Thinking of "Hot Rodding" My Boiler Vent

hotblast1357 · Post by **hotblast1357** » Mon. Dec. 21, 2015 7:13 pm

Why not just better the baffle design inside the stove?

Post by **StokerDon** » Tue. Dec. 29, 2015 9:10 am

windyhill4.2 wrote:
windyhill4.2 wrote:Our Schrader wood stove was a top vent with no baffle.it benefited greatly from the Magic Heat.The stack temps you posted would likely be worth using the Magic Heat,no extra t-stats or wiring needed,it is already t-stat controlled. It should be a worthwhile project to go ahead with.
I think he's worried about it hurting draft while the stoker is idling.

The Magic Heat will only come on when the stack is 270*.[/quote]

The Magic Heat is a flow restriction and draft inhibitor even when the fan is not running.

-Don

windyhill4.2 · Post by **windyhill4.2** » Tue. Dec. 29, 2015 9:17 am

StokerDon wrote: The Magic Heat is a flow restriction and draft inhibitor even when the fan is not running.

-Don

I do not see how it could be a flow restriction or draft inhibitor ,there is plenty of space between the tubes for smoke/gas to flow freely thru. Are you saying that when the smoke/gas stream gets split,it slows down ?

Post by **StokerDon** » Tue. Dec. 29, 2015 9:18 am

hotblast1357 wrote:Why not just better the baffle design inside the stove?

H.B

It's a Harman VF3000 stoker boiler. You would need a lot of design experience to design a better baffle system that actually works!

I don't think CoalKirk really wants to get into cutting up and welding his boiler back together. The only real problem with his setup is a lack of chimney height. That being said, increasing the combustion air is only going to reduce the overfire draft further.

-Don

Post by **StokerDon** » Tue. Dec. 29, 2015 9:22 am

windyhill4.2 wrote:
StokerDon wrote: The Magic Heat is a flow restriction and draft inhibitor even when the fan is not running.

-Don
I do not see how it could be a flow restriction or draft inhibitor ,there is plenty of space between the tubes for smoke/gas to flow freely thru. Are you saying that when the smoke/gas stream gets split,it slows down ?

If you have a 6" pipe and put a bunch of 1" tubes through it, it is not going to flow as much air as if the 1" tubes weren't there now is it? Ad to that the fact that cross tubes are a great place for fly ash to collect and you have even more restriction to flow.

-Don

windyhill4.2 · Post by **windyhill4.2** » Tue. Dec. 29, 2015 9:33 am

SD,i take from what you posted,that you have never seen a Magic Heat up close & personal. Ash buildup on the tubes...... Our unit,which I still have ,has a sliding plate to clean the tubes. You see,when burning wood,the tubes are the smoke/gas cooling point,so that is where creosote forms,we would just slide the tube cleaning plate front to rear several times & the creosote was cleaned off,we never had any creosote in the chimney,none. We used that set-up for 5 yrs ,never cleaned the chimney & never needed to. To say that the magic heat is designed to restrict the flow of smoke & gases is only possible in my opinion if one has never seen one personally. Just my opinion, your visual may differ.

hotblast1357 · Post by **hotblast1357** » Tue. Dec. 29, 2015 9:54 am

I'm sure it slows it down, but I don't think it restricts it, like putting a 4" piece of pipe in a 6" system.

Post by **StokerDon** » Tue. Dec. 29, 2015 11:15 am

windyhill4.2 wrote:SD,i take from what you posted,that you have never seen a Magic Heat up close & personal. Ash buildup on the tubes...... Our unit,which I still have ,has a sliding plate to clean the tubes. You see,when burning wood,the tubes are the smoke/gas cooling point,so that is where creosote forms,we would just slide the tube cleaning plate front to rear several times & the creosote was cleaned off,we never had any creosote in the chimney,none. We used that set-up for 5 yrs ,never cleaned the chimney & never needed to. To say that the magic heat is designed to restrict the flow of smoke & gases is only possible in my opinion if one has never seen one personally. Just my opinion, your visual may differ.

Your right W. H., I have not seen one in person. But if your are going to get any heat out of it, it has to create some amount of restriction. The same is true for the baffles and tubes in a boiler. I just don't think it's a good idea to run one after a stoker boiler that already has tubes and baffles and is connected to a chimney that is not drafting enough.

In a handfired wood or coal unit they should work fine. Handfireds generally don't have all the tubes and or baffles that a stoker boiler has. Therefore a draft is much easier to maintain because there is more constant heat put into the chimney.

-Don

windyhill4.2 · Post by **windyhill4.2** » Tue. Dec. 29, 2015 11:56 am

I guess this has all gone beyond my thinking capacity then ,if you are comparing a 4" pipe inside a 6" pipe & to say that you can only gain heat from restriction.I never went that far in the sciencemathamagician studies. I will just keep to myself as my visual is fooling me thinking.

McGiever · Post by **McGiever** » Tue. Dec. 29, 2015 2:54 pm

I still have stashed away here somewhere a non-branded Magic Heat that was a standard stock feature on a previous combo unit I had.

It is 6" inlet with a bigger 8" outlet...to overcome the internal restrictions, I'd guess???
It was equipped with the finger scrapers like what WH referred to so as to periodically clean the tubes.

Post by **Rob R.** » Wed. Dec. 30, 2015 7:48 pm

We just had a new member post a picture of their EFM. Note the flue pipe.

Post by **StokerDon** » Wed. Dec. 30, 2015 11:25 pm

I saw that too. I have seen at least one EFM on CL with one of those things on it. I guess some people think it's a good idea.

-Don

coalkirk · Post by **coalkirk** » Thu. Dec. 31, 2015 7:19 am

If you have exhaust gases in the upper 300 degree range and a chimney that drafts well it's a no brainer. My problem is my chimney sucks....err doesn't suck enough.