Help ID this unit
- Thread starter JohnKal
- Start date
kroo
Member
Northern Tool sells a few different ones.
http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200631968_200631968
http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200631968_200631968
anthony666
Well-known member
how do you clean those things out ?? does it take enough flue heat out to cause issues ??
Richard Cranium
Well-known member
heat savers-- they are over 100.00 locally If you are interested I could look up the phone number for the only hardware store that has them around here. Pm me if you would like for the info.
Bondo
Well-known member
Ayuh,.... The one on my camp wood stove is just a pipe in a pipe heat exchanger, 'n a fan,...
Smoke pipe is straight through, just like the rest of it,...
Damper is just above it,...
No problems with mine, except the thermo-switch, which is an off the shelf miller furnace part,...
Smoke pipe is straight through, just like the rest of it,...
Damper is just above it,...
No problems with mine, except the thermo-switch, which is an off the shelf miller furnace part,...
neilreeveszz
Well-known member
- Joined
- Mar 9, 2011
- Messages
- 59
Here in Alaska they are often known as "Stack Robbers". I have used them on wood stoves and coal stoves but where I have found them most effective is on diesel fired hot air furnaces and hot water "boilers". Cleaning the unit itself could not be easier. There should be a little knob in the center of the front, you grab the knob and pull forward and then push backward. The knob is on a rod that is connected to a plate. The tubes of the heat exchanger run through holes in the plate such that when you pull and push back and forth you scrape off the tubes. Here is a little tip: when you are done cleaning don't push the knob all the way in, leave it out half a inch. That way if it gets stuck from too infrequent cleaning (I do mine twice a year) you can tap on it to free it which is easier than trying to pry it.
Common sense dictates that you have to monitor your stack temp when using one of these. I don't have any modern super efficient equipment that might well have such low stack temp as to preclude using a Stack Robber. Additionally, depending on how your stack is constructed and how you clean it you might well have to remove the unit it to clean the stack. I found that particularly true on the wood stoves that might be producing creosote.
My family has been using these for over 65 years and feel that the initial cost, the cost of the electricity for the fan and the additional labor for maintenance is is more than offset by the heat robbed from the stack. We got 51 years of daily service out of one before I had to replace it.
You can stick handfuls of welding rods in the tubes to dry them and you can put 3/4 pipe in the tubes sticking out such that you can dry gloves and boots in a hurry. My wife and daughters were required to use the stack robber in the house to dry their hair in the morning because I was too cheap to let them use the electric hair drier. I wonder why I'm single now.....
Common sense dictates that you have to monitor your stack temp when using one of these. I don't have any modern super efficient equipment that might well have such low stack temp as to preclude using a Stack Robber. Additionally, depending on how your stack is constructed and how you clean it you might well have to remove the unit it to clean the stack. I found that particularly true on the wood stoves that might be producing creosote.
My family has been using these for over 65 years and feel that the initial cost, the cost of the electricity for the fan and the additional labor for maintenance is is more than offset by the heat robbed from the stack. We got 51 years of daily service out of one before I had to replace it.
You can stick handfuls of welding rods in the tubes to dry them and you can put 3/4 pipe in the tubes sticking out such that you can dry gloves and boots in a hurry. My wife and daughters were required to use the stack robber in the house to dry their hair in the morning because I was too cheap to let them use the electric hair drier. I wonder why I'm single now.....
anthony666
Well-known member
you spelled smart wrong .. lol
thanks for the answer, i believe you may have sold me on the idea
mygarageone
Well-known member
I haven't seen one of those things for yrs , since they have improved wood stove eff , they have become a problem , like cooling the stack down and causing creosote , thus chimney fires.
They will plug up with soot and cleaning them , not easy.
They will plug up with soot and cleaning them , not easy.
You can build one, if your up for that sort a thing...
http://thehomesteadsurvival.com/build-wood-stove-heat-exchanger-project/#.UfK-VFfHa3g
http://thehomesteadsurvival.com/build-wood-stove-heat-exchanger-project/#.UfK-VFfHa3g
anthony666
Well-known member
i'm all about making stuff over buying it
there was a guy who posted one on here a couple of years back that he made iirc, i'd like to hear from him about how it worked out
i don't think i like the 5 gallon bucket design though; the big thing with that to me is how would you clean it out ?? the steel might be a bit thin for my comfort level and i might be crazy but it seems to me that the two ends are far enough from the flue that theyd be full of creosote in no time
maybe a 20 pound bbq tank with the ends cut off so it's paralell .. i just dont have the cleanout part 100% worked out in my head .. am i right in thinking the commercial version has a third plate, shaped like the end caps and that gets dragged across the tubes to clean the creosote off them ?? the through pipes i'd make from automotive exhaust pipe
there was a guy who posted one on here a couple of years back that he made iirc, i'd like to hear from him about how it worked out
i don't think i like the 5 gallon bucket design though; the big thing with that to me is how would you clean it out ?? the steel might be a bit thin for my comfort level and i might be crazy but it seems to me that the two ends are far enough from the flue that theyd be full of creosote in no time
maybe a 20 pound bbq tank with the ends cut off so it's paralell .. i just dont have the cleanout part 100% worked out in my head .. am i right in thinking the commercial version has a third plate, shaped like the end caps and that gets dragged across the tubes to clean the creosote off them ?? the through pipes i'd make from automotive exhaust pipe
I see what you mean about the bucket being to thin, i have also seen them made from 55 gallon drum. Maube it was the smaller drums, either way you may have the same issue for lengthwise.
As far as the cleanout goes i have an old one laying around( this unit is rusted out on the back side, i believe being a common problem from having a fan on them at all times)and it is what you say a third plate that you move with a rod of some sort as stated earlier...
Quoted from neilreeveszz
There should be a little knob in the center of the front, you grab the knob and pull forward and then push backward. The knob is on a rod that is connected to a plate. The tubes of the heat exchanger run through holes in the plate such that when you pull and push back and forth you scrape off the tubes. Here is a little tip: when you are done cleaning don't push the knob all the way in, leave it out half a inch. That way if it gets stuck from too infrequent cleaning (I do mine twice a year) you can tap on it to free it which is easier than trying to pry it.
As far as the cleanout goes i have an old one laying around( this unit is rusted out on the back side, i believe being a common problem from having a fan on them at all times)and it is what you say a third plate that you move with a rod of some sort as stated earlier...
Quoted from neilreeveszz
There should be a little knob in the center of the front, you grab the knob and pull forward and then push backward. The knob is on a rod that is connected to a plate. The tubes of the heat exchanger run through holes in the plate such that when you pull and push back and forth you scrape off the tubes. Here is a little tip: when you are done cleaning don't push the knob all the way in, leave it out half a inch. That way if it gets stuck from too infrequent cleaning (I do mine twice a year) you can tap on it to free it which is easier than trying to pry it.
http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=199963
Thread on same topic couple years back if you have not seen it.
Thread on same topic couple years back if you have not seen it.
anthony666
Well-known member
thanks falcon, much appreciated 