Sure. Everything has a trade off! I've been happy with this old tank. I agree, it's nice not having to do so much processing.

Good trick. I tried washing it all out with dish soap last year...nada. After I did this video I stopped at the hardware store and picked up a new piece of clear 3/8 tube. I figured I could spare a few cents!

Being able to burn "junk", spruce, pine etc is nice. This one still has the original door gasket, still seals good. One of the pumps is original. The good old style Taco pump works the best for me. I have two of them wired up with a plug and ready to go so it's a quick swap if needed. I'm with you, I don't want a gassifier either.

Yes, it is a heat exchanger. For it's size, it's impressive. I scrape the creosote off the door/damper lip and such from time to time. Burning softwood it builds up quick. Yes, I'm aware about keeping the fire toward the front. I just lit this off so the mission was to get a good fire going, then the "cosmetics" we'll say came after. Pumps- When I set up the shop line I got one of those Bumblebee "good efficient" pumps and it crapped the bed in the middle of the night resulting in a hard freeze up of the main line and water heater in the shop. It lasted like 3 months and died. It was a bitter cold night. Thawing that was an all day process. I replaced it with the standard Taco pump since the house one had been running faithfully for years. Yep, I knew it wasn't as "efficient", but it's definitely more dependable.

@@northwoodsyankee3528 In 10 years of dependable service it will cost you about $450 in added electricity if you only run 6 months a year That is compared to the 15-58 at 87 watts If you get 0015e3 well you do the math Read Taco Td10 to learn more I myself will change a pump or two for about a $600 difference I guess the damper suggestion was wasted on you as well

@@luvdogsandhorses Why is the damper suggestion wasted? You only said it needs some attention, nothing specific. I run a wire brush over the edge of it and clean it up from time to time. What's the specific suggestion? There's nothing wrong with more efficient pumps. I just mentioned my experience with a Bumblebee. The power bill on the shop (where the boiler gets it's power) runs about $30 in the winter. I run the boiler 5 months give/take. Just like the house bill (a separate meter), most of the cost is "delivery charge". Actual electricity used it barely anything. So my actual juice used isn't what runs the bill up, it's their delivery fee.

Wasted comments when you don’t care about increasing pump efficiency or less wood usage You’ve had your stove long enough to understand it better If you want to know more about good damper maintenance Search KZfaq for classic maintenance and get out a dollar bill If your damper isn’t fitting well you are wasting wood and time and probably not burning as clean

@@luvdogsandhorses I explained why I'm running these pumps and that my power bill really isn't much at all, certainly not the numbers you stated. The bill amount I said is for my entire shop, not just to run the boiler. When I'm using .34 of juice a day in the summer and about .55 cents a day in the winter for the entire shop and the boiler, I can't whine. (lights, heater, freezer, power tools).

How do you fill it now, with a hose in the top of the boiler? There should be a "boiler drain" valve looking similar to what you see here on the top of the side arm heat exchanger on the outflow of the boiler water piping. If there isn't, then nope, you have no way to connect your pressurized water to your boiler water jacket to fill/top off. It sounds like somebody didn't install one. You could still install one, it's not difficult. It sure beats dragging a frozen garden hose around in the winter.

Yes, I have to fill it from the top of the boiler. The only valve on the water heater is at the bottom to drain the water heater. I've tried to get my system up and running this year and I'm having a couple issues. First, the water indicator shows no water in it. When I go to fill the boiler it starts to overflow within a couple minutes. I can't get the water indicator to show any water. I even fished a small wire in it to see if there was muck in it but to no avail. Second, it continues to boil and water overflows from the top once it gets up to temp. I just replaced the door seal but it still boils over. Any suggestions? @@northwoodsyankee3528

Yessir. The dealer sold me a gallon of it if I remember right that I dumped in.

I average out to about 2 cord or so per month I'd say, unless it's a really cold winter. I can't complain since I'm heating a 24x36 shop with 15 foot ceiling and hot water in it and I'm heating the house which is also 24x36 and making hot water for it too. I've been working on getting both buildings better insulated.

The last bill I got was before I fired up the boiler. The bill was $10.21 The rate is .04/kwh. So it breaks down like this. They charged me $6.36 for the privilege of being connected to the grid. I used $3.34 of electricity, paid .08 in "standard costs" and then paid .43 for a "conservation charge". It's just like the house. It costs more to be connected to the grid than the power I use. In the winter I use a little more juice with the boiler running and using lights more and that's when I'm in the shop more building fishing nets. The worst bill I remember was about $30 and that is with power tools and a welder. I measured the electrical draw of the boiler once and I think it was just under 2 amps with the damper open. I can check again, it wasn't much though.

That’s excellent But I still can’t figure your actual cost per kw/hour That would be total bill divided by kilowatts used Amp draw sounds correct for 2 pumps controller and solenoid I apologize that did my original figures based on a taco 009 If you ever check damper seal to seat after cleaning both with my dollar bill method please let me know