Heatmor boiling

r.man · January 14, 2013, 09:30:44 PM

My friend called from his cottage to ask me to check on his house owb. His daughter had phoned him to say water was pouring out of the vent pipe. It had been a very warm day, well above freezing, and the stove had been fine until about 9 at night when they started to put wood in it and it boiled over. Water temp 210 and it boiled hard for about 15 minutes. Don't know if the stat stuck or just a combination of heat buildup and then the door being opened to load it that tipped it past boiling but it settled down eventually. With no load on it 180 might have been too high for the normal stat. Anybody else have this problem with a Heatmor from about 2004?

thecfarm · January 14, 2013, 09:43:29 PM

Have you checked the blower flapper? I don't see how that can happen. Unless something is wrong.I use mine to heat my hot water in the summer. I burn dead bone dry cedar in mine and it will smother it out. When I open up my door and feed it,the fire hardly even comes to life by the time I am done. By fire I mean red coals,hardly any flames most times. But if the flapper has something in it,I will get some flames and I know to check it. When I open the door most times,it looks like I don't even have a fire,it's all black. When I first got it,I thought the fire had gone out. At idle there should not be really any smoke comming out of the chimmey either.

Gary_C · January 15, 2013, 03:53:40 AM

It could just be having the door open too long while refuling. If you happen to start refuling when the temperature is at maximum setpoint, the time it takes to refill may just cause overheating. A novice doing the refuling could easily cause that.

And 180-185 is a normal setpoint for most OWB's. And depending on the size of the unit, the temperature can easily overshoot the setpoint when the damper closes and the chamber uses the remaining air when the damper closes.

If it is doing it regularly check the door gasket and the damper. Any air leaks can cause loss of control by the temperature control and that results in overheating and boiling of the water.

MapleNut · January 15, 2013, 08:19:41 AM

My Heatmor burns like thecfarms. It shuts down between burn cycles to almost nothing. When filling with wood,it has never started burning so hard as to raise the water temp any significant amount. It is a 2005 model.

r.man · January 15, 2013, 06:33:07 PM

I thought about the door gasket and the flapper but the unit was showing a normal small amount of smoke when shut down. Probably a stuck thermostat but my friends potential son in law was loading it so the door might have been open for an unusual amount of time and the other possibility is that he had not closed the outer door properly. For those of you not familiar with the Heatmor they have a decorative outer " shed " door that is lockable to get to the firebox door. When the decorative outer door is opened a small spring loaded firebox damper opens to give some air to the firebox. I think it is an anti-blow back device. If he had left the outer door even ajar the stove would overheat in warm weather. The temperature went down the next morning so it may be a while before we get these conditions again to see if it was a one time fluke.

thecfarm · January 15, 2013, 07:25:31 PM

Could of happened. That is one thing that I have not done. Something sure went wrong with it.Yes, it is a anti-blow back device. Just put some oxygen into the firebox before you open the door to the firebox. I keep a jug of bar and chain oil on the shelf inside when it's cold. That shelf is a real place to dry out my gloves too.

countryboy1 · January 16, 2013, 11:26:26 PM

Heatmore 400: check the door and the flapper under it. Is the rod bent? Always turn the fan switch to off when loading the unit. Check the hoses that cool the door. If u hear it gurgling there is a lime deposit restricting it.

Check the auger tube in the back side and see if are any holes in the tube. Mine finally rusted out (2002) unit. Heatmore sells a stainless insert to fix that problem.

Other wise check for a stuck thermo on the hi end (178 degrees).

I go thru a lot of wood in a season heating a 32 by 48 ((measure the cu. feet not sq feet) shop with infloor water. I keep it at 65 degrees and always warm feet and no complaints from my retired mechanic friend. :D

It takes a lot of wood to warm up a 20, 000 pound tractor that comes in at night.

Also heat a huge farmhouse so the 400 heatmore is fired 2ce a day with a loader.

Woodcutting is a seasonal job on the farm when crops are off and woodlines are accessable. This unit does not care if the wood is wet or dry. No luxury of cutting a season ahead. :D

thecfarm · January 16, 2013, 11:29:42 PM

Countryboy,Very good ideas. Did your auger tube rust out? Mine is made out of ¼ steel.I have the same size that you do. I was hoping to have a working garage someday. Don't look like that will happen in the near future now.

NWP · January 17, 2013, 12:00:27 AM

I'll second thecfarm's idea on the flapper. It happened to me once. A chunk of something got stuck in there and held the fan flapper open just enough for it to keep drawing air to the fire. The outside door is also a potential culprit. Other than that there's not a lot of other possibilities since you said it was working fine the next morning.

countryboy1 · January 28, 2013, 09:49:10 PM

Quote from: thecfarm on January 16, 2013, 11:29:42 PM
Countryboy,Very good ideas. Did your auger tube rust out? Mine is made out of ¼ steel.I have the same size that you do. I was hoping to have a working garage someday. Don't look like that will happen in the near future now.

Yes, rusted out and a temp fix with a metal coffee can and hose clamps. Heatmore has a stainless insert for the fix.

If u build that garage..........heat the floor. You will not believe how nice it is to work on. Lot of new options to speed up installing the tubing. I can try to answer any questions that you have and/or share pics. Sorry have not been on since i posted.

thecfarm · January 28, 2013, 10:05:08 PM

I still don't see how that can rust out,being ¼ inch,but I guess it does if they have a SS fix for it. Must be a common problem. I will have to be checking mine. Yes,on the nice warm floors too. I will go with a blower or 2 also. So when I open the doors i can get it back to being nice and warm. IF I ever do it,money is the issue. If i could get someone to do the excavating and the cement work for free,I would be all set.I have a mill and trees.

r.man · January 29, 2013, 09:23:41 AM

Man up Cfarm, most of the worlds excavating, geologically speaking, has been done with the backhoe with the wooden boom. I also know of one house that was built by a retired farmer and the basement was dug with a single horse and a scoop. Ever wonder why older houses had small, low or no basements?

r.man · January 29, 2013, 09:25:58 AM

Just noticed something else. Heatmor "sells" a fix for a design flaw?

Gary_C · January 29, 2013, 10:11:45 AM

Quote from: r.man on January 29, 2013, 09:25:58 AM
Just noticed something else. Heatmor "sells" a fix for a design flaw?

That's what Bill Gates did. And look where it got him.

thecfarm · January 29, 2013, 01:52:58 PM

First off with the slab,I have 2 rocks,that I know of,that I can not move with my 40hp tractor. Once you start digging around here more will be found. This place is REAL rocky. Many rocks was found and dug out for our house. We had to blast one "rock" to get the bedroom in.There's a few red oak stumps that need to be dug out. I've tried a few of them red oak stumps and those things are hard to get out with a loader. And these were only about 6-8 inches across too. The ones that need to be dug out are twice that big.Than it's on a small slope. Will need gravel hauled in probably about 4 feet deep on one end. I can not do cement as smooth as I want. I want it done right and not butchered. ;D
Heatmor had to copy CB customer service. :D I stated that must be a common problem if they have a fix for it. I still have a hard time with that.Just as I said it's ¼ steel.I will see my dealer at a show and ask him about it. First I have heard about it.
I could not wait until May to ask him. ;D I called him up and got his wife. She works with him and knows the ropes too. She said they have only sold one. And that was to a guy that augered out his ashes every day. She said he wore the tube out. But there must be a problem with it if they sell a SS insert for it. As I said I will have to kinda keep an eye on mine.

r.man · January 29, 2013, 09:23:43 PM

Mentioned this thread to my friend with the heatmor and he is confused because the tube is either in the grate area or surrounded by the sand that makes up the heatmor floor. How does it draw air into the firebox?

thecfarm · January 29, 2013, 09:39:18 PM

That is a very good question.About 4-6 inches sticks out on the back side.Than there is about another foot before it goes into the firebox. All this is exposed,no sand,no grates,with a model 400.My blower motor sits just about on top of it. I have a 400,that will take a 54 inch stick . I don't know about the smaller units in the back. But I would think they are all set up the same way in the back no matter what. And I have no idea where the smaller units blower is,in the front or the back. I have one on both ends.

r.man · January 29, 2013, 11:45:59 PM

I will ask if he knows but I think his only blower is under the tin plate between the decorative and firebox doors. Now that I think it through he has an area at the back where his pump is and the cleanout tube must be exposed through that area so it could definitely suck air through a rust hole there.

thecfarm · January 30, 2013, 07:39:13 AM

Sounds just like mine,but no blower in the back. In the front I keep a jug of oil on the shelf and keep my gloves there too. ;D

NWP · January 30, 2013, 08:32:10 AM

Does the tube rust out in the back where it is exposed or before it goes into the firebox? I was emptying mine yesterday and got to wondering. I have a 200 and it sounds like the ash tube setup is the same as your 400 thecfarm.

thecfarm · January 30, 2013, 08:37:55 AM

Quote from: countryboy1 on January 16, 2013, 11:26:26 PM
Check the auger tube in the back side and see if are any holes in the tube. Mine finally rusted out (2002) unit. Heatmore sells a stainless insert to fix that problem.

From what countryboy is posting I would guess it's before the fire box. And than in reply #9 he said, rusted out and a temp fix with a metal coffee can and hose clamps. If it was in the firebox that would be a hard temp fix to do.
I brought mine in '08. Guess I have about 5 more years before I have to worry about it. ;)

thecfarm · January 30, 2013, 08:45:17 AM

Also MIGHT matter on how dry-wet the wood is too.

1countryboy · March 17, 2018, 02:11:11 PM

do you still have the heatmor 400? I need to invest in new grates. Mine have about burned out in 16 yrs of heating. Know they will not be inexpensive.

thecfarm · March 17, 2018, 06:07:11 PM

Oh yea,still have the 400 and I forgot about this thread.
The "design flaw" happened. The auger tube rusted out inside the firebox. Appears to be thick steel ouside,than down to like a a thick gauge sheet metal inside the firebox. ??? But hey,if that is the only problem I had with the OWB for 10 years,I have that other brand beat that has alot of posts on here. ;D I never called the dealer on it,I did not even think of it. I had to shut it down to fix it. I think that was the second time in 10 years, the water was not at least 140° in it. I welded some pieces up and bolted them in place. Should last for another 10 years.
I am surpised my grates are still good. I really had a chance to look at them when I was fixing the auger clean out. That was really the first time I ever shut it down and looked at it. I use it to heat my hot water in the summer time. I really burn some odd looking wood than.

r.man · March 17, 2018, 07:29:43 PM

I had forgotten about this thread as well. My friend still has his heatmor and the only thing he has ever replaced on the stove was the door hoses. I warned him a few years ago when cfarm mentioned his but my friend procrastinated until he finally had to do one on a cold winter day. Then he didn't bother doing the other one in the summer and had to replace it on a cold winter day when he needed the heat. I thought I was the only one with habits that bad.