heat exchangers get covered with creosote/wood ash. I wouldn't recommend a combined unit unless the backup source will be used minimally. Just something to consider.