Looking to buy new OWB

[neal8809]

Hi all new to the site. i currently have a central Boiler E-classic 1400 just started its 7th year and has corroded in the firebox and sprung a pretty bad leak to the point where i needed to shut it down. central boiler will only give me $1,800 towards a new unit. so im looking into purchasing a new boiler from another company. right now im leaning towards a Heatmaster G200. What are peoples thoughts on this unit and has anybody had problems with them? also is there a comparable or better unit for shorter money?

[thecfarm]

neal8809.welcome to the forum.
This member just put one in.

HeatmasterG200

[neal8809]

just got off the phone with a Heatmor distributor. What is people experience with Heatmor? This company sounds comparable to Heatmaster.

[thecfarm]

I have the old style OWB,Heatmor. At that time it was a simple design. I noticed now they have the SS stove pipe,mine has ¼ inch steel pipe. There is also a digtal readout,looks like a solinoid on the door when you open it to shut the blowers off. I have a light switch on mine that does that. I look at them each time I go to a show. I've had really no problems with mine,but there again,there is really that can go wrong. I only call my dealer for blower motors. I would get another one.

[Engineer]

I'm the guy that just put in the new Heatmaster G200.  Been a week of operating, love it so far.  A minor glitch yesterday involving the air damper getting stuck, was resolved quickly and without damage or new parts.  I called my dealer and immediately he was on the phone to the manufacturer with possible solutions, but in the end I fixed it myself and he called the manufacturer back to keep them in the loop.  I haven't had this kind of customer service in a long time.

Your profile doesn't say where you are but if you let us know, I know of Heatmaster SS dealers that cover much of the northeast, the southeast, Indiana and Illinois at this point.

[neal8809]

im in South Western NH

[Engineer]

Not sure if Jeff would consider this advertising, but this is my OWB dealer:  Richard Emmons @ Mainly Custom, in Lyman Maine.  Do a Google search, he has a website.  You're in his service area.  You could not ask for a better experience purchasing a major piece of equipment.   I know there are several Heatmaster owners within a couple hours drive of you, including myself, and many of us would be happy to show you our operating units.

I shopped around a bit too.  Looked at Heatmaster, Portage and Main, and Polar.  Also looked at a Garn but they are very $$$ and need to be installed indoors.  All are in the same general ballpark, pricewise.  Dealer support was hard to find across the board, and I did have a lot of reservations about buying sight unseen from a dealer almost five hours drive away from me.  His reputation preceded him, though. 

The selling points for me were the simplicity of the unit (even though it's a gasifier, nothing's hidden and the design is very well thought out); the ease of use and maintenance; the stainless steel construction; and the fact that is is at the top of the EPA's list for emissions at the moment (i.e. lowest emissions on the market).  When it is idling, nothing is coming out of the chimney and it is silent.  When it is running, you can hear the blower motor, and there might be a few wisps of steam coming out of the chimney.   The gasification process really burns up all of that black crud that normally comes from a slow smoldering fire.  At full gasification, you can hear that too, sounds like a welding torch or jet burner in the bottom of the unit.  Almost no creosote either, with properly seasoned wood.

[bobby s]

My boiler is a 2009 E Classic 2300. I'll most likely go with a Heatmaster G100 or 200 when it's time to replace. Heard and read many good things about them.

[mf40diesel]

I will triple the vote on Heatmaster... we put one in (G200) fired it up 1 Nov, so far the unit has been excellent (knock on wood)  We are in western Maine and dealt with Richard at Mainly Custom as well.  Completely top notch, cannot say enough about him and the boiler itself.

Granted we have only been running it a couple months, but they have been great.  Unit performs very well, is so far extremely easy to operate, honestly practically no different than my friends' traditional boilers, except it uses much less wood, and creates less ash.

It is amazing to see, when that badboy is firing hard, and fully gassing, there is litterally no smoke coming out of the chimney.  One can only see the heat waves,  when very cold it will flash to steam a couple feet away, which is also cool to see.

We have tested it too on some really cold nights/mornings, saw -15F one morning, and while it did chew threw some wood that night, still had a nice coal bed in the morning. 

So far, no complaints at all.  I have a pretty nice set of pics, and a short video...  I'd be happy to share if your interested.

[Roger2561]

Hi Neal - In a previous post, perhaps in another forum, you mentioned that your old 1400 sprung a leak behind the air charge tube in the fusion chamber.  What symptoms or signs did it show for you to come to that conclusion?  I only ask so I'll know what to look for.  Thanks and good luck with your G200.  Roger