Woodmaster Fuel Flex owners are you out there?

[mustash29]

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I will have it hooked up here in a month. I did do something different, do to the location I had a local shop build me a mass tank so I could get it through my doors. There was a miss understanding on the placement of tapping's but it will work. Piping is all at one end, top left is supply from boiler and has a pipe internally to the back of the tank. bottom left is the return to the boiler, and I did put a magnet particulate/filter trap on it. Top tapping right is supply to my plate since this unit is atmosphereique, and my heating system is pressurized. I paced the return from the plate in the middle so I would not loose my mass. The tapping's on the right were to be evenly spaced so I could move the return if need be. The tank will be modified with a coil in the bottom for future solar hot water plate I'm building, at that time I will modify the tapings if need be.

What are the measurements of that tank? How many gallons? Cost? What is it constructed of (metal thickness)? Weight of tank empty?

I am contemplating something similar, for an atmospheric tank.

 

[Obadiah]

Sorry for the delayed response, been a long busy wildfire season for us this summer. Made the rounds, Oregon, Idaho, Montana and now California is calling
http://www.wildfirefighters.com/

Bought new from dealer, contacted the company, was supposed to get anew one the next day, its been almost 2 months, so turned the problem over to the dealer.

I'm sorry to hear about that. I see your getting good help here.
Thanks GS7. There are few places on the web where you can find better help than Hearth.com

If you need more help from a reputable dealer that is willing to help even though I did not sell you the boiler, that would be me.
I will make sure this gets resolved, promise.

All parts are readily available here in the USA right off the assembly line, which is why I traveled to Chicago to go through hands on training and work out a special agreement with the owners of WoodMaster to properly represent them online...... so I could offer a product that is as advanced as the European Lambda Boilers, but with American electronics, because that has been my biggest beef with the imports is the electronics are not designed for our grid system, and getting parts out of Europe is never a speedy or fun task.

Obadiah's sells Biomass Boilers on a commercial level all over the world. I am an firefighter engineer by profession who takes Pyromania to a new level.
My skills are represented in the Emergency Fire Apparatus I designed and built.
Our product line is the most extensive in the industry, we are one of the oldest and largest online Hearth dealers in the world in total sales.
We got hear because we go the extra mile and so does WoodMaster, Guaranteed, or I would not sell their product line.

If I cant help you I will get you on the phone with someone who will.
Call my office, leave a message with Sarah my daughter who will make sure I either get the message or will get it handled even if I'm on the fireline some where.

 

[thealaskan63]

What are the measurements of that tank? How many gallons? Cost? What is it constructed of (metal thickness)? Weight of tank empty?

I am contemplating something similar, for an atmospheric tank.

The tank is 2' wide, 6' tall, 4' deep, standing on 1"x4" c channel 4' long. it calculates out to 380 gallons. Paid about $2,700.00, 1/4 inch, with 2"x2" L stock vertical 2 times on each big plate for support, Internally coated, and weighs about 900 lbs..

Made some changes, and going to do some more. couldn't find the fittings I wanted for the upper sensor so I made it, sensor is now dry in the tank 6". Getting rid of the lag I was seeing in the control.
Moved my lower sensor down 1 fitting.
I also took the plate return and moved it to the bottom. Now that I got the temperature logger on it and can see my temperature return from the plate. I can see this is probabley the best spot for the return. I thought I was going to have 1 deg. per inch in height, its more like 1 deg. per 9 inches.
Solar is going to have to be in another tank, I think.

 

[mv93]

Lololololol, my control is open as well as a bunch of other things because this is a self installation in progress. I'm no woodmaster employee, I'm someone who did their due diligence for 2 years before buying. I'm one of 2 fuel flex kw 30 owners in CT. The boiler itself is manufactured here. Components like the electronics are assembled here. Visit the facility or pick up the phone. Press yourself for first hand info. Its worth it. To me anyway. I've extensively, directly communicated with both solar focus in Austria, and woodmaster in MN, usa. Guess you can say I really like what I've discovered in this process.

Hi GS7 - I'm out in CT and in the market for an external furnace, the wood master flex fuel unit looks very interesting. What dealer did you go through? How was your experience? Any info, advice or recommendations? Thanks!

 

[maple1]

Isn't the flex fuel an indoor boiler?

 

[Pologuy9906]

Yes it's an indoor/outdoor unit. So far the installation is going good.

 

[mv93]

Isn't the flex fuel an indoor boiler?

Yes maple1, I should have clarified. I meant external to the house. You can't expose the flex fuel model to the elements. I plan on installing it in a shed type structure.

 

[Obadiah]

Looks great nice work!

 

[thealaskan63]

That's a good looking setup, I wish I had that kind of room, for buffer tanks. How many Gallons? Now that the temperature dropped outside, I'm down to about 12 hrs before the buffer reloads.

 

[Pologuy9906]

855 gallons. Hopefully I'll wrap up the install and get it fired up this week.

 

[thealaskan63]

Got the the new control installed every thing works as bought.

 

[Deering]

I have friends who have one. Not certain of the size but I think it's a 30. They are very pleased with it - have only used it with pellets so far.

A few things to be aware of:
1. It's considerably larger than a pure pellet boiler of the same output, which you'd expect due to the wood-burning capability. So if boiler room space is limited and you aren't sure you'll be burning cordwood, think carefully about it. If you've never burned pellets before, they're the 'easy button' compared to cordwood, so you might find you're never firing up the wood side.

2. It requires a bit of monkeying around with some of the parts in the firebox to switch fuels, so you can't just switch on the fly or assume the pellets will be your automatic backup when the cordwood burns out. It will require that the firebox cools down enough to allow you to open it and handle the parts. The switch is pretty easy, but not seamless.

3. Their unit doesn't have a pneumatic pellet feed system from a remote bin like many do, including mine. That restricts where you can place the bin. My friends didn't account for that so they have to do a lot of frequent pellet filling from bags. Maybe they've added that feature by now. Otherwise my friends will have to figure out a pneumatic transfer system on their own.

 

[thealaskan63]

Hi,
Appreciate your input. The flex fuel runs better than a car, and better than any heating standards than is required. Being your in Jueno I'm shure your aware of the federal law. I run pellets all day long, with a particulate matter of less than what anything produces. Being a owner, the state ought to learn, what's been happening in Europe for years.

 

[Deering]

You nailed it. Wish all the rest of those people running those outdoor smog machines in your neck of the woods would do the same as you. You've got a great pellet mill in your back yard and the air quality sure needs the help there.

Glad it's working out well for you. You've got a great machine.

 

[thealaskan63]

Didn't mean to be rude, but the borough doesn't listen to what's fact, they just want to make bank. The federal law is the only law I will observe for air quality. Its a great unit, and wish I could get some more info since it is solar focus designed.

 

[Deering]

Why the solar interest? When would you use solar? Just curious.

 

[maple1]

Being a owner, the state ought to learn, what's been happening in Europe for years.

That can be said of governements AND consumers continent wide. Just simple honest ignorance. It doesn't take the use of pellets either - with the right practices & equipment, the solid fuels used now can be burned more than cleanly enough.

 

[Deering]

with the right practices & equipment, the solid fuels used now can be burned more that cleanly enough.

Absolutely right. In thealaskan63's area, so-called 'independently minded' wood burners persist in operating low quality, high emissions outdoor boilers with wet wood that are creating massive air quality problems in that region when temperatures plummet to -20 to -40. Air quality there has been compared to that of Beijing's. Local and state regulatory agencies seem to lack the spine to do anything about it, so the residents suffer impacts on their health. And it gives wood heating a very bad reputation that wood energy opponents state-wide point to as an example of what will happen their communities.

And it's entirely unnecessary. The local government offers a generous rebate program for swap-outs to modern wood appliances like thealaskan's. The local pellet mill is struggling to increase production to remain profitable, and will finance new pellet equipment. Yet people seem ignorant to the reality that modern systems are far more efficient and if they persist with their irresponsible practices, eventually the government will put the hammer down on them and penalize all wood burners.

thealaskan63 should be commended for demonstrating an intelligent and responsible approach to utilizing biomass energy. I hope his neighbors take note.

 

[thealaskan63]

Why the solar interest? When would you use solar?

What I was thinking, was during the summer primarily for domestic hot water. I'm just looking at cutting my expenses as much as possible. Electric is expensive up here, and I would like to cut my pellet consumption down in the summer since my domestic hot water comes off the boiler.

thealaskan63 should be commended for demonstrating an intelligent and responsible approach to utilizing biomass energy

Thank you.

 

[thealaskan63]

The local government offers a generous rebate program for swap-outs to modern wood appliances like thealaskan's

Just to let you know, I have tried to get a rebate, and had no luck. The swap out program was for only wood stoves, and when I tried they wanted to give me a stove for my old boiler. They have had nothing in place for the outdoor boilers, except for a catalytic converter that can be adapted to the chimney, and is tied into power for a heater in the unit.

 

[Deering]

They have had nothing in place for the outdoor boilers, except for a catalytic converter that can be adapted to the chimney, and is tied into power for a heater in the unit.

That's unfortunate. Those prehistoric OWBs are the biggest emissions felons out there. They need to come up with a program to incentivize change-outs that's appealing to the owners of those devices. And enforce the existing laws. Use the carrot and stick approach.

You guys who install modern high-efficiency, low-emissions boilers (pellet or cordwood) need to show the borough guys what this technology looks like so they get a clue.

 

[Deering]

Electric is expensive up here, and I would like to cut my pellet consumption down in the summer since my domestic hot water comes off the boiler.

Got it. A couple thoughts come to mind:

1. I used my pellet boiler all last summer to make my DHW. It worked great. I have 85 gallons of thermal storage plus the 35 gal HW tank, so the boiler didn't short-cycle. I calculated that it was cheaper than electric heat even here in Juneau where we have hydro.

2. If you don't want to run your boiler, you might look into a heat-pump water heater. These units have an air-source heat pump built right into the unit. Cost ~$1,000 or so at places like Home Depot or Sears. In the summer when the air is warm, these units are really efficient. For every watt of electricity they take in, they put out something like 3 watts of heat energy. But as the air gets cooler, their efficiency tanks, so you'd want to switch back to your wood boiler.

You could probably even rig up a solar PV panel to make the electricity to power it in the summer, but that too will of course diminish as the days get shorter.

 

[thealaskan63]

Those prehistoric OWBs are the biggest emissions felons out there

I agree and I believe none that were installed have a mass tank so they run 24/7 and use major cords of wood, probably twice as much as they should. The borough only has about 2500.00 per unit to deal with so they don't even look at the 10,000.00 units which is the major problem.

I have looked into the heat pump water heater, but its that .21 per kw.. I am going to do PV to and started to aquire some pieces, but that is because the power company has some issues 4 power issues last month. Its so bad I put the boiler on a UPS that can last about an hour. Leaving the boiler on in the summer is not a big deal, I get 24hrs on the mass for DHW, and in august the basement kicked on a few times for heat so its ok.

 

[thealaskan63]

Good morning, its been a while since I posted, the boiler has been doing great, about 6 ton a year. this year I switched from the local stuff to Washington state Doug fir pellets, because of less ash. But I came up with a issue of saw dust because of the length of transport, the auger kept jamming up with the dust. So I came up with a solution, and modified some ideas that I found.

I modified the top of my hopper to support a vacuum atmosphere and fashioned this dust separator that works pretty good.

I can put in about 2 bags of pellets at this time in my pre hopper, and vacuum them up, this is still in the design stage

this is what I have acquired so far, in the vacuum is about 5 bags and is maybe is 1 1/2 inches deep

and this is 1 ton of pellet dust that I have collected, in the commercial soap container minus about 10 cups that I have been putting in the boiler directly during a burn

Its been working pretty good so far, I'm still tinkering with the design.