OWB Longevity

Local4Fitter · May 15, 2012, 04:54:54 PM

Does anyone know what the expected life of a outdoor wood boiler (gassifier)is? I know there are alot of different variables like material it is made with, water treatment,maintenance, do you run all year or just the heating season. I know they haven't been around for very long but maybe somebody has the inside track with the engineering dept. at one of these manufacturers. What do you think? Who has the oldest conventional OWB out there?

Local4Fitter · May 16, 2012, 06:38:05 PM

I get it. Everybody thinks this question might jinks them.

beenthere · May 16, 2012, 07:27:59 PM

Are you just curious? Or why do you want/need to have an opinion?

I'm just curious....

Local4Fitter · May 16, 2012, 09:04:57 PM

I guess I too am curious. I dont own an OWB, but I am very close to biting the bullet and making the purchase. I'm looking at a 4-5 year payback on this and was wondering how long they are predicted to last. I live in Massachusetts and we are required to run gassifiers here and since they have only been around a few years its hard to get info on them. I was looking more for facts than opinion. I talked to a dealer today that told me that you could see anywhere from 5-6 years with poor maintenance, up to as much as 20-25 years when proper maintenance is done. I'm not sure what he is basing this on since we were talking about a boiler that first came out in 2008. I should just buy one and be done with it. :D

chevytaHOE5674 · May 16, 2012, 09:38:10 PM

No idea about gassifiers. But my Woodmaster boiler is at least 12 years old and still going (can't remember exactly when we installed it). At the end of last season I had to unhook it and drag it into the shop because it developed a crack that needed some welding. So while I had it in the shop I inspected all the welds and added anyplace I felt might be a problem down the road. Hope to get another 12 years out of it..... haha

thecfarm · May 17, 2012, 06:13:53 AM

I have the older style one,a Heatmor,only had it 3-4 years now. Really like it.ALOT.

barbender · May 21, 2012, 07:04:54 AM

I have a Heatmor as well, I'm on 4 years. I went with Heatmor because a couple of coworkers had Heatmor units that had over 10 seasons on them. They are still going, too. They don't make a gasifier though.

r.man · May 21, 2012, 02:09:24 PM

I expect the dealer was basing his estimate on a boilers life which has the same weak link that a gasifier has, water on metal. I have known of various boilers over the last 18 yrs and eventually they all leak, but all of the ones I have seen didn't last past 12 or thirteen yrs without some sort of leaking. Patching gave two of them 5 yrs more but by then everything was getting thin and without a complete rebuild the issue of reliability becomes more serious. I am curious to see more gasifiers in our area but so far they are few and far between.

beenthere · May 21, 2012, 02:45:07 PM

My boiler, albeit not OWB, has been working for 34 years now (new in '79) and so far no leaks.

Did have some stress cracks in a non-water area welded the year before last but no rust showing up.

I never have made a practice to clean out the ashes when shut down in the summer months although I've often thought it might be a prudent idea.

Mine is a closed system with about 15 psi pressure maintained, and manual water feed. Never add water without heating it right away to degas. Figure then the boiler water-on-metal contact won't allow rust to form. I think it works.

Vtmac72 · May 22, 2012, 09:36:11 PM

I have a Central Boiler 1400, I maintained it very well and it lasted 28 months and I didn't burn in the summer. I was forced to burn oil all winter this year. Research everything and mostly the warranty, or else you will be in my shoes, having a worthless boiler and a company that won't stand behind their product.

duffdav · May 22, 2012, 11:50:42 PM

Zenon, the owner of New Horizon Corp. http://www.newhorizoncorp.com/ buys wood from me. He is a native of Poland and designs wood gasification stoves and has them made in Europe where they seem to be more popular.

He was by today for a load so I asked about him about the long term durability of the wood gasification design. He said the two biggest factors in their favor are that they are a closed water system where the air is purged out making them much less apt to deteriorate from rusting.

The second advantage is that they have a small water jacket that is re-inforced. He says conventional OWBs are more prone to failure because the force of the water pumping over a larger surface area causes flexing which will eventually result in metal fatigue and cracking of the welds.

He said since 2001 he has sold thousands of stoves with only problems in water containment with 3 that were from pinholes from improper welding. Said you should be able to get twenty years with no problems from one.

Some of my friends and other wood customers have these. The wood has to be dry. Steve says if he puts green wood in his he can watch the water temperature gauge start going down. The other drawback is the small wood capacity. One fellow says 6 hours is about the best he can get.

They are supposed to burn efficient and very clean. Zenon once took a bunch of old tires off my hands to demo how clean they would burn tire rubber.

I would have considered one but I am buried in wood scrap from my milling operation so I need to burn lots of green wood quick. You read about a lot of bad experiences with OWBs. I have one of my own. I paid $2000 for a used Hardy from my wifes friend when her man had a back operation and couldn't handle wood anymore.

I got one season out of it when it started leaking above the door. I spent 3 weeks and about $200 for stainless welding rod, epoxy etc. in my efforts to fix it. Welding had it down to just a slight drip from a pinhole so I put the final fix on it. Went from probably usable to worse and worse.

I finally gave up. Got out the Stihl metal cutting saw and put it out of my misery.
I tried to buy the middle size Legend OWB but both shipments ended up being sold out. Done early December so I ordered $1300 worth of 5/16 metal and commenced to make one. Worked to 9 about every night for five weeks. Used 155 pound of welding rod. I made sure my welds were not going to leak. Have used it for two seasons. So far has worked great.

barbender · May 23, 2012, 01:19:23 AM

Duffdav, I love to see frustration lead to action. And 155 pounds is a lot of rod

Local4Fitter · May 23, 2012, 04:24:28 PM

Duff, that is alot of rod. That's three full cans and 5 pounds into the fourth can. That's great that you built your own owb.

cut2size · May 26, 2012, 01:44:34 AM

I have a non gassifier Hardy that Has been installed since 1991 and used about 8 months a year for 20 years. It developed a leak 2 years ago and I had it fixed by a local pipe welder. It is still working great. I burn almost all green wood (lots of slab wood) with no ill effect. The only other repairs in 20 years are 1 piece of grate replaced, 2 circulating pumps, and 2 fan blowers for the firebox. It is the only source of heat for my house and garage and I have been highly satisfied with it. But I really like the looks of a heatmore and if I ever have to replace my Hardy it will probably be a heatmore or one of its clones.
David
P.S. That is assuming that I don't have to buy a gassifier.

dblair · May 26, 2012, 06:30:33 AM

how thick is the water chamber ? if it were a boiler the thing could be treated but open to atmosphere like it is it just rusts away rather quickly unless it's real thick .

boilerman101 · May 28, 2012, 08:43:50 PM

Water jackets on open systems will not fail when treated with the manufacturers water treatment/corrosion inhibitor. That is a common misconception among pressurized enthusiests. When treatment not used or proper levels maintained, then yes a problem will occur. Maintenence of the firebox and proper burning procedures is the key to long term success of the firebox, otherwise that is where issues are more likely to occur.

waltbranch · May 29, 2012, 12:36:01 PM

Many examples of Garn wood boilers still performing without fail after 25 years plus. Take care of the water in these boilers and they should last 40 years. If I had the brains and the bucks at the time I purchased my Empyre Pro-200 that is the way I would have gone.

millson · June 12, 2012, 03:42:18 PM

I bought a crown Royal Stove in 2008. Its has developed multiple leaks along a weld located in the compartment that holds the ash tray. My welder says no good to fix it since there are many more spots ready to leak along this weld line. The wording in the owners manual and other company documents is misleading. They required a water sample to be sent in to activate the warranty, but the documents do not specifically state one must be sent in every year to keep the warranty active, so if you don't send in a sample and your unit fails you are screwed. The design of this unit also makes it hard to actually properly drain and clean the interior of the water jacket every year. They say the water jacket is round but this is not entirely true. The top half of the jacket is but the interior and exterior walls of the water jacket almost come to a v at its base on both sides of the ash pan storage area. They are welded to the side walls of the ash pan storage area, and this is where the leaks are occurring along this weld. Everything is lying in the bottom of this v not circulating, so just like your car muffler, which is the same type of metal your stove is made of, it will rot out. If any other Crown Royal Stove OWB Boiler owners have had similar problems give me a shout with a private message.

reride82 · June 12, 2012, 04:35:58 PM

I have never seen an OWB in person, but do they have any cathodic protection? If they don't, why not? I've seen cathodic protection used on pipelines and underground fuel tanks. Why not use it on OWB's? If the sacrificial metal corrodes, make it easy to replace. It could become part of a yearly or 5 year maintenance plan. Just a thought, but I would imagine it would severely reduce the rusting problem in these units.