Need help designing a system to monitor a water boiler...
- Thread starter beelzerob
- Start date
Neurorad
Senior Member
Wayne, thanks for the tip on the grill!
I currently set the oven timer for 8 minutes, to burn off the grease.
About 12 years ago, I woke up at 2A, and remembered I didn't turn off the grill. Must have been nearly a full tank of propane, because it was still lit.
Rob, hit your cousin in the back of his head, with an open hand, and a smile. He shouldn't wait until there is a fire.
I currently set the oven timer for 8 minutes, to burn off the grease.
About 12 years ago, I woke up at 2A, and remembered I didn't turn off the grill. Must have been nearly a full tank of propane, because it was still lit.
Rob, hit your cousin in the back of his head, with an open hand, and a smile. He shouldn't wait until there is a fire.
123
Senior Member
There are several free HA programs. My guess is that all of them support e-mail and TTS; I know Premise does.
I'm in favour of the M1 solution. It is solid, reliable, and flexible. As mentioned, it can accomplish most everything needed to handle the task.
As for its lack of fully-programmable e-mail messages and TTS ... well ... that means you hear "Danger. Furnace system trouble. Temperature over heat condition." instead of "Danger. Your chimney is overheating and its temperature is 489.67 F.". There's less detail but the end-user gets the point. Is the extra detail worth adding a PC and HA software? For an HA addict, yes, for your cousin, probably not.
beelzerob
Senior Member
Very good points, 123. And I guess the upside is...if we went with an Elk, then he'd have the reliability and functionality needed, and if we want more fluff, we can always ADD a PC and software to the equation.
So now the bonus question...would this require the FULL Elk, or would the EZ/cheap Elk do it?
Oh don't worry Neuro...he's learned his lesson from this. He almost scrapped the entire system once he discovered the melted insulation. Now he's going to build a fireproof enclosure room around it, and we'll instrument the heck out of it.
Wayne, any chance of getting a pic of that temp snap disc installation, just for clarity? It might merit its own thread, since it's obvious several of us backyard chefs have experienced that same problem before....
So now the bonus question...would this require the FULL Elk, or would the EZ/cheap Elk do it?
Oh don't worry Neuro...he's learned his lesson from this. He almost scrapped the entire system once he discovered the melted insulation. Now he's going to build a fireproof enclosure room around it, and we'll instrument the heck out of it.
Wayne, any chance of getting a pic of that temp snap disc installation, just for clarity? It might merit its own thread, since it's obvious several of us backyard chefs have experienced that same problem before....
123
Senior Member
In a nutshell, no voice capabilities, no serial port, and 8 inputs (see comparison).
86turbodsl
Active Member
rob,
my first take at this is not from the automation side, but from the safety side. The only wood fired boilers I'm aware of that are rated for indoor usage are the Tarm, and AHS boilers, which are both wood gasification boilers, and as such, should not have issues with chimney fires as they are designed to gassify and burn the smoke, preventing the formation of creosote and the main cause of flue fires. Now if your friend installed an OUTDOOR wood boiler in his home, I would be very worried about the liability of helping him automate something inherently designed without a lot of controls and to be OUTSIDE! Most outdoor wood boilers are little more than tanks of water with a fire chamber at the middle, and as the smoke from wood needs +2000F to burn, the cold surface of the water backed steel chamber makes them inherently smoky. A little more info please?
my first take at this is not from the automation side, but from the safety side. The only wood fired boilers I'm aware of that are rated for indoor usage are the Tarm, and AHS boilers, which are both wood gasification boilers, and as such, should not have issues with chimney fires as they are designed to gassify and burn the smoke, preventing the formation of creosote and the main cause of flue fires. Now if your friend installed an OUTDOOR wood boiler in his home, I would be very worried about the liability of helping him automate something inherently designed without a lot of controls and to be OUTSIDE! Most outdoor wood boilers are little more than tanks of water with a fire chamber at the middle, and as the smoke from wood needs +2000F to burn, the cold surface of the water backed steel chamber makes them inherently smoky. A little more info please?
beelzerob
Senior Member
Fortunately, my cousin isn't too much of a dolt. :wacko: It's definitely meant for inside. I'm not sure the brand, but I think some of the instructions were in Swedish or something. It's green in color. *shrug* It's got an electronic control panel on the top of it, so it's definitely not meant to be exposed to any elements.
It burns by turning on a fan which blows air into the burning area..it kinda burns "down". You load wood in the top and there a little opening on the bottom of the chamber where the actual combustion occurs. I'm pretty sure it's gasification, as he knew he wanted to get that type...dunno if he actually did. There is quite a buildup of creosote inside the thing, where the wood goes. And there was in the flue section that runs horizontally from the back of the boiler to the vertical part (about 2 or 3 ft long).
When you go to put in more wood, you turn off the fan, and you open this flap in the back of the wood chamber that allows smoke to go directly to the flue. Then you open the door to the wood chamber. There's always a roll of smoke that comes out from opening the door, but then it gets sucked up the flue.
Maybe it was just bad wood he burned last year?
It burns by turning on a fan which blows air into the burning area..it kinda burns "down". You load wood in the top and there a little opening on the bottom of the chamber where the actual combustion occurs. I'm pretty sure it's gasification, as he knew he wanted to get that type...dunno if he actually did. There is quite a buildup of creosote inside the thing, where the wood goes. And there was in the flue section that runs horizontally from the back of the boiler to the vertical part (about 2 or 3 ft long).
When you go to put in more wood, you turn off the fan, and you open this flap in the back of the wood chamber that allows smoke to go directly to the flue. Then you open the door to the wood chamber. There's always a roll of smoke that comes out from opening the door, but then it gets sucked up the flue.
Maybe it was just bad wood he burned last year?
mustangcoupe
Senior Member
If he already has build up inside the unit and chimney I would get that cleaned before using it again... I'd also make sure I was burning hard wood and not pine
beelzerob
Senior Member
Oh, he is. Cleaned and inspected. And some investigating as to the cause of so much buildup.
But even if it never does that again (which we figure it won't), we still want to wire up as many sensors and alarms as possible. It's just a good idea.
Here's kind of what I'm leaning towards as possibilities so far, ordered by decreasing costs:
1) An Elk M1G, and whatever addons are required
2) A PC running CQC, and maybe a datanab or secu16 for inputs.
3) A PC running some free or home-made software solution, and whatever I/O device is required for the inputs. Maybe an Ocelot which can do some of the scripting itself.
Any other major options I didn't list?
But even if it never does that again (which we figure it won't), we still want to wire up as many sensors and alarms as possible. It's just a good idea.
Here's kind of what I'm leaning towards as possibilities so far, ordered by decreasing costs:
1) An Elk M1G, and whatever addons are required
2) A PC running CQC, and maybe a datanab or secu16 for inputs.
3) A PC running some free or home-made software solution, and whatever I/O device is required for the inputs. Maybe an Ocelot which can do some of the scripting itself.
Any other major options I didn't list?
