I am building an outside wood fired boiler

[BadFordRanger]

to heat the house with, but also more than that.
I was wondering if anyone would be interested in following along with the progress of it if I can post pictures of it as I proceed?
I am already at the point now that I need to start taking pictures to follow through with the entire project, but considering the fact that having the money to pay for parts & materials but I am pretty well set for finishing the boiler.
The cost is going to hit me when I start buying the pump, Thermo-Pex piper, water to air heat exchanger, etc., but that will be down the road a bit.
I already have the tank that I'll use for the firebox and the tank that will be the storage tank, all the welding rods & cutting disc I'll need, etc., so I can get the boiler its self finished with out spending a dime, except the extra juice I'll burn up welding.
I know that there has got to be many of you that are thinking, "Well, he can talk the talk, but can he really walk the walk, ..and my daughter says that I can use the little Single Use Camera's and when I have the film developed they will put it on one of those little things for a computer that stores memories and then puts them on your computer.
So if anyone is interested in this, I can start taking pictures from the pipe, box tubing and the 265 gallon tank which was 60" being cut down to 40" for the firebox, all after they have been cut, but before they have been fitted and welded yet.
If only one person is interested in this project I'll take pictures and give my reasoning for doing what ever it is that I am doing, from now until the unit is heating the water with the water temperature being shown in the temperature gauge.

Godspeed

Ranger

[Seth]

Post pics... A future project of mine. Seth

[buckshot32000]

i would like to see it

[Dixie Bee Acres]

Git-r-did

[BadFordRanger]

OK then but it's going to go a bit slower than I thought it would when I made the OP.
Been all summer and couldn't hardly buy a job and they wouldn't stop coming yesterday. I got a wiring job to do on an old historical home down town, a roof to tear off and put back on, a set of steel handrails to build for a porch and a 40' retaining wall 6 foot high to build, and I got them all yesterday.
So I guess this is going to be a night time project for a while but I have to get it finished before winter gets here.
Well I got a camera and took the first 6 or 7 pictures yesterday too.
They show the 265 gallon tank, which as I said will be the firebox.
It is 36" wide and it was 60" long but the picture shows it after I have cut the end off and then took a 20" band out of it so when it goes back together it will be 40" long.
That gives me 23.56 cubic feet of area in the firebox.
I have studied everything that I can find on outside boilers and I'd have to say that Central Boilers Inc., from Greenbush MN. ids the leader in the boiler industry by far.
They sell a boiler with just about an identical number of square feet in the firebox, the E-2400 and it's maximum heat out put is 305,000 BTU, but it will put out a steady 50,000 BTU for 40 hours on one load of wood.
Now say you have a gas heater that is rated at 50,000 BTU's. That rating is 50,000 BTU's if the heater were to burn 60 minutes in an hour non stop and we all know that a heater comes on and off all the time.
Under most conditions the burner is only on for maybe 15 minutes of an hour so in reality it only produces about 12,500 BTU's to actually keep the house warm.
Well there is no exception for the wood fired boiler either.
The 50,000 BTU's that the E-2400 puts out for 40 hours would run you out of the house if it were left to feed that much heat into the house per hour.
I am expecting a load of wood to last me closer to a week than the 40 hours that they quote there burn time being per load.
One big difference between all the other boilers that I have seen and my design is that they all pretty much use the same type of automatic draft door system which opens the draft door when the water temperature drops to 180* and closes it when it gets back up to 195*, and my design isn't going to use the draft door.
From what I have seen, the draft doors doesn't shut off enough airflow to make me happy.
I am using a forced air duct that will blow air directly where it is needed but only when it is needed and there won't be any air flow at all when it doesn't need it.
When the water reaches the 195* mark the complete absence of airflow will sufficiently shut down the burn cycle at that time and save the wood that is in the fire box for later use.
On the other hand, the coals will set there waiting for the airflow and will come back to life nearly immediately upon receiving the blast of air from the blower.
Well, the work won't stop coming in but I am not raising cane about it. I have went out the door this morning and a man just called and wants me to cut down a large oak tree we had talked about earlier and I like that job too. I'll get $250 for cutting it down and hauling it off and I get to keep the wood. Get paid for cutting my own firewood. yee haa!
That tree will probably be all the wood I'll need this year.
Anyway, I'll get to welding the lower set of tubes together tonight and get some pictures of them and explain what they are for. So now I have about 20 or 21 more pictures to take before I get the first roll of film developed so I can post them on here. Well, I best get at it so until later.

Godspeed

Ranger

[Smoke_Adam]

I would like to see pictures as this is something I would like to build in the future!

[clovis]

This is going to be a great thread! Looking forward to hearing about your progress!!!

Have you considered getting a cheap digital camera???? Some of the older models are being practically given away on ebay. Considering the cost of film development, you could buy a cheap older digital camera for less money.

Again, looking forward to seeing this project!

[BadFordRanger]

Thanks for the idea Clovis. I can build a boiler and a lot of other things but these computers is Japanese to me, LOL.

I'll see if I can find anything on e-bay or somewhere else about a digital camera.
Not only would it save money on developing but I'd also be able to post the pictures as I took them instead of having to wait until I get a 27 picture camera spent and developed to post them.
I started welding one of the set of tubes together last night but didn't get to far before I quit.
I did most of a wiring job yesterday we worked until something after 7pm on that and that by its self just about wore me slap out.
So I have taken nine pictures of the 27 picture roll so far and I'll have to wait to get some more did before I get anymore pictures to take.
Anyway, thanks for the idea again. I best get going so I can finish that wiring up this morning.

Godspeed

Ranger

[clovis]

Ranger,

Don't worry about figuring out the digital camera stuff. They have made them very, very, very easy to use.

I haven't priced new cameras in a long while, but I'd suspect the prices have fallen dramatically on the 'point and shoot' cameras. Any big box store, or even a camera shop, would do you well.

The beauty of a digital camera is that you can take pictures of anything, and it won't cost you a dime. When you are done with it, just delete the picture. A few weeks ago, I took pictures of several spray paint colors in a store, just so I could reference them later. When I am done, two clicks, and the picture will be deleted.

Using a digital camera is a cakewalk. It is as easy as dialing a push button phone.

Honestly, the hardest thing will be choosing which camera you want!!! There are about 10 billion choices!

[BadFordRanger]

Thanks for the info Clovis. I should have bought one instead of the one time use camera I bought. Now I have 18 pictures left to take and then pay to have them developed.
Well, I could go ahead and get one and just retake the pictures I already have and then I won't have to pay the development cost!
There ya go. Thanks again Clovis.

Godspeed

Ranger

[biggkidd]

Good Luck with your boiler build! Been there done that. Used mine six winters then gave it up as a wood hog. Rebuilt a cheap wood stove for the house and a rocket stove for water heating. Last winter we used 1/6th of the wood we were using. It was also the coldest winter I can remember.

Larry

[BadFordRanger]

Well bigkidd, if you don't invest the time to study a boilers design and build it according to the best industry practices you might expect there is a chance you'll burn extra wood.
On the other hand, there are several company's that use way less wood than most of the others and I assure you of one thing. I have taken the time to do all the research I needed to find the best of their ideas and actually add a couple of my own.
I don't think anyone that follows these plans will go wrong, plus I am the one going out on the limb right now.
If it isn't extra efficient as I am sure it will be, I'll be the one out of the money and the work.

Godspeed

Ranger

[SpaceCadet12364]

Just don't put it in the house. 1 cu.ft. of water = 1146 cu.ft. of steam and use a safety valve. Because if it comes apart the outcome will not be pretty.

[BadFordRanger]

SpaceCadet, I think the main reason that they are called "Out Side" wood fired boilers is because they are built outside and not inside the home.
However, I don't know why they are called boilers because they aren't.
Actually they are outside wood fired furnaces, but I go along with them calling them boilers because, well, actually I don't know why I do that either, because I was a Boiler maker welder and Fitter for about 30 years on and off and they surely aren't a boiler in the true sense.
But don't worry about it SpaceCadet, I won't be building up any steam pressure that could be dangerous.
That is another one of my design ideas that I'll be trying.
As I said, most of this thing is be built from second hand materials and I have a 5' and some odd inch length of 2" galvanized pipe that will let the water level at the tank be higher than anywhere else in the system so that will come straight up from the Storage Tank with nothing more than a flapper top on it to hold whatever steam it does make from getting out.
If need be I'll weld some fins on it to cool the top of the pipe so it will turn the steam back into liquid to save the loss.
But thanks for the warning.

Godspeed

Ranger

[BadFordRanger]

Well, I am back on the boiler again for a few days anyway. I hope cause I'm running out of time here.
While I was building the handrails for my little sis I started looking on e-bay for the Camera as clovis suggested, and then got to thinking about other things and ended up finding a 500' roll of 1" PEX pipe for $240 with free shipping.
That is the best buy, by far that I had found and then I found the pump I really wanted for $23.88 used for one season, but that comes with 20 bucks shipping.
Well it's right at 200 bucks new so that should be a good deal.
I am still trying to figure out which camera to get so any help there would be greatly appreciated.
I'd love to post some pictures daily or every three or four at the most.
Maybe someone could do my shopping for me on e-bay and tell me what to buy that an idiot can use, because when it comes to electronic anything's, I am an idiot.
Anyway, here we go again. Headed for the shop again.

Godspeed

Ranger

[michael ark]

I will be watching.Work on both high pressure and low pressure since 99.

[BadFordRanger]

Originally Posted by michael ark

I will be watching.Work on both high pressure and low pressure since 99.

Michael, I would greatly appreciate any input that you could give me about my ideas.
I am hoping to post some pictures in the next few days because Clovis helped me out with the idea of a digital camera and buying one on e-bay and that help has went way further than just the camera.
I think that I have found the pump and the Tex pipe for a lot better price than I had anywhere else so far.
So if you have anything that you think will or just might be of some help to me, please let me know.
I'll be the first to say that I have made many mistakes doing things the way I think is best but I will look at any idea and as the man said, two heads are better than one.

Godspeed

Ranger

[SpaceCadet12364]

The reason I say this I know people that buy theese and install it themselves. You go over to look at it and it is 2 feet outside a window or in a out building. ---. I Did time in the Navy and saw my share of steam leaks and air leaks. Witnessed a 5400psi air rupture and a friend stuck his thumb over a 3000psi weap hole and the ram cycled, he lost part of his arm. For a digital camera pickup a cheap used one or a cell phone with a camera.

[BadFordRanger]

Originally Posted by SpaceCadet12364

The reason I say this I know people that buy theese and install it themselves. You go over to look at it and it is 2 feet outside a window or in a out building. ---. I Did time in the Navy and saw my share of steam leaks and air leaks. Witnessed a 5400psi air rupture and a friend stuck his thumb over a 3000psi weap hole and the ram cycled, he lost part of his arm. For a digital camera pickup a cheap used one or a cell phone with a camera.

Well I can't see putting one 2 feet outside a window and I sure as the dickens don't think I'll be putting it in a building. Actually it will be within a building its self but that is the way they are all built so they can be insulated.
As far as pressure goes, I am shooting towards 5 to 10 psi water pressure when the water gets back to the tank to equalize the flow through 33 holes, and that will be the highest pressure the entire system will have through out it.

Godspeed

Ranger

[bellcow]

hey ranger.

looking forward to heater project. I called it a heater because that was what we had on the pipelines at meter station. gas fired tanks of water that heated natural gas for the meter runs. they were simple and safe. anyway looking forward to your "boiler" project.


bellcow