No heat and I am pissed!

[hickslawns]

My wood burner has developed a hole in it. Less than three years old and has a five year warranty. Problem here is you have to send it back to the manufacturer. There goes some shipping to and from not to mention the repair costs. Apparently the warranty covers "burn out", but not rust. This is a friggin' rust hole in a wood burner less than 3 years old!

Here is the best part: I called the gas company to have our natural gas turned back on today. The earliest they could schedule us to have our gas turned on is January 4th! Maybe if I was on the government assistance program and didn't pay my gas bill they would rush someone right out. I have never had any issues with the gas bill being paid before, and just look at the service we are getting! Freakin' unbelievable!

 

[Gern186]

Phil, what kind of wood burner is it? I have a Central boiler unit..... I believe it has a 25 year warranty.... did you have to put some corrosion inhibitor into it when you bought the system?

Also, I have a stand alone fireplace unit that I have set up to run on a 20lb propane tank that I could let you use until you get things back to normal. It puts out a good amount of heat and it's very light and portable. It's like brand new and it was in my house when I bought the place. Now I just keep it in the garage and use it to heat the garage once in a while......

Let me know man, I can get it to you one way or another, it's damn cold out!

 

[Tree Monkey]

I would be pissed as hell too....ask them if they will pay for the remodeling when your pipes burst and you have to replace the plumbing,flooring, drywall and other expenses.

 

[Milo]

is the hole in the fire box?

 

[tuffshot]

Hicks, soory about your misfortune.
As a temporary patch they make a a putty in stick form called ARC that would fill the void and maybe get you by.
It has the material and hardener in one stick like Mighty putty

We use it on coal leaks on boilers so I know it is some tuff stuff.
Be glad to mail you a stick if you think it will help. I can also send you a ceramic tile to conver the hole if not too big.

 

[rgecko23]

sounds like a good excuse for the kids to go to the in laws so you can convince your wife about the naked bodies and warmth theory......

 

[hickslawns]

Gern186

Phil, what kind of wood burner is it? I have a Central boiler unit..... I believe it has a 25 year warranty.... did you have to put some corrosion inhibitor into it when you bought the system?

This is not a "boiler" type system. It is called the Lil' House Heater. It has done a nice job the last couple years unless we had extended periods of below freezing weather. No water to be used in this system. I think I am going to be making the switch soon though.

Thanks for the offer Chad, but I think I am going a different route. I am a guy. I am a guy with tools. I am a guy with tools, skills, knowledge, and the ability to adapt and overcome! Screw the factory! I am letting it cool down. I will be changing and heading out to scoop the remaining coals out soon. I plan on making the necessary repairs myself this evening. Nothing a guy with minimal metal working skills can't fix. Tuffshot- This is basically what I will use underneath. There is a high temperature putty good up to 1200 degrees which is recommended for repairing door seals on some of the outdoor wood boiler systems. $6 at Menards.

Gotta roll fellas. Kids are off the bus and will start bitching about the cold soon!

 

[hickslawns]

Forgot to say "Thank you for the offers of assistance and encouragement!" I appreciate it guys!

Rgecko- Your idea was the best! lol

 

[rrr]

Glad to hear you found your set and are going to fix it.

 

[uglykat26]

how the show red green keeps popping into my head when i think of phil....lol

 

[Hoytmania]

Well Keep us informed Phil on how things are going. If things don't work out with the repair and you are going to be dealing with the gas company let me know. I have dealt with them for years through the HVAC business. They can be very funny characters.

If you ever have to get it turned back on they have to check for leaks first. In the house lines and the service lines feeding the house. If there is any leaks at all there will be no gas until repairs have been made. These type of jobs have a bad way of snowballing into a very long and drawn out process.

 

[5Cent]

Get some steel, weld that bad boy up, or bolt it and seal it with high temp adhesive. Put an extra fire brick in front, or even just crack that in half. Light it up. No smoke leak....man with tools, skills, knowledge, and the ability to adapt and overcome drinks a few cold ones and warms up!

 

[Beentown]

If you ever want to switch to a system like a Central Boiler let me know. I know a dealer, my brother

Beentown

 

[hickslawns]

Thanks for listening guys. There are several types of people in this world. Some sit around and bitch but do nothing. I call these "wives and kids". (In all fairness, muh wif was a trooper and even helped a few times. Bitched about standing outside in the cold for less than five minutes, but helped.) Then there are those that bitch for a minute (kinda like when I started this thread), realize if the factory warranty is a joke, and it ain't gonna fix itself. Then there are those that just call a repairman. Being I am the repairman around here (and tighter than a frog's butt), I got that bad boy fixed!

Lesson #2: While insulation isn't really a fun thing to spend your money on, it is one of the quickest things to pay for itself. I let the fire burn out yesterday morning. It was just some coals in the morning. Scooped them out last night and put them on the concrete next to the wood burner. Made the repair, and put them back in the burner. Started another fire around 9-10PM. House never dropped below 69 degrees yesterday. In all fairness, the sun was up nicely yesterday and I opened every curtain in the house. The sun probably helped us retain 2-3 degrees throughout the day.

Time to continue shopping for a true outdoor boiler system. Right now, I am leaning towards the Shaver Pro 165. $4700-4800 plus pipe but it qualifies for the energy tax credit. Since I will be giving a considerable amount of money to the government in order to feed/house the lazy (among other ways they like to waste our money) I figure I might as well get a $1500 discount on a boiler system. This one qualifies as it has a higher than 75% efficiency rating. Sorry Steve (Hoyt), but we have a 90+ furnace in the basement which hasn't been used for the third year in a row. Looks like I might as well sell it if the gas company is this slow. haha Anybody else that wants to chime in on the boiler systems let me know. Charles-I will PM my cell if he wants to give me a call. Going to need to be eligible for the tax credits and competitive with the above mentioned unit. Thanks.

 

[Gern186]

Phil,

I have had a Central Boiler unit for 3 years now and it's the cat's ass. Some of their units are also eligible for the energy tax credits too. If you want to come up and check out my system I would be glad to show it to you and also show you the way I create the domestic hot water with it.

 

[Tree Monkey]

You didn't take any pictures to show the work ? ... Actually how did you fix it?

 

[Tree Monkey]

I wish I could live out in the country and be able to switch over to a Central boiler system. I think I might be able to talk my wife into the country life down the road when we are ready to move up to a bigger house.

 

[Tree Monkey]

Two questions for you guys....can you hook a central boiler system up to an existing furnace and chad did you make your own hot water hook up?

 

[hickslawns]

Oops. Sorry Ryan. Forgot to take pictures. I just cut a piece of steel I had from another project. I put a series of bends in it to match the curvature of the barrel. I pre-drilled the holes in my repair piece. I used the 2000 degree hi-temp silicon on the repair piece and the firebox. I might add that I had cleaned up both of them with wire wheels first. Applied silicone material to both and screwed it into place. I did up the grade of the sheet metal screws a bit. I think #10 vs the standard #8 for sheet metal work. Maybe I have those backwards. Whichever is bigger. Started a very small fire as it said to let it warm up slowly to seal into place. Had 3-4 small pieces of dry wood to get it going. Fell asleep around 1130 and woke up at 4am. Plenty of hot coals left and I topped it off then after 4am.

Chad-One of my employees just had a Central Boiler system put in. He loves it. I don't think he has a clue what it is going to take to feed it wood. He is throwing everything in there right now. Mostly downed stuff that has been in his woods for years. 13acres of woods tells me he is going to run out before he thinks. I would love to get up there and meet up with you some time. Maybe some coyote hunting could be fit into the mix.

TM- I was planning on making my own piping if I do it. Yes, they can be hooked into existing duct work if you have the existing duct work in place. Mine will end up running right through my plenum on our furnace. I will probably sell the propane furnace in the shop and hang the radiator style setup with a blower fan on it in order to justify the expense somewhat. It would be pretty nice to keep the shop heated rather than turning it on as needed. I have looked into these pretty seriously prior to my purchase of this unit. Several of my friends have them as well. Many of the guys around here run the Heatmore units. There are many more companies making them now than what there used to be so i will be doing my homework again.

 

[5Cent]

Congrats on the fix! How did that cold beer taste